August 15, 2025 • 55 mins
Francisco Morales is a distinguished healing artist with deep roots in the martial arts, yoga, and Thai massage disciplines. Originally from Peru, he spent his formative years along the Peruvian coast before moving to Washington D.C. at eight. Francisco has lived and trained worldwide, amassing a wealth of experience in various healing arts, such as capoeira, jiu-jitsu, acro yoga, and more. He pioneered Synergy Yoga, a collaborative movement melding elements of therapeutic partner yoga, Thai massage, and circular movement arts. Francisco is also heavily involved in community and youth empowerment through his NGO, Synergy Rising, working to maintain cultural arts and traditions in Peru and beyond.
Visit him at https://synergy.yoga/
Key Takeaways:
- Francisco Morales embodies a deep connection to Peru's landscapes and culture, significantly shaping his journey in healing arts.
- Through Synergy Yoga and Synergy Rising NGO, Francisco emphasizes community, integration of traditional arts, and youth empowerment, particularly in Peru.
- His insights into the synergy between yoga, martial arts, and healing touch underscore the essential role of intention, movement, and breath.
- Francisco’s mentoring initiatives aim to preserve cultural heritage and provide pathways for youth, fostering personal growth and economic opportunity.
- The importance of maintaining mental health, groundedness, and the distinct connection between nature, community, and individual well-being are focal points in Francisco's philosophy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Todd McLaughlin (00:33):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy
you are here. My goal with thischannel is to bring
inspirational speakers to themic in the field of yoga,
massage, bodywork and beyond.
Follow us at @nativeyoga andcheck us out at
nativeyogacenter.com. All right,let's begin.
(01:03):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast.
I am absolutely thrilled tobring to you this week's guest
is Francisco Morales, Francisco.
You can find him on his website,synergy.yoga, and you can also,
you know, all the links for thisare in the description, and he's
got multiple handles on IG. Thetwo I'm going to share right now
(01:26):
is at @Synergy.yoga. And alsoanother one that I find really
fascinating that he has going iscalled @synergyrisingNGO, which
is a nonprofit that his hisgroup has put together to help
people in Peru work with him, inalongside his work that he does
(01:47):
with hosting retreats at Machu,Picchu retreats in Kenya,
Africa, with his friend Salimand wow, there's just so much
information that Franciscoshares here. He has a really
diverse background, ranging froma wide angled experience with
martial arts in capoeira, yogapractice with Dharma Mittra in
New York, Thai massage study inCanada with Kam Thai Chow being
(02:10):
with the founder of acroyoga,Jason Neimer, and Jenny Sauer
Kline Back in the day when thatbegan in San Francisco. He's
been all over the world,learning, studying and
practicing. I think you're gonnabe fascinated and enamored with
what Francisco is up to. Sodefinitely give him a follow and
(02:30):
send us a message if you enjoythis episode, his nonprofit
sounds really beneficial andhelpful for the local people of
Peru. So if you feel inclined toshare and help and maybe even go
visit one day, let us know. Allright, let's get started. I'm so
happy I have a chance to meetand speak with Francisco
(02:51):
Morales. Francisco. Thank you somuch for joining me today.
Welcome to the show. Can youtell me where you are joining me
from.
Francisco Morales (03:04):
Thank you first of all for having me. It's
a pleasure to be here and get toknow a little bit more about
what you're doing as well. I'min Urubamba, the secret valley
of Peru in the Andes. And yeah,it's a beautiful place up here,
largest variety of microclimates in the world. So we get
a lot of weather patterns,amazing. How are you originally
(03:27):
from Peru? Yeah, I was born inPeru, and I grew up in the coast
of Peru, and I immigrated toWashington, DC when I was eight.
Nice, nice. And now, do youbalance life between us and Peru
primarily?
Todd McLaughlin (03:48):
Do you have another living location? Or do
you stay full time Peru? Or doyou? Do you mostly reside in us?
How do you split your time?
Unknown (03:56):
No, I'm mostly in Peru and in the high Andes. I just
bought some land, building ahouse and a dojo martial arts
center for for the youth of thearea in Urubamba and but I go to
this I have a lot of friends inthe States, and I go there quite
often to teach and and also tovisit friends and family
Todd McLaughlin (04:19):
cool Francisco.
I mean, I really enjoyedstudying up and learning about
some of the influences thatyou've had throughout your life
between martial arts, yoga, Thaimassage, acro yoga. I even heard
before we started, you mentionedcapoeira, which obviously falls
in the martial arts War world.
(04:39):
But we can see how all thesedifferent arts blend together.
How has growing up in Peruinfluenced you in your healing
arts, or as a healing artist?
Yeah,
Unknown (04:51):
I mean, I think, how has it influenced I think being
in the coast, especially being akid in the coast of Peru, um.
Um, you know, I was living inWashington, DC, but I was the
kind of fundamental years of myupbringing, from one to eight
were in Peru, and it's an OceanCity. You know, a lot of people
(05:15):
like when it's when it'ssummertime and beach time, the
city is empty, and it's a hugecity, especially back then, the
rhythm was a lot slower. But,you know, just observing the sea
growing up, fishing surfingalways gives you some
perspective and helps slowthings down. So I think it
really kind of gave me thatinfluence of water in my life,
(05:39):
and the ocean and like, amassive body of ocean.
Todd McLaughlin (05:43):
Amazing. Are you? I'm guessing you've surfed
at Chicama chicamas?
Unknown (05:50):
Chicama Yeah, the longest left yeah in the world.
Yeah. I have gone there once.
And it's quite a enduringbecause it's a a lot of
paddling.
Todd McLaughlin (06:04):
Yeah, the longest left means the longest
paddle ever, too.
Unknown (06:09):
But it's, it's really beautiful, especially the
northern coast of Peru. Theocean has a lot of life, you
know, as you get closer to theGalapagos, amazing.
Todd McLaughlin (06:21):
Can you tell me a little bit about your
background in martial arts andwhat modalities you've studied
and and what role yourexperience with martial arts has
played in your journey in life?
Unknown (06:35):
Yeah, I think so. I studied capoeira, Capoeira
Angola. I mean, I think yoga isa martial art as well. It's just
a martial art that's, in a way,kind of like a with yourself,
and Thai massages as well. Youknow, it's a martial art that
removes pain from the body. Ialso studied jiu jitsu with some
(06:59):
friends as well at a buddy ofmine school, but to me, it's
given me discipline helps you,gives you knowledge of self and
to take care of your temple. Ithink a lot of these martial
arts emphasize circular movementand moving with the best
intention for yourself and thosearound you and being mindful,
(07:24):
right?
Todd McLaughlin (07:26):
Yeah, that's cool, man. Well, I mean, I saw
that you've studied in like,multiple countries around the
world, where, when did yourtravel lust start to develop? I
can imagine having the influenceof growing up in Peru and then
moving to states. And then wherewas your first like, big travel
(07:47):
by yourself, where you went offon your own and started to
explore?
Unknown (07:55):
I think that. So, yeah, I was consistently going back
and forth between Washington, DCarea and Peru. And I think after
university, or middle ofuniversity, I think it was a
sophomore year summer, I wantedto see the United States and
(08:15):
also make money to pay forschool. So I drove from Miami. I
went to university in Miami. Idrove from Miami to Seattle, and
just got different jobs alongthe way. And then I got a one
way flight to Anchorage andworked with the salmon industry
(08:38):
for a couple of months. So thatwas my first kind of so sojourn.
You could say,
Todd McLaughlin (08:43):
yeah, yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what was
it like working in the salmonindustry in Alaska? I mean, you
watch these shows on TV withthese guys out on boats, like,
in freezing cold, like, I mean,I know it's a rugged job. Did
was it Yes? Like, you're like,that's not a hard question to
answer. Yeah, 100%
Unknown (09:05):
you know, I was like, I was a kid who didn't have any
cash. I wanted to make somemoney, and it seemed like a good
way to make money and get toknow a place that I had always
wanted to see, because it's socontrasting from Peru and DC,
you know, Alaska, yeah, you knowit's wild and, you know, you
(09:25):
picture snow and all thesethings, obviously not in the
summer, but,
Todd McLaughlin (09:28):
yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what are some
of the universal threads thatyou found in the healing
practices across these differentcultures that you've studied
within
Unknown (09:40):
Um, as far as, like, universal threads, like, that's
actually a really good question.
Um, something that's unique,that both, like my Capoeira
master and my Thai massageteacher communicated were to
find your own way within themartial art. I. And, like I
said, I consider Thai massage,and, you know, a martial art,
(10:02):
just like Capoeira and jiu jitsuand other martial arts, um, and
circular movement, you know,like even, like in in Thai
massage, we we do whirlpools.
Even when you're massaging thejaw, you're moving the hips to
open up the connection of thefemur and the hip joint as well.
(10:23):
In capoeira, like the kickscreate more velocity, you could
say, with with a roundabout. AndI believe that, you know, it's
like communally a lot of things,like the circle is a consistent
emphasis, right? So it helped meto see the circle of community.
It kind of I think Capoeira andthe martial arts have influenced
(10:47):
our business, synergy, yoga.
Myself and my colleague and mydear friend Saleem Rollins, who
I met through capoeira, we wereboth deeply influenced by
capoeira, are deeply influencedby capoeira. So I think if
you're a student of martialarts, it's inevitably going to
influence how you carry out yourlife and the things you love and
(11:10):
your family and your work.
Todd McLaughlin (11:15):
Good answer. I noticed as well that you had an
opportunity to practice withDharma Mitra, did you live in
New York City to have thatopportunity, or was it when he
was visiting and teachingelsewhere?
Unknown (11:29):
No, I lived with him. I literally lived in his yoga
studio.
Todd McLaughlin (11:35):
Did you really?
Yeah, he let you camp out there.
Unknown (11:39):
Hey, let me sleep.
Really thick, like kind of peachcarpet, you know, that we used
to practice. And, yeah, hesometimes he crashed with us
Todd McLaughlin (11:55):
on the floor.
Oh my gosh. Well, how many yearsago is this? How many years ago
is this? Francisco?
Unknown (12:02):
Um, I studied with him in 2005 I did his like, teacher
training. I don't know, I don'tknow what he called I think now
it's called Life of a yogi. Um,but I don't know what he called
it back then I forgot. But Ilived in in New York for a
while, and I got a job makingfood and working at the farmers
(12:25):
market out there while I wasjust to be able to study with
him and stay you know, I didn'twant to go back and forth.
Todd McLaughlin (12:32):
Amazing. So did you how did that evolve? Did you
say dharma? Look, I want, Idon't want to waste a lot of
time traveling around, and I'mcommitted and focused. And would
it be okay if I stay here? Andhe just said, Of course,
Unknown (12:46):
yeah. He said. He said, Stay until you find your own
spot. Um, you know? And hedidn't give me, like, a time,
you know? So I just stayed inthe studio for two weeks, nice,
and then I found a place and ajob. So that's cool in Union
Square. So his studio was on, Ithink it was 73rd and Third
Avenue. So it was like an easylittle, like skateboard right
(13:12):
away. You know, it was shortfrom where I was in Union
Square. That's cool. And I wasable to take his class daily.
