Paul Robear is President and Executive Director of the CUYA Institute (formerly named the Cuyamungue Institute), the nonprofit organization founded by anthropologist Dr. Felicitas Goodman to preserve, research, and share the practice of Ritual Body Postures—an ancient cross-cultural method for accessing expanded states of consciousness through the wisdom of the body.
Paul’s involvement with the Institute began in the early 1990s. After joining the Board of Directors in 2011, he was elected President and has since helped guide the organization through a period of growth, transformation, and international outreach. Working alongside his wife and collaborator, Laura Lee Robear, he has expanded educational programs, developed facilitator trainings, fostered research initiatives, and helped build a global community dedicated to the exploration of consciousness, embodied spirituality, and ancestral wisdom.
A lifelong seeker of meaning and direct experience, Paul’s journey began with a profound spiritual awakening at age eighteen that set him on a path of inquiry into mysticism, meditation, healing, and human potential. Over the decades, his studies and travels have taken him, along with wife Laura Lee, to sacred sites around the world—from the temples of Egypt and the megalithic sanctuaries of Malta to Paleolithic cave sites in France, the pyramids of Mexico, and the ancient earthworks of North America. These experiences have deepened his appreciation for humanity’s shared spiritual heritage and the enduring wisdom preserved within traditional cultures.
As a teacher, writer, and presenter, Paul is particularly interested in the relationship between embodied practice, altered states of consciousness, ancestral knowledge, and the human search for meaning. His work explores how ancient methods of direct experience can help modern individuals reconnect with their bodies, cultivate deeper awareness, and discover a sense of belonging within the larger web of life.
Prior to his leadership with the Institute, Paul co-founded Seven Directions Media, where he helped produce and syndicate the nationally recognized Laura Lee Show, featuring conversations with leading voices in holistic health, spirituality, consciousness studies, and ancient wisdom traditions. His background in publishing, media, and communications contributed to the distribution of more than 200,000 books, audio programs, and educational resources worldwide.
Paul believes that humanity is entering a time that calls for both ancient wisdom and new ways of understanding consciousness. Through his teaching, writing, and leadership, he encourages others to become active participants in their own journey of discovery, embracing direct experience as a pathway to personal transformation, collective healing, and spiritual renewal.
Social Media
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Academia.edu
YouTube Channel
Podcasts
Professional Affiliations
- SAA; Society for American Archaeology
- SAC: Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness
- AAA: American Anthropological Association (AAA)
- ISARS: International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism
- NAISA: Native American and Indigenous Studies Association
Other mentors and influences
Besides the blessing of working with Dr. Goodman, the radio show provided access to many scholars, teachers, and people of medicine. Paul had the gift of directly spending time, interviewing and/or studying with these amazing people:
Vine Deloria Jr. – one of the best-known American Indian activists of the 20th century. A member of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, Deloria came from a family of prominent American Indians. Deloria worked in the mid 1960s for the National Congress of American Indians and brought the organization through a very rough time in its history. After becoming a national figure himself with the publication of his book “Custer Died for your Sins: An Indian Manifesto” in 1969, Deloria continued his education with a law degree and expanded his writings to more than two dozen books before his death. Deloria culminated his professional life as a professor working at both Arizona State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Am amazing strong and fun presence. Since his death, Paul and Laura Lee have attended several “Vine Deloria Symposiums” held yearly at the Northwest Indian College located Located on the Lummi Indian Reservation.
Ipupiara – When Dr. Bernardo Peixoto was born into his mother’s tribe, the Uru-e-wau-wau numbered 2,400. Today 43 members are left. Tribal Elders gave him the Shamanic name “Ipupiara” (Ipu for short) and a long apprenticeship as shaman and healer. They then encouraged Ipu to learn the ways of the developed world. Ipu earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology and Biology and is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and eight indigenous dialects. Ipu is a consultant to the Smithsonian Institute and National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and is skilled in the sacred ceremonies and traditional healing practices of several rainforest cultures.
Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, is an Eskimo-Kalaallit teacher whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland [[Inuit|Inuk]. His engagement for the Environment and Indigenous issues brought him to more than 60 countries in the world. He has represented the Arctic peoples in the United Nations General Assembly, and frequently speaks before governments and universities. Angaangaq was raised in a remote village in Greenland. “ The greatest distance in the existence of man is not from here to there, nor there to here. Nay, the greatest distance in the existence of man is from his mind to his heart. Unless he conquers this distance, he can never learn to soar like an eagle and realize the immensity within.”
Nadyezdeh “Nadia” Duvan of Siberia (Ulchi Shamanism.) Nadia Duvan, last shaman of the Ulchi people of Siberia. The Shamanic traditions of the Ulchi people date back to ancient neolithic times from the Amur River Region of Southeastern Siberia. Brought to the U.S. by Jan Van Ysslestyne – Ms. Van Ysslestyne is the only native speaker of the Ulchi language and has been hosting visits from the last remaining shamans since 1994 and is dedicated in preserving the teachings and culture of these unique peoples. Misha’s traditional Ulchi culture was based largely on hunting. These Siberians lived close to nature, their survival depending upon their knowledge of, and relationship with, all of its aspects. Their personal stories are full of the details of nature. They involve bears, tigers, the forest, the sea, seal hunting, fishing, snowstorms, dog sleds, cold winds, and frigid temperatures.
Contact Paul at: paulrobear@cuyamungueinstitute.com
