Francisco Morales ~ Nature as a Healer: Synergy Yoga in Peru's Sacred Valley

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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Chapters

• 0:00 Francisco Morales on Martial Arts, Travel, and Healing Arts
• 6:56 Martial Arts, Yoga, and Thai Massage: A Journey of Mastery
• 15:28 The Evolution and Therapeutic Aspects of Acroyoga
• 21:35 Synergy Yoga's Global Impact and Youth Empowerment Initiatives
• 27:53 Blending Capoeira and Yoga Through Music and Serenity
• 33:12 Overcoming Pain Through Self-Study and Movement in the Andes
• 36:57 Empowering Youth Through Yoga, Martial Arts, and Cultural Pride
• 42:59 Balancing Dreams and Realism in Yoga and Thai Massage

Transcript

Todd McLaughlin: 0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, bodywork and beyond. Follow us at @nativeyoga and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. I am absolutely thrilled to bring 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 this are in the description, and he's got multiple handles on IG. The two I'm going to share right now is at @Synergy.yoga. And also another one that I find really fascinating that he has going is called @synergyrisingNGO, which is a nonprofit that his his group has put together to help people in Peru work with him, in alongside his work that he does with hosting retreats at Machu, Picchu retreats in Kenya, Africa, with his friend Salim and wow, there's just so much information that Francisco shares here. He has a really diverse background, ranging from a wide angled experience with martial arts in capoeira, yoga practice with Dharma Mittra in New York, Thai massage study in Canada with Kam Thai Chow being with the founder of acroyoga, Jason Neimer, and Jenny Sauer Kline Back in the day when that began in San Francisco. He's been all over the world, learning, studying and practicing. I think you're gonna be fascinated and enamored with what Francisco is up to. So definitely give him a follow and send us a message if you enjoy this episode, his nonprofit sounds really beneficial and helpful for the local people of Peru. So if you feel inclined to share and help and maybe even go visit one day, let us know. All right, let's get started. I'm so happy I have a chance to meet and speak with Francisco Morales. Francisco. Thank you so much for joining me today. Welcome to the show. Can you tell me where you are joining me from.

Francisco Morales: 3:04

Thank you first of all for having me. It's a pleasure to be here and get to know a little bit more about what you're doing as well. I'm in Urubamba, the secret valley of Peru in the Andes. And yeah, it's a beautiful place up here, largest variety of micro climates in the world. So we get a lot of weather patterns, amazing. How are you originally from Peru? Yeah, I was born in Peru, and I grew up in the coast of Peru, and I immigrated to Washington, DC when I was eight. Nice, nice. And now, do you balance life between us and Peru primarily?

Todd McLaughlin: 3:48

Do you have another living location? Or do you stay full time Peru? Or do you? Do you mostly reside in us? How do you split your time?

Unknown: 3:56

No, I'm mostly in Peru and in the high Andes. I just bought some land, building a house and a dojo martial arts center for for the youth of the area in Urubamba and but I go to this I have a lot of friends in the States, and I go there quite often to teach and and also to visit friends and family

Todd McLaughlin: 4:19

cool Francisco. I mean, I really enjoyed studying up and learning about some of the influences that you've had throughout your life between martial arts, yoga, Thai massage, acro yoga. I even heard before we started, you mentioned capoeira, which obviously falls in the martial arts War world. But we can see how all these different arts blend together. How has growing up in Peru influenced you in your healing arts, or as a healing artist? Yeah,

Unknown: 4:51

I mean, I think, how has it influenced I think being in the coast, especially being a kid in the coast of Peru, um. Um, you know, I was living in Washington, DC, but I was the kind of fundamental years of my upbringing, from one to eight were in Peru, and it's an Ocean City. You know, a lot of people like when it's when it's summertime and beach time, the city is empty, and it's a huge city, especially back then, the rhythm was a lot slower. But, you know, just observing the sea growing up, fishing surfing always gives you some perspective and helps slow things down. So I think it really kind of gave me that influence of water in my life, and the ocean and like, a massive body of ocean.

