CUYA™ Meditation is inspired by the same sources that guided Dr. Felicitas Goodman’s pioneering research—prehistoric art and artifacts depicting body positions used as ritual instructions. These images, etched into stone or shaped from clay, offer us a glimpse into how our ancestors engaged body, spirit, and mystery.

Whereas the Institute’s established posture practice combines body position with rhythmic sound induction to enter trance states and visionary experience, Cuya Meditation stands independently. It is a form of mindfulness meditation rooted in these ancient body positions.  Here, the postures themselves become the meditation—an embodied stillness that invites presence, clarity, and a gentle sense of the sacred.

CUYA™ Embodied Yoga is an integrative approach to practice that brings the essence of yoga into direct relationship with the core mission of the Cuyamungue Institute: the exploration of consciousness, the awakening of ancestral wisdom, and the lived experience of UNITY.

Rather than focusing on form or performance, CUYA Yoga returns practice to its deeper purpose — the cultivation of presence as a state of being. CUYA Yoga is not a replication of traditional systems, but an evolution of practice grounded in direct experience.

Rooted in the teachings of ancestral knowledge around one of the oldest spiritual practices, Ritual Postures, CAWS provides a sacred space for participants to explore advanced techniques in trance states, ritual, and spiritual exploration. Through a combination of experiential learning, guided practices, and community engagement, participants delve into the rich tapestry of esoteric knowledge, uncovering timeless truths that resonate with the human spirit.

Our commitment is to take action by bringing together diverse disciplines, lived experiences, and ways of knowing—honoring science, spirituality, culture, and direct human insight as equally valuable contributors to this unfolding understanding. Through dialogue, practice, research, and shared exploration, we are building an inclusive, participatory process that invites the global community into co-creation. This is not a passive vision, but a living initiative—one that seeks to catalyze awareness into meaningful engagement, and collective insight into transformative impact.

The CUYA™ Changemaker Initiative. We invite you to step into a living field of transformation—where ancient wisdom meets modern changemaking. In a time of ecological strain and cultural fragmentation, the call is not only for bold action, but for deeper awareness. We see changemakers not as a select few, but as a growing movement of individuals committed to both inner and outer evolution. Lasting impact arises from this integration: when insight, presence, and purpose guide the strategies we bring into the world. As perception shifts, so does possibility—opening pathways for solutions rooted in connection, clarity, and shared responsibility.

Our work draws from ancestral knowledge and decades of research and methods that support access to expanded states of consciousness, intuitive intelligence, and visionary insight. These practices help cultivate the inner foundation from which meaningful, sustainable change can emerge. We invite you to join the Changemaker Initiative—to engage, explore, and embody a way of being that contributes to a more connected, conscious, and thriving world.

These images were never hidden. They have long been displayed in museum collections, preserved in art history texts, and even echoed in forms of popular adornment. Yet for generations, they were largely interpreted as aesthetic or symbolic expressions—creative artifacts of indigenous cultures—rather than as functional guides to ritual practice. Goodman was among the first to ask a different question: What if these forms were meant to be enacted?

Through this inquiry, she developed a replicable method by which ordinary individuals could enter a religious altered state of consciousness. This opened the door for a more systematic exploration of such states, bridging phenomenological experience with physiological observation.