The Return to Hawaii!
I will be moving back to Oahu, Hawaii toward the end of the year (2026). Not only has Oahu and Maui felt like home for me after spending 6 years there previously, the islands give me a number of advantages over moving back to the mainland. Proximity to my family in Thailand is the main advantage, but there are a handful more. Oahu just makes sense for many reasons, some of which I’ll touch on below.
I’ll likely stay in Waikiki for a month or so while seeking a full-time marketing manager position in hospitality. I bring more than 20 years of marketing experience, with a broad range of skills relevant to the ongoing needs of Hawaii’s resorts.
I will start general meditation sessions in Kapiolani Park or the beach initially and add Jhana coaching and private Jhana meditation training sessions as I find a suitable location.
The California Connection
Most readers of Jhana8 and my meditation books come from the USA, Singapore, and India. Californians make up around 85% of my readers, coaching students, and online retreat participants. Many of you have expressed interest in coming to Thailand for retreats and coaching, but I understand that the distance is a significant obstacle.
Even scheduling online retreats over several days has been a challenge with the time differences. Being back in the USA will make it much easier to find times that work for you.
For in-person retreats and coaching, a direct flight from California to Hawaii—around five and a half hours—is a much easier journey than 21+ hours and multiple flights to Thailand.
If you happen to live in Hawaii or will be visiting in November and you’re a reader of this site or my books, please feel free to say ‘aloha’! I last lived in the islands (Oahu and Maui) in 2004 and though I have a couple of friends still there, I’m looking forward to meeting new friends.
If you have resources or connections on Oahu or might know a place I could stay – a room in a house or an apartment – please let me know. Initially I’ll be trying to save money on housing, so something around $1200-1400/mth would be preferable.
Core Breath Meditation Sessions
I’m hoping to hold sessions at the beach as it would keep down costs for everyone and it’s just a much nicer atmosphere outside. I have some mosquito concerns but we’ll see how that goes. Mobile mozzy nets may be necessary!
Core breath meditation sessions will focus on what is necessary to slow the mind down and begin creating a place of refuge from stress and anxiety rather than being a source of it.
Advanced Concentration Sessions
It takes some real effort and a lot of letting go to be able to fully immerse yourself in the game of focusing on the tiny feeling of breath in the nose. What about distractions? What about focusing on other sensations? How does one make progress and what does progress look like?
We cover this in the Core Concentration sessions.
Jhana Coaching and Retreats
Jhana training will be done in private sessions so we can comprehensively cover all the variables involved. It may take some time to identify locations for these short intensive retreats.
If you know of any suitable locations where we could hold 2-3 day retreats in a quiet and nature-based location, please reach out. I’d love to hear about it.
Interested in joining Vern for meditation in Hawaii? Leave your details below to receive updates as plans take shape. Questions welcome!