Hawaii Island Retreat Center (HIRC) offers luxury accommodations in elegant Hawaiian style in harmony with nature. Visualize a very special location of
intentional peacefulness, set among towering evergreens and ocean breezes along Hawaii Island's North Kohala coast.
When you visit you quickly realize the wonder of this sacred land. Here, you can relax and unwind in gardens, wild groves, and along ancient valley trails. The 50
acres of private coastal lands provides many opportunities for light hiking, jogging, meditative walks, and quiet time in nature .
The Hawaii Island Retreat Center campus includes a solar heated, salt water hot tub and infinity swimming pool, open-air patios and balconies, a private library and
theatre room and wireless internet in public areas.
Hawaii Island Retreat is a leader in sustainable travel and green living.
Join Us on The Stunning Hawaiian Coastline
"I️ am very excited to go home and continue my practice and development as a yoga practitioner and teacher. As a yoga teacher already, I️ came to this 200 hour therapeutic yoga teacher training hoping to get a better understanding of my body, as well as the knowledge of how to craft sequences and create better classes and I️ have obtained that. I️ have much more confidence now. I️ believe now I️ will be a really good teacher one day, due in a large part, to this program, and what I️ have learned being here on retreat over the last three weeks."
- Angela
curriculum highlights
Please note: This teacher training program is approved with Yoga Alliance (Y.A.) and graduates are eligible to register with Y.A. as a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200-hour level (RYT-200). The therapeutic perspective & curricular components of this program are based on the instructors' registration as a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT) and not derived from their status as an E-RYT 500 with the Y.A. Registry as the Y.A. Registry does not certify therapists, solely yoga teachers.
Certification as a RYT-200 with Yoga Alliance
A solid foundation in classical Hatha Yoga – including alignment based vinyasa flow and restorative yoga within a therapeutic framework.
An anatomy and biomechanically informed alignment system that helps to address common misalignments and keeps your students safe
Modifications and adaptations for all bodies, including special populations such as seniors, pregnancy, and those with injuries
Gain insights into your (true) nature through the wisdom of Yoga and its philosophy
Explore breath work, mantra and meditation as tools to create vibrant health and wellbeing in your life
Learn the art of sequencing yoga classes that honors your authentic voice and meets the needs of your student population
Business of Yoga & How to Build Your Yoga Community
Learn to share the practices with others in a safe and powerful way
Build self-confidence and tap into your amazing potential in a supportive, nurturing environment
Train with highly experienced, knowledgeable and passionate teachers and yoga therapists
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Liz Heffernan, E-RYT 500, is a recognized international yoga teacher with over two decades of personal practice and 22 years of teaching. She trained
extensively in the Hatha systems of Kripalu, Ashtanga and Anusara and works as an Integrative Yoga Therapist.
meet your instructors
Liz Heffernan
more about liz
MA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT
Innately perceptive and wildly passionate, Molly applies a level of determination and delight to her yoga instruction that’s truly one of a kind. Her approach is focused and intense; a union of effort and surrender that she believes is key to unlocking one’s deepest level of awareness and joy.
Molly Masaoka
more about molly
E-RYT 500
program Dates
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the details
Hawaii Island Retreat’s garden-side dining room opens onto fragrant plantings. Here you will enjoy organic farm-to-table cuisine. Their organic gardens and orchards are a living tribute to the Big Island's bounty of exotic vegetables and fruits. They grow the foods used in their hotel kitchen, from salad greens to lychee and sunrise papaya. You will find the Hawaiian spa cuisine menu rich with local accents, whole-grain breads, Pacific Rim dishes, and international menus. Their chefs are brilliant in the kitchen. When they are not out gathering herbs for an appetizer dish, they are about the region sampling local dishes for new menu ideas. Three meals a day will be provided aside from dinner the night before the day off and lunch and dinner on the day off. Students typically explore local restaurants for these meals and the kitchen staff takes a well needed rest.
MEALS
Daily schedule
housing & tuition
Tuition Cost: $2497 USD includes yoga teacher training tuition, a comprehensive 200 page Yoga Teacher Training Manual, 6 months access to our 200 Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training content, an essential resource to support you as you move out into the world teaching yoga, and as needed mentoring after the program ends.
