The Paititi Family

Roman Hanis has been working closely with the indigenous Peruvian cultures in the Amazonian rainforest and Andean mountains since 2001. During this time he has devoted this life to learning the ancient healing ways of these cultures while seeking possibilities for creating ecological sources of sustenance for local populations and working to preserve the rainforest and its spiritual heritage of sacred medicinal plants.

Seeing the vital role that ancient cultural practices can play in today’s world, Roman honors and shares their value and wisdom through his work in community projects, healing retreats and educational workshops in both Peru and the U.S.

He is a certified Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner in Peru, and studied the fundamentals of TCM and acupuncture as an apprentice under the director of the Open International Institute of Oriental Medicine, Myriam Hacker, in Iquitos, Peru.

In 2002, Roman was fortunate enough to be cured of a terminal genetic illness , Crohn’s disease. In 2004, he was pledged as a healer-curandero by the Whitoto and Yahua tribes and has served the international community as a medicine man ever since. He has also practiced physical trauma rehabilitation, medical massage therapy and Eastern bodywork, having earned his degree from New York’s Swedish Institute of Health. With these tools and concentrated efforts, he has been able to help numerous individuals overcome many health issues and pathologies on physical, mental and spiritual levels.

Since 1999, Roman has also practiced the Eastern spiritual disciplines of Tibetan Buddhism, breathwork & meditation, QiGong, Yoga, Shaolin physical therapy and Toltec practices. In addition, he has worked to understand these disciplines from the perspective of Jungian psychology. He speaks Spanish, Hebrew, Russian and English.

Roman looks forward to eradicating suffering in the world and its cause, ignorance, by promoting education on the possibilities of more sustainable, harmonious relationships with nature, while simultaneously creating supportive, self-sustaining and nurturing communities.

Since childhood, Cynthia Robinson has had a deep love for nature and natural healing. She always knew she would devote her life in service to the healing of people and the planet.

Cynthia got her BA at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design with a focus in Design, Communication and Creative Problem Solving. After graduation, she pursued her passion to bring deeper values for nature and humanity into the world working as a brand strategist and designer supporting both Fortune 500 as well as smaller companies to implement Permaculture thinking into their infrastructure, product designs and marketing.

Working in the corporate world of New York City led her to discover a more profound passion to support herself and others in establishing deeper connection to nature, ancestral values and unlocking our highest potential as human beings. She traded in the corporate boardrooms for 100 acres in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest where she co-founded the Paititi Institute for the Preservation of the Amazon Rainforest and Indigenous Culture.

At Paititi, Cynthia works alongside her partners to create a platform that practically applies ancient wisdom to our modern world, building intercultural bridges for healing on physical, emotional and spiritual levels for all people from all cultures and all spiritual traditions. She currently works to develop and facilitate holistic experiential education models, weaving together our inner and outer landscapes through nature awareness, traditional Permaculture education, health education and indigenous Amazonian teachings and practices integrated with ancestral wisdom from around the planet.

In addition, in her role as Paititi’s Director of Permaculture, Cynthia is in charge of establishing tropical permaculture models on-site, while cultivating an intentional community that implements ongoing outreach projects in local native villages and tribes. Some of these projects’ focus include: appropriate technology for sanitation and clean water, fair trade exports, and cultural healing exchange programs which establish natural medicine clinics.

Finally, Cynthia is currently in the process of being initiated into Indigenous Amazonian Healing practices to become a medicine woman and carry on this ancient lineage of healing wisdom.

Roland Huilcanina Huarhua is originally from the quaint Quechua village of Chincheros. He was able to put himself through higher education, quite an accomplishment given his humble family roots, driven with the inspiration to be an ally for native communities. His passion for his heritage led him to study Anthropology and Law in College. He is now in the final stages of completing his master degree in law, focusing on human rights and ecology. Fluent in his native Quecha tongue, is inspired to serve as a bridge for underprivileged Peruvians. He has worked alongside Paititi Institute since 2014 and was appointed our Executive Director in 2018.

Carolina Pure Cortez is originally from a farming family in a small village in the Sacred Valley, San Salvador. She completed higher education in financial science and executive management. She is dedicated to uplifting the vulnerable native population through her work, designing budgets for the initiatives that can sustain and empower rural communities to generate their own income through regenerative, sustainable and ecological living. Carolina has worked alongside Paititi Institute since 2014 and was appointed our Treasurer in 2018.

