Why Lōkahi? A Reflection on Naming, Cultural Appreciation, and Indigenous Wisdom in Holistic Healing

Honoring a Name, Honoring a Mission

When I founded my holistic health practice, I sought a name that not only reflected my services but honored the depth of my personal story, my cultural values, and the broader vision I hold for healing in our modern world. I chose Lōkahi—a Hawaiian word meaning harmony, unity, and balance. It’s more than a name. It’s a declaration of intention.

This post is a reflection on why I chose to name my practice Lōkahi, how I aim to practice cultural appreciation rather than appropriation, and why it is essential to uplift and protect the holistic wisdom of indigenous cultures in health and wellness spaces.

Rediscovering My Own Roots

I was born into a lineage connected to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, one of the few indigenous groups that refused to vacate their ancestral land during the 1830s Trail of Tears. Yet, like many descendants of forcibly assimilated communities, my family grew up knowing little about the depth of our cultural heritage. As I matured—and especially as I walked the path of healing following my own medical challenges—I felt a strong pull to rediscover, reclaim, and honor indigenous ways of knowing and being.

In my studies, I began to immerse myself in the teachings, cosmologies, and health philosophies of indigenous cultures across Turtle Island and the Pacific. It was during this journey that I encountered the Lōkahi model of health—a traditional Hawaiian framework that fundamentally shifted how I understood healing.

Lōkahi: A Traditional Hawaiian Model of Health

According to traditional Hawaiian teachings, as highlighted by Stanford Medicine’s Ethnogeriatrics Program:

“Health is holistic. One is healthy when the physical, mental, and spiritual parts of a person are all in harmony... The three ‘points of the triangle’ include the physical body, the surrounding environment, relationships (particularly with family, ancestors, and god[s]), and mental/emotional states. Healing the body requires addressing the roots of imbalance across all three dimensions (2025).”

This deeply resonated with my training as a yoga therapist and my academic background in cognitive neuroscience. It mirrored the salutogenic and kosha models of care I was already using: one that asks, not “What’s wrong?” but rather “What makes people well?” The Lōkahi Triangle aligned perfectly with my mission to provide trauma-informed, culturally conscious, integrative healing rooted in the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, and community.

Image Context Adapted from: Sullivan, M., & Hyland Robertson, L. C. (2020). Understanding yoga therapy: Applied philosophy and science for health and well-being. Routledge.

Cultural Appreciation vs. Cultural Appropriation

Naming my business after a concept so central to Native Hawaiian health philosophy is not something I did lightly. As a non-Hawaiian, I believe that cultural concepts should never be commodified without understanding, respect, and reciprocal intention. Cultural appropriation often reduces sacred knowledge to aesthetics or marketing. Appreciation, by contrast, requires education, humility, and action.

To that end, I have committed to:

• Educating myself through travel, conversation, and lived experience, spending time in Hawaiʻi to better understand the traditional teachings of Lōkahi.

• Uplifting Native Hawaiian voices by referring clients and readers to cultural leaders and original sources whenever possible such as Papa Ola Lōkahi. Papa Ola Lōkahi is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to “improve the health status and wellbeing of Native Hawaiians and others by advocating for, initiating and maintaining culturally appropriate strategic actions aimed at improving the physical, mental and spiritual health of Native Hawaiians and their ‘ohana (families) and empowering them to determine their own destinies.” To learn more about Papa Ola Lōkahi’s mission, values and services, follow the link here

• Honoring indigenous knowledge within my scope, never claiming mastery over traditions I do not come from, but integrating universal principles like balance, unity, and responsibility with care and reverence.

• Acknowledging my own ancestral lineage and sharing how reconnecting with it has guided my own path as a healer and entrepreneur.

Why Indigenous Models of Health Matter

Indigenous systems of healing hold timeless insight into what it means to live in harmony—with ourselves, each other, and the land. These models—whether Hawaiian, Choctaw, Navajo, Tibetan, or others—are not “alternatives” to modern medicine. They are complementary systems of wisdom that center community, ritual, responsibility, and the interdependence of all things.

As our world becomes increasingly disconnected and clinical, I believe that integrating indigenous frameworks into contemporary wellness settings is not only respectful—it is essential. These traditions have survived colonialism, systemic erasure, and environmental displacement. They deserve to be seen, studied, and protected—not mined for trends.

Lōkahi as a Living Mission

At Lōkahi Holistic Therapy, the word Lōkahi is not a slogan. It is the guiding principle behind how I design therapeutic offerings, how I work with clients, and how I train others to think holistically. It reminds us that true health is more than a set of symptoms—it’s a relationship with the self, the earth, and the collective.

By honoring the Lōkahi model and elevating indigenous perspectives in wellness, I hope to do my small part in preserving and amplifying the wisdom of those who came before us—both from my own lineage and from others whose teachings have helped shape the path I now walk.

Closing Reflection

Cultural appreciation is not performative. It is a practice. It is in the careful choices we make, the stories we tell, the voices we center, and the legacies we uphold.

Through Lōkahi, I offer not just yoga therapy, aromatherapy or color therapy—I offer a vision of restorative, integrative wellness rooted in balance, humility, and respect.

May we all remember that healing is not an individual act—it is a remembering. A returning. A restoring of the sacred connection between all living things.

Suggested Readings & Citations

Kaʻanoʻi, P. (2008). Kamalamalama-- the light of knowledge: A Hawaiian way to knowledge, health, and Excellence. Kaanoi Pub.

LLoyd, M., Tokunaga-May, S., & Hanashiro, S. (2023). Ua Ola Loko i Ke Aloha (Love Gives Life Within): Mindful Forgiveness with Aloha. Journal of Indigenous Social Development , 12(1), 50–66. doi:10.1515/9780824892722-001

Pukui, M. K., & Faganello, F. (1993). O̒̄lelo Noeau: Hawaiian proverbs and poetical sayings. Bishop Museum Pr.

Sullivan, M., & Hyland Robertson, L. C. (2020). Understanding yoga therapy: Applied philosophy and science for health and well-being. Routledge.

Wilson-Hokowhitu, N. (2019). The past before us: Mo’oku’Auhau as methodology. University of Hawai’i Press.