Retreat Fees: Includes housing and food. (prices vary base on housing preference):
Meditation by the ocean, pranayama, and gentle movement
Breakfast
Yoga asana practice plus techniques or teaching methodology
Lunch
Restorative, gentle, therapeutic practice, or Yoga Nidra. Yoga philosophy, lifestyle, and ethics, anatomy, and physiology, practice teaching
Afternoon break to rest, swim or take in the amazing sunsets of Hawaii
Dinner
Evening session
06:00
07:30
08:30
12:00
13:00
16:00
18:00
18:30
Deposit & Tuition Payment Schedule
A $500 USD deposit will reserve your space and will be applied to the full tuition price listed above. Deposits, tuition, and housing payments minus a 10% processing fee, are refundable up to 30 days prior to retreat start date. The 10% processing fee will apply to all refunds and this fee covers credit card charges and administrative processing fees.
Retreat costs (housing and food) are due three months prior to the start date of the program or within two weeks of registering and your final tuition payment is due no later than one month prior to the program start date. If you would like to discuss alternate arrangements or a payment plan, please feel free to contact us directly and we would be happy to work something out.
Fee-free transfers for documented health/emergency situations: If cancellation is necessary prior to the first day of the program due to documented health or emergency situations, a student’s deposit and tuition will be fully transferable to a future program with Soma Yoga Institute. In all other circumstances, due to the logistics involved in planning residential programs in retreat settings, we regret that we are unable to issue deposit/tuition/housing refunds 30 days or less prior to program start date. No refunds are issued on or after the program start date for any reason.
Dates TBA
Fly into Kaliua-Kona (KOA) airport. It takes about 1 - 1.5 hours to drive from the airport to the retreat center. Our group shuttles will depart from the KOA airport at 11:00 am, 2:00pm and 4:30pm on arrival day. Please note times may be adjusted slightly to accommodate the group needs and will be finalized 2 weeks prior to program start date. We suggest you arrive at the retreat in time for dinner on arrival day and depart anytime after 9:00am on departure day. Check out time is 11:00am. Group shuttles cost $75 per person each way. Group shuttles are also arranged on the last day of the program.
transportation
We make it EASY & SAFE for You!
"As a Medical Doctor and also a yoga practitioner wanting to teach, I really appreciated the anatomy and alignment study this program offered. Learning the alignment and applying that to pose analysis was very helpful in learning to teach and practice safely. I really enjoyed working hard in our practices and our morning meditations. We also had such a wonderful group, I admire and have much affection for them and the teachers as well. I highly recommend this program."
-Robert Johnson
"I loved this yoga teacher training so much, it is quite possibly the biggest gift I’ve ever given myself, and the beautiful part is that by improving my confidence as a teacher and a spiritual seeker, I can radiate this gift to so many others. Molly & Liz are exceptionally informed, inspired, and patient. Their energies balance each other beautifully, Molly’s vivacious, pitta drive, combined with Liz’s sacred knowledge of yoga, created a dynamic and transformational experience for the student. I loved the therapeutic focus and attention to alignment, artful sequencing, the study of the yoga sutras and pranayama. It’s important for me to feel connected to a small and intentional community and because there was so much emphasis on creating a loving, supportive and nurturing environment throughout the program, I felt that with these teachers and this group. "
-Darcy Page
"I️ loved learning yoga with attention to alignment and balancing the muscle engagement with active extension. I️ was never taught this and it has brought an incredible amount of healing to my body. I️ discovered that I️ had been practicing yoga with misalignments and actually creating self-harm pushing my body past its edge, overstretching and building patterns into my practice that were actually hurting me, much about my body. This is the best learning and healing I️ gained and I️ could not be more grateful as my body is feeling much more healthy and happy! I️ also enjoyed the practice teaching experiences and receiving the opportunity to teach senior yoga. I️ loved being able to gain the knowledge, practice, and skills to discover where my work lies. I️ have gained a greater self-confidence in clearly and authentically communicating with others and looking at all beings through eyes of compassion, choosing kindness as I️ take the seat of the teacher."