Todd McLaughlin: 5:43

Amazing. Are you? I'm guessing you've surfed at Chicama chicamas?

Unknown: 5:50

Chicama Yeah, the longest left yeah in the world. Yeah. I have gone there once. And it's quite a enduring because it's a a lot of paddling.

Todd McLaughlin: 6:04

Yeah, the longest left means the longest paddle ever, too.

Unknown: 6:09

But it's, it's really beautiful, especially the northern coast of Peru. The ocean has a lot of life, you know, as you get closer to the Galapagos, amazing.

Todd McLaughlin: 6:21

Can you tell me a little bit about your background in martial arts and what modalities you've studied and and what role your experience with martial arts has played in your journey in life?

Unknown: 6:35

Yeah, I think so. I studied capoeira, Capoeira Angola. I mean, I think yoga is a 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. You know, it's a martial art that removes pain from the body. I also studied jiu jitsu with some friends as well at a buddy of mine school, but to me, it's given me discipline helps you, gives you knowledge of self and to take care of your temple. I think a lot of these martial arts emphasize circular movement and moving with the best intention for yourself and those around you and being mindful, right?

Todd McLaughlin: 7:26

Yeah, that's cool, man. Well, I mean, I saw that you've studied in like, multiple countries around the world, where, when did your travel lust start to develop? I can imagine having the influence of growing up in Peru and then moving to states. And then where was your first like, big travel by yourself, where you went off on your own and started to explore?

Unknown: 7:55

I think that. So, yeah, I was consistently going back and forth between Washington, DC area and Peru. And I think after university, or middle of university, I think it was a sophomore year summer, I wanted to see the United States and also make money to pay for school. So I drove from Miami. I went to university in Miami. I drove from Miami to Seattle, and just got different jobs along the way. And then I got a one way flight to Anchorage and worked with the salmon industry for a couple of months. So that was my first kind of so sojourn. You could say,

Todd McLaughlin: 8:43

yeah, yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what was it like working in the salmon industry in Alaska? I mean, you watch these shows on TV with these 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: 9:05

you know, I was like, I was a kid who didn't have any cash. I wanted to make some money, and it seemed like a good way to make money and get to know a place that I had always wanted to see, because it's so contrasting from Peru and DC, you know, Alaska, yeah, you know it's wild and, you know, you picture snow and all these things, obviously not in the summer, but,

Todd McLaughlin: 9:28

yeah, that's cool, man. Well, what are some of the universal threads that you found in the healing practices across these different cultures that you've studied within

Unknown: 9:40

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 massage teacher communicated were to find your own way within the martial art. I. And, like I said, I consider Thai massage, and, you know, a martial art, just like Capoeira and jiu jitsu and 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 the jaw, you're moving the hips to open up the connection of the femur and the hip joint as well. In capoeira, like the kicks create more velocity, you could say, with with a roundabout. And I believe that, you know, it's like communally a lot of things, like the circle is a consistent emphasis, right? So it helped me to see the circle of community. It kind of I think Capoeira and the martial arts have influenced our business, synergy, yoga. Myself and my colleague and my dear friend Saleem Rollins, who I met through capoeira, we were both deeply influenced by capoeira, are deeply influenced by capoeira. So I think if you're a student of martial arts, it's inevitably going to influence how you carry out your life and the things you love and your family and your work.

Todd McLaughlin: 11:15

Good answer. I noticed as well that you had an opportunity to practice with Dharma Mitra, did you live in New York City to have that opportunity, or was it when he was visiting and teaching elsewhere?

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 peach carpet, you know, that we used to practice. And, yeah, he sometimes he crashed with us

Todd McLaughlin: 11:55

on the floor. Oh my gosh. Well, how many years ago 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't know 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 I lived in in New York for a while, and I got a job making food and working at the farmers market out there while I was just to be able to study with him and stay you know, I didn't want to go back and forth.

