About Me

Faith • Health • Wellness • Movement • Service

I believe caring for our health is one of the ways we honor the life God has given us. My name is Christina Martini, owner, founder and program director of Breathe Maui Wellness. My work in health, wellness, movement, and therapeutic practice is deeply personal. I am originally from Guam, with Guamanian, Sicilian, Filipino heritage. I have been shaped by a multicultural life that has taught me to respect different cultures, traditions, beliefs, experiences, and perspectives.

My journey into healthcare began in my early 20s when I faced significant health challenges, including early-stage ovarian cancer and endometriosis. Experiencing cancer and endometriosis at such a young age changed the direction of my life. At the time, I was a college majoring in piano pedagogy, preparing for a life in music and teaching. My health journey opened another door and led me toward health science, nursing, health and wellness educator / coaching and ultimately a life of service in this purpose.

Through my own experience as a patient, I became deeply interested in understanding health from a whole-person perspective. I began training and education in natural, holistic, Eastern, and faith-centered approaches to health and healing, while also developing a deep respect for allopathic - Western medicine and evidence-based clinical care. That experience eventually led me into studies and certification and licensure as an oncology nurse, chronic care management nurse , certified oncology patient advocate, nurse navigator educator, patient advocacy, and health and wellness educator with hospitals, in patient and out patient and now as my own private service directly with patients.

For more than 30 years, I have continued to study, practice, teach, and integrate what I have learned through clinical healthcare, oncology, nutrition, therapeutic movement, breathwork, mysore ashtanga clinical yoga therapy, wellness, and personal experience to clients, patients and the community.

A Different Kind of Wellness Approach

My work today brings together clinical knowledge and adaptive, integrative wellness. I believe modern medicine and complementary approaches do not have to be in opposition. When appropriate, they can work together to support the whole person for a great successful outcome. My approach includes intake, assessment and care planning where physical, mental, spiritual are integrated to each session of the plan.

Movement • Strength • Mobility • Breathwork • Nutrition • Healthy Lifestyle • Mindset • Relaxation • Mindfulness • Self-Care • Faith

I work with people across generations and stages of life — from their 20s into their 90s — including students, clients, patients, athletes, active adults, veterans, older adults, cancer survivors, individuals living with chronic health conditions, and people fit and well simply looking for a healthier and stronger way to live.

Every body is different. Every person has a different history, ability, goal, culture, and life experience. That is why I believe movement and wellness should be individualized and adaptable. For one person, that may mean strength and conditioning. For another, it may mean mobility, balance, therapeutic movement, walking, stretching, or breathwork. For someone else, it may mean rebuilding confidence and connection with their body after illness or treatment. My goal is to meet people where they are.

Adaptive Ashtanga & Mysore Therapy

Adaptive Ashtanga Yoga and Mysore practice have been an important part of my life for more than three decades. Adaptive Ashtanga Mysore Therapy is an individualized approach that uses the principles of traditional Ashtanga and Mysore-style practice while adapting movement, breath, intensity, sequencing, and practice structure to the individual base on their current clinical, medical or present conditions. It is especially suited to people who may need a more personalized approach because of age, previous injury, chronic health conditions, physical limitations, deconditioning, life transitions, or different levels of strength and mobility. The emphasis is not on achieving a prescribed posture or completing a traditional sequence exactly as written.

It is about asking: What does this person need today? What can their body safely and appropriately do?
How can we build strength, mobility, stability, breath awareness, confidence, and independence over time?

I have studied with respected teachers and lineage holders including Manju P. Jois, Nancy Gilgoff, David Williams, Ken Harakuma, Jo Ichihara, Maty Ezraty, Sharath Jois, Davis Swenson, Deepak Chopra, Dr Vasant Lad, Dr. Dilip Sarkar and Sathu Jois, among others.

Today, I use the principles of individualized Mysore-style adaptive practice, therapeutic movement, breath awareness, strength, mobility, balance, coordination, body awareness, and disciplined daily practice as tools for health and wellness. My teaching is not about forcing the body into a particular posture. It is about learning how to move, breathe, strengthen, adapt, and care for your body throughout the different seasons of life.

My school and wellness space creates and teaches and guides individualized Mysore practice as available in person in Maui and virtually LIVE on zoom, allowing me to interact and work with people wherever they are in their health and movement journey.

My Work in Healthcare

Today, I continue to serve patients and families through my work in oncology, chronic care management, patient education, patient advocacy, and nurse navigation, as I truly have a passion supporting individuals with complex and ongoing health conditions and cardiovascular concerns. I help people diagnosed with cancer or cardiology chronic care better understand their health conditions, medication management, treatment plan and care plans, resources, and healthcare needs, while encouraging them to become informed and active participants in their own care. I believe quality of life matters.

Healthcare is not only about treating a diagnosis. It is also about helping people understand the root to maintain the greatest possible strength, mobility, independence, energy, emotional well-being, and quality of life throughout their journey. When appropriate and alongside medical care, I encourage practices that can support overall well-being, including movement, exercise, strength, mobility, breathwork, nutrition, relaxation, stress management, healthy lifestyle habits, mindset, and restorative practices. I do not believe wellness replaces medical care.

I believe in respecting appropriate medical treatment while helping people discover the supportive practices that can become part of their everyday lives.