Dona Matilde is an curandera and liniage holder from the Shipibo tradition. Matilde shares decades of experience and wisdom yet still contains the heart of a beginner with and open heart and the wish to continuously deepen her personal healing path. Bio coming soon 🙂

Andrew Jones is a permaculture designer & teacher and sustainability/wellness consultant as well as part of the core strategic planning and design team at the PAITITI Institute. He has been on a lifelong journey to integrate his path of right livelihood with his interests and passion for cultural exploration, nature and sustainability, wellness, and a dash of adventure.

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Permaculture & Nutrition Instructor

Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones was born in the United Kingdom and grew up under the influence of diverse family traditions, encompassing Burmese, Chinese, Indian, Cajun, French, and Inuit roots. Educated as a gardener and healer by her paternal grandparents who embraced Buddhist, Hindu and Shamanic practices in their healing and farming, she has embraced these practices and deepened her understandings of them through her life’s path.

Trained as a holistic and permaculture educator, Shenaqua is a passionate advocate for organic raw foods as a support to our healing potentiality. As part of her Masters in Childhood Psychology, she worked successfully with families, helping them to understand the importance of and need for providing their families with proper whole foods. She also takes pleasure in helping people to connect deeply with plants, gardens, and the empowering act of growing food, particularly within one’s own community.

Milana Dravnel was born and raised in the Ural Mountains in Russia. In 1998, Milana moved to New York where her practice of yoga began. After years of practice she earned her first yoga teacher certification in 2009, and in the same year she opened a yoga center and vegan cafe called Shakti Yoga Center. In 2010, Milana’s inner transformation inspired her to benefit all beings and the environment, and she became certified in Permaculture Design at the Paititi Institute in the Amazon rainforest. In 2011, Milana got an advanced certification in India and spent several months teaching yoga to children in orphanages located in impoverished areas of the Far East.

Becoming a yoga teacher created a new momentum in her being that has reawakened her spirit and activated a deeper level of inquiry into human existence. Milana’s mission as a teacher is to create a space of inspiration and reflection. With love and respect for yourself comes love and respect for the people and environment surrounding you. Milana is inspired to design, in a holistic way, a more harmonious relationship between people and Mother Earth.

Drawing together diverse ideas, skills and a way of living from ancient spiritual disciplines encourages us to act selflessly and wisely for the benefit of all sentient beings as we become productive citizens of the planet Earth.

Sharon Joy is a professional event organizer and visionary consultant. Her unique combination of skills and experience in project management, accounting and conscious-community development makes her an integral part of the Paititi Institute.

Sharon’s inner purpose is creating and coordinating conscious workshops and retreats that facilitate the progress of the current global mind shift. A world traveler with over twenty years of experience in international project management, Sharon Joy has dedicated herself to organizations and ideas that make a profound impact on the evolutionary journey of humans on this planet.

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Bangalore, India:

Abhishek’s journey began with his inherent wonder and curiosity in nature, with the exploration of infinity and life within all things. Introduced to meditation at an early age, his focus was driven to the intangible and everything connecting it to the tangible. He finds greater meaning and wisdom in integrating scientific and esoteric practices, woven together within the means of practical philosophies centered around the non-dualistic view.

An artist and designer by training, Abhishek also shares his gift as a practitioner in meditation, subconscious-reprogramming, reiki, yoga and permaculture. He continues to find value and inspiration streaming through all of his experiences. As he enthusiastically continues to learn and evolve, he believes in nurturing a balance of experimentation and play, alongside defining his practice. He is keenly interested in discovering a synergy in the shamanic and yogic practices. It brings him great joy to share the spark of Primordial Breathwork™, as he sees how rapid and accessible deep transformation and realisation can be, within our current context. He aspires to be of the highest service to others by cultivating an environment that reminds us of our inherent nature, supporting us to transcend beyond perceived limitations.

Contact: ursacirrus@gmail.com

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Malta:

Born on the historical island of Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean, Elton started studying Music at the age of eight, playing the Baritone and Violin. Although he studied classical music, he appreciates all sorts of music and you can find him mostly on a psychedelic trance dance floor in the flow.

