We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maki Kawakita a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Maki, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
There are two defining moments that have shaped my professional life — both rooted in passion, courage, and reinvention.
Defining Moment #1 — Rising in photography, and learning to let go
I came to the United States from Japan with a dream: to become a photographer in New York City, just like the artist Andy Warhol I admired. While I was still a graduate student, American Photo magazine named me an “up-and-coming photographer.” A gallery owner in Paris read that article and invited me to exhibit my work internationally — before I had even graduated.
That moment changed everything. I built a successful career in New York: traveling the world, working on exciting and high-pressure assignments, photographed high profile figures such as Beyonce and Rihanna, and living fully in my artistic purpose.
But the pace eventually caught up with me. My health declined — especially my reproductive health — and I turned to yoga simply to survive the stress. Around that time, I met my ex-husband. We lived, worked, and dreamed across multiple countries. Despite endometriosis and many medical challenges, IVF gave us the greatest miracle of my life: my daughter.
When our marriage came to an end, I made the hardest choice — to leave everything behind, return to Japan with 2 suitcases, and rebuild life from scratch as a single mother. It was a moment of grief… and profound humility. And in that emptiness, a new calling was waiting.
Defining Moment #2 — When I felt like yoga called my name
While still working as a photographer and teaching online for U.S. universities, I began offering one yoga class a week — simply because yoga had healed me, and I wanted to share that.
The first week, a few people came.
The second week, more came.
Soon, classes were full — and within a year, I opened my own studio. I had promised myself: If I reach 100 students, I will take the leap. And I did.
It felt as if yoga and the community, had chosen me.
Opportunities poured in: interviews, newspaper features, posters all over in Tokyo subways. I felt supported by something bigger than myself.
Today, I am in San Diego growing a private therapeutic yoga studio and wellness salon. My career has evolved from capturing images of people… to truly seeing them. From shaping aesthetics… to transforming lives from the inside out.
What I Learned
Every twist, every success, every heartbreak, every moment of fear, has given me a deeper ability to understand people. Yoga and photography both taught me this truth:
“The body remembers everything…joy, trauma, love, loss. Healing begins when someone finally feels seen.”
That is the purpose I carry into education, mentoring, and leadership today:
to inspire, to support, and to help others rise into their own transformation — just as I did, again and again.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
What I Do Now & What Sets My Work Apart
Today, I run MAKI ALIGN, a Japanese Zen Therapeutic Yoga & Holistic Alignment Studio in San Diego. I work with executives, professionals, athletes, dancers, and individuals of all genders who are ready to reclaim their health and vitality — especially those struggling with lower back and pelvis pain, sciatica and hip misalignment, posture and leg alignment, stress, burnout, sleep issues, neck and shoulder tension, and hormone-related challenges such as PMS and menopause. My clients come to me because they want more than temporary relief — they want lasting alignment, balance, and resilience, both physically and mentally.
My Unique Method
My work is grounded in mind–body integration. I help clients restore harmony where the body has compensated, collapsed, or held emotional tension for years. I specialize in pelvis and posture alignment, because when the foundation of the body is supported, the entire system, from spine to nervous system, functions optimally.
Here’s the integrated foundation of my method:
☑ Pelvic & Spinal Restoration Expertise
I am certified in Pelviswork® (1st Degree) and Wellness Care Pelvic Adjustment Yoga, and my practice is deeply informed by my own experiences with endometriosis, IVF, and pelvic health. I help clients address:
Lower back and SI joint pain
Pelvic floor dysfunction (both hypertonicity and weakness)
Leg, hip, and gait misalignments
Reconnection of shoulder and pelvis alignment
When the pelvis is aligned, posture improves, movement becomes effortless, and confidence naturally returns.
☑ Mind–Body Integration Rooted in Yoga & Anatomy
I am an E-RYT500 certified Yoga Alliance teacher — a senior-level credential of advanced training, teaching experience, and expertise in anatomy, alignment, and meditation. I am also a Lead Trainer for RYT200, and trained in Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains® Structure & Function, a method that explains how fascia and connective tissues store tension, stress, trauma, and memory.
Through breathwork, neuromuscular retraining, and nervous system regulation, clients release long-held patterns — sometimes carried for decades — and reconnect with ease, clarity, and grounded presence.
☑ Holistic Healing Through Ayurveda
As an AAPNA 500hr Ayurveda Health Counselor, I address root causes of imbalance through digestion, lifestyle, and personalized nutrition. Using the principle of “You Are What You Eat,” I help clients:
Restore hormonal balance
Reduce inflammation
Improve energy and vitality
By integrating alignment, mind-body awareness, and digestion, healing becomes natural, sustainable, and deeply transformative.
☑ Precision Alignment from an Artist’s Eye
With a fine art background in drawing, painting, and photography, I am trained to see subtle asymmetries, postural habits, and compensations others often miss. I observe the body the way a photographer sees the truth in a subject’s eyes — noticing what the mind may overlook. Alignment begins with truly seeing the client.
☑ Japanese Zen Presence & Compassion
Born and raised in a traditional Japanese household, and trained further in India in yoga, pranayama, meditation, and spiritual philosophy, I bring a grounded, calm, and intuitive presence to each session. Clients feel safe to release tension and trust the process, whether it’s physical, emotional, or energetic.
