Shamanic Yoga Institute

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Shamanic Yoga Institute

Shamans practiced energy medicine for more than five thousand years, transmitting this knowledge from
one generation to the next through an oral tradition.

Join us to carry forward ancient knowledge for the stewardship of self and of the earth. The Medicine Wheel is a process that Shamans have passed on orally since the beginning of time. Informing and enriching, the Medicine Wheel guides participants on personal healing journeys and re-connects them with nature. Shamans practiced energy medicine for more than five thousand years, transmitting this knowledge from one generation to the next through an oral tradition.Healing methods used are a synthesis and interpretation of ancient healing practices. Techniques for healing with spirit and light are my contemporary reinterpretation of ancient healing practices. Shamanism is an ancient tradition that has been passed down orally for centuries. The practice of Shamanism has been around and used since the beginning of time. There use to be a time when people had a strong connection to the the Earth and to the Spirit of the Universe. All were connected and cherished in unity through ceremonies, dance and rituals. Over the last few centuries, humanity has lost this connection that was once a natural rhythm of the world. As time begins to shift and people begin to awaken, the need for this connection is returning in a strong way as people are recognizing that their lives are not only physical but very much spiritual. We are embracing what was once becoming lost which is now returning. Are you ready to reconnect once again with the natural realm because the Earth Mother has so much that she can teach us through her song and dance that we have taken for granted for so long. It is time to protect her beauty and embrace this Unity once again.

01/07/2026

"The first step in a paqo's training is to become an axis into the land, into Pachamama herself. This is what sparks visionary skill." — Don Manuel Quispe

For 25 years, we've been learning this—rooting into Coast Salish territory, building mesas, practicing reciprocity with the land.

And now, a master Paqo from the Qero mountains is coming.

Don Alejandro Apaza Machaca carries an unbroken lineage—his father was a Pampemesayoq, his sister is one of the last living Altomesayoqs. At 16, the mountains called him. For 60 years, he has carried their medicine.

The Andean prophecies speak of the Mastay—the reintegration of the peoples from the four cardinal points. When Don Alejandro learned of the work happening here, he knew: the mountains were calling to each other.

This gathering is that prophecy in motion.

Mountains Calling Mountains
March 6-9, 2026 | Squamish Nation Totem Hall

He carries the medicine of:
• Oracle reading
• Chumpi stone healings and initiations
• Seven Ñustas (rainbow spirit) healings and initiations
• Inca Kallpa meditation
• Energy cleansing
• Sacred land-based ceremony

This is for healers, medicine people, shamanic practitioners, and those who have been called by the mountains. If you've felt the pull toward Andean wisdom—if you've been working with the land and longing for deeper transmission—this is your answer.

Investment: $1,999 | Payment plans available

Space is limited.

Comment REGISTER for details.

By the will of the mountains, wisdom crosses continents.

01/02/2026

There’s still time to start the new year with a new commitment to practice.

Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman begins this Wednesday, January 8—a powerful 6-week mentorship with Dr. Christine Selda. 
If you’ve been waiting for the right time, this is it. 
Six Thursday evenings to sit with a master teacher and let the Sutras open as living practice. Philosophy through the Tantrik lens. Mantra. Satsang. And experiential practices that bring these teachings into your body, your breath, your daily life. 
Registration closes tomorrow (end of day). 
If you’ve been feeling the call, payment plans are available. Don’t let that be the barrier. 
Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman 6-Week Virtual Mentorship with Dr. Christine Selda
Thursdays 5-7 PM PST:
 January 8 | January 22 | February 5 February 19 | February 26 | March 19
Virtual via Zoom | Recordings provided 
Comment MENTORSHIP to receive the code to secure your space with January’s installment.

12/29/2025

In many traditions, the Yoga Sutras have been interpreted as a path away from the body—a spiritual ladder we’re meant to climb to reach some distant enlightenment.

But through the Tantrik lens, they reveal something else entirely.

They’re not a rejection of your humanity. They’re a radical affirmation of it. An invitation to stop striving toward some future perfection and start inhabiting the fullness of who you already are.

This January, Dr. Christine Selda is offering Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman—a rare 6-week mentorship where we’ll sit together in intimate circle and let these ancient teachings open as living practice.

Six Thursday evenings of philosophy, mantra, satsang, and experiential practice.

We’ll explore what becomes possible when you stop trying to transcend and start remembering what you’re capable of.

Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman 6-Week Virtual Mentorship with Dr. Christine Selda

Comment MENTORSHIP for registration details.

We begin January 8.
 

12/28/2025

I am grateful for the pause. 
I love creation for our community—the artistry of it, finding the words and images that attempt to capture the essence of the work. I love the conversations and connections that are birthed from this common language. 
But this pause for presence over the holidays has been nourishing.

There has been a real immersion into family, in its many forms. We have played, and laughed. We have cried for those who have passed, held one another for those who are battling illness. We have been generous with one another, and to those in need in our community.

For me personally, there has been great healing in the repair of some of my most meaningful relationships, and the forging of new and deeper bonds with those who now come to sit at our tables. 
And yesterday, I found myself among the trees with these two. Immersed in the slow pace of the day. 
I am grateful for the space—to stop, to feel, to see where the light leads next.