You know,
Todd McLaughlin (13:22):
what type of lessons do you feel like you
learned when practicing withhim?
Unknown (13:31):
Yeah, I think the thing that most resonates with me
about what Dharma or that's kindof consistent for me is to make
your your asana, like he wouldalways say, make your asana as
an offering, right? Um, and Ithink that helps you to be more
(13:53):
mindful and not have hyperfocused on the on the outcome of
the practice, but more mindfulof the breath, which I think is
essential for, like, humility,and then that kind of carries
out into your life, right? Like,make the things you do and
offering, like, don't beattached to the outcome. Just do
(14:14):
it for the sake of of goodness,for goodness sake, you know,
Todd McLaughlin (14:18):
yeah, yeah.
Very cool. Amazing man. Well,can you give me a little bit of
the background on your historywith studying, studying Thai
massage. I saw that you studiedwith come Thai Chow. I I
believe, wasn't he teaching outof Canada? Wasn't that where he
really settled and made, madehis kind of spent his time
(14:39):
teaching. How did you meet him?
And can you tell me a little bitabout what you learned in
practicing with
Unknown (14:48):
him? Sure? Sure. No problem. Yeah. Cam Thai is my
teacher. He's no longerphysically with us. He is from
Malaysia originally, and he's aTai. Tai Chi master. Tai Chi was
something he studied before hestarted to study Thai massage,
and then he moved to Thailand ata very young age, and he studied
(15:12):
Thai massage there, and that'swhere he really became a master
of Thai massage in Thailand. Andhe fell in love with an
emergency room doctor from onetrial at, uh, some like silent
meditation retreat, likeVipassana. I don't know how that
happened, because I think theyjust made eye contact. Yeah,
good
Todd McLaughlin (15:30):
point. You're not, you're not supposed to do
that.
Unknown (15:34):
And he couldn't get this woman out of his mind. And
this is his story, okay, yeah.
Then he followed her. He went toMontreal, and he, you know, and
he eventually, like, you know,they found love. They got
married. And I wanted to studymassage. I wanted to use my
hands, you know, to like. I tolearn. I always liked, loved it,
(15:58):
you know, I was actually alobbyist in Washington, DC at
the at the time, wow. You know,I was like, 2324 and and I went,
you know, I took a bus or thetrain, I guess, from DC to
Montreal, and I went to studywith him at the lotus palm
Center, which is where thecenter that he found it there,
Todd McLaughlin (16:22):
amazing. Yeah, very cool, very cool. And so you
started learning Thai massage.
And this is how, this is a whattime period are we thinking? Are
we talking about? You
Unknown (16:33):
mentioned, I actually started studying Thai massage
with him in 99
Todd McLaughlin (16:37):
so before going to New York and studying yoga
with Dharma, you had kind ofembarked on on your Thai massage
practice. Yes, very cool,amazing. And have you been
practicing Thai massage fairlyconsistently, if that was 99 and
so it's 26 years ago?
Unknown (16:56):
Yeah, I have, um, I do, I give certifications in Thai
massage now, and I started,yeah, pretty consistent. I mean,
really consistent. Since 99there's a little gap that I
wasn't like couple of years, youknow that I stopped because,
(17:19):
mostly because I was studyingsomething else, you know, or
teaching more yoga, I think. Butyeah, I've been pretty
consistent with that and withCapoeira since 99 Wow.
Todd McLaughlin (17:36):
And I also saw, or see that you had a chance to
be in the forefront of thedevelopment of acro yoga, which
is, I don't want to assumeeverybody listening knows what
that is, but the blend ofacrobatics and yoga and or a
real close connection with Thaimassage in relation to partner
(17:57):
work. But a little moreacrobatic we, I guess we could
say, can you tell us talk alittle bit about acro yoga and
what your relationship is, orwas, to Jason niemer and and
Jenny Sauer Klein in theformation of acro yoga?
Unknown (18:13):
Yeah, I, I met Jason at a yoga teacher training in 2003
you know, when we met like wejust really, we got along, we
had a mutual respect. And I wasliving in DC at the time, but I
wanted to move to San Franciscobecause there was a lot more
yoga there, and I wanted tolearn more. So we became, I
(18:38):
moved out there, and we got aplace together, and we were
roommates during the formationof the Aqua yoga practice. And
so we'd always have people atour apartment and fly them and,
you know, stuff like that. Andmyself and my buddy, my friend,
Carolyn, we were Thai massagetherapists, and people would
(19:01):
always be hurting after the acroyoga flying sessions, so we
would do Thai massage as part ofit. And I think it froze. Oh,
Todd McLaughlin (19:13):
did it? Can you hear Can you see me? I can hear
you. Yeah, I see that you on thevideo, I can still hear you. But
the video, we have a freezeframe. But don't worry, I think,
keep talking and it'll unfreezeon the on the video, I can still
hear you, or maybe I can't hearyou, and I can hear my invoice
getting glitchy. We can justhang out for a moment. I have a
(19:33):
feeling it's gonna kick back inhere any moment. And I noticed
that he just logged off, so he'sgoing to log back on, and there
we are. Cool, man, yeah, that'show we have to go with it when
we have the internet. I mean,so, but good job being quick
with the turn off, turn onscenario. No worries. I mean,
(19:54):
I'll just keep flowing where westopped. Yeah? Please. Perfect.
I didn't say much more after youwere going, Yeah. So.
Unknown (20:00):
So, so, yeah, it was after we would do an acro, you
know, acro yoga jam or workshop,because also we were teaching in
San Francisco, and that was thewhere the Yoga Journal magazine
was, which was like a big yogaperiodical at the time. And
because we were there, I thinkit really helped to take off.
(20:21):
You know, because the yogamagazine started to put little
like acro yoga stuff in theirmagazine, so it helped to take
off. That makes sense. A lot ofpeople would be hurting after
the workshops, so we would doThai massage to help alleviate
because we were all yogateachers, that's one thing that
all of us had in common,Carolyn, Jenny, you know, Jason
(20:45):
and myself, and we all haddifferent backgrounds, like
Jason was an acrobatic person,Jenny did like circus arts, and
Carolyn was also a time massagetherapist. So we had different
commonalities, but also taughtyoga, and we noticed people were
really hurting after theworkshop, so we added the yellow
(21:07):
men of Thai massage. Because,you know, also, like the flying
can be really therapeutic, butthe base takes a lot of pain on
their lower back and hips, youknow, especially if you're
flying massive people. Yeah,that's,
Todd McLaughlin (21:23):
you know, that's interesting, because I
took a acro yoga workshop withJason in Miami in probably, like
2007 or so, and I, I remembergetting really creative and and
luckily, the group of peoplethat were there were all fairly
yoga orientated, so it seemedpretty safe and sound. And then
(21:46):
I remember going to anotherevent where the person wasn't as
adept as Jason was at leading anacro yoga experience, and the
people that showed up didn'tseem as adept in their yoga
skill, and it almost felt alittle train wreck ish. And so
I'm curious. I'm curious if youcan talk a little bit about
(22:07):
since you've had so many yearsnow to let it digest and
practice. What are some of thekey fundamentals that you
attempt to teach when you leadan acro yoga session?
Unknown (22:24):
Well, when we formed the practice of acro yoga, so we
started the four of us, and theneventually I started synergy
partner yoga, which is, youknow, it's kind of acro yoga,
but less, I would say, like lessemphasis on the very acrobatic,
because I like to use thepartner yoga and the Thai
massage to be able to liberatethe body from pain and give you
(22:46):
more kind of connection withyourself, to be able to engage
in your martial arts or in yourday to day activity without
pain, right, and with morefreedom of movement. So But
initially, when we first formedacro yoga as a collective. The
foundation was playfulness,connection. You know, there's
(23:06):
like, certain like themes,right? These were, like, the
kind of fundamental themes ofthe practice was playfulness and
connection and community, right?
Because it's done in a group.
There's a lot of, like, massivegroup exercises in acro yoga.
And then there's also two on twokind of Thai massage or flying
things. And, you know, but, um,I was never really enchanted by
(23:32):
like, um, doing like, I, I, youknow, we all have different
goals, right? And for me, waslike to learn more about
therapeutic flying and, youknow, and and partner yoga more
than to do really wonderful andreally cool, elaborate
acrobatics, right? Yeah,
Todd McLaughlin (23:49):
makes sense.
Very cool. I hear you, man,well, I am curious. Then when
you, when did you create? Soyour website is synergy dot
yoga. I have the links in thedescription so people very
easily be able to find you. Whatwas the impetus for the
formation of synergy dot yoga,and you mentioned that or that
(24:09):
your friend Celine is who you'vewho you guys are working
together. Can you talk a littlebit about how that partnership
formed?
Unknown (24:20):
It formed at a really, really kind of like it formed
around the pandemic, you know,like, we've always kind of been,
kind of keeping up. We met yearsback. He was studying Capoeira
with Mr. Joe Grande, who's likea grand master of capoeira, and
my master cobramansa were, we'rein DC. He was in New York. So I
(24:40):
would always go up there totrain, and he'd come down. And
his home was like the host homefor people that wanted to come
study with Mr. Joe Grande, who'sI got, you know, in my opinion,
and I think in a lot of people'sopinion, like the most
influential Capoeira figurealive today, and I. When we came
(25:00):
together, you know, we have thisfoundation of capoeira, as you
know, that brought us together,right? Which is the form of the
circle, like the circularmovements, the certain
principles of the martial art.
So when we synergy, yoga wasformed years back, like after I
kind of like, moved away frommacro yoga, I formed synergy
with the idea. I wanted it to bemore of a circle, and the idea
(25:24):
that you're never alone, youknow, which is something that's,
I think, really importantnowadays is, you know, sometimes
that a lot of people are talkingabout depression and things like
that, it's really important toemphasize a community and
connection. So synergio wasformed with that principle that
(25:44):
together, you're greater thanone by the self, right? And
always kind of keeping that inmind, I didn't want to make
synergy like a kind of like anempirical enterprise. I wanted
to make it more of acollaborative movement. So back
to your question, how Salim andI came together was around the
pandemic and, and I feel, youknow, like more people, we
(26:09):
wanted to move more positivitythrough the screen, because a
lot of people were kind of athome, and, you know, they, you
know, masked up and locked up,you know, and and it was, I
think that's when a lot ofpeople, out of our friends, are
kind of getting bombed. They'relosing a lot of their health,
you know. So we started to dodonation lessons through,
(26:30):
through our synergy yogaplatform. And we even did an
online festival, you know. I didan online Thai massage
certification, which is kind ofcrazy, but it invited people to
your house, kind of thing. Sothat's when we really came
together and brought and becamethe co director of synergy, and
(26:52):
in his influence, really had aprofound impact in synergy,
Because together, we were reallyable to make synergy more of a
global
Todd McLaughlin (27:04):
enterprise.