Todd McLaughlin: 12:32

Amazing. So did you how did that evolve? Did you say dharma? Look, I want, I don't want to waste a lot of time traveling around, and I'm committed and focused. And would it be okay if I stay here? And he just said, Of course,

Unknown: 12:46

yeah. He said. He said, Stay until you find your own spot. Um, you know? And he didn't give me, like, a time, you know? So I just stayed in the studio for two weeks, nice, and then I found a place and a job. So that's cool in Union Square. So his studio was on, I think it was 73rd and Third Avenue. So it was like an easy little, like skateboard right away. You know, it was short from where I was in Union Square. That's cool. And I was able to take his class daily. You know,

Todd McLaughlin: 13:22

what type of lessons do you feel like you learned when practicing with him?

Unknown: 13:31

Yeah, I think the thing that most resonates with me about what Dharma or that's kind of consistent for me is to make your your asana, like he would always say, make your asana as an offering, right? Um, and I think that helps you to be more mindful and not have hyper focused on the on the outcome of the practice, but more mindful of 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 be attached to the outcome. Just do 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 history with studying, studying Thai massage. I saw that you studied with come Thai Chow. I I believe, wasn't he teaching out of Canada? Wasn't that where he really settled and made, made his kind of spent his time teaching. How did you meet him? And can you tell me a little bit about what you learned in practicing with

Unknown: 14:48

him? Sure? Sure. No problem. Yeah. Cam Thai is my teacher. He's no longer physically with us. He is from Malaysia originally, and he's a Tai. Tai Chi master. Tai Chi was something he studied before he started to study Thai massage, and then he moved to Thailand at a very young age, and he studied Thai massage there, and that's where he really became a master of Thai massage in Thailand. And he fell in love with an emergency room doctor from one trial at, uh, some like silent meditation retreat, like Vipassana. I don't know how that happened, because I think they just 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 to Montreal, and he, you know, and he eventually, like, you know, they found love. They got married. And I wanted to study massage. I wanted to use my hands, you know, to like. I to learn. I always liked, loved it, you know, I was actually a lobbyist 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 the train, I guess, from DC to Montreal, and I went to study with him at the lotus palm Center, which is where the center 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 what time 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 of embarked on on your Thai massage practice. Yes, very cool, amazing. And have you been practicing Thai massage fairly consistently, 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 99 there's a little gap that I wasn't like couple of years, you know that I stopped because, mostly because I was studying something else, you know, or teaching more yoga, I think. But yeah, I've been pretty consistent with that and with Capoeira since 99 Wow.

Todd McLaughlin: 17:36

And I also saw, or see that you had a chance to be in the forefront of the development of acro yoga, which is, I don't want to assume everybody listening knows what that is, but the blend of acrobatics and yoga and or a real close connection with Thai massage in relation to partner work. But a little more acrobatic we, I guess we could say, can you tell us talk a little bit about acro yoga and what your relationship is, or was, to Jason niemer and and Jenny Sauer Klein in the formation of acro yoga?