A Bridge to My Defining Moments
Every part of my journey — from building a successful photography career in New York, traveling the world, and navigating personal health challenges, to teaching yoga and opening my studio — has shaped how I connect with clients. These experiences allow me to meet people where they are and guide them toward their best selves with empathy, insight, and precision.
What I’m Most Proud Of / What I Want Clients to Know
At MAKI ALIGN, it’s not just about relieving pain or improving posture — though clients experience profound results in these areas. It’s about restoring alignment to the whole system: muscles, fascia, pelvis, breath, nervous system, and emotional patterns.
Clients leave feeling balanced, confident, and grounded. They reconnect with their body’s wisdom, learn to move with freedom, and cultivate resilience that carries into every aspect of their life — from work to relationships, sleep to focus, and energy to emotional clarity.
My approach is warm, precise, and deeply personal. I combine the science of anatomy, the art of observation, and centuries-old Eastern wisdom to create an experience that is unique, integrative, and transformative.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
While formal training and certifications are essential, the single most powerful skill I’ve developed — one that cannot be learned in a classroom — is the ability to truly connect with people on a deep human level.
I cultivated this skill through a life of extraordinary contrasts: living and traveling across the world, from New York City to Turkey, Sudan, India, Bangladesh, and Paraguay. In New York, I worked alongside high-profile artists, musicians, and executives who moved the world with their vision and creativity. Yet in small villages and urban streets abroad, I met people whose lives were defined not by fame or fortune, but by resilience, humility, and unwavering humanity.
I remember a young woman from Eritrea, working as a maid in Sudan while her baby was just five months old. She slept in the backyard in the sweltering heat because there was no air conditioning. Despite the weight of separation from her family and the hardships she faced daily, she greeted life with a warmth and optimism that radiated from her very being. In a village in India, a humble chef stretched every rupee to support his family and educate his children, yet he welcomed me into his home and taught me how to make authentic masala chai from scratch — a small, everyday ritual full of care and love. In Bangladesh, villagers organized after-school gatherings so children could continue to learn and play together. In Paraguay, a family offered me fresh goat milk straight from their farm. In the mountains of Turkey, a Kurdish women’s group carefully milled their own grain, grew tomatoes to make sauce, raised cows to make cheese, and shared the fruits of their labor with me — all with generosity, dignity, and joy.
What touched me most deeply about all of these people — regardless of social status, wealth, or circumstance — was a shared humanity. They didn’t seek recognition, yet they embodied patience, care, and generosity. Observing and living alongside them gave me an unparalleled understanding of the human spirit: how people carry their struggles, how they nurture potential in themselves and others, and how they respond to compassion and trust. To this day, I remain in touch with many of these individuals, and I know they will welcome me warmly whenever I return to their communities.
These experiences — moments of connection, humility, and shared humanity — have given me the gift of understanding individuals on a deep level. They have taught me how to listen, observe, and respond to the subtle patterns of human experience, whether someone is rich or poor, young or old, male or female. This is the foundation for how I relate to and serve people in all areas of my life.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
After returning to Japan with almost everything from scratch, I faced immense pressure on my shoulders. I was raising a three-year-old daughter alone, financing life on my own, and starting a yoga career from nothing. I had let go of career prestige, comfort, and the life I had built, stepping into complete uncertainty. Every day felt like a challenge: creating stability for my daughter, rebuilding my work, and discovering who I was outside the life I had known.
Through this experience, I learned a powerful lesson: the confidence to trust who I am. I realized I do not have to follow the same path as others or adhere to societal expectations. There are stereotypes that pressure people to stay in marriage or conform to a particular mold — I had brief marriages with two other men before, and each taught me more about myself. What mattered most was learning to walk confidently on my own path, guided by my beliefs and inner guidance.
Yoga became my anchor. In my daily practice, I chant OM, which represents AUM — the cosmic sound from which the universe was created. A stands for creation, U for preservation, and M for destruction. This teaching resonated deeply with me: in life, everything has its own cycle of creation, preservation, and letting go. I learned not to fear destroying old, harmful patterns so that I could create a better future — for myself and my daughter.
One of the things I realized I had missed the most in marriage was the simple, precious gold of sharing mundane daily life with someone — the little moments of laughter, conversation, and connection that make life feel rich and alive. Recognizing this helped me appreciate deeply what is meaningful in relationships, even as I embraced my independence.
Yoga, meditation, and self-reflection helped me cultivate deep self-love and acceptance, teaching me to honor who I am. Meditation, which I have practiced twice daily for decades, strengthened my ability to listen to my inner voice, manifest intentions, and remain optimistic, no matter the circumstances.
This life pivot — born from loss, challenge, and uncertainty — became the foundation for everything I do today. It gave me the courage to take risks, embrace opportunities, and approach my work with compassion, clarity, and a deep understanding of human potential. It also shaped the way I guide my clients: just as I learned to honor my body, mind, and inner guidance, I help others reconnect with themselves, release what no longer serves them, and rebuild confidence and balance in their own lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://makialign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makialign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makialign
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/maki-align-san-diego
- Other: www.makiphoto.com
https://paramanandayoga.link