12/19/2025

In two days, we reach the longest night—the moment when darkness stops advancing and light begins its slow return. 
“It happens in a moment—
this tiny, imperceptible turning
when all at once the night
ceases its imperial advance
and the next morning promises
to dawn just a sigh earlier
than the one before.

The world still goes on dying
around it, and trying to keep itself alive.
This is not yet the spring.

But huddled in their dens,
their nests, their thick forest groves,
the creatures of the world
put all their wordless faith in this
quiet shift, dreaming songs of hope
that maybe, even now,
it’s already happened.”

James A. Pearson

12/17/2025

Come sing with us this Saturday! We just looove to sing in community and share medicine songs from all over the world. All voices welcome! No need for perfection, just courage and spirit. We sing for the All not for performance. I love Sanskrit mantras/ medicine songs and Icaros in Quetchua. This video has a sruti box- the instrument, I brought back from India last year. The icaro- medicine song- is from Kat Courtney who shared this from a download she received in ceremony- this is a soul retrieval song. I share this today to invite you to come and share a special song that you carry and bring it to circle this Saturday as your solstice gift to the earth, cosmos and community. We love you so and will sing to you even if you can’t make it this solstice season in person. Sing your songs this season and remember delight and awe is your vehicle for liberation- Delight is the Tantrik word of the week. Enjoy sweet ones, I am sending all my sadhana to your happiness being realized now❤️🌈💚🎄love always, Chandika

12/15/2025

In 2012, I took a course called Patañjali the Shaman.

I remember vividly the experience of coming to sit with Christine for the first time. Over the next few months, I was immersed into the philosophy of yoga in a way I didn’t know was possible. It took me on the land, to the water, to ceremonies of fire.

It wasn’t just study. It was transmission.

Christine opened the Yoga Sutras—not as concepts to master, but as living practice. As doorways into direct experience. As medicine.

It was in this course that I unknowingly entered a community that would soon hold me and my family. It was there I received a journey that changed the trajectory of my life, and set me on my medicine path.

A master teacher doesn’t just explain a text. They open it. They make it breathe.

This January, Christine is offering an evolved version of this mentorship—Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman.

Six Thursday evenings of philosophy, mantra, satsang, and experiential practice.

Ta**ra of the Yoga Sutras: Patañjali the Shaman
6-Week Virtual Mentorship with Dr. Christine Selda

Thursdays 5-7 PM PST:
January 8 | January 22 | February 5
February 19 | February 26 | March 19

No prior knowledge required. Just sincerity.

Comment MENTORSHIP for registration details.

YogaPhilosophy Transformation

12/09/2025

Registration is now open!
 Master Paqo Don Alejandro Apaza Machaca is coming to Squamish Territory for the first time. 
Don Alejandro comes from the Kiko community in the Qero Nation—the last Inca town in Cusco, living at 4,600 meters above sea level. His family lineage has passed down shamanic practices for centuries. At 16, the spiritual world chose him to walk this path. He has carried this medicine for 60 years. 
His mission, in his own words: “It is time to pass on the wisdom and empower the West to work together as brothers and sisters to help our Mother Earth.”
 And now, he comes here.
 This is our vibrant community of medicine carriers gathering to learn from a master—deepening our understanding of the teachings, honouring the lineages we’ve been practicing for over 25 years, and living ayni in action. 
Mountains Calling Mountains March 6-9, 2026 | Squamish Nation Totem Hall
 Four days of sacred transmission  Your investment directly supports Don Alejandro, the Inca Medicine School in Peru, and honours sacred reciprocity with the wisdom keepers who have given us so much.
 More than 50% of our spots have been filled. Space is limited. 
Investment: $1,999 CAD $500 deposit secures your place today 
Comment REGISTER below for the registration link and full details.
 By the will of the mountains, wisdom crosses continents.

12/06/2025

What does it mean to be an earthkeeper?

It means listening.

The light carriers, medicine people, mystics, and artists who find their way into our community self-select as stewards of the more-than-human world.

They yearn—consciously or unconsciously—to experience an intimacy with the ancient heart of the sacred. One that sings of our own wilderness.

The main initiation of Mountain Shamanism is the Pampamesayoq Rite—opening apprentices to the voices of the Earth itself. To become ceremonialists. Keepers of earth-based rituals and knowledge. Healers who know the natural world as medicine.

When we listen, she teaches.

She shares with us the greatest lessons: love and belonging, the miraculousness of life and death and rebirth, patient forgiveness.

To be an earthkeeper is to put love into action—not as transaction, but as tending. It is from her that I have learned that love is not something to be bartered with.

12/03/2025

Solstice Holiday Party with SYI🌟🌟🌟join us December 20, 6:30-9pm Squamish United Church- Everyone is Welcome- all ages, family friendly! Let’s be in sacred community and build our spiritual family this Solstice. We will hold sacred space for despacho ceremony for all to give back to the earth and mountains with gratitude, sing and share with mama cacao, Kirtan and feed each other with a community potluck. Comment Song Circle to register- funds go towards space rental and cacao and despacho costs. By donation, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Registration helps us to know how much cacao and despacho to prepare so please pre register if you can. Most importantly Come!!!

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Even if you have broken your vows a thousand times, come, come again come!!! -Rumí

Comment: Song Circle

Address

Squamish, BC

Website

http://www.shamanicyoga.ca/

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