Unknown: 18:13

Yeah, I, I met Jason at a yoga teacher training in 2003 you know, when we met like we just really, we got along, we had a mutual respect. And I was living in DC at the time, but I wanted to move to San Francisco because there was a lot more yoga there, and I wanted to learn more. So we became, I moved out there, and we got a place together, and we were roommates during the formation of the Aqua yoga practice. And so we'd always have people at our apartment and fly them and, you know, stuff like that. And myself and my buddy, my friend, Carolyn, we were Thai massage therapists, and people would always be hurting after the acro yoga flying sessions, so we would do Thai massage as part of it. 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 the video, I can still hear you. But the video, we have a freeze frame. But don't worry, I think, keep talking and it'll unfreeze on the on the video, I can still hear you, or maybe I can't hear you, and I can hear my invoice getting glitchy. We can just hang out for a moment. I have a feeling it's gonna kick back in here any moment. And I noticed that he just logged off, so he's going to log back on, and there we are. Cool, man, yeah, that's how we have to go with it when we have the internet. I mean, so, but good job being quick with the turn off, turn on scenario. No worries. I mean, I'll just keep flowing where we stopped. Yeah? Please. Perfect. I didn't say much more after you were 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 the where the Yoga Journal magazine was, which was like a big yoga periodical at the time. And because we were there, I think it really helped to take off. You know, because the yoga magazine started to put little like acro yoga stuff in their magazine, so it helped to take off. That makes sense. A lot of people would be hurting after the workshops, so we would do Thai massage to help alleviate because we were all yoga teachers, that's one thing that all of us had in common, Carolyn, Jenny, you know, Jason and myself, and we all had different backgrounds, like Jason was an acrobatic person, Jenny did like circus arts, and Carolyn was also a time massage therapist. So we had different commonalities, but also taught yoga, and we noticed people were really hurting after the workshop, so we added the yellow men of Thai massage. Because, you know, also, like the flying can be really therapeutic, but the base takes a lot of pain on their lower back and hips, you know, 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 with Jason in Miami in probably, like 2007 or so, and I, I remember getting really creative and and luckily, the group of people that were there were all fairly yoga orientated, so it seemed pretty safe and sound. And then I remember going to another event where the person wasn't as adept as Jason was at leading an acro yoga experience, and the people that showed up didn't seem as adept in their yoga skill, and it almost felt a little train wreck ish. And so I'm curious. I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about since you've had so many years now to let it digest and practice. What are some of the key fundamentals that you attempt to teach when you lead an acro yoga session?

Unknown: 22:24

Well, when we formed the practice of acro yoga, so we started the four of us, and then eventually I started synergy partner yoga, which is, you know, it's kind of acro yoga, but less, I would say, like less emphasis on the very acrobatic, because I like to use the partner yoga and the Thai massage to be able to liberate the body from pain and give you more kind of connection with yourself, to be able to engage in your martial arts or in your day to day activity without pain, right, and with more freedom of movement. So But initially, when we first formed acro yoga as a collective. The foundation was playfulness, connection. You know, there's like, certain like themes, right? These were, like, the kind of fundamental themes of the practice was playfulness and connection and community, right? Because it's done in a group. There's a lot of, like, massive group exercises in acro yoga. And then there's also two on two kind of Thai massage or flying things. And, you know, but, um, I was never really enchanted by like, um, doing like, I, I, you know, we all have different goals, right? And for me, was like to learn more about therapeutic flying and, you know, and and partner yoga more than to do really wonderful and really 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? So your website is synergy dot yoga. I have the links in the description so people very easily be able to find you. What was the impetus for the formation of synergy dot yoga, and you mentioned that or that your friend Celine is who you've who you guys are working together. Can you talk a little bit 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 years back. He was studying Capoeira with Mr. Joe Grande, who's like a grand master of capoeira, and my master cobramansa were, we're in DC. He was in New York. So I would always go up there to train, and he'd come down. And his home was like the host home for people that wanted to come study with Mr. Joe Grande, who's I got, you know, in my opinion, and I think in a lot of people's opinion, like the most influential Capoeira figure alive today, and I. When we came together, you know, we have this foundation of capoeira, as you know, that brought us together, right? Which is the form of the circle, like the circular movements, the certain principles of the martial art. So when we synergy, yoga was formed years back, like after I kind of like, moved away from macro yoga, I formed synergy with the idea. I wanted it to be more of a circle, and the idea that you're never alone, you know, which is something that's, I think, really important nowadays is, you know, sometimes that a lot of people are talking about depression and things like that, it's really important to emphasize a community and connection. So synergio was formed with that principle that together, you're greater than one by the self, right? And always kind of keeping that in mind, I didn't want to make synergy like a kind of like an empirical enterprise. I wanted to make it more of a collaborative movement. So back to your question, how Salim and I came together was around the pandemic and, and I feel, you know, like more people, we wanted to move more positivity through the screen, because a lot of people were kind of at home, and, you know, they, you know, masked up and locked up, you know, and and it was, I think that's when a lot of people, out of our friends, are kind of getting bombed. They're losing a lot of their health, you know. So we started to do donation lessons through, through our synergy yoga platform. And we even did an online festival, you know. I did an online Thai massage certification, which is kind of crazy, but it invited people to your house, kind of thing. So that's when we really came together and brought and became the co director of synergy, and in his influence, really had a profound impact in synergy, Because together, we were really able to make synergy more of a global

Todd McLaughlin: 27:04

enterprise. Amazing. You said He's based in Nairobi Kenya.