My Personal Story of Cancer Survivorship

My experience with cancer is something I never want to forget. For me, surviving cancer in my early 20s has been a lasting reminder of God's presence in my life and of the preciousness of the life I have been given to bear two children and adopt one and continue to be alive to serve HIS people through cancer journey and as a health and wellness program educator. It taught me what it feels like to need answers, support, resources, understanding, encouragement, and someone willing to walk beside you during a frightening and uncertain time.

Those experiences stayed with me. They became part of the reason I felt called toward nursing, oncology, patient advocacy, nurse navigation, health education, and eventually integrative wellness. I never want to forget what it felt like to be the person who needed help. That memory influences how I serve today. When I work with a patient, client, or student, I try to remember that there is a whole person behind every diagnosis, health concern, limitation, or question. Sometimes people need information. Sometimes they need resources. Sometimes they just need someone to listen. Sometimes they need encouragement. Sometimes they need help finding appropriate movement. And sometimes they simply need someone to remind them that they are not alone.

I want to use what I have learned to help others navigate their health journeys with greater understanding, support, dignity, and hope.

My Faith & Calling

Above everything else, my faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation of who I am. Teaching Adaptive Ashtanga Yoga is not my faith. Christ is my faith. My Christian faith guides how I live, how I serve, and how I understand the purpose of my work. I believe my life, my body, my experiences, my knowledge, my abilities, my career, my family, my ability to teach Ashtanga Yoga and the opportunity to serve others are gifts entrusted to me by God.

I believe God has used every chapter of my life including the difficult ones to shape me for a purpose. My cancer journey gave me compassion.Nursing gave me knowledge and the opportunity to serve. Patient advocacy taught me to listen and guide.Movement of Ashtanga Yoga while I was sick and healing and recovering and surviving taught me discipline and strength.Nutrition taught me the importance of daily choices. My multicultural background taught me respect for diversity. Being a single mother for my three children taught me unconditional love. And my faith continues to teach me trust, humility, gratitude, surrender, and service. I do not believe these gifts are mine alone. What God has given me, I want to give back through service. I want to use my knowledge, experience, abilities, and relationships for a greater good.

Motherhood, Family & Grandmotherhood

I am the proud mother of three wonderful children, two daughters and one son , who are now young adults, and I am grateful to be entering a beautiful new chapter of life as their families continue to grow and I experience the joy of grandmotherhood. During my health journey, God blessed me with my first two children before a major surgery that would end my ability to have children biologically. Later, God blessed our family again with my third child, my daughter, through adoption from the foster care system in Orange County, California.My children and family have given an even deeper meaning to my commitment to health and wellness.

I want to have the energy, strength, stamina, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and presence to be there for my family and to enjoy the years ahead. This is also why I believe health is about so much more than appearance. It is about having the capacity to participate fully in life. It is about strength for the years ahead. It is about mobility, balance, energy, resilience, independence, and presence. It is about caring for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being so that we can continue to serve, love, work, play, and participate in the lives of the people who matter most.

Serving Others

The same commitment I have to maintaining my own health extends to the people I serve. Because I serve others, my own health matters. My strength, stamina, energy, mental clarity, emotional well-being, and spiritual health allow me to show up fully for my students, clients, patients, family, and community. I want to have the capacity to listen, teach, encourage, educate, demonstrate, adapt, and walk alongside people through whatever season of life they are experiencing. I don't want to simply teach wellness. I want to live it mentally, physically, spiritually. I believe taking care of myself allows me to better care for others.

My Mission

My mission is to share what I have learned through personal experience, clinical healthcare, oncology, chronic care, patient advocacy, nutrition, movement, therapeutic yoga, breathwork, and more than three decades of study and practice. I want to help people develop practical and sustainable ways to care for themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I want to help people understand their health. I want to help people find appropriate ways to move and strengthen their bodies. I want to help people discover the importance of breath, nutrition, rest, mindset, and daily habits. I want to help people find resources and support when they need them. And I want to walk alongside people during seasons when their health or circumstances are beyond their control. There are diagnoses we cannot change.There are outcomes we cannot predict. There are circumstances we cannot control. But we can seek appropriate medical care. We can become educated. We can move our bodies. We can nourish ourselves. We can breathe. We can rest. We can care for our quality of life. We can support one another.And, for me, we can pray and learn to trust God with the things that are beyond our control.

I believe this combination of knowledge, action, self-care, faith, and trust can help us navigate difficult seasons with greater strength, peace, resilience, dignity, and hope.

My Life & My Service

I continue to practice what I teach. Today, I am still practicing my daily ashtanga series , Ayurvedic diet most times, I prepare my meals pretty much daily. I choose my interactions and how my time is spent more with God and HIS purpose for my life. My life begins with arising at dawn, beginning with prayer, biblical scripture meditation, breathwork, ashtanga movement, nutrition, mindful living, family, faith, work of service, and service- volunteer work with church or community. I continue to learn because I believe we never stop being students. I continue to move because I want the strength and stamina to serve. I continue to care for my health because I want to be present for my children and grandchildren. I continue to teach because I believe what I have learned is meant to be shared. And I continue to serve because I believe that is part of my calling. I believe the body is a gift. I believe movement is a privilege. I believe breath is life. I believe health is something we practice every day. I believe our difficult experiences can become part of our purpose.

And I believe that whatever gifts God has entrusted to me, my responsibility is to care for them, develop them, and ultimately honor them back to Him through the way I live and serve others.

What I have been given, I want to give back. What I have learned, I want to share. What I have survived, I want to allow it to become compassion.
And the life God has given me, I want to use in service to others. This is my work. This is my service. And this is the mission I continue to live.

— Christina Martini