-Heidi Alexis Hall
"This course was amazing. I absolutely loved the course and our group. The content was exactly what I wished to study and I am so blessed and grateful I came to Hawaii. Liz and Molly are both incredible teachers that blend beautifully together. Their dynamics and diversity are amazing. There was the perfect blend of asana, yoga nidra, meditation, pranayama and yoga philosophy. I loved the fact that we were thrown into the deep end and asked to practice teach from the first day. I loved the way the postures were broken down, I did poses I couldn't do before and I now understand where the obstacles lie in poses I haven't achieved yet. I also now understand alignment whereas beforehand I felt I wasn't doing the poses properly. This program will change my life. It has given me the tools to confidently do a home practice every day and take home to Ireland the skills gained to incorporate with my clients."
-Jennifer Coady
As a competitive gymnast and diver, I was taught to push my body to the limits, to accept pain or even seek it. 17 broken bones or more, I’ve lost count, I’ve lived a very painful life spiritually and physically. Before I came here, I viewed yoga as primarily a physical exercise, another way to get stronger and push myself. In this YTT I have shifted that, I’ve learned to love myself unconditionally! I learned that I don’t need a “fitbit” to count calories or track my steps to tell me how I feel about myself at the end of a day, because I am exactly where I need to be, I am perfect right here in this moment and every other moment I will be blessed to experience. Overall the setting was perfect, the process and pacing of the curriculum gave me so much confidence to teach! Our instructors, Liz and Molly are so knowledgeable about yoga and so authentic and real to their true natures and they made the perfect team! pe to emulate these qualities as I go on and teach."
-Jill Mazur
"I felt seen the entire program, it was so supportive, so informed, and so compassionate. The instructors, Liz and Molly, really live the yoga philosophy and modeled it every day for 21 days. They are both so real and so accessible. I can’t think of a better place to begin a yoga journey. I leave confident in the tools I have received and I know with the wisdom and concrete knowledge provided within this immersion program that I will grow to be an amazing Yoga teacher. I feel that this program was made especially for me. I am so excited to continue my Yogic path."
-Chanin Hardwick
"I loved this; the people in the group, the teachers, Kalani Oceanside Retreat and the useful and varied teachings. I am grateful for the holistic approach to yoga, the philosophy, the meditation, hopefully, this will help me towards being with the best version of myself. I also loved the chakra day. I got to know things I thought I knew from a different perspective."
-Bodil Fuhr
"This yoga teacher training was very comprehensive. Both instructors, Liz and Molly, are fonts of knowledge and wisdom. They have been doing this for a long time and it shows. They also took good care of us personally as well. They created a safe space in which to explore yoga’s deep transformational topics. On the physical level, I learned more about alignment which helped me even out muscle imbalances I have due to injuries. The anatomy was very interesting as it related to the alignment. I understood the philosophy of Yoga and the 8-limbs on a much deeper level and it leaves me wanting to pursue further study. The immersion format helped me further pursue my true Self which I will bring to my personal relationships. I’m not a better person, I’m just more me!"
-Genevieve Hebeka
"This was a huge and transformational journey; spiritually, physically and mentally. My perception of the world around me, as well as the people that occupy it, has grown much more humble. My personal practice has embodied a level of ease and love that is starting to bleed out into my life off of the mat. The knowledge that I obtained these past weeks really boosted my professional confidence. The pose studies were awesome and I loved the history and philosophy too. Our instructors Liz and Molly really strike a nice balance as neither one felt overpowering of the other and each was unique, I have nothing but praise and respect for them. The prep and intention that went into each days lesson was immense. High fives! I am inspired to share what I know and to proliferate Yoga.”
-Justin Gumb
"My heart feels blown open (like hanuman)! This 200 Hour yoga teacher training gave me the confidence to share my love of yoga, of breath and of mindfulness. I feel more confident with my ability to venture forth and share yoga with my friends, family, students, healthy aging groups, and absolutely everyone. I really enjoyed the morning silent and guided meditations, this time helped bring me to my sankalpa. I also really appreciated how the daily schedule was set up including our 1/2 day trips. These assisted in keeping us grounded. I absolutely reccomend this program!"
-Joy Aldrich
"This was an amazing experience. It was my second 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training. I learned so much and feel like I have become a stronger teacher. I now feel more confident in my awareness of my body and therefore my understanding of how to teach others proper alignment. I feel the daily classes advanced my yoga practice and increased my confidence as a teacher. I loved the morning meditation, yoga philosophy, our dance parties, the restorative yoga, and the alignment lessons."
-Clayton
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