Unknown: 27:09

He's in Nairobi Kenya. He's a capoeira master as well. He teaches in capoeira on a regular basis, on a weekly basis, to kids there. He has a nonprofit organization that he directs with another colleague of his Victor. And, you know, we do retreats out there to Kenya. We're doing two retreats in November. So it really 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 in Mexico. But, yeah, he's a dear brother, like his mom is, like a mother to me. So it's like, you know, I gained a colleague and and more family.

Todd McLaughlin: 27:56

Nice man. That's so cool. Well, I, I'm curious about your one of your Instagram handles, so anyone that's on Instagram can follow you at Synergy, dot yoga, but another one that you have is synergy, rising, NGO. And so I saw that, you know, helping to the youth, to, you know, make life choices and work with the youth. Can you tell me a little bit about what your goal is in relation to mentoring the up and coming generation.

Unknown: 28:30

So my goal, I would say the initial goal, is youth empowerment through martial arts. So we teach martial arts as a form of discipline and self study and self respect. But the main goal is to also highlight the importance of the arts that are from here and the traditions that are from here, because this is a really amazing place in the world, you know, like over here, they consider the earth a goddess, and Pachamama is not just like a hippie, flimsy thing. It's like it's a real entity. So the agriculture is done differently. There's a lot of customs and traditions that are beautiful here, like the weaving that's in and so we really want to maintain these arts with the youth, these weaving arts, ceramic arts, and the language of Quechua, which is being lost as well. So we really want to preserve that. So that's the main goal. And we're right now raising funds to build a dojo and a center for the kids. We're a quarter of the way there to our in our fundraising, and so pretty excited. Our next fundraising event is actually in Washington, DC, February 7, at Eaton 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 have planned 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 to know about what we're doing, so I'll talk a little bit about it. We're going to have a presentation. The architect, pasu seminario is going to fly out for it, and we're going to be able to, you know, show people what we're doing, how we're doing our building, and what the goals of the nonprofit are. So we'll do some fundraising, and then we have some really wonderful musicians who are going to come and make it a party, and we're going to dance and have a good time. Very cool,

Todd McLaughlin: 30:39

man. Amazing. Can one of the things that I was most impressed with in a capuerta class I had a chance to take only a few was the fact that the participants in the room are involved in not only learning the capuerta movement, but also playing music that sets the tone and rhythm for the movement. Can you talk a little bit about how the music in capoeira supports the practice and vice versa?

Unknown: 31:13

Yeah. So in the capoeira practice, there's one instrument. It's called the bidding bow, right? So the bidding bow kind of guides, um, how you kind of move in the practice, in the kind of sparring, you could say, you know, we say, we call it playing. We call it a game, because there's a lot of playfulness to capoeira, and it's kind of, kind of maintaining that jovial, kind of tricky, tricky vibe. You know, in your practice, it's not very, like stern and kind of rigid. It is circular, like we were saying earlier. So the music has so there's a lot of layers to the martial art, like you just communicated. And in the music, you're also passing down history, like in the in the spoken word. You're passing down history and a lot of these cultures, you know, just like the Quechua culture here, it moves according to the arts, right? The weavings, the music, the spoken word. And that's something that, no matter how influential technology becomes that's something that's kind of like never lost, right? Or we don't want to lose. So, yeah, cup weather, has that music influence?

