Let’s gather together to visualize your life path from a Hawaiian perspective. In this workshop, we explore the Palena, the boundaries or protected spaces, of your unique life map.

What is Palena?

Based on Hawaiian values, Kumu Mālia visualizes the concept of Palena as a heart-shaped island map representing our life. Somewhat akin to various ‘life wheels’ used in self-help and life-coaching practices, this island contains eight districts, symbolically representing eight aspects of our life. This Palena framework for looking at any given topic or  situation provides the onlooker with a view that is both more expansive and more in-depth. 

Kumu Mālia’s deep immersion in Hawaiian language, culture and history, as well as her experience in hula, lomilomi and as a mother of four, have together inspired and informed her symbolic Palena outlook. See how the Palena perspective brings clarity to the way you understand life.

What to expect:

Come prepared for thoughtful introspection, journaling, and optional discussion. All writing material will be provided.

Kumu Mālia Ko’i’ulaokawaolehua Helelā strives to live a life of grace. Her hālau (hula school), which meets at Still & Moving Center, is Nā Hula Ola Aloha. Completing her ‘ūniki (graduation) under Kumu Hula Pulu’elo Park in 2002, she now teaches hula and oli (traditional Hawaiian chanting) to a wide range of students, from infants and toddlers to kupuna. Mālia studied oli under Kumu Hula Keola Lake. She began her formal training in lomilomi massage as a teenager. She was licensed by the State of Hawaii as a massage therapist in 1998 and as an esthetician in 2002. Her hula practice and lomilomi practice, she says, are the same. She continues to look to the beauty and grace of the Hawaiian environment for grounding and inspiration. Mālia has become a respected and beloved cultural practitioner in Hawaii.