Amazing. You said He's based inNairobi Kenya.
Unknown (27:09):
He's in Nairobi Kenya.
He's a capoeira master as well.
He teaches in capoeira on aregular basis, on a weekly
basis, to kids there. He has anonprofit organization that he
directs with another colleagueof his Victor. And, you know, we
do retreats out there to Kenya.
We're doing two retreats inNovember. So it really
(27:31):
influenced our retreat business,because we only do retreats in
places that we live and know,you know? So we do retreats in
Kenya and Peru and sometimes inMexico. But, yeah, he's a dear
brother, like his mom is, like amother to me. So it's like, you
know, I gained a colleague andand more family.
Todd McLaughlin (27:56):
Nice man.
That's so cool. Well, I, I'mcurious about your one of your
Instagram handles, so anyonethat's on Instagram can follow
you at Synergy, dot yoga, butanother one that you have is
synergy, rising, NGO. And so Isaw that, you know, helping to
the youth, to, you know, makelife choices and work with the
(28:16):
youth. Can you tell me a littlebit about what your goal is in
relation to mentoring the up andcoming generation.
Unknown (28:30):
So my goal, I would say the initial goal, is youth
empowerment through martialarts. So we teach martial arts
as a form of discipline and selfstudy and self respect. But the
main goal is to also highlightthe importance of the arts that
(28:51):
are from here and the traditionsthat are from here, because this
is a really amazing place in theworld, you know, like over here,
they consider the earth agoddess, and Pachamama is not
just like a hippie, flimsything. It's like it's a real
entity. So the agriculture isdone differently. There's a lot
of customs and traditions thatare beautiful here, like the
(29:12):
weaving that's in and so wereally want to maintain these
arts with the youth, theseweaving arts, ceramic arts, and
the language of Quechua, whichis being lost as well. So we
really want to preserve that. Sothat's the main goal. And we're
right now raising funds to builda dojo and a center for the
(29:35):
kids. We're a quarter of the waythere to our in our fundraising,
and so pretty excited. Our nextfundraising event is actually in
Washington, DC, February 7, atEaton hotel out there. So I'll
give a shout out to that
Todd McLaughlin (29:53):
amazing. So this is Feb coming up in 226,
sorry, 2026
Unknown (29:58):
Yeah, February 7. I. In Washington, DC. Whoa, that would
Todd McLaughlin (30:01):
be so fun to go to. What can you tell me a
little bit what, what you haveplanned at that event, how you
want to structure it?
Unknown (30:07):
Yeah, it's going to be, you know, I really want to, you
know, a lot of people want toknow about what we're doing, so
I'll talk a little bit about it.
We're going to have apresentation. The architect,
pasu seminario is going to flyout for it, and we're going to
be able to, you know, showpeople what we're doing, how
we're doing our building, andwhat the goals of the nonprofit
are. So we'll do somefundraising, and then we have
(30:30):
some really wonderful musicianswho are going to come and make
it a party, and we're going todance and have a good time. Very
cool,
Todd McLaughlin (30:39):
man. Amazing.
Can one of the things that I wasmost impressed with in a
capuerta class I had a chance totake only a few was the fact
that the participants in theroom are involved in not only
learning the capuerta movement,but also playing music that sets
the tone and rhythm for themovement. Can you talk a little
(31:03):
bit about how the music incapoeira supports the practice
and vice versa?
Unknown (31:13):
Yeah. So in the capoeira practice, there's one
instrument. It's called thebidding bow, right? So the
bidding bow kind of guides, um,how you kind of move in the
practice, in the kind ofsparring, you could say, you
know, we say, we call itplaying. We call it a game,
(31:34):
because there's a lot ofplayfulness to capoeira, and
it's kind of, kind ofmaintaining that jovial, kind of
tricky, tricky vibe. You know,in your practice, it's not very,
like stern and kind of rigid. Itis circular, like we were saying
earlier. So the music has sothere's a lot of layers to the
martial art, like you justcommunicated. And in the music,
(31:57):
you're also passing downhistory, like in the in the
spoken word. You're passing downhistory and a lot of these
cultures, you know, just likethe Quechua culture here, it
moves according to the arts,right? The weavings, the music,
the spoken word. And that'ssomething that, no matter how
(32:20):
influential technology becomesthat's something that's kind of
like never lost, right? Or wedon't want to lose. So, yeah,
cup weather, has that musicinfluence?
Todd McLaughlin (32:31):
That's cool, man. Have you ever experimented
with or tried to blend livemusic with a yoga practice in a
cap. Where to like fashion, Iknow like, say, if we look at
harmonium and Kirtan, andtypically when kirtan practice
(32:53):
happens, call and response, soyou get the energy of the whole
group going back and forth, orall together. And I've always
thought, wow, it'd be sointeresting to see what kind of
collaboration yoga and capuertacould do in terms of, like, the
music part, to me, was the mostfascinating part of the capuerta
class. It has such a cool Bow,bow, bow, like, had such a cool
(33:17):
sound to it. I'm just curious ifyou've ever toyed with or played
with, because you've learned somany of these different
modalities that all are kind ofsimilar, but all stand so
uniquely in their own field. Anythoughts there?
Unknown (33:33):
Yeah, I mean, you're right. I hadn't you're 100%
right on. It's like, you know,in Kirtan, you're passing on
this spoken word and tradition,right? And but you generally
don't do kirtan while youpractice yoga. You could say,
right? Like, yeah, your city.
Like, you know, I've gone tosome of Krishna Das Kirtan, and
he's a good friend of DharmaMitras as well. So he would come
(33:57):
visit Dharma space. Sometimesit's mostly like you sit, you
know, and you sing, right, yeah.
But in capoeira, you singsometimes you play an instrument
while you sing sometimes, andthen sometimes you're
practicing, right, yeah, oh
Todd McLaughlin (34:20):
yeah. That's cool. I know I've always just
thought, how could we blendthose two? But maybe they don't,
maybe they don't need to blend.
Maybe I just go to Capoeiraclass one day and then take yoga
the other and,
Unknown (34:32):
yeah, I mean, one thing that's kind of one thing that's
important. I think that yogateaches you because it is that
martial art with yourself, andit teaches you to maintain
serenity and a calm breath,right, which is something that
you want to bring into capoeira,serenity and a calm breath, like
when someone's trying, it's moreit's more difficult, like when
(34:54):
someone's trying to kick you, tobe, you know, calm and you know.
But. That's the ideal, right? Orwhen you're in jujitsu and
someone's trying to choke you,and you're just maintaining your
yoga practice, you could say,but I think that's the ultimate
goal. With a lot of these arts,there's something that they
contribute to the other right?
Todd McLaughlin (35:15):
Yep, very cool, Francisco, how have you managed
your own body sensation. And I'mI'm refraining from saying body
pain as it as a practitioner ofthese multiple arts. I mean, one
thing I'm noticing is I'mgetting older. I'm 51 now. I
(35:39):
practice Thai massage every dayand teach yoga every day. And
I'm managing. I'm noticing thatit requires a little more
stealth, a little more stealthmanagement to, like, keep up.
And I'm curious. I just just asa as a colleague and from a
friend perspective, like, howare you doing it? Do you have
(36:01):
any any advice for for all of usout here?
Unknown (36:04):
Yeah, it's, it's interesting, because it's uh,
you know, um, well, first ofall, I'm in the high Andes, so
right away, pranayama is here.
You know, your lungs are gettingchallenged on a day just living
um, which is helpful.
Todd McLaughlin (36:21):
Do you never really acclimatize? Acclimatize?
Do you feel like it's an everpresent realization? I
Unknown (36:28):
mean, you you acclimate for sure, like over time? Um,
but for example, I'm about to goup to 17,000 every now and then.
You know, I like to go upmountains so and I run so, you
know, even though you acclimate,it's still, you know, 17,000 so
(36:50):
the primary so that's always,that's helpful, you know,
because it enhance your, youknow, your oxygen. So breath and
circulation are kind of like theessence of health, right? Like
just looking at it broadly. Now,you know, I fractured my spine
when I was in high school, soI've had a relationship with
pain and figuring out how toliberate my body from pain for a
(37:14):
while. You know, like when I wasa kid, I installed a pull up bar
just to hang, even to make spacein my spine, um, but, you know,
I think just being curious, andI think one of the things that
martial arts gives you, like, Isaid, it's self study, it's
going to be different foreveryone, um, and that's one of
(37:37):
the things that cam Thai reallyreinforced. Like, back to your
first question was like, what doyou find similar between these
arts and how you learn them,right? I think one of the things
that, like my Capoeira masterand my Thai massage teacher were
like, find your way with it, youknow. So I have a lot of tools
(38:01):
that I used, you know, to stay Ilike to jump rope quite a bit. I
like to move up mountains. I'llshow you here. I have these
rings.
Todd McLaughlin (38:16):
Oh, cool man,
Unknown (38:19):
yeah, dude, so I use some of these tools
Todd McLaughlin (38:23):
how blue the sky is. Oh my gosh, that looks
so nice. Yeah,
Unknown (38:27):
so I use these tools to, you know, to help me right.
Like, I think nowadays, too, wehave more access to information.
Todd McLaughlin (38:36):
Um, that's true. Are you still, are you
still feeling back pain Do youstill contend with, or let me
choose my words more wisely. Areyou still managing back pain on
a day to day basis?
Unknown (38:50):
Like, I won't even, like, I forget that I fractured
my spine. Okay, cool, yeah, forlong periods of time I forget,
you know, so I'm not like,walking in pain, yeah, but I
have a lot of empathy, becauseI've had pain so much that I
couldn't, like, I had a crawl inmy house. You know what I'm
saying? Like, I was, like, inhigh school, I was sleeping on
(39:12):
the floor because the bed wastoo painful. But I think just
having an injury at a young agehelped, like, a very dramatic
injury, you could say, helped meto develop the skills over time,
to be able to overcome it, andthen, and then I wanted to share
that. And I think that's where alot of, like my wanting to teach
(39:36):
yoga and massage and othermartial arts, yeah, yeah. Very
Todd McLaughlin (39:41):
cool. Can you tell me a little bit more about
your NGO and how you well,actually, let me back up a
little bit. Can you talk aboutthe retreat that you're about to
host for a friend of yours?
Yeah?
