Banyen Books & Sound converses with Robert Yelton of the Squamish Nation and Yogacharini Maitreyi who comes from the tantric-yoga culture of South India on Art, Earth, Spirit: Nature & Spirituality in Indigenous & Yogic Culture.

Yogacharini Maitreyi is an international master teacher, practical mystic and founder of Arkaya Awareness Centre and Arkaya Foundation. For the last 25 years she has been dedicated to  sharing and teaching expansive life principles. She was born and raised in India where she was immersed in the yogic life for over four decades, through her grandfather and gurus. She studied in the Shivananda and then the Ananda ashram for many years. Through her guidance, you will experience lightness, restfulness and a deeper connection to self. She shares from her life experience and asks people to do the same - to start where they are. Since 1997 in India,  Maitreyi has been given titles: Yoga Chemmal (expert), Yoga Shiromani (gem), and Yoga Acharini (guide). In 2007 she was one of the youngest to be invited to the Advisory Board of the World Yoga Council, in Europe. She has shared the deeper dimensions of yoga, self management and sattvic tantra worldwide. This includes seeing and shifting within ourselves, deep rooted conditioning that is divisive, exploitative, colonial or disrespectful. A compassionate holistic coach, her sessions include online energy assessments to guide one into one’s own innate balance. Arkaya Coaching & Healing: https://www.arkaya.net/coaching-healingMaitreyi trains teachers in a two-year 500-hour online self-awareness program, mentoring them in the Culture of Yoga: https://www.arkaya.net/teacher-training 

Robert Yelton is a Squamish Nation carver and elder statesman. He carved the first and only Squamish Nation totem in Stanley Park which is on the traditional Squamish territory. He learned to mix paints for his grandmother when he was eight years old and carve when he was eleven years old. Through the many years of trials and tribulations and feeling like an outsider in his own land, it was his carving that became a tool for his spiritual awakening and ongoing connection. He is also a retired drug and alcohol counsellor and one of the founding members of NNADAP. He has supported many youth in moving through their trauma by showing them the way of integrity, kindness, and love. He has also given them a reality check by taking them to prisons to see where they could end up if they don’t course correct at an early age. He is regularly called in as a guest speaker at various organizations, like UBC, to give talks on Indigenous culture, carving, and spirituality. He also speaks about the commonalities and the differences in culture and tradition between the variety of Indigenous nations throughout Turtle Island (North America). On Robert’s totem in Stanley Park, his mother is represented at the base of the totem. The most important person is usually represented at the base of the totem.