GaiaYoga Gardens is a sanctuary for developing sustainable and holistic culture, a permaculture homestead, and an intentional community on Hawaii’s Big Island. The heart of the vision we are manifesting is expressed in the books True Human Freedom: The Inspiration and Argument for GaiaYoga Culture, by Ano Tarletz Hanamana, 2016 and The Four No-Bull Truths of Clan and Heart Based Group Intimacy: A Guidebook to Healing, Activating, and Living Our Holistic Hearts in Multi-generational Bonded Community by Ano Tarletz Hanamana, 2024.
We’re dedicated to living in harmony with the Earth, connecting with Spirit, engaging personal growth and healing, fostering cooperative community, and developing holistic and sustainable life patterns. We practice and teach GaiaYoga, which is The Art and Wisdom of Unifying Spirit, Self, Community and Earth, Permaculture and other sustainable agricultural systems, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), natural raw diet (Instinctive Eating and The Primal Diet), Light on Shadow (Shadow Work) connection parenting, cooperative living, and holistic intimacy and sexuality and holistic spirituality.
Our lifestyle includes:
1) Living simply, sustainably, and close to nature – ruraly and off-grid in low-impact eco-dwellings; growing food; operating eco-businesses; and trading for goods and services.
2) Cultivating a healthy self through maximizing eating a raw, local, organic diet; having an active work/service life; engaging personal growth, healing, and shadow work; balancing sovereignty and interdependence; having a life-affirming orientation toward intimacy and sexuality (which might be healthfully expressed as either celibacy, monogamy, ethical non-monogamy, hetero-sexuality, homo-sexuality, bi-sexuality, etc.); and being clothing-optional.
3) Establishing a land-sharing community that’s intimate, caring, and feels like family. This includes practicing cooperative decision making, nonviolent communication; cooperating relative to resources and land development; having community businesses; sharing child-rearing; and having fun together!
4) Integrating spirituality into our communal life through morning circles, prayer, hatha yoga, rituals, shamanic journeying, rites of passage, and spiritual study, all according to individual preferences.
Our dream is for GaiaYoga Gardens to be a beacon of light and love and a living example of the kind of world we want.
We have articulated this in many different ways over the years. Here’s a few expressions of it…
To create a sustainable-and-holistic culture that supports and manifests True Human Freedom!
To manifest and master the art and wisdom of living holistically, integrating Spirit, self, community, and Earth.
Healing, activating, and living our Holistic Hearts, in multi-generational bonded community.
Our community is called GaiaYoga Gardens, this is pointing to our primary “crop” which is GaiaYoga Consciousness and GaiaYoga Culture (which is a living expression of the seed of this consciousness). Our focus is holistic and like a good sailing ship we adjust to the winds, weather, icebergs, land masses, and other ships.
On the material level our focus is to upgrade and maintain our existing infrastructure and to maximize the sustainable productivity of our food systems. We have a near infinity supply of projects we can focus on and prioritize, gardens, orchards, animal systems, building new structure, repairing degradation from UVs, water, rust, and general decay.
1-3 month initial stay, followed by 9 month or longer residency period, followed by trial-membership period, followed by membership.
People can do a day-visit with us by doing a Landance-&-Lunch. For overnight to a couple week stays, we offer eco-rentals. For those considering residency or wanting an in-depth learning experience we offer our GaiaYoga Gardens 16-Day Immersions. For more information, go to our website, www.gaiayoga.org or email us.
A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.
Everyone must agree before moving forward.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
Ano, the only person here from the beginning, is the de-facto leader, though this is not an intentional fixed hierarchy — as the years go on the need for this role is diminishing, but that’s how we got started.
We have a Leadership Council which includes Members, Trail-Members, and occasionally less committed people. All major decisions are made within our Leadership Council.
Decision-making is based in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) processes and consciousness: creating a quality of connection in which everyone’s needs matter and are met by natural giving. Sociocracy or Holocracy is our overall goal/vision for decision-making.
Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.
Join fee: $35000
Regular fees: $100
Labor: Yes (20 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
By choice. We cooperate a lot with money, but at this time we don’t share income among the entire group, though this aspect could change.
Members participate in 20 hours/week or contribute an additional financial amount to the community to compensate for doing less hours.
$35,000, plus $3,000 to $20,000 build a home. This amount can be paid all at once, over time, or through sweat equity. You can stay here for over a year before considering joining.
During the first 3 months, fees are higher as you acclimate to the community and develop the skills necessary to contribute effectively to it, potentially participating in classes for those purposes. The Immersion, which lasts 16 days, costs a little over $1000 . After that, there is a $100/month ongoing residency fee. We also have a communal meal plan that people contribute to.
Common House, Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Hot tub or hot springs, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Gym or sports area, Internet
Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.
Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities
Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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We’re introducing new Plus features — including community reviews, Profile Match, and unlimited Needs & Offers posts — while keeping most of FIC free for everyone. Membership costs less than two coffees a month.
