Makana Risser Chai

R. Makana Risser Chai (born Rita M. Risser April 15, 1953) is a researcher and author of two books on Hawaiian massage or lomilomi.

Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: Traditions of Hawaiian Massage and Healing (Bishop Museum Press, 2005) is the first book on lomilomi to be published by a major publisher. It is a documentary history compiling published accounts of lomilomi since 1779, and unpublished oral histories from native healers collected by the Bishop Museum and state archives from 1867 to the 1930s.

Hawaiian Massage Lomilomi: Sacred Touch of Aloha (Hawaiian Insights, 2007) is a photographic book with more than 100 pictures of historic and contemporary practitioners and inspirational quotes about the elements of lomilomi including love of the land, prayer, breath, forgiveness (ho'oponopono), and loving touch. The photographer is Emmy Award-winner John C. Kalani Zak.

Chai is the co-author, with kumu or teacher Dane Kaohelani Silva, of the chapter on lomilomi from the Mosby book, Massage Modalities (Elsevier Press, 2008).

A licensed massage therapist, Chai speaks about traditional Hawaiian perspectives on life balance and change for business groups, and connects spas with native practitioners.

She graduated from the University of California Berkeley, AB with honors, 1975, and Juris Doctor, 1978. From 1980 to 1990 she was the sole proprietor of Employment Rights Attorneys in San Jose, California, and from 1990 to 2004 the CEO of the Silicon Valley training company, Fair Measures.