Ancient Yoga Teachings, Vibrant Yoga Practice.

Konalani is a Yoga and Meditation Retreat Center on the Big Island Hawaiʻi .

Our story

In 1975, Sri Shambhavananda led a small group of yogis to Boulder, Colorado. They opened the first vegetarian restaurant in the area and named it in honor of their teacher, Swami Rudrananda.

The success of the restaurant, and later, a bakery, afforded them the means to build their dream of a yoga ashram – a place where people could go to experience the yogic tradition through nourishing retreats, asana practice, meditation, and seva (selfless service). The first ashram they built was Eldorado Mountain Yoga Ashram.

At a time in America when yoga’s popularity outshines its original purpose, ShambhavAnanda Yoga® stands as a living example of timeless teachings in the present day. Students combine hard work with heart work and use the practice of meditation to rise above and grow from the everyday challenges of life.

Our founders

Rishi Maha Mandaleshwar Sri Shambhavananda is the founder of ShambhavAnanda Yoga. He describes ShambhavAnanda Yoga as the direct experience and insight into one’s true inner nature, available to anyone who is ready to surrender the distractions of the mind and open their heart.

Shambhavananda’s wife, Faith Stone, worked for years as head chef of Rudi’s restaurant which helped fuel the start of Eldorado, Shoshoni, and Konalani Yoga Ashrams. Along with being an award-winning chef, high school art teacher, and professional artist, Faith developed our famous Kids Yoga Camp that many kids look forward to every year.

Our tradition

Yoga and meditation in the ShambhavAnanda School involves turning our attention from the external world, the world we normally experience with our senses, to look inside. We learn how to detach from our consuming involvement in the world in order to experience who we are beyond these fluctuations of the mind and senses.

Babaji Shambhavananda is a modern master of kundalini yoga – the yoga of inner transformation. He teaches by example that we can all attain spiritual liberation no matter what our lifestyle or personal circumstances.

Hatha yoga helps bring our awareness inside. It helps us gain control over the flow of energy in the body. We believe that the ultimate purpose of asana is to cultivate a meditative state.

Meditation begins with surrender and leads to an opening of the heart. Surrender does not mean “giving up” on life, it is the ability to face ones tensions and to consciously let them go.

“The Happiness and Perfection You Seek is as Close as Your Breath.”

- Sri Shambavananda

Meet Your Teachers

Meet Acharya Satyam

Satyam Ehinger is the resident Acharya (Teacher) at Konalani Yoga Ashram and the lead author of Konalani’s 200-hour, 300-hour, and Meditation Level 1 & 2 Teacher Training Manuals. He has been living and serving in the ashram for 20 years and has guided over 85 Yoga Alliance-certified trainings.

After graduating with honors in philosophy from DePaul University, Satyam turned to yoga to help manage severe scoliosis, which he had struggled with since childhood. The transformation was immediate—both physically and spiritually—and set him on a lifelong path. After graduation, he moved into Shoshoni Yoga Retreat, Konalani’s sister ashram in Colorado, where he immersed himself in deep practice and selfless service. In 2008, he moved to Hawai‘i to help with Konalani and soon became the manager and resident teacher. In 2010, he was honored with the title of Acharya by his teacher, Sri Shambhavananda.

Today, Satyam co-manages the ashram with his wife Abhaya and serves as director of the ShambhavAnanda Yoga Philosophy Program. He pours his heart into every aspect of ashram life—from curriculum development to mango harvests—and feels deeply blessed to serve, swim, and raise a family on sacred Hawaiian land.

Meet Acharya Abhaya

Abhaya Ehinger is a resident Acharya (Teacher) at Konalani Yoga Ashram and lead faculty in the 200-hour, 300-hour, and Meditation Teacher Trainings. She has lived and served in the ashram for over 15 years and has guided more than 65 Yoga Alliance-certified trainings. A gifted teacher and curriculum developer, Abhaya has spent the past decade transforming Konalani’s yoga program—integrating natural, sustainable movement with practices that regulate the nervous system and expand our movement potential.

Abhaya discovered meditation in college, where she quickly became the student leader of the meditation program at Georgetown University. The spark was immediate and life-changing, leading her away from a high-powered career path and toward a life of deep practice. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in political science and moved into the Shoshoni Yoga Retreat shortly after. Within a year, she was already leading trainings—an unprecedented testament to her clarity and depth. In 2020, she was honored with the title of Acharya.

Today, Abhaya co-manages Konalani with her husband Satyam, bringing insight, lightness, and care to every part of the ashram. She loves distance ocean swimming, creative movement, and every moment with their daughter, Narayani.