ArkayaRadio

✨"They're just astral germs — and if we build our immunity as we do with regular germs, then we're protected from them."— Yogacharini Maitreyi✨In this episode, host Ross McKeachie sits down with Yogacharini Maitreyi to explore the often misunderstood topic of entities and astral beings. Rather than the dramatic horror-film version, Maitreyi reframes entities as "astral germs" — thought forms and fear forms that feed off depleted pranic energy, suppressed emotions, and unresolved trauma. The conversation covers how our relationships and emotional states affect our pranic field, real-life examples from Maitreyi's healing work with clients, and practical tools for building psychic immunity — from the Jyoti Kriya and mantra sadhana to folk wisdom like salt cleansing and smudging. They also discuss whether it's necessary to engage with the topic of entities at all, or whether focusing on clearing your own emotional and energetic patterns is enough. A grounding and illuminating conversation for anyone navigating the subtler dimensions of inner life.✨"It's not only understanding the pattern. You also have to energetically work on clearing that pattern. That's the key."— Yogacharini Maitreyi✨ Be present. Be aware. Be involved.If you would like to study in a rooted tradition with other spiritually mature students, see all of our online programs and events, including the 500-hour embodied expansion certification. See the link in bio or visit: www.arkaya.net/programsoverviewThe online Arkaya embodied expansion certification happens once every two years. Applications are now open.www.arkaya.net/teacher-trainingArkaya Foundation is a federally and provincially registered not-for-profit in Canada and in India. We are primarily volunteer run with a very small core team. We greatly welcome your support to help with the running of our programs!https://www.arkaya.net/donate✨All of us have layers and layers of personal and generational trauma that we're born into. It is a process and it takes patience — but it is possible to realign into the light."— Yogacharini Maitreyi

✨"Nobody talks about Jathi. It doesn't come up in any yoga classes. I haven't heard of it in probably 20 years." - Arkaya Student✨In this episode of Arkaya Radio, a student shares their personal journey through trauma and yoga. After experiencing burnout, they pursued Kundalini yoga based on its marketing as a way to break through blocks — only to find it worsened their nervous system. Trauma-informed yoga also proved too movement-heavy for their fragile state, leaving them barely able to get off the mat and struggling with dissociation.The turning point came when the student rediscovered Jathi — an aspect of yoga rarely discussed in modern classes or trauma studies. This approach finally allowed them to be present on the mat, connected to their breath, and at ease in their body. They express deep gratitude for finding Arkaya and Yogācārinī Maitreyi's teachings, wishing they had discovered this path sooner.✨ Be present. Be aware. Be involved.If you would like to study in a rooted tradition with other spiritually mature students, see all of our online programs and events, including the 500-hour embodied expansion certification. See the link in bio or visit: www.arkaya.net/programsoverviewThe online Arkaya embodied expansion certification happens once every two years. Applications are now open.www.arkaya.net/teacher-trainingArkaya Foundation is a federally and provincially registered not-for-profit in Canada and in India. We are primarily volunteer run with a very small core team. We greatly welcome your support to help with the running of our programs!https://www.arkaya.net/donate

✨"In terms of personal space and physical space, children should be given some agency — because of how we're culturally conditioned, even as adults it becomes difficult to vocalize our needs and boundaries."- Yogacharini Maitreyi✨Yogacharini Maitreyi uses the viral Dalai Lama incident (where he asked a young boy to "suck his tongue") as a springboard to explore a deeper theme: agency, boundaries, and physical touch, particularly for children.Key points covered:The Dalai Lama incident as a lens — Rather than passing judgment, she uses it to prompt reflection on cultural norms around physical intimacy and whether something is acceptable because it's culturally conditioned or genuinely okay.Children's agency — She discusses how children in many cultures (India, Mexico, etc.) are not given the choice to decline physical affection from adults, such as hugs, cheek pinches, or hair ruffling.Personal story — She shares that as a child in India, she disliked being touched by adults due to her psychic sensitivity to their emotional energy. Her grandfather supported her boundary, and she established a firm "no hugging" rule as a form of self-protection.Ahimsa and yoga philosophy — She connects this to the yogic principle of ahimsa (non-harm), asking practitioners not just how they might harm others, but how they allow others to step on their agency — whether from cultural unawareness, greed, or malice.Cultural nuance vs. harm — She distinguishes between genuinely harmful behavior (citing "John of God") and culturally-rooted affection (e.g., David Beckham kissing his daughter), while encouraging open exploration of these questions.The takeaway — Children should be taught respect and how to acknowledge others, but they should also be given agency over their personal and physical space.✨ Be present. Be aware. Be involved.If you would like to study in a rooted tradition with other spiritually mature students, see all of our online programs and events, including the 500-hour embodied expansion certification. See the link in bio or visit: www.arkaya.net/programsoverviewThe online Arkaya embodied expansion certification happens once every two years. Applications are now open.www.arkaya.net/teacher-trainingArkaya Foundation is a federally and provincially registered not-for-profit in Canada and in India. We are primarily volunteer run with a very small core team. We greatly welcome your support to help with the running of our programs!https://www.arkaya.net/donate

Recorded live as part of the 4th Annual Decolonizing Dialogues — a collaboration between Banyen Books and Arkaya Foundation, honoring Canada's National Indigenous Peoples Day and International Day of Yoga.Sun Dance Chief and environmental activist Reuben George (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), and Yogacharini Maitreyi (Arkaya Foundation) join host Ross McKeachie to explore the deep parallels between Indigenous and yogic wisdom traditions and what it looks like to live those teachings today.Together, they weave a conversation that moves from ancestral connection and ceremony to salmon restoration, green hydrogen energy, and the radical act of loving what is around us.Chief Reuben George on reciprocity and protecting the waters:"We have a reciprocal relationship to the water in Tsleil-Waututh, so we take care of it. We nurture it. We protect it against industry. We enhance it. We clean it."Yogacharini Maitreyi on decolonizing the self:"My intrinsic value was taken out to a point where my value was reduced to how much I produce and how much I possess. That is the industrial paradigm that infiltrates everyone — which I needed to unravel."

In this deep and restorative session, Yogacharini Maitreyi and Ross McKeachie discuss the impact of colonization on India’s indigenous yogic traditions and the broader global context. They will unpack the nuances of yoga, tantra, and the allied life sciences, offering insight into reclaiming and honoring these teachings. The event includes a guided full-spectrum mindfulness practice to support personal and collective healing.