Todd McLaughlin: 32:31

That's cool, man. Have you ever experimented with or tried to blend live music with a yoga practice in a cap. Where to like fashion, I know like, say, if we look at harmonium and Kirtan, and typically when kirtan practice happens, call and response, so you get the energy of the whole group going back and forth, or all together. And I've always thought, wow, it'd be so interesting to see what kind of collaboration yoga and capuerta could do in terms of, like, the music part, to me, was the most fascinating part of the capuerta class. It has such a cool Bow, bow, bow, like, had such a cool sound to it. I'm just curious if you've ever toyed with or played with, because you've learned so many of these different modalities that all are kind of similar, but all stand so uniquely in their own field. Any thoughts 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 you practice yoga. You could say, right? Like, yeah, your city. Like, you know, I've gone to some of Krishna Das Kirtan, and he's a good friend of Dharma Mitras as well. So he would come visit Dharma space. Sometimes it's mostly like you sit, you know, and you sing, right, yeah. But in capoeira, you sing sometimes you play an instrument while you sing sometimes, and then 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 blend those two? But maybe they don't, maybe they don't need to blend. Maybe I just go to Capoeira class 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 yoga teaches you because it is that martial art with yourself, and it 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 more it's more difficult, like when someone's trying to kick you, to be, you know, calm and you know. But. That's the ideal, right? Or when 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'm I'm refraining from saying body pain as it as a practitioner of these multiple arts. I mean, one thing I'm noticing is I'm getting older. I'm 51 now. I practice Thai massage every day and teach yoga every day. And I'm managing. I'm noticing that it requires a little more stealth, a little more stealth management to, like, keep up. And I'm curious. I just just as a as a colleague and from a friend perspective, like, how are you doing it? Do you have any any advice for for all of us out here?

Unknown: 36:04

Yeah, it's, it's interesting, because it's uh, you know, um, well, first of all, I'm in the high Andes, so right away, pranayama is here. You know, your lungs are getting challenged 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 ever present realization? I

Unknown: 36:28

mean, you you acclimate for sure, like over time? Um, but for example, I'm about to go up to 17,000 every now and then. You know, I like to go up mountains so and I run so, you know, even though you acclimate, it's still, you know, 17,000 so the primary so that's always, that's helpful, you know, because it enhance your, you know, your oxygen. So breath and circulation are kind of like the essence of health, right? Like just looking at it broadly. Now, you know, I fractured my spine when I was in high school, so I've had a relationship with pain and figuring out how to liberate my body from pain for a while. You know, like when I was a kid, I installed a pull up bar just to hang, even to make space in my spine, um, but, you know, I think just being curious, and I think one of the things that martial arts gives you, like, I said, it's self study, it's going to be different for everyone, um, and that's one of the things that cam Thai really reinforced. Like, back to your first question was like, what do you find similar between these arts and how you learn them, right? I think one of the things that, like my Capoeira master and my Thai massage teacher were like, find your way with it, you know. So I have a lot of tools that I used, you know, to stay I like to jump rope quite a bit. I like to move up mountains. I'll show 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, we have more access to information.

Todd McLaughlin: 38:36

Um, that's true. Are you still, are you still feeling back pain Do you still contend with, or let me choose my words more wisely. Are you 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, for long periods of time I forget, you know, so I'm not like, walking in pain, yeah, but I have a lot of empathy, because I've had pain so much that I couldn't, like, I had a crawl in my house. You know what I'm saying? Like, I was, like, in high school, I was sleeping on the floor because the bed was too painful. But I think just having an injury at a young age helped, like, a very dramatic injury, you could say, helped me to develop the skills over time, to be able to overcome it, and then, and then I wanted to share that. And I think that's where a lot of, like my wanting to teach yoga and massage and other martial 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 about the 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 our intention is to teach people and to create the space for them to like, learn about the beauty of the Quechua culture and about these and have these beautiful experiences and amazing landscape, you know, in Machu, Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, and you know, one of the seven wonders of the world. So the collaboration are the essence of our of our work is collaboration. We collaborate with a lot of different businesses. And we this Saturday, we welcome a group of 27 yogis from my friend Jackie studio, who I've known her since 2003 she owns a studio in Sandy, Utah. It's called Mountain yoga Sandy. So there are about to arrive, and I'm just stoked, because a lot of people I end up kind of it's hosting retreats with our our old friends, so I get the the opportunity to kind of rekindle friendships and hold a retreat with them, that their community gets to have a beautiful experience together. Yes, yes, that's the retreat. I don'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 way that you're going to be able to blend in one of the children, or sorry children, one of the one of the one of the men, 17 year old, who's gonna that you're mentoring. I just kind of wanted to touch upon how you're working with the NGO idea of helping youth in the area, but then bringing the ability for him to see how you're managing a large group on a retreat, and what that process entails and or what some of the thinking behind that is, yeah,