Unknown (39:57):
So, um, so Cinder. See yoga. We lead retreats in the
Sacred Valley of Peru, and ourintention is to teach people and
to create the space for them tolike, learn about the beauty of
the Quechua culture and aboutthese and have these beautiful
experiences and amazinglandscape, you know, in Machu,
(40:20):
Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, andyou know, one of the seven
wonders of the world. So thecollaboration are the essence of
our of our work iscollaboration. We collaborate
with a lot of differentbusinesses. And we this
Saturday, we welcome a group of27 yogis from my friend Jackie
(40:41):
studio, who I've known her since2003 she owns a studio in Sandy,
Utah. It's called Mountain yogaSandy. So there are about to
arrive, and I'm just stoked,because a lot of people I end up
kind of it's hosting retreatswith our our old friends, so I
get the the opportunity to kindof rekindle friendships and hold
(41:07):
a retreat with them, that theircommunity gets to have a
beautiful experience together.
Yes, yes, that's the retreat. Idon't know if you have any more
questions about that.
Todd McLaughlin (41:19):
Well, I guess prior to us hitting record, you
had made mention about a waythat you're going to be able to
blend in one of the children, orsorry children, one of the one
of the one of the men, 17 yearold, who's gonna that you're
mentoring. I just kind of wantedto touch upon how you're working
with the NGO idea of helpingyouth in the area, but then
(41:41):
bringing the ability for him tosee how you're managing a large
group on a retreat, and whatthat process entails and or what
some of the thinking behind thatis, yeah,
Unknown (41:51):
thanks for remembering that. So part of the nonprofit
organization, right? So synergyrising.org That's our site, and
it's a youth empowermentprogram. And a lot of our work,
like our retreat work, is likereally, in a way, bringing funds
back to the local artisans whoare the essence of the culture
(42:14):
here. And through that, we'rementoring youth to become
guides, you know, in the Andes,and this is a young man who's
really showed a lot of wish tobe a guide and to learn more
about his culture. And not havepride, you know, because pride
(42:38):
sometimes like the essence oflike, like, but more like, have
like, a groundedness and anappreciation for where you come
from is, is what we're trying toinstill in these youth. And this
young man, he's 17, he wants tostudy to be a guide. He's
already taking classes at alocal school to be a guide, and
he's going to be joining us asan intern, and you know,
(43:02):
eventually he's going to haveincome from this. So we want to
try to create work for the youngpeople in our nonprofit
organization.
Todd McLaughlin (43:10):
Very cool, amazing. Can you talk a little
bit too about how building amartial arts studio will
potentially serve as a trainingground, but also as a way of
interacting with the localcommunity in this way.
Unknown (43:28):
So the nonprofit being like a martial arts Dojo for the
youth, yeah, yeah. So, yeah,we're also gonna have a library
there, by the way. So a lot ofthese tourists, you know, I'm
kind of like trying to weavesome of my work. A lot of the
yogis that are coming to visit,they're bringing books, you
know, because we're teaching thekids English as well. But
(43:51):
martial arts, to me, it's had avery impactful like lessons in
my life come through martialarts, and from my community of
martial artists. You could say alot of I consider a lot of my
friends in the martial artsfamily. So it's given me family,
and that moves with a lot ofintention and purpose in life
(44:16):
and and I think that's what wewant to instill in the youth.
You know, it's like communityand a community that's healthy,
no, and that's kind to oneanother, but not like, a shaky,
kind of weird, but like, like,with their feet on the ground,
kind I don't know
Todd McLaughlin (44:35):
if that makes sense. It does. Yeah,
absolutely,
Unknown (44:38):
yeah, and yeah, and then, and then, from that, we're
building up, you know, tourguides. And we, you know,
creating, I have a good friend,uh, Bruce. I call him Bruce
Almighty. He's, uh, he's a CFO,and he's like, he's like, you
know, if you want, I can teachthe kids how to make
spreadsheets, martial arts, youknow. But I. Was like, actually,
(45:01):
that'd be great, you know, let'sget some iPads and let's teach
them how to make spreadsheets sothey can learn how to manage the
income of their household. Youknow, I think that's kind of
important.
Todd McLaughlin (45:11):
Great point.
Yeah, that's cool. Francisco,amazing. So, I mean, I love the
work that you're doing. It'ssuper inspirational. You're
taking all the passion, all thelove, or the things that you've
been passionate about throughoutyour life, and you're learning,
figuring out ways to share it.
Can you what is one of thebiggest challenges that you
(45:33):
face? What is one of the largesthurdles that you see currently
with you? I mean, you areachieving your dream. From what
I can understand and from what Ican pick up, you're putting it
together. It's working. What aresome of the hurdles that you
feel like you're jumping thesedays? Um,
Unknown (46:35):
I mean, I think just like to be realistic and
positive is what you want tomaintain, right? Um, and to be a
dreamer, right? Like thatbalance of, like, being a
dreamer and being like, youknow, realistic with what you
got to work with. Um, thebiggest challenge is just
staying out of, like a rut andstaying out of negativity, um,
(46:57):
and, you know, because sometimespeople tell you why, you know,
this is going to be difficult,you know, which? Which can help
you as well, you know, gives youthings to look out for, but you
don't want to, like, linger inthat space. So I think the
biggest challenge is, isyourself. You could say, oh,
Todd McLaughlin (47:17):
yeah, you know, yes, yeah, yeah. Good point.
Good point. And so any otherevents and or retreats that you
have planned that you could talkabout that either myself or
someone listening can getexcited about,
Unknown (47:35):
yeah, we have, um, oh, man, I love, like, what we got
cooking. You know, it's, it'sreally beautiful. So we have the
retreat coming up this Saturdaywith mountain yoga Sandy. And
then in November, we have 222person retreats to Kenya with
next level yoga and, you know,and then we do a Thai massage
(47:58):
certification in Nairobi. Thiswill be the third time massage
certification. In October, I'mleading a Thai massage
certification in Barranquilla,Colombia. Um, yeah. I mean, I
can go through my calendar, youknow, like through the whole
thing, but, um, you know, wehave a lot of retreats Thai
(48:19):
massage certifications comingup. Um, Salim and I wish to do a
yoga teacher training. But rightnow, um, a lot of our friends
who own yoga studios are callingus to do these retreats. So we
know we want to keep that going,Yeah, but yeah, thanks for
(48:39):
asking, man, yeah, that's,that's what we got coming up.
Todd McLaughlin (48:41):
That's cool.
Yeah, awesome. You know, I Thisis primarily a, you know, the
genre, the umbrella that I tryto stay within is yoga. I can
see how all these differentcomponents are all yoga. I like
the way that you said you seeyoga under the umbrella of
martial arts. That's so cool. Imean, why? Why is it not? And so
I see that there's theseconnections. I absolutely love
(49:04):
Thai massage. I want to pretendthat that whoever's listening to
us right now doesn't appreciateor know or has never had Thai
massage. Can you just talk alittle bit about why you would
encourage them to find someonein their local area that is a
Thai massage therapist and tryit out.
Unknown (49:26):
Yeah, I think some Thai massage is very dynamic, and it
puts the body, it's kind of likeyoga in a way, because it puts
the body into different angles,while you can rest passively in
that position and then be neededand kind of liberate and
liberate the body from pain, isthe purpose through metta
meditation, right that you sentme on that email, which is the
(49:50):
practice of loving kindness, soyou're consistently, you know,
moving the body in a gracefulkind of pattern, or circular
pattern, to be able to and it'smore, it's, you know, I studied
regular massage, which is kindof on a table, and I love it,
you know, and then you flip, andthen you do the other side, and
(50:13):
then you the other side. And Ifind that time massage is a lot
more thorough. And as someonethat loves martial arts and is
very physically active, I have alot of value for my body. Um,
you know, Thai massage, to me,is an art that really gets more
(50:36):
profoundly into the body to beable to bring back. It's.
Creative expression and dynamicmovement. You could say,
Todd McLaughlin (50:47):
yeah, good answer. Francisco, thank you so
much for taking time to sharingyour stories and your life
history life journey with us. Ireally appreciate it. Is there
any anything you feel like Portimportant to close with that.
You know, I really love the factthat you brought up the
importance of mental health. Ithink that is something that
(51:12):
everybody you know, even thoseof us that go that like,
sometimes I'll think I havereally good mental health. You
know, I'm just doing reallygreat right now, and haven't
really gone down into a darkhole in a while and feeling
pretty good. And so I'm verygrateful to be in a place right
now where I really feel excited,but then sometimes I can even
(51:32):
analyze it a little bit. Maybethat's part of my downfall. And
then, and then I I find, like,I'll ask myself the question,
like, Am I really? Am I in goodmental health? You know what I
mean? Like if I really dig inand try to investigate and
analyze. So I'm glad that youbrought that up, because I think
it's something that a lot of usreally are needing to put some
(51:53):
time and attention into. Or evensometimes we think we're in
really good place, and weinvestigate, and then we find,
oh my gosh, you know, I actuallycould improve a little bit. Is
there anything in relation toclosing that you could share
with us, that you feel is atechnique or a way that you and
you brought up the site, theelement of like, not falling in
a rut and just staying on thepositive, the realistic, but
(52:15):
also the positive? Is there anyother tidbit of information or
ideas that you could share withme, that that could leave us on
a note of, you know, justfeeling how important it is to
maintain and build positivemental health.
Unknown (52:28):
Yeah. I mean, I think the most simple and the most
profound is looking to nature,you know, like, if you're near a
body of water, get in the ocean,you know, if you're in the
mountains, like, look to thestars, like just getting into
nature and laughter and friends,you know, like, good, good
friends, um, you know, I thinkthat that's really helpful, you
know, people that you can, andthat's what I love about, you
(52:53):
know, nowadays is people areseeking a lot of these martial
arts and yoga arts. It's, youknow, etc, for the community
aspect of it. And, you know,being able to go to a place that
they can, you know, be able tocommunicate and have friends and
go get some food together. So Ithink being but getting in
nature, to me, is is the mostpowerful, the most accessible.
(53:19):
It's not expensive, you know, tojust if you're near the ocean,
to get in the water, um, I findthat, to me, is like the most
awesome kind of tool to get out
Todd McLaughlin (53:33):
of a rut. Yeah, great point. Well, man, I'm so
excited to check in with you andhear about how this upcoming
retreat is going to go. I feellike it sounds so exciting to
think of a whole group of 22people traveling from Utah down
to Peru together to get a fulltour of Machu Picchu, I've never
(53:56):
been. And everybody who comesback all say you have to go,
kind of like you have to do itlike make the time in your life,
save up for it and make thetrip. It's so worth it. I
haven't met anybody that hascome back and said otherwise. So
I just think, Man, I'm soexcited for you and for that
group. It's gonna be absolutelyamazing. So I can't wait to hear
(54:16):
about it, and I really doappreciate and I love this
opportunity to meet and speakwith you, Francisco, thank you
all the work you're doing isfeels like you're generating it
toward helping and being a partof the solution and not the
problem, and that's a reallypositive thing. So thank you so
much.
