Ritual Postures
An Ancient Practice for Modern Life
For thousands of years, people across cultures have used posture, rhythm, breath, and ceremony to enter expanded states of awareness. Today, these practices continue through Ritual Postures.
At the CUYA Institute, Ritual Postures are simple body positions inspired by ancient artifacts and indigenous traditions. Combined with rhythmic sound and focused intention, they offer a natural way to explore the connection between body, mind, imagination, and spirit. The Institute traces this work to the pioneering research of anthropologist Dr. Felicitas D. Goodman, who identified these postures as part of a shared human heritage.
Whether approached as a contemplative practice, a form of embodied exploration, or a path toward personal insight, Ritual Postures invite us to remember something fundamental: wisdom is not found only in thought—it also lives within the body.
What Happens During a Ritual Posture Session?
A typical session is simple and accessible:
- Set an intention and create a quiet, focused space.
- Assume a specific seated or standing posture.
- Listen to rhythmic drumming or rattling.
- Remain in the posture for about fifteen minutes.
- Reflect on the experience through journaling or conversation.
Participants often describe experiences of deep calm, creativity, emotional insight, connection with nature, and an expanded sense of awareness. Each journey is unique.
The CUYA™ Institute is an international center for Embodied Human Development, dedicated to exploring how direct experiences of consciousness cultivate the wisdom, compassion, creativity, and resilience needed for human flourishing.
Rooted in the pioneering anthropological research of Dr. Felicitas D. Goodman, the Institute’s work is grounded in Ritual Postures while extending into education, research, contemplative practice, leadership development, cultural dialogue, and initiatives that foster meaningful social impact.
Why Explore Ritual Postures?
Ancient Roots
Ritual Postures draw upon artistic and ceremonial traditions that span continents and thousands of years. They represent one of humanity’s oldest methods for exploring consciousness.
Embodied Experience
This is not a philosophy to believe in—it is a practice to experience. Ritual Postures invite us to discover how the body itself can become a gateway to insight, healing, and transformation.
Open to Everyone
No previous experience is required. People from many backgrounds—artists, educators, therapists, seekers, and the simply curious—participate in this work.
Ritual Postures and Embodied Human Development
The CUYA Institute is part of a growing global movement exploring the relationship between consciousness, well-being, and human flourishing. Ritual Postures are one of the Institute’s primary practices within the broader field of Embodied Human Development: the understanding that transformation happens not only through ideas, but through direct experience.
Begin Your Exploration
New to Ritual Postures?
Explore the resources below to learn more
Introduction to the Practice
Learn about the history, philosophy, and origins of Ritual Postures.
Join a Live Online Session
Experience a guided Ritual Posture session with our international community.
The Research of Dr. Felicitas Goodman
Discover the anthropological foundations of this work.
More on Dr. Goodman
Ritual Posture Benefits
We look with the understanding of subjective well-being (SWB) as an individual’s personal assessment and perception of their overall life satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers about safety, preparation, and what to expect.
Articles and Reflections
Explore writings on consciousness, embodiment, dreams, ritual, and human potential.
Training and Community
Connect with facilitators, courses, and ongoing programs.
“This isn’t a new truth we are discovering—it is an ancient knowing we are remembering.”
It Works
C — Consciousness: The exploration of expanded awareness and the field of presence that emerges when we move beyond the isolated self into deeper connection with life, community, and the greater whole.
U — Unity: The recognition that we are inseparable from the rhythms of nature, the living Earth, and the larger cosmos. Unity is the direct experience of belonging within an interconnected web of relationships.
Y — Your Awakening: The personal journey of embodiment, insight, and transformation. Through direct experience, the body becomes a gateway to wisdom, awakening capacities that often lie dormant beneath everyday awareness.
- A — Ancestral Wisdom: The enduring knowledge carried through generations. Inspired by the pioneering research of Dr. Felicitas D. Goodman, we honor the wisdom encoded within ancient traditions and ritual practices while bringing their relevance into the present moment.
, CUYA INSTITUTE CUYAINSTITUTE.CO
CUYA is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization For over five decades, and has served as the home for the preservation, practice, and exploration of Ritual Body Postures — specific physical positions identified through Goodman’s research into ancient and indigenous art traditions. These postures, combined with rhythmic sound and intentional focus, offer a pathway into expanded states of awareness, personal insight, and transformative experience.
Known historically as Ecstatic Trance Postures, Ritual Postures are part of a worldwide human heritage of sacred practices that explore the relationship between body, consciousness, imagination, and spirit. Through these embodied practices, participants report experiences of deep connection, healing, creativity, and expanded awareness.
Dr. Felicitas Goodman’s groundbreaking work revealed that selected artifacts from ancient cultures could be understood not simply as artistic expressions, but as representations of ritual knowledge — physical forms that preserved instructions for accessing specific states of consciousness.
For generations of CUYA students and practitioners, these Ritual Postures have provided a simple, natural, and drug-free method of exploring what many cultures have recognized as profound states of human experience. Research into these practices has explored physiological changes associated with altered states, including shifts in brainwave activity and the body’s own systems of well-being.
At CUYA, we believe the capacity for expanded awareness is not reserved for a select few. It is part of the deeper potential of being human — an ancient knowing that continues to be remembered through the wisdom of the body.
Join us for a FREE posture session on Zoom!
It is all about the experiences…
Ritual Body Posture Experiences:
“Mystical experiences are achievable via a normal and natural physiological shift, easily accessible to everyone with a healthy nervous system. Such states are our birthright, independent of any belief system or dogma. Mystical states are not for mystics only — they are for all of us, and have been for the entirety of human existence. This our ancestors knew well, and handed us the keys.”
– Laura Lee Robear
“This isn’t a new truth we are discovering – It’s an ancient knowing we are remembering. Across cultures and throughout human history, people have entered sacred spaces of awareness through ritual, movement, sound, breath, and ceremony. They discovered ways of listening beyond the surface of ordinary experience — ways of sensing the deeper patterns that connect all life.” – Paul Robear CUYA INSTITUTE CUYAINSTITUTE.COM
Practitioners enjoy many benefits
- Feelings of strength
- Reduced anxiety and stress
- The opening of inner portals for continued communication with the greater Universe
- Increase in positivity and synchronicities
- Sense of well-being lasting for hours
- Sense of oneness with all things, the Universe
- Sense of acceptance and belonging
- Awakened creativity
- Aid in memory and concentration
- Have positive immune system responses
- Enhance communication – better understanding and relationship with people in your life
- Support peace of mind
- feelings of comfort, and release of anxiety.
- feelings of expansion – greater intuitive insights into ones life.
Medical Disclaimer: The content on this website is intended for informational and educational purposes only, specifically related to the research and work of the Cuyamungue Institute. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or health objectives. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this site.
The authors, presenters, and members of the Board of Directors expressly disclaim any responsibility for adverse effects that may result from the use, practice, or application of any information provided on this website, including participation in our online experiential sessions conducted via Zoom or any other virtual platform.