In 1998, Elton was awarded First Prize by the Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in the Young Musicians Competition. Later, he decided to change careers and attended the Institute of Tourism Studies in Malta where in 2005 got his Advanced Diploma in Culinary Arts, Food and Pastry. In 2006, Elton went to France to represent Malta in the International School of Gastronomy. There, he fell in love with fine dining and dedicated the next 5 years working day and night, to achieve the prestigious, Michelin Star award. In 2012, he backpacked through South America, initiating a year of profound transformation. He was introduced to sacred plant medicine and deeper purpose for the first time in Peru.

He became Inspired to learn more about the ancient wisdom and cultures of Peru, and for three years he was studying and seeking a place where he felt a deep resonance to immerse fully into these timeless healing arts. Initially, he studied mostly with the Shipibo-Conibo in the Ucayali, and from there he continued following his heart, which led him to the Paititi Institute, where he found the connection he was searching for.

In 2015, he left his profession as a chef to become deeply immersed in his evolutionary process whilst learning the healing arts with the healer – curandero Roman Hanis, where he remained until 2022. During his time at the Paititi Institute, Elton engaged with the Amazonian and Andean Sacred plant medicines, Transpersonal Jungian and Ashuar Dreamwork, Amazonian and Tibetan Breathwork, Shamanic Symptomatic dance, and Daoist Alchemy of Immortality Qigong. He became a Primordial Breathwork™ facilitator in 2022.

Elton’s deepest wish is to bring benefit to all sentient beings and eradicate all illusions so that we can collectively transcend separation and live together in a shared heart presence, whilst preserving the Amazonian and Andean Indigenous wisdom, and deeply respecting his ancestors.

Contact: eltonleeabela@gmail.com

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Denver, Colorado:

Gardener…Adventurer… Dreamer… Dancing through all of life’s twist and turns, Janel breathes deep into the vibrancy of life. For Janel, staying curious is essential on all paths, and she inspires to invoke curiosity and wonder in all those she comes across and practices with. Janel aspires to remain in humble service of cultivating a relationship with the inner teacher and staying present with the spaciousness available in the beginner’s mind.  

Currently based in Denver, Colorado, Janel shares her gifts as a special education elelentary educator and yoga instructor –  and when it flows – she can be found with the Paititi Institute in Peru. She has been part of the Paititi family for over 13 years, partipcating and volunteering in numerous retreats both in Peru and the States. With grounded joy, Janel is grateful to be able to help facilitate Paititi’s Distance Healing journey, where she as been supporting as a Dreamwork coach over the past 8 years.

Her love for connecting with the beauty and intricacies of life energy, motivates her to inspire her students and friends on the path opportunities to be nourished by their own inner radiance. Through creativity, movement, and exploration, she aspires to lead her own life and inspire others, with maitri as a foundation. Maitiri (my-tree) is a sanskrit word that means “loving kindness and unconditional friendship with oneself”. Maitri is described as, “feeling at home with your own mind and your own body”.

Janel is inspired to share the Primordial Breathwork™ practices as way to empower others, guiding them to feel nourished, centered, and embodied in each of their individual evolutionary processes. Beginning again and again, she aspires to awaken alongside her fellow practitioners into a space that is intimate, grounded in self-awareness, extedning maitri during and beyond the experience. Janel intends that one will walk out of a Primordial Breathwork™ experience feeling more at home within this journey of being human, rooted in the garden of the shared heart.

Contact: www.yogawithnel.com

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Victoria British Columbia, Canada:

Joseph lives on the traditional unceded territory of the Wsanec Nation and the Lekwungen-speaking peoples, on the beautiful west coast of Turtle Island. He works as a massage therapist and is also an accomplished pianist with a university degree in classical piano performance and teaching. He began his spiritual path many years ago with Yoga, which evolved into the study and practice of classical Tantra and Vajrayana Buddhism. A defining  part of his evolutionary journey has been  a deep process of embodied decolonization through direct action and civil disobedience, standing alongside Indigenous land defenders to protect the ancient forests on the island where he grew up.