Unknown (54:34):
It's my pleasure. My pleasure. Todd, thanks a lot.
Thanks. Appreciate. It's time tochat. You know
Todd McLaughlin (54:39):
it right? Thank you. The native yoga Todd cast
is produced by myself. The thememusic is dreamed up by Bryce
Allen. If you like this show,let me know if there's room for
improvement. I want to hear thattoo. We are curious to know what
(55:00):
you think and what you want moreof what I can improve. And if
you have ideas for future guestsor topics, please send us your
thoughts to info at Native yogacenter. You can find us at
Native yoga center.com, and hey,if you did like this episode,
share it with your friends. Rateit and review and join us next
(55:24):
time you.
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy
you are here. My goal with thischannel is to bring
inspirational speakers to themic in the field of yoga,
massage, bodywork and beyond.
Follow us at @nativeyoga andcheck us out at
nativeyogacenter.com. All right,let's begin.
(01:03):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast.
I am absolutely thrilled tobring to you this week's guest
is Francisco Morales, Francisco.
You can find him on his website,synergy.yoga, and you can also,
you know, all the links for thisare in the description, and he's
got multiple handles on IG. Thetwo I'm going to share right now
(01:26):
is at @Synergy.yoga. And alsoanother one that I find really
fascinating that he has going iscalled @synergyrisingNGO, which
is a nonprofit that his hisgroup has put together to help
people in Peru work with him, inalongside his work that he does
(01:47):
with hosting retreats at Machu,Picchu retreats in Kenya,
Africa, with his friend Salimand wow, there's just so much
information that Franciscoshares here. He has a really
diverse background, ranging froma wide angled experience with
martial arts in capoeira, yogapractice with Dharma Mittra in
New York, Thai massage study inCanada with Kam Thai Chow being
(02:10):
with the founder of acroyoga,Jason Neimer, and Jenny Sauer
Kline Back in the day when thatbegan in San Francisco. He's
been all over the world,learning, studying and
practicing. I think you're gonnabe fascinated and enamored with
what Francisco is up to. Sodefinitely give him a follow and
(02:30):
send us a message if you enjoythis episode, his nonprofit
sounds really beneficial andhelpful for the local people of
Peru. So if you feel inclined toshare and help and maybe even go
visit one day, let us know. Allright, let's get started. I'm so
happy I have a chance to meetand speak with Francisco
(02:51):
Morales. Francisco. Thank you somuch for joining me today.
Welcome to the show. Can youtell me where you are joining me
from.
Francisco Morales (03:04):
Thank you first of all for having me. It's
a pleasure to be here and get toknow a little bit more about
what you're doing as well. I'min Urubamba, the secret valley
of Peru in the Andes. And yeah,it's a beautiful place up here,
largest variety of microclimates in the world. So we get
a lot of weather patterns,amazing. How are you originally
(03:27):
from Peru? Yeah, I was born inPeru, and I grew up in the coast
of Peru, and I immigrated toWashington, DC when I was eight.
Nice, nice. And now, do youbalance life between us and Peru
primarily?
Todd McLaughlin (03:48):
Do you have another living location? Or do
you stay full time Peru? Or doyou? Do you mostly reside in us?
How do you split your time?
Unknown (03:56):
No, I'm mostly in Peru and in the high Andes. I just
bought some land, building ahouse and a dojo martial arts
center for for the youth of thearea in Urubamba and but I go to
this I have a lot of friends inthe States, and I go there quite
often to teach and and also tovisit friends and family
Todd McLaughlin (04:19):
cool Francisco.
I mean, I really enjoyedstudying up and learning about
some of the influences thatyou've had throughout your life
between martial arts, yoga, Thaimassage, acro yoga. I even heard
before we started, you mentionedcapoeira, which obviously falls
in the martial arts War world.
(04:39):
But we can see how all thesedifferent arts blend together.
How has growing up in Peruinfluenced you in your healing
arts, or as a healing artist?
Yeah,
Unknown (04:51):
I mean, I think, how has it influenced I think being
in the coast, especially being akid in the coast of Peru, um.
Um, you know, I was living inWashington, DC, but I was the
kind of fundamental years of myupbringing, from one to eight
were in Peru, and it's an OceanCity. You know, a lot of people
(05:15):
like when it's when it'ssummertime and beach time, the
city is empty, and it's a hugecity, especially back then, the
rhythm was a lot slower. But,you know, just observing the sea
growing up, fishing surfingalways gives you some
perspective and helps slowthings down. So I think it
really kind of gave me thatinfluence of water in my life,
(05:39):
and the ocean and like, amassive body of ocean.
Todd McLaughlin (05:43):
Amazing. Are you? I'm guessing you've surfed
at Chicama chicamas?
Unknown (05:50):
Chicama Yeah, the longest left yeah in the world.
Yeah. I have gone there once.
And it's quite a enduringbecause it's a a lot of
paddling.
Todd McLaughlin (06:04):
Yeah, the longest left means the longest
paddle ever, too.
Unknown (06:09):
But it's, it's really beautiful, especially the
northern coast of Peru. Theocean has a lot of life, you
know, as you get closer to theGalapagos, amazing.
Todd McLaughlin (06:21):
Can you tell me a little bit about your
background in martial arts andwhat modalities you've studied
and and what role yourexperience with martial arts has
played in your journey in life?
Unknown (06:35):
Yeah, I think so. I studied capoeira, Capoeira
Angola. I mean, I think yoga isa martial art as well. It's just
a martial art that's, in a way,kind of like a with yourself,
and Thai massages as well. Youknow, it's a martial art that
removes pain from the body. Ialso studied jiu jitsu with some
(06:59):
friends as well at a buddy ofmine school, but to me, it's
given me discipline helps you,gives you knowledge of self and
to take care of your temple. Ithink a lot of these martial
arts emphasize circular movementand moving with the best
intention for yourself and thosearound you and being mindful,
(07:24):
right?
Todd McLaughlin (07:26):
Yeah, that's cool, man. Well, I mean, I saw
that you've studied in like,multiple countries around the
world, where, when did yourtravel lust start to develop? I
can imagine having the influenceof growing up in Peru and then
moving to states. And then wherewas your first like, big travel
(07:47):
by yourself, where you went offon your own and started to
explore?
Unknown (07:55):
I think that. So, yeah, I was consistently going back
and forth between Washington, DCarea and Peru. And I think after
university, or middle ofuniversity, I think it was a
sophomore year summer, I wantedto see the United States and
(08:15):
also make money to pay forschool. So I drove from Miami. I
went to university in Miami. Idrove from Miami to Seattle, and
just got different jobs alongthe way. And then I got a one
way flight to Anchorage andworked with the salmon industry
(08:38):
for a couple of months. So thatwas my first kind of so sojourn.
You could say,
Todd McLaughlin (08:43):
yeah, yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what was
it like working in the salmonindustry in Alaska? I mean, you
watch these shows on TV withthese guys out on boats, like,
in freezing cold, like, I mean,I know it's a rugged job. Did
was it Yes? Like, you're like,that's not a hard question to
answer. Yeah, 100%
Unknown (09:05):
you know, I was like, I was a kid who didn't have any
cash. I wanted to make somemoney, and it seemed like a good
way to make money and get toknow a place that I had always
wanted to see, because it's socontrasting from Peru and DC,
you know, Alaska, yeah, you knowit's wild and, you know, you
(09:25):
picture snow and all thesethings, obviously not in the
summer, but,
Todd McLaughlin (09:28):
yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what are some
of the universal threads thatyou found in the healing
practices across these differentcultures that you've studied
within
Unknown (09:40):
Um, as far as, like, universal threads, like, that's
actually a really good question.
Um, something that's unique,that both, like my Capoeira
master and my Thai massageteacher communicated were to
find your own way within themartial art. I. And, like I
said, I consider Thai massage,and, you know, a martial art,
(10:02):
just like Capoeira and jiu jitsuand other martial arts, um, and
circular movement, you know,like even, like in in Thai
massage, we we do whirlpools.
Even when you're massaging thejaw, you're moving the hips to
open up the connection of thefemur and the hip joint as well.
(10:23):
In capoeira, like the kickscreate more velocity, you could
say, with with a roundabout. AndI believe that, you know, it's
like communally a lot of things,like the circle is a consistent
emphasis, right? So it helped meto see the circle of community.
It kind of I think Capoeira andthe martial arts have influenced
(10:47):
our business, synergy, yoga.
Myself and my colleague and mydear friend Saleem Rollins, who
I met through capoeira, we wereboth deeply influenced by
capoeira, are deeply influencedby capoeira. So I think if
you're a student of martialarts, it's inevitably going to
influence how you carry out yourlife and the things you love and
(11:10):
your family and your work.
Todd McLaughlin (11:15):
Good answer. I noticed as well that you had an
opportunity to practice withDharma Mitra, did you live in
New York City to have thatopportunity, or was it when he
was visiting and teachingelsewhere?
Unknown (11:29):
No, I lived with him. I literally lived in his yoga
studio.
Todd McLaughlin (11:35):
Did you really?
Yeah, he let you camp out there.
Unknown (11:39):
Hey, let me sleep.
Really thick, like kind of peachcarpet, you know, that we used
to practice. And, yeah, hesometimes he crashed with us
Todd McLaughlin (11:55):
on the floor.
Oh my gosh. Well, how many yearsago is this? How many years ago
is this? Francisco?
Unknown (12:02):
Um, I studied with him in 2005 I did his like, teacher
training. I don't know, I don'tknow what he called I think now
it's called Life of a yogi. Um,but I don't know what he called
it back then I forgot. But Ilived in in New York for a
while, and I got a job makingfood and working at the farmers
(12:25):
market out there while I wasjust to be able to study with
him and stay you know, I didn'twant to go back and forth.
Todd McLaughlin (12:32):
Amazing. So did you how did that evolve? Did you
say dharma? Look, I want, Idon't want to waste a lot of
time traveling around, and I'mcommitted and focused. And would
it be okay if I stay here? Andhe just said, Of course,
Unknown (12:46):
yeah. He said. He said, Stay until you find your own
spot. Um, you know? And hedidn't give me, like, a time,
you know? So I just stayed inthe studio for two weeks, nice,
and then I found a place and ajob. So that's cool in Union
Square. So his studio was on, Ithink it was 73rd and Third
Avenue. So it was like an easylittle, like skateboard right
(13:12):
away. You know, it was shortfrom where I was in Union
Square. That's cool. And I wasable to take his class daily.
You know,
Todd McLaughlin (13:22):
what type of lessons do you feel like you
learned when practicing withhim?
