Arthur influences
Arthur is the co-founder, co-director and principal teacher at Mystic River Yoga.

"Visionaries have always fascinated me. People who see beyond the obvious and the mundane and uncover unique and deeply meaning revelations about our selves and our times are people I seek out and learn from. I have been blessed to meet many in my life and they influence my teaching tremendously.

Most recently I am steeping myself in the teachings of Eckhart Tolle, a pioneering spiritual teacher of the 21st century. His depth, clarity and articulation of the amazing transformation in human consciousness arising  around the planet is unsurpassed.

I met Swami Saraswati Dayananda in the fall of 2000 at the

Arsha Vidya Gurukalam in Saylorsburg, PA, his home when he is in the United States. I was there for Ramand Patel's "Yoga and Sound" workshop with Mukhesh Desai and Swamiji offered classes in Vedanta as part of the program. I was transformed by the depth, simplicity and practicality of his teachings on Vedanta and realized that they filled a large gap in my understanding of the yoga path. I am currently working my way through Swami's home study course on the Bhagavad Gita and it is as rich and profound as anything I have ever encountered. I have always been skeptical of gurus and the like, but the Swami is so clear and unencumbered by agendas, pretense or any trace of ego, that I can now appreciate why an awakened teacher is crucial to Self understanding.

Ramanand Patel has been my hatha yoga teacher for over 25 years now. An engineer by training, he has an incredible depth of understanding of leverage, alignment and gravity and tremendous creativity in finding new ways to challenge the body and mind. He also has a deep knowledge of yoga physiology and the nadi system, and yoga philosophy and draws upon this depth in his teaching. He is a long time student of B.K.S. Iyengar, and outside of Iyengar himself and his children, Geeta and Prashant Iyengar, is the most clear and articulate exponent of the Iyengar system. He is also a student of Swami Dayananda. Much of the practical aspects of my teaching come straight from my work with Ramanand.


For the last few years I have been exploring the work of Emily Conrad known as Continuum. Continuum is a unique journey into the fluid interior of the body, using breath, sound and movement, to awaken sensitivities in the cells, organs and tissues, and recognize relationships between these sensitivities and the world around us. Emily is a visionary whose unique approach to movement education is incredibly complementary to modern yoga. She has been very helpful to me in finding an inner freedom of the fluids that I have seen in B.K.S. Iyengar's yoga practice, but was not finding on my own. Her approach to practice is unique, challenging and incredibly creative and she is a whole lot of fun to be around.

Another visionary in the movement education field who has become a teacher and mentor is Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder and principal teacher of Body-Mind Centering. BMC, an exploration of embodiment wisdom, awakens direct experience of the subtle currents of the life force within us, using breath, touch, sound and movement, within a context of sound scientific principles. Linda Hartley, in her book "Wisdom of the Body Moving, an introduction to Body-Mind Centering", states "The study of human movement development and evolution forms a basis and a framework for Body Mind Centering work..." An in depth study of anatomy, physiology, cell biology and more are also required to help guide and nurture the experience. Bonnie has recently begun teaching BMC to yoga teachers, a tremendous gift to the yoga world. She has a combination of genius and ego-less humility that is mind boggling, inspiring and refreshing.

Although I have never met him personally, Ken Wilber has been a mentor of mine for many years. A practitioner first (primarily within various Buddhist traditions), but also a scholar and thinker of awesome depth and span, Ken's writings have helped me understand and follow the evolution of the psyche from its confusion with the physical body, through the various phases of growth, development and maturity, to liberation or moksha. The evolutionary journey takes place on an individual level as well as on a societal level and navigating oneself along on this adventure requires assistance and guidance. Wilber, using the experience of his own practice, studies, compares, criticizes and comments upon large numbers of possible maps of the awakening process offered by different cultures, diferent mystics and thinkers, different schools of psychology. He also integrates the many into useful models to guide one's own practice and provide a vision to help society as a whole proceed in its own development.

I am blessed to know Brian Swimme personally and was fortunate to study with him when I was living in California. Brian, a cosmologist, is a living embodiment of the capital U 'Universe'. An awesomely inspiring speaker, he articulates the fundamental dynamics of the universe as a wisdom practice and hearing him automatically expands your consciousness into the depths of the cosmos. His twelve video series, ' Canticle to the Cosmos", constant source of inspiration for me, is based on Thomas Berry's twelve principles to help the human find their role in the universe. Thomas, a Roman Catholic priest in the Passionate Order and Brian's mentor, is a self proclaimed "Geologian." He is also a cultural historian, a major spokesperson for the environmental movement, and true visionary. His most recent book, "The Great Work, our way into the future" is the culmination of his 80 plus years on this planet reflecting upon our times, our troubles, and possible solutions to them. I have been blessed with many hours together with Thomas and find the depth of his wisdom and the openness of his heart immeasurable.

I must also include in my visionary list the late Itzhak Bentov, author of Stalking the Wild Pendulum" and "A Cosmic Book". Ben was a meditator and biomedical inventor who came up with some profound insights into the nature of reality and consciousness and put them into his astounding books. Using vibration as the starting point, Ben develops a model of creation, the ernergence of human awareness, and the acceleration of that awareness through samadhi practice that is clear, concise, humorous and very useful to yogis. Every time I reread either book, I become re-amazed at his insights.

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