Peaceful poses

A local yoga marathon is part of a global "prayer necklace"

People take up yoga for reasons both physical and philosophical, or sometimes because all that stretching just feels oh-so-good.

So many motivations, and so many disciplines of yoga to meet them.

Next weekend's Yoga Marathon for Peace offers an overview of the many ways to practice yoga, bringing together teachers from all over the island for a daylong celebration.

YOGA MARATHON FOR PEACE » When: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 21 » Place: Hawaii Tokai International College » Cost: $108, with 80 percent of proceeds to benefit programs for the hungry » Registration forms: At Open Space Yoga, Umeke Market, Down to Earth, Definition, Land of Organica and the office of CPA Tamilyn E. Masuda. Or e-mail dazamapark@hotmail.com or mariasteele@msn.com for a form and brochure.

The event is part of the Yoga Mala Project, an international celebration marking United Nations Peace Day, the idea being to create a "prayer necklace" around the world.

The event is also meant as a service to charity, and so local organizers Maria Steele and Debbie Azama-Park have chosen the Institute for Human Services and Hawaii Helping the Hungry Have Hope to receive 80 percent of each registration fee.

"Yoga is such a tapestry," says Steele, who teaches the kundalini form at Open Space Yoga under the name Jai-Ma Kaur. "All forms of yoga turn you on to different levels of experience."

Forms can range from highly spiritual practices that incorporate chanting and meditation, to those that call for flowing strings of poses, to the intense discipline of Bikram, or "hot yoga," performed in heated rooms. Some instructors will incorporate a little of everything.

"All yoga is designed to open the channels of the body so you feel more natural energy, as well as increased awareness," Steele says. "Basically, it's to tune into that natural energy in your body and create balance ... to go beyond boundaries and experience the new."

Yoga instructors are invited to register for free, so they can demonstrate their individual styles at the marathon, she says. The event will include a live band, chanting, massage and a presentation by the IHS children's yoga classes.

The Yoga Mala Project is named for the mala, a string of 108 beads used as an aid in repeating mantras. In keeping with the theme, the local marathon will conclude with 108 sun salutations. It's also no coincidence that the registration fee is $108.

Sun salutations are sets of poses used as warm-up in exercises in Hatha yoga, Steele says. "It was something created to celebrate life and the sun. Traditionally it was practiced at sunrise."

At the marathon they'll be performed in four sections of 27 salutations each, led by four different instructors. "We wanted to join the yoga studios and expose students to the types of yoga available."

Steele says she's hoping for 200 participants and that interest has been building slowly. "It's new and with anything new in Hawaii, it takes time to get it started."