Unknown (13:31):
Yeah, I think the thing that most resonates with me
about what Dharma or that's kindof consistent for me is to make
your your asana, like he wouldalways say, make your asana as
an offering, right? Um, and Ithink that helps you to be more
(13:53):
mindful and not have hyperfocused on the on the outcome of
the practice, but more mindfulof the breath, which I think is
essential for, like, humility,and then that kind of carries
out into your life, right? Like,make the things you do and
offering, like, don't beattached to the outcome. Just do
(14:14):
it for the sake of of goodness,for goodness sake, you know,
Todd McLaughlin (14:18):
yeah, yeah.
Very cool. Amazing man. Well,can you give me a little bit of
the background on your historywith studying, studying Thai
massage. I saw that you studiedwith come Thai Chow. I I
believe, wasn't he teaching outof Canada? Wasn't that where he
really settled and made, madehis kind of spent his time
(14:39):
teaching. How did you meet him?
And can you tell me a little bitabout what you learned in
practicing with
Unknown (14:48):
him? Sure? Sure. No problem. Yeah. Cam Thai is my
teacher. He's no longerphysically with us. He is from
Malaysia originally, and he's aTai. Tai Chi master. Tai Chi was
something he studied before hestarted to study Thai massage,
and then he moved to Thailand ata very young age, and he studied
(15:12):
Thai massage there, and that'swhere he really became a master
of Thai massage in Thailand. Andhe fell in love with an
emergency room doctor from onetrial at, uh, some like silent
meditation retreat, likeVipassana. I don't know how that
happened, because I think theyjust made eye contact. Yeah,
good
Todd McLaughlin (15:30):
point. You're not, you're not supposed to do
that.
Unknown (15:34):
And he couldn't get this woman out of his mind. And
this is his story, okay, yeah.
Then he followed her. He went toMontreal, and he, you know, and
he eventually, like, you know,they found love. They got
married. And I wanted to studymassage. I wanted to use my
hands, you know, to like. I tolearn. I always liked, loved it,
(15:58):
you know, I was actually alobbyist in Washington, DC at
the at the time, wow. You know,I was like, 2324 and and I went,
you know, I took a bus or thetrain, I guess, from DC to
Montreal, and I went to studywith him at the lotus palm
Center, which is where thecenter that he found it there,
Todd McLaughlin (16:22):
amazing. Yeah, very cool, very cool. And so you
started learning Thai massage.
And this is how, this is a whattime period are we thinking? Are
we talking about? You
Unknown (16:33):
mentioned, I actually started studying Thai massage
with him in 99
Todd McLaughlin (16:37):
so before going to New York and studying yoga
with Dharma, you had kind ofembarked on on your Thai massage
practice. Yes, very cool,amazing. And have you been
practicing Thai massage fairlyconsistently, if that was 99 and
so it's 26 years ago?
Unknown (16:56):
Yeah, I have, um, I do, I give certifications in Thai
massage now, and I started,yeah, pretty consistent. I mean,
really consistent. Since 99there's a little gap that I
wasn't like couple of years, youknow that I stopped because,
(17:19):
mostly because I was studyingsomething else, you know, or
teaching more yoga, I think. Butyeah, I've been pretty
consistent with that and withCapoeira since 99 Wow.
Todd McLaughlin (17:36):
And I also saw, or see that you had a chance to
be in the forefront of thedevelopment of acro yoga, which
is, I don't want to assumeeverybody listening knows what
that is, but the blend ofacrobatics and yoga and or a
real close connection with Thaimassage in relation to partner
(17:57):
work. But a little moreacrobatic we, I guess we could
say, can you tell us talk alittle bit about acro yoga and
what your relationship is, orwas, to Jason niemer and and
Jenny Sauer Klein in theformation of acro yoga?
Unknown (18:13):
Yeah, I, I met Jason at a yoga teacher training in 2003
you know, when we met like wejust really, we got along, we
had a mutual respect. And I wasliving in DC at the time, but I
wanted to move to San Franciscobecause there was a lot more
yoga there, and I wanted tolearn more. So we became, I
(18:38):
moved out there, and we got aplace together, and we were
roommates during the formationof the Aqua yoga practice. And
so we'd always have people atour apartment and fly them and,
you know, stuff like that. Andmyself and my buddy, my friend,
Carolyn, we were Thai massagetherapists, and people would
(19:01):
always be hurting after the acroyoga flying sessions, so we
would do Thai massage as part ofit. And I think it froze. Oh,
Todd McLaughlin (19:13):
did it? Can you hear Can you see me? I can hear
you. Yeah, I see that you on thevideo, I can still hear you. But
the video, we have a freezeframe. But don't worry, I think,
keep talking and it'll unfreezeon the on the video, I can still
hear you, or maybe I can't hearyou, and I can hear my invoice
getting glitchy. We can justhang out for a moment. I have a
(19:33):
feeling it's gonna kick back inhere any moment. And I noticed
that he just logged off, so he'sgoing to log back on, and there
we are. Cool, man, yeah, that'show we have to go with it when
we have the internet. I mean,so, but good job being quick
with the turn off, turn onscenario. No worries. I mean,
(19:54):
I'll just keep flowing where westopped. Yeah? Please. Perfect.
I didn't say much more after youwere going, Yeah. So.
Unknown (20:00):
So, so, yeah, it was after we would do an acro, you
know, acro yoga jam or workshop,because also we were teaching in
San Francisco, and that was thewhere the Yoga Journal magazine
was, which was like a big yogaperiodical at the time. And
because we were there, I thinkit really helped to take off.
(20:21):
You know, because the yogamagazine started to put little
like acro yoga stuff in theirmagazine, so it helped to take
off. That makes sense. A lot ofpeople would be hurting after
the workshops, so we would doThai massage to help alleviate
because we were all yogateachers, that's one thing that
all of us had in common,Carolyn, Jenny, you know, Jason
(20:45):
and myself, and we all haddifferent backgrounds, like
Jason was an acrobatic person,Jenny did like circus arts, and
Carolyn was also a time massagetherapist. So we had different
commonalities, but also taughtyoga, and we noticed people were
really hurting after theworkshop, so we added the yellow
(21:07):
men of Thai massage. Because,you know, also, like the flying
can be really therapeutic, butthe base takes a lot of pain on
their lower back and hips, youknow, especially if you're
flying massive people. Yeah,that's,
Todd McLaughlin (21:23):
you know, that's interesting, because I
took a acro yoga workshop withJason in Miami in probably, like
2007 or so, and I, I remembergetting really creative and and
luckily, the group of peoplethat were there were all fairly
yoga orientated, so it seemedpretty safe and sound. And then
(21:46):
I remember going to anotherevent where the person wasn't as
adept as Jason was at leading anacro yoga experience, and the
people that showed up didn'tseem as adept in their yoga
skill, and it almost felt alittle train wreck ish. And so
I'm curious. I'm curious if youcan talk a little bit about
(22:07):
since you've had so many yearsnow to let it digest and
practice. What are some of thekey fundamentals that you
attempt to teach when you leadan acro yoga session?
Unknown (22:24):
Well, when we formed the practice of acro yoga, so we
started the four of us, and theneventually I started synergy
partner yoga, which is, youknow, it's kind of acro yoga,
but less, I would say, like lessemphasis on the very acrobatic,
because I like to use thepartner yoga and the Thai
massage to be able to liberatethe body from pain and give you
(22:46):
more kind of connection withyourself, to be able to engage
in your martial arts or in yourday to day activity without
pain, right, and with morefreedom of movement. So But
initially, when we first formedacro yoga as a collective. The
foundation was playfulness,connection. You know, there's
(23:06):
like, certain like themes,right? These were, like, the
kind of fundamental themes ofthe practice was playfulness and
connection and community, right?
Because it's done in a group.
There's a lot of, like, massivegroup exercises in acro yoga.
And then there's also two on twokind of Thai massage or flying
things. And, you know, but, um,I was never really enchanted by
(23:32):
like, um, doing like, I, I, youknow, we all have different
goals, right? And for me, waslike to learn more about
therapeutic flying and, youknow, and and partner yoga more
than to do really wonderful andreally cool, elaborate
acrobatics, right? Yeah,
Todd McLaughlin (23:49):
makes sense.
Very cool. I hear you, man,well, I am curious. Then when
you, when did you create? Soyour website is synergy dot
yoga. I have the links in thedescription so people very
easily be able to find you. Whatwas the impetus for the
formation of synergy dot yoga,and you mentioned that or that
(24:09):
your friend Celine is who you'vewho you guys are working
together. Can you talk a littlebit about how that partnership
formed?
Unknown (24:20):
It formed at a really, really kind of like it formed
around the pandemic, you know,like, we've always kind of been,
kind of keeping up. We met yearsback. He was studying Capoeira
with Mr. Joe Grande, who's likea grand master of capoeira, and
my master cobramansa were, we'rein DC. He was in New York. So I
(24:40):
would always go up there totrain, and he'd come down. And
his home was like the host homefor people that wanted to come
study with Mr. Joe Grande, who'sI got, you know, in my opinion,
and I think in a lot of people'sopinion, like the most
influential Capoeira figurealive today, and I. When we came
(25:00):
together, you know, we have thisfoundation of capoeira, as you
know, that brought us together,right? Which is the form of the
circle, like the circularmovements, the certain
principles of the martial art.
So when we synergy, yoga wasformed years back, like after I
kind of like, moved away frommacro yoga, I formed synergy
with the idea. I wanted it to bemore of a circle, and the idea
(25:24):
that you're never alone, youknow, which is something that's,
I think, really importantnowadays is, you know, sometimes
that a lot of people are talkingabout depression and things like
that, it's really important toemphasize a community and
connection. So synergio wasformed with that principle that
(25:44):
together, you're greater thanone by the self, right? And
always kind of keeping that inmind, I didn't want to make
synergy like a kind of like anempirical enterprise. I wanted
to make it more of acollaborative movement. So back
to your question, how Salim andI came together was around the
pandemic and, and I feel, youknow, like more people, we
(26:09):
wanted to move more positivitythrough the screen, because a
lot of people were kind of athome, and, you know, they, you
know, masked up and locked up,you know, and and it was, I
think that's when a lot ofpeople, out of our friends, are
kind of getting bombed. They'relosing a lot of their health,
you know. So we started to dodonation lessons through,
(26:30):
through our synergy yogaplatform. And we even did an
online festival, you know. I didan online Thai massage
certification, which is kind ofcrazy, but it invited people to
your house, kind of thing. Sothat's when we really came
together and brought and becamethe co director of synergy, and
(26:52):
in his influence, really had aprofound impact in synergy,
Because together, we were reallyable to make synergy more of a
global
Todd McLaughlin (27:04):
enterprise.
Amazing. You said He's based inNairobi Kenya.
Unknown (27:09):
He's in Nairobi Kenya.
He's a capoeira master as well.
He teaches in capoeira on aregular basis, on a weekly
basis, to kids there. He has anonprofit organization that he
directs with another colleagueof his Victor. And, you know, we
do retreats out there to Kenya.