Deepening into his understanding of Shamanism and Indigenous wisdom, Joseph found Paititi Institute and spent most of 2022 living in Peru. There, he began working with plant medicine and different practices, discovering the wisdom of the enlightened ancestors found within all of us. He is grateful to have had the opportunity to train as a facilitator of Primordial Breathwork™, which he has found to be a powerful practice for cleansing and purifying the energy body, releasing stored traumas, and connecting deep into the body consciousness. He plans to return to Peru when the spirit calls, and in the meantime is excited to share the Primordial Breathwork™practice with his community, in the area commonly known as Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Contact: josephtfisher@gmail.com

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
San Francisco, CA & New York, NY:

In addition to being a Paititi Institute certified facilitator of Primordial Breathwork™, Joshua is also an ERYT-500 / YACEP certified instructor through Yoga Alliance,  Reiki practitioner, executive coach, author, and artist. He has practiced across domains of embodied cognition and healing modalities over the last 20 years, with varying degrees of depth and focus. As a breathwork practitioner for 15 years, Joshua’s direct experiences have revealed the potency of these practices for him, which has led him to  develop a deeper understanding of their transformational potential to practitioners of any level.  

Joshua knows Primordial Breathwork™ holds the promise and possibility of each practitioner’s ability to awaken and deepen connection to their inner healer, and holds a space & intention where all who are curious and called can engage in a way that’s aligned for them individually, while supported by a co-creative group environment. Joshua is in the work with you, fully and is based in San Francisco, CA.

Contact: 
Instagram: @joshlundell  
Email: joshlundell@gmail.com

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Portland, Oregon:

Leah Shirley embarked on a journey to heal her mind and body through the power of yoga over two decades ago. A devoted yoga instructor, yoga school owner, and co-founder of Agni Yoga Portland, she is guided by her passion to educate and empower people through the art of movement by cultivating a deeper connection with their bodies. Leah has a degree in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts and has continued her education at Boulder College of Massage Therapy and Dissection Lab participation with Gil Hedley. Leah has foundational knowledge of exercise, human performance, and its correlation with the structure and function of the body.

Committed to her practice and devotion and continued willingness to learn, Leah began the journey of embodying her true nature with the Paititi Institute in 2015. Over the years, her personal evolution, and the inspiration and guidance that have been transmitted through the wisdom of the Indigenous perspective have led Leah to become a facilitator ofPrimordial Breathwork™. She wishes to share the learning and deepen her connection with friends on the path.

Contact:
info@agniyogaportland.com
agniyogaportland.com

Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator in Training
Doha, Qatar:

Mariana was born and raised in Venezuela, with Spanish roots from her father. She considers herself an explorer of life. An avid learner, she is very passionate about reconnecting and discovering deeper the ancient wisdom available to us from different cultures that can help us deep dive within our body, mind, and soul.

In parallel to her career of over 20 years in the corporate world, Marians has been inspired to learn a variety of alternative healing modalities, including energy healing, sound healing, hypnotherapy, among others, during her travels and studies. She has also studied Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and culture from her precious teacher Tulku Lobsang Rinpoche. Mariana is also a RYT 200 hr Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher, and a meditation, sound and breathwork practitioner.

For Mariana, reconnecting and remembering the power that we have within has been the best gift for her. She shares that, it has opened her heart, torn down many of hershields, and brought meaning to the challenges she has faced in her life.  Mariana believes that if we all embark together on this journey of self-discovery to manifest our true nature with an open heart embodying the human qualities of compassion, love, and forgiveness, we can achieve significant changes as individuals and as a collective.

There are many tools available to us to heal and to assist us in discovering our true nature and potential. However, to Mariana, the most fascinating and powerful are simple in nature – our own breath and vocal cords, creating sound and vibration. We can take them with us everywhere we go and their effects are amplified the more we are in connection with others. 

As a Primordial Breathwork™certified facilitator, she is keen to share the teachings of the Amazonian and Tibetan traditions, which woven together, can help  us to realize our potential and reconnect with the healer within us all. As Mariana visualizes, “We are born with an inhale and the golden thread of our breath begins. We die with an exhale but, in between, we are weaving the golden thread of our breath that gives us life. A true gift”.

Contact:
marianadiazcastro@gmail.com
Instagram @marianadiazcastro.

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Palenque, Mexico:

Martin is originally from Germany and during his first travels to Mexico 19 years ago, he received a vision to become the guardian of an ancient Mayan sanctuary and food forest in Palenque, in front of Pakal, which is where he has been residing since. In his community, they are growing, learning, and practicing the sacred use of ancestral cacao.

He first connected with the Paititi Institute in the Amazon in 2013, and he continued to be inspired by the teachings and practices. Martin believes that the Primordial Breathwork™, woven together with living wisdom lineages, has great potential for healing and awakening together to the collective dream of mother nature.