Unknown: 41:51

thanks for remembering that. So part of the nonprofit organization, right? So synergy rising.org That's our site, and it's a youth empowerment program. And a lot of our work, like our retreat work, is like really, in a way, bringing funds back to the local artisans who are the essence of the culture here. And through that, we're mentoring youth to become guides, you know, in the Andes, and this is a young man who's really showed a lot of wish to be a guide and to learn more about his culture. And not have pride, you know, because pride sometimes like the essence of like, like, but more like, have like, a groundedness and an appreciation for where you come from is, is what we're trying to instill in these youth. And this young man, he's 17, he wants to study to be a guide. He's already taking classes at a local school to be a guide, and he's going to be joining us as an intern, and you know, eventually he's going to have income from this. So we want to try to create work for the young people in our nonprofit organization.

Todd McLaughlin: 43:10

Very cool, amazing. Can you talk a little bit too about how building a martial arts studio will potentially serve as a training ground, but also as a way of interacting with the local community 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 of these tourists, you know, I'm kind of like trying to weave some of my work. A lot of the yogis that are coming to visit, they're bringing books, you know, because we're teaching the kids English as well. But martial arts, to me, it's had a very impactful like lessons in my life come through martial arts, and from my community of martial artists. You could say a lot of I consider a lot of my friends in the martial arts family. So it's given me family, and that moves with a lot of intention and purpose in life and and I think that's what we want to instill in the youth. You know, it's like community and a community that's healthy, no, and that's kind to one another, 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, tour guides. 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 teach the kids how to make spreadsheets, martial arts, you know. But I. Was like, actually, that'd be great, you know, let's get some iPads and let's teach them how to make spreadsheets so they can learn how to manage the income of their household. You know, 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's super inspirational. You're taking all the passion, all the love, or the things that you've been passionate about throughout your life, and you're learning, figuring out ways to share it. Can you what is one of the biggest challenges that you face? What is one of the largest hurdles that you see currently with you? I mean, you are achieving your dream. From what I can understand and from what I can pick up, you're putting it together. It's working. What are some of the hurdles that you feel like you're jumping these days? Um,

Unknown: 46:35

I mean, I think just like to be realistic and positive is what you want to maintain, right? Um, and to be a dreamer, right? Like that balance of, like, being a dreamer and being like, you know, realistic with what you got to work with. Um, the biggest challenge is just staying out of, like a rut and staying out of negativity, um, and, you know, because sometimes people tell you why, you know, this is going to be difficult, you know, which? Which can help you as well, you know, gives you things to look out for, but you don't want to, like, linger in that space. So I think the biggest challenge is, is yourself. You could say, oh,

Todd McLaughlin: 47:17

yeah, you know, yes, yeah, yeah. Good point. Good point. And so any other events and or retreats that you have planned that you could talk about that either myself or someone listening can get excited about,

Unknown: 47:35

yeah, we have, um, oh, man, I love, like, what we got cooking. You know, it's, it's really beautiful. So we have the retreat coming up this Saturday with mountain yoga Sandy. And then in November, we have 222 person retreats to Kenya with next level yoga and, you know, and then we do a Thai massage certification in Nairobi. This will be the third time massage certification. In October, I'm leading a Thai massage certification in Barranquilla, Colombia. Um, yeah. I mean, I can go through my calendar, you know, like through the whole thing, but, um, you know, we have a lot of retreats Thai massage certifications coming up. Um, Salim and I wish to do a yoga teacher training. But right now, um, a lot of our friends who own yoga studios are calling us to do these retreats. So we know we want to keep that going, Yeah, but yeah, thanks for asking, man, yeah, that's, that's what we got coming up.