We're doing two retreats inNovember. So it really
(27:31):
influenced our retreat business,because we only do retreats in
places that we live and know,you know? So we do retreats in
Kenya and Peru and sometimes inMexico. But, yeah, he's a dear
brother, like his mom is, like amother to me. So it's like, you
know, I gained a colleague andand more family.
Todd McLaughlin (27:56):
Nice man.
That's so cool. Well, I, I'mcurious about your one of your
Instagram handles, so anyonethat's on Instagram can follow
you at Synergy, dot yoga, butanother one that you have is
synergy, rising, NGO. And so Isaw that, you know, helping to
the youth, to, you know, makelife choices and work with the
(28:16):
youth. Can you tell me a littlebit about what your goal is in
relation to mentoring the up andcoming generation.
Unknown (28:30):
So my goal, I would say the initial goal, is youth
empowerment through martialarts. So we teach martial arts
as a form of discipline and selfstudy and self respect. But the
main goal is to also highlightthe importance of the arts that
(28:51):
are from here and the traditionsthat are from here, because this
is a really amazing place in theworld, you know, like over here,
they consider the earth agoddess, and Pachamama is not
just like a hippie, flimsything. It's like it's a real
entity. So the agriculture isdone differently. There's a lot
of customs and traditions thatare beautiful here, like the
(29:12):
weaving that's in and so wereally want to maintain these
arts with the youth, theseweaving arts, ceramic arts, and
the language of Quechua, whichis being lost as well. So we
really want to preserve that. Sothat's the main goal. And we're
right now raising funds to builda dojo and a center for the
(29:35):
kids. We're a quarter of the waythere to our in our fundraising,
and so pretty excited. Our nextfundraising event is actually in
Washington, DC, February 7, atEaton hotel out there. So I'll
give a shout out to that
Todd McLaughlin (29:53):
amazing. So this is Feb coming up in 226,
sorry, 2026
Unknown (29:58):
Yeah, February 7. I. In Washington, DC. Whoa, that would
Todd McLaughlin (30:01):
be so fun to go to. What can you tell me a
little bit what, what you haveplanned at that event, how you
want to structure it?
Unknown (30:07):
Yeah, it's going to be, you know, I really want to, you
know, a lot of people want toknow about what we're doing, so
I'll talk a little bit about it.
We're going to have apresentation. The architect,
pasu seminario is going to flyout for it, and we're going to
be able to, you know, showpeople what we're doing, how
we're doing our building, andwhat the goals of the nonprofit
are. So we'll do somefundraising, and then we have
(30:30):
some really wonderful musicianswho are going to come and make
it a party, and we're going todance and have a good time. Very
cool,
Todd McLaughlin (30:39):
man. Amazing.
Can one of the things that I wasmost impressed with in a
capuerta class I had a chance totake only a few was the fact
that the participants in theroom are involved in not only
learning the capuerta movement,but also playing music that sets
the tone and rhythm for themovement. Can you talk a little
(31:03):
bit about how the music incapoeira supports the practice
and vice versa?
Unknown (31:13):
Yeah. So in the capoeira practice, there's one
instrument. It's called thebidding bow, right? So the
bidding bow kind of guides, um,how you kind of move in the
practice, in the kind ofsparring, you could say, you
know, we say, we call itplaying. We call it a game,
(31:34):
because there's a lot ofplayfulness to capoeira, and
it's kind of, kind ofmaintaining that jovial, kind of
tricky, tricky vibe. You know,in your practice, it's not very,
like stern and kind of rigid. Itis circular, like we were saying
earlier. So the music has sothere's a lot of layers to the
martial art, like you justcommunicated. And in the music,
(31:57):
you're also passing downhistory, like in the in the
spoken word. You're passing downhistory and a lot of these
cultures, you know, just likethe Quechua culture here, it
moves according to the arts,right? The weavings, the music,
the spoken word. And that'ssomething that, no matter how
(32:20):
influential technology becomesthat's something that's kind of
like never lost, right? Or wedon't want to lose. So, yeah,
cup weather, has that musicinfluence?
Todd McLaughlin (32:31):
That's cool, man. Have you ever experimented
with or tried to blend livemusic with a yoga practice in a
cap. Where to like fashion, Iknow like, say, if we look at
harmonium and Kirtan, andtypically when kirtan practice
(32:53):
happens, call and response, soyou get the energy of the whole
group going back and forth, orall together. And I've always
thought, wow, it'd be sointeresting to see what kind of
collaboration yoga and capuertacould do in terms of, like, the
music part, to me, was the mostfascinating part of the capuerta
class. It has such a cool Bow,bow, bow, like, had such a cool
(33:17):
sound to it. I'm just curious ifyou've ever toyed with or played
with, because you've learned somany of these different
modalities that all are kind ofsimilar, but all stand so
uniquely in their own field. Anythoughts there?
Unknown (33:33):
Yeah, I mean, you're right. I hadn't you're 100%
right on. It's like, you know,in Kirtan, you're passing on
this spoken word and tradition,right? And but you generally
don't do kirtan while youpractice yoga. You could say,
right? Like, yeah, your city.
Like, you know, I've gone tosome of Krishna Das Kirtan, and
he's a good friend of DharmaMitras as well. So he would come
(33:57):
visit Dharma space. Sometimesit's mostly like you sit, you
know, and you sing, right, yeah.
But in capoeira, you singsometimes you play an instrument
while you sing sometimes, andthen sometimes you're
practicing, right, yeah, oh
Todd McLaughlin (34:20):
yeah. That's cool. I know I've always just
thought, how could we blendthose two? But maybe they don't,
maybe they don't need to blend.
Maybe I just go to Capoeiraclass one day and then take yoga
the other and,
Unknown (34:32):
yeah, I mean, one thing that's kind of one thing that's
important. I think that yogateaches you because it is that
martial art with yourself, andit teaches you to maintain
serenity and a calm breath,right, which is something that
you want to bring into capoeira,serenity and a calm breath, like
when someone's trying, it's moreit's more difficult, like when
(34:54):
someone's trying to kick you, tobe, you know, calm and you know.
But. That's the ideal, right? Orwhen you're in jujitsu and
someone's trying to choke you,and you're just maintaining your
yoga practice, you could say,but I think that's the ultimate
goal. With a lot of these arts,there's something that they
contribute to the other right?
Todd McLaughlin (35:15):
Yep, very cool, Francisco, how have you managed
your own body sensation. And I'mI'm refraining from saying body
pain as it as a practitioner ofthese multiple arts. I mean, one
thing I'm noticing is I'mgetting older. I'm 51 now. I
(35:39):
practice Thai massage every dayand teach yoga every day. And
I'm managing. I'm noticing thatit requires a little more
stealth, a little more stealthmanagement to, like, keep up.
And I'm curious. I just just asa as a colleague and from a
friend perspective, like, howare you doing it? Do you have
(36:01):
any any advice for for all of usout here?
Unknown (36:04):
Yeah, it's, it's interesting, because it's uh,
you know, um, well, first ofall, I'm in the high Andes, so
right away, pranayama is here.
You know, your lungs are gettingchallenged on a day just living
um, which is helpful.
Todd McLaughlin (36:21):
Do you never really acclimatize? Acclimatize?
Do you feel like it's an everpresent realization? I
Unknown (36:28):
mean, you you acclimate for sure, like over time? Um,
but for example, I'm about to goup to 17,000 every now and then.
You know, I like to go upmountains so and I run so, you
know, even though you acclimate,it's still, you know, 17,000 so
(36:50):
the primary so that's always,that's helpful, you know,
because it enhance your, youknow, your oxygen. So breath and
circulation are kind of like theessence of health, right? Like
just looking at it broadly. Now,you know, I fractured my spine
when I was in high school, soI've had a relationship with
pain and figuring out how toliberate my body from pain for a
(37:14):
while. You know, like when I wasa kid, I installed a pull up bar
just to hang, even to make spacein my spine, um, but, you know,
I think just being curious, andI think one of the things that
martial arts gives you, like, Isaid, it's self study, it's
going to be different foreveryone, um, and that's one of
(37:37):
the things that cam Thai reallyreinforced. Like, back to your
first question was like, what doyou find similar between these
arts and how you learn them,right? I think one of the things
that, like my Capoeira masterand my Thai massage teacher were
like, find your way with it, youknow. So I have a lot of tools
(38:01):
that I used, you know, to stay Ilike to jump rope quite a bit. I
like to move up mountains. I'llshow you here. I have these
rings.
Todd McLaughlin (38:16):
Oh, cool man,
Unknown (38:19):
yeah, dude, so I use some of these tools
Todd McLaughlin (38:23):
how blue the sky is. Oh my gosh, that looks
so nice. Yeah,
Unknown (38:27):
so I use these tools to, you know, to help me right.
Like, I think nowadays, too, wehave more access to information.
Todd McLaughlin (38:36):
Um, that's true. Are you still, are you
still feeling back pain Do youstill contend with, or let me
choose my words more wisely. Areyou still managing back pain on
a day to day basis?
Unknown (38:50):
Like, I won't even, like, I forget that I fractured
my spine. Okay, cool, yeah, forlong periods of time I forget,
you know, so I'm not like,walking in pain, yeah, but I
have a lot of empathy, becauseI've had pain so much that I
couldn't, like, I had a crawl inmy house. You know what I'm
saying? Like, I was, like, inhigh school, I was sleeping on
(39:12):
the floor because the bed wastoo painful. But I think just
having an injury at a young agehelped, like, a very dramatic
injury, you could say, helped meto develop the skills over time,
to be able to overcome it, andthen, and then I wanted to share
that. And I think that's where alot of, like my wanting to teach
(39:36):
yoga and massage and othermartial arts, yeah, yeah. Very
Todd McLaughlin (39:41):
cool. Can you tell me a little bit more about
your NGO and how you well,actually, let me back up a
little bit. Can you talk aboutthe retreat that you're about to
host for a friend of yours?
Yeah?
Unknown (39:57):
So, um, so Cinder. See yoga. We lead retreats in the
Sacred Valley of Peru, and ourintention is to teach people and
to create the space for them tolike, learn about the beauty of
the Quechua culture and aboutthese and have these beautiful
experiences and amazinglandscape, you know, in Machu,
(40:20):
Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, andyou know, one of the seven
wonders of the world. So thecollaboration are the essence of
our of our work iscollaboration. We collaborate
with a lot of differentbusinesses. And we this
Saturday, we welcome a group of27 yogis from my friend Jackie
(40:41):
studio, who I've known her since2003 she owns a studio in Sandy,
Utah. It's called Mountain yogaSandy. So there are about to
arrive, and I'm just stoked,because a lot of people I end up
kind of it's hosting retreatswith our our old friends, so I
get the the opportunity to kindof rekindle friendships and hold
(41:07):
a retreat with them, that theircommunity gets to have a
beautiful experience together.