Contact:
ommanipadmehum1320@gmail.com
www.jardin-palenque.org

Certified Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator
Traveling; Currently offering practices in Mexico:

Satyadev is a trained naturopathic doctor from Canada. He has taught classical hatha yoga for over 20 years. As a student of life, he continues to explore movement medicine, sound healing, and Gene Keys. He embodies his passions for cooking, dancing, and sounding as creative expressions of life. He is inspired to share Primordial Breathwork™and other healing practices in communities around the world.

Contact: drtomnd@gmail.com
Whatsapp: @1-437-888-4098

Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator in Training
Vienna, Austria:

Alissa’s strong drive to learn has brought her to study with many great teachers from around the world. She is a certified Reiki Master, Yoga Teacher, and Theta Healer. She is also an Akashic Records Practitioner and thought various Akashic Records Practitioner Trainings. During her extended stays in North, Central, and South America, she connected to the native traditions of these lands and holds a strong respect for their lineages.

Alissa attended the Primordial Breathwork Teacher Training at the Paititi Institute in Peru in July 2022 and is passionate about using the breath to awaken our innate inner healing abilities. She believes that everyone has the capacity to heal within themselves and that we can use the teachings from the Indigenous practices such as Yoga, Meditation, and Primordial Breathwork™ to unlock our human potential.

Contact: alissa.zech.ra@gmail.com

Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator in Training

San Francisco, California
:

Beb has been fortunate enough to dedicate her life force to unfold the human qualities with each inhale and exhale. Born and raised in Venezuela, Beb moved to the United States in 2000, where she has resided since. In parallel with her 11 year tenure in the corporate world as developer of solar projects, Beb found her way into the healing arts through her own curiosity along with life challenges and experiences that brought her to the remembrance journey.

As an avid hiker, tree lover, surfer, herbalist, yoga and breathwork practitioner, she is inspired to share the Primordial Breathwork and all she has learned with the Sangha. She came to Paititi in 2021 as part of a self-designed professional sabbatical, from a successful career in renewable energy, to explore deeper the embodiment of these practices. Prior to Paititi, Beb explored and studied other breathwork modalities in the functional and cathartic categories.

She believes that we are our own healers and that we are in the process of awakening to our true nature. With that philosophy in mind, She finds tremendous joy in facilitating breathwork sessions to individuals or groups, and assisting yoga students in their explorations. Beb is grateful for all the experiences that have brought her and you to this intersection!

Contact:
yogawithbeb@gmail.com
415.519.8249

Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator in Training
Sacred Valley, Peru:

For Kailey, her experiences with the Primordial Breathwork™ practice has been a journey back to herself and a practice of learning to open her heart – opening her heart to what scares her, hurts her and also to all of the beauty and love that is abundant she allows herself to see clearly. It has been a practice of allowing herself to be vulnerable and and of becoming more honest with herself, with grace and patience.

The breath, for Kailey, represents the universal love, connecting us all. For the Indigenous- the breath is the universal language, a language we were once all so fluent in. The breath – the heartbeat – is the rhythm of nature connecting us all. The breath is a constant reminder for Kailey that she can close off, freeze, resist – or – when she decides to open her heart, she can join in the dance of the true nature pulsing within us all, flowing to the rhythm of our universal heartbeat. 

Growing up in Florida, Kailey has always had an adventurous spirit, with an unquenchable curiosity for learning about and connecting with cultures around the world. Over the past few years she has been traveling and living around the world, working as a teacher and researcher, and she is now continuing her life long studies in the Sacred Valley of Peru, learning and connecting with the Paititi Institute. She aspires to continue learning, sharing and continually discovering new ways to be a bridge, sharing these traditions for opening the heart and connecting to our true nature.

Contact:
Email: hak.kailey@gmail.com
Instagram: @kaileyhak

Primordial Breathwork™ Facilitator in Training
Lake Atiklan, Guatemala:

Kevin Blue is a viajero, a seeker exploring the frontiers of the human experience.  An entheogen enthusiast, permaculturista, radical mycologist, evolutionary herbalist, yoga teacher and sound ceremonialist, creatively expressing his essence, he is inspired to contribute to the evolution of human consciousness and the healing of humanity’s relationship with Mother Earth. From the malokas of the Amazon to the peaks of the Andes, from the streets of Black Rock City to the shores of Lake Atitlán he is on a journey of adventure, he is inspired to share his passions, healing and communion. 

Contact: sagradamt@gmail.com