Todd McLaughlin: 48:41

That's cool. Yeah, awesome. You know, I This is primarily a, you know, the genre, the umbrella that I try to stay within is yoga. I can see how all these different components are all yoga. I like the way that you said you see yoga under the umbrella of martial arts. That's so cool. I mean, why? Why is it not? And so I see that there's these connections. I absolutely love Thai massage. I want to pretend that that whoever's listening to us right now doesn't appreciate or know or has never had Thai massage. Can you just talk a little bit about why you would encourage them to find someone in their local area that is a Thai massage therapist and try it out.

Unknown: 49:26

Yeah, I think some Thai massage is very dynamic, and it puts the body, it's kind of like yoga in a way, because it puts the body into different angles, while you can rest passively in that position and then be needed and kind of liberate and liberate the body from pain, is the purpose through metta meditation, right that you sent me on that email, which is the practice of loving kindness, so you're consistently, you know, moving the body in a graceful kind of pattern, or circular pattern, to be able to and it's more, it's, you know, I studied regular massage, which is kind of on a table, and I love it, you know, and then you flip, and then you do the other side, and then you the other side. And I find that time massage is a lot more thorough. And as someone that loves martial arts and is very physically active, I have a lot of value for my body. Um, you know, Thai massage, to me, is an art that really gets more profoundly into the body to be able to bring back. It's. Creative expression and dynamic movement. You could say,

Todd McLaughlin: 50:47

yeah, good answer. Francisco, thank you so much for taking time to sharing your stories and your life history life journey with us. I really appreciate it. Is there any anything you feel like Port important to close with that. You know, I really love the fact that you brought up the importance of mental health. I think that is something that everybody you know, even those of us that go that like, sometimes I'll think I have really good mental health. You know, I'm just doing really great right now, and haven't really gone down into a dark hole in a while and feeling pretty good. And so I'm very grateful to be in a place right now where I really feel excited, but then sometimes I can even analyze it a little bit. Maybe that'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 good mental health? You know what I mean? Like if I really dig in and try to investigate and analyze. So I'm glad that you brought that up, because I think it's something that a lot of us really are needing to put some time and attention into. Or even sometimes we think we're in really good place, and we investigate, and then we find, oh my gosh, you know, I actually could improve a little bit. Is there anything in relation to closing that you could share with us, that you feel is a technique or a way that you and you brought up the site, the element of like, not falling in a rut and just staying on the positive, the realistic, but also the positive? Is there any other tidbit of information or ideas that you could share with me, that that could leave us on a note of, you know, just feeling how important it is to maintain and build positive mental 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 the stars, like just getting into nature and laughter and friends, you know, like, good, good friends, um, you know, I think that that's really helpful, you know, people that you can, and that's what I love about, you know, nowadays is people are seeking a lot of these martial arts and yoga arts. It's, you know, etc, for the community aspect of it. And, you know, being able to go to a place that they can, you know, be able to communicate and have friends and go get some food together. So I think being but getting in nature, to me, is is the most powerful, the most accessible. It's not expensive, you know, to just if you're near the ocean, to get in the water, um, I find that, 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 and hear about how this upcoming retreat is going to go. I feel like it sounds so exciting to think of a whole group of 22 people traveling from Utah down to Peru together to get a full tour of Machu Picchu, I've never been. And everybody who comes back all say you have to go, kind of like you have to do it like make the time in your life, save up for it and make the trip. It's so worth it. I haven't met anybody that has come back and said otherwise. So I just think, Man, I'm so excited for you and for that group. It's gonna be absolutely amazing. So I can't wait to hear about it, and I really do appreciate and I love this opportunity to meet and speak with you, Francisco, thank you all the work you're doing is feels like you're generating it toward helping and being a part of the solution and not the problem, and that's a really positive thing. So thank you so much.

Unknown: 54:34

It's my pleasure. My pleasure. Todd, thanks a lot. Thanks. Appreciate. It's time to chat. You know

Todd McLaughlin: 54:39

it right? Thank you. The native yoga Todd cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you like this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com, and hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends. Rate it and review and join us next time you.