Yes, yes, that's the retreat. Idon't know if you have any more
questions about that.
Todd McLaughlin (41:19):
Well, I guess prior to us hitting record, you
had made mention about a waythat you're going to be able to
blend in one of the children, orsorry children, one of the one
of the one of the men, 17 yearold, who's gonna that you're
mentoring. I just kind of wantedto touch upon how you're working
with the NGO idea of helpingyouth in the area, but then
(41:41):
bringing the ability for him tosee how you're managing a large
group on a retreat, and whatthat process entails and or what
some of the thinking behind thatis, yeah,
Unknown (41:51):
thanks for remembering that. So part of the nonprofit
organization, right? So synergyrising.org That's our site, and
it's a youth empowermentprogram. And a lot of our work,
like our retreat work, is likereally, in a way, bringing funds
back to the local artisans whoare the essence of the culture
(42:14):
here. And through that, we'rementoring youth to become
guides, you know, in the Andes,and this is a young man who's
really showed a lot of wish tobe a guide and to learn more
about his culture. And not havepride, you know, because pride
(42:38):
sometimes like the essence oflike, like, but more like, have
like, a groundedness and anappreciation for where you come
from is, is what we're trying toinstill in these youth. And this
young man, he's 17, he wants tostudy to be a guide. He's
already taking classes at alocal school to be a guide, and
he's going to be joining us asan intern, and you know,
(43:02):
eventually he's going to haveincome from this. So we want to
try to create work for the youngpeople in our nonprofit
organization.
Todd McLaughlin (43:10):
Very cool, amazing. Can you talk a little
bit too about how building amartial arts studio will
potentially serve as a trainingground, but also as a way of
interacting with the localcommunity in this way.
Unknown (43:28):
So the nonprofit being like a martial arts Dojo for the
youth, yeah, yeah. So, yeah,we're also gonna have a library
there, by the way. So a lot ofthese tourists, you know, I'm
kind of like trying to weavesome of my work. A lot of the
yogis that are coming to visit,they're bringing books, you
know, because we're teaching thekids English as well. But
(43:51):
martial arts, to me, it's had avery impactful like lessons in
my life come through martialarts, and from my community of
martial artists. You could say alot of I consider a lot of my
friends in the martial artsfamily. So it's given me family,
and that moves with a lot ofintention and purpose in life
(44:16):
and and I think that's what wewant to instill in the youth.
You know, it's like communityand a community that's healthy,
no, and that's kind to oneanother, but not like, a shaky,
kind of weird, but like, like,with their feet on the ground,
kind I don't know
Todd McLaughlin (44:35):
if that makes sense. It does. Yeah,
absolutely,
Unknown (44:38):
yeah, and yeah, and then, and then, from that, we're
building up, you know, tourguides. And we, you know,
creating, I have a good friend,uh, Bruce. I call him Bruce
Almighty. He's, uh, he's a CFO,and he's like, he's like, you
know, if you want, I can teachthe kids how to make
spreadsheets, martial arts, youknow. But I. Was like, actually,
(45:01):
that'd be great, you know, let'sget some iPads and let's teach
them how to make spreadsheets sothey can learn how to manage the
income of their household. Youknow, I think that's kind of
important.
Todd McLaughlin (45:11):
Great point.
Yeah, that's cool. Francisco,amazing. So, I mean, I love the
work that you're doing. It'ssuper inspirational. You're
taking all the passion, all thelove, or the things that you've
been passionate about throughoutyour life, and you're learning,
figuring out ways to share it.
Can you what is one of thebiggest challenges that you
(45:33):
face? What is one of the largesthurdles that you see currently
with you? I mean, you areachieving your dream. From what
I can understand and from what Ican pick up, you're putting it
together. It's working. What aresome of the hurdles that you
feel like you're jumping thesedays? Um,
Unknown (46:35):
I mean, I think just like to be realistic and
positive is what you want tomaintain, right? Um, and to be a
dreamer, right? Like thatbalance of, like, being a
dreamer and being like, youknow, realistic with what you
got to work with. Um, thebiggest challenge is just
staying out of, like a rut andstaying out of negativity, um,
(46:57):
and, you know, because sometimespeople tell you why, you know,
this is going to be difficult,you know, which? Which can help
you as well, you know, gives youthings to look out for, but you
don't want to, like, linger inthat space. So I think the
biggest challenge is, isyourself. You could say, oh,
Todd McLaughlin (47:17):
yeah, you know, yes, yeah, yeah. Good point.
Good point. And so any otherevents and or retreats that you
have planned that you could talkabout that either myself or
someone listening can getexcited about,
Unknown (47:35):
yeah, we have, um, oh, man, I love, like, what we got
cooking. You know, it's, it'sreally beautiful. So we have the
retreat coming up this Saturdaywith mountain yoga Sandy. And
then in November, we have 222person retreats to Kenya with
next level yoga and, you know,and then we do a Thai massage
(47:58):
certification in Nairobi. Thiswill be the third time massage
certification. In October, I'mleading a Thai massage
certification in Barranquilla,Colombia. Um, yeah. I mean, I
can go through my calendar, youknow, like through the whole
thing, but, um, you know, wehave a lot of retreats Thai
(48:19):
massage certifications comingup. Um, Salim and I wish to do a
yoga teacher training. But rightnow, um, a lot of our friends
who own yoga studios are callingus to do these retreats. So we
know we want to keep that going,Yeah, but yeah, thanks for
(48:39):
asking, man, yeah, that's,that's what we got coming up.
Todd McLaughlin (48:41):
That's cool.
Yeah, awesome. You know, I Thisis primarily a, you know, the
genre, the umbrella that I tryto stay within is yoga. I can
see how all these differentcomponents are all yoga. I like
the way that you said you seeyoga under the umbrella of
martial arts. That's so cool. Imean, why? Why is it not? And so
I see that there's theseconnections. I absolutely love
(49:04):
Thai massage. I want to pretendthat that whoever's listening to
us right now doesn't appreciateor know or has never had Thai
massage. Can you just talk alittle bit about why you would
encourage them to find someonein their local area that is a
Thai massage therapist and tryit out.
Unknown (49:26):
Yeah, I think some Thai massage is very dynamic, and it
puts the body, it's kind of likeyoga in a way, because it puts
the body into different angles,while you can rest passively in
that position and then be neededand kind of liberate and
liberate the body from pain, isthe purpose through metta
meditation, right that you sentme on that email, which is the
(49:50):
practice of loving kindness, soyou're consistently, you know,
moving the body in a gracefulkind of pattern, or circular
pattern, to be able to and it'smore, it's, you know, I studied
regular massage, which is kindof on a table, and I love it,
you know, and then you flip, andthen you do the other side, and
(50:13):
then you the other side. And Ifind that time massage is a lot
more thorough. And as someonethat loves martial arts and is
very physically active, I have alot of value for my body. Um,
you know, Thai massage, to me,is an art that really gets more
(50:36):
profoundly into the body to beable to bring back. It's.
Creative expression and dynamicmovement. You could say,
Todd McLaughlin (50:47):
yeah, good answer. Francisco, thank you so
much for taking time to sharingyour stories and your life
history life journey with us. Ireally appreciate it. Is there
any anything you feel like Portimportant to close with that.
You know, I really love the factthat you brought up the
importance of mental health. Ithink that is something that
(51:12):
everybody you know, even thoseof us that go that like,
sometimes I'll think I havereally good mental health. You
know, I'm just doing reallygreat right now, and haven't
really gone down into a darkhole in a while and feeling
pretty good. And so I'm verygrateful to be in a place right
now where I really feel excited,but then sometimes I can even
(51:32):
analyze it a little bit. Maybethat's part of my downfall. And
then, and then I I find, like,I'll ask myself the question,
like, Am I really? Am I in goodmental health? You know what I
mean? Like if I really dig inand try to investigate and
analyze. So I'm glad that youbrought that up, because I think
it's something that a lot of usreally are needing to put some
(51:53):
time and attention into. Or evensometimes we think we're in
really good place, and weinvestigate, and then we find,
oh my gosh, you know, I actuallycould improve a little bit. Is
there anything in relation toclosing that you could share
with us, that you feel is atechnique or a way that you and
you brought up the site, theelement of like, not falling in
a rut and just staying on thepositive, the realistic, but
(52:15):
also the positive? Is there anyother tidbit of information or
ideas that you could share withme, that that could leave us on
a note of, you know, justfeeling how important it is to
maintain and build positivemental health.
Unknown (52:28):
Yeah. I mean, I think the most simple and the most
profound is looking to nature,you know, like, if you're near a
body of water, get in the ocean,you know, if you're in the
mountains, like, look to thestars, like just getting into
nature and laughter and friends,you know, like, good, good
friends, um, you know, I thinkthat that's really helpful, you
know, people that you can, andthat's what I love about, you
(52:53):
know, nowadays is people areseeking a lot of these martial
arts and yoga arts. It's, youknow, etc, for the community
aspect of it. And, you know,being able to go to a place that
they can, you know, be able tocommunicate and have friends and
go get some food together. So Ithink being but getting in
nature, to me, is is the mostpowerful, the most accessible.
(53:19):
It's not expensive, you know, tojust if you're near the ocean,
to get in the water, um, I findthat, to me, is like the most
awesome kind of tool to get out
Todd McLaughlin (53:33):
of a rut. Yeah, great point. Well, man, I'm so
excited to check in with you andhear about how this upcoming
retreat is going to go. I feellike it sounds so exciting to
think of a whole group of 22people traveling from Utah down
to Peru together to get a fulltour of Machu Picchu, I've never
(53:56):
been. And everybody who comesback all say you have to go,
kind of like you have to do itlike make the time in your life,
save up for it and make thetrip. It's so worth it. I
haven't met anybody that hascome back and said otherwise. So
I just think, Man, I'm soexcited for you and for that
group. It's gonna be absolutelyamazing. So I can't wait to hear
(54:16):
about it, and I really doappreciate and I love this
opportunity to meet and speakwith you, Francisco, thank you
all the work you're doing isfeels like you're generating it
toward helping and being a partof the solution and not the
problem, and that's a reallypositive thing. So thank you so
much.
Unknown (54:34):
It's my pleasure. My pleasure. Todd, thanks a lot.
Thanks. Appreciate. It's time tochat. You know
Todd McLaughlin (54:39):
it right? Thank you. The native yoga Todd cast
is produced by myself. The thememusic is dreamed up by Bryce
Allen. If you like this show,let me know if there's room for
improvement. I want to hear thattoo. We are curious to know what
(55:00):
you think and what you want moreof what I can improve. And if
you have ideas for future guestsor topics, please send us your
thoughts to info at Native yogacenter. You can find us at
Native yoga center.com, and hey,if you did like this episode,
share it with your friends. Rateit and review and join us next
(55:24):
time you.
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