Interview with Kitty Cavalier, Bhangra Dancing Video and Qoya Spring Tour!

I hope your New Year is off to a wise, wild and free start!  In today's post, I am incredibly honored to share an interview with Kitty Cavalier, a five minute video to experience incredible joy in your body through Bhangra dancing and announcing the Qoya Spring Tour going to New York City, Colomubus, Ohio, Crested Butte, Colorado, Los Angeles, CA, Sydney and Byron Bay, Australia, Auckland, New Zealand, Costa Rica and maybe even your living room. 

Once a month, we will be highlighting a Qoya dancer in the community.  I'll ask a woman who has embodied Qoya and it's philosophy to share what it means to her.  Today, I'm delighted to introduce our first interview with Kitty Cavalier, who teaches Qoya in New York City and is the founder of the School of Charm and Cheek where she shares her gifts teaching Qoya and burlesque classes, Seduction as a Spiritual Practice Workshops and Retreats, as well as other fun things like make-up tricks and magic candle rituals!  Enjoy her words here.

How do you describe Qoya in your words?

This is a toughie! To describe Qoya is kind of like trying to describe swimming in the Ocean, you just have to experience it.  How can you describe something that brings you bliss beyond words?  I usually do so logistically at first: “It is a class that combines yoga, dance, and sensual, free movement.”  I also drop in little love bombs like “it has completely changed my relationship to my body and my life” or, “I now look forward to exercise the way I look forward to a massage thanks to Qoya”.  

How does Qoya tap you into your wisdom in your life?

Qoya has taught me that my body knows everything.  If there is a situation I feel stuck in, or stuck on, I know that as soon as I turn on a song and start to move, everything will suddenly make sense.  I remember that (even though this sounds a bit like new age fluff) we are all Divine and eternal. It’s one thing to know that in your head, but Qoya makes that wisdom available to me in my body, any time I want or need to access it.

How does Qoya evoke your wildness in your life?

Well, I’m definitely always the one to start the dancing at a party now! I really think our bodies are like our own little universes.  What you can feel in your body exists in your universe.  If you know what it feels like to lose yourself in your dance, your sweat, your pounding heart, those are the moments are when the wild, untamed, organic soul is unleashed. Knowing what that feels like on the inside allows me to create it on the outside – in my work life, my home life, my spiritual life, my love life (hubba-hubba), and everything in-between!

How does Qoya help you revel in your choice to be free in your life?

One of the things I am most grateful for the level of freedom I feel in each moment thanks to Qoya.  I was in yoga class today remembering all the times that I would try to follow what everyone else was doing, causing myself pain in my body and beating myself up for not being “flexible” or “strong” enough.  Through practicing Qoya, I now know that my body is MY BODY. If someone is telling me to move it in a way that doesn’t feel right, I am free to stop and choose what feels good.  I don’t have to conform to what others are telling me to do.  I choose what I want, and trust that it is always the right choice, because it is my choice.

Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember. 

What do you remember in Qoya?

I often ask this question of my students during stretching at the end of the class so that they can capture the experience they had in class.

The answers are always the same for everyone.

I remember that everything is going to be ok.

I remember that I am divine.

I remember that my life rocks.

I remember that being a woman rocks.

I remember that I am powerful.

I remember that I can do anything.

I remember that my body knows all.

I remember that if it feels good, that means I am doing it right.

Thank you Kitty! So grateful for you shining your light on and through Qoya.  

One of the things I am so inspired by is Kitty's desire to give and share what has evolved her on her soul's journey.  Teaching Qoya over the weekend in LA, we explored the theme of what is under our New Year's resolutions, intentions, goals or visions.  Other than the rewards that manifest in our lives, what is the the essence of what we want to give away.  We offered that gift as an intention as we danced our sun salutations.  We  embodied the sensation of how it feels when we share our gifts with the world as we free danced.  I've found the greatest consequence of following your deepest intentions and truest desires is a feeling of fulfillment and joy.  I've also found one of the quickest ways to experience joy in the body is through Bhangra dancing.

Check out this 5 minute Qoya Bhangra 101 video here and see if it is true for you too!  Remember, Qoya is an EXPERIENTIAL path.  It is not about understanding the concepts, but feeling the pulse of them in present time in your body, mind, heart and soul.  In other words, instead of a mental exercise of nodding your head as you read, get up and move!

Bhangra from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

Want to plan an immersion of joy in your life? More than 5 minutes of Bhangra dancing, maybe an hour Qoya class?  More than an hour, maybe 3 days on a Qoya and Ski Retreat in Colorado or 7 days on a Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica? Or, join me down under while Qoya makes her debut at her first yoga festival in Byron Bay, Australia and Spirit Fest, a weekend for Yoga, Dance and Tantra, then a weekend workshop in Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.  Or, we can always dance in your living room via EmbodyQoya.com. 

Expect a Miracle,

Rochelle

P.S. To see more about Qoya and feel the energy of our offering, here is a short video from the last Qoya Costa Rica Retreat.

QOYA RETREAT - Costa Rica April 6th - 13th 2013 from jodi jones on Vimeo.

How to Navigate December 21, 2012 like a Queen

Dear Qoya Queens, Do you remember that Qoya translates in Quechuan as Queen? Not a bejeweled and emotionally distant Queen in a castle, but a feminine manifestation of higher consciousness that is confidently seated on the throne that is her life. In a way, that is one of the best ways that I can explain all that I have come to study and learn about December 21, 2012.  This is our individual and collective opportunity to shift our consciousness into it's highest vibration to embody and radiate our inner Queen, which is another way to say, our divinity.

My friends over at Astrostyle.com explain this auspicious day on December 21, 2012 as marking the end of a 5,125 year cycle of the Mayan calendar and the beginning of another era. It's more of a "the end of the world as we know it," than a literal Armageddon. In fact, the Mayans call the post-2012 era The World Of The Fifth Sun or The Fifth World. The Mayans were profound record keepers and mathematicians, both astronomers and astrologers. Another occurrence they predicted for December 21, 2012 was that both the Earth and the Sun would align with the Galactic Center-- an event which has not happened for 26,000 years (the time the Ice Age began). Just as the Sun is the center of our solar system, the Galactic Center is the gravitational field that the entire Milky Way revolves around! So, this alignment of Earth, Sun, and Galactic Center connects us to worlds beyond our own, fiery and mysterious with an indescribable pull. This post is my offering for a guide to the end of the world (as we know it), with the intention of centering into your own essence as wise, wild and free and seated powerfully on the throne of your life.

How?

GO WITHIN.

I meditated deeply on "where to go" for the solstice.  Mt. Shasta? Hawaii? Back to Minnesota where I was born? New York? LA? The mountains? The ocean? The answer I received was, "There is no where to go out there. The only place to go is within." For those of you who are sensitive to the subtle energies shifting, be sure to take time to align yourself with an internal focus.  When researching guidance on how to navigate through these changes, the Shamanic wisdom that came forward was, "The assignment each person is given during this time is to listen deeply to and trust themselves and their intuition."  This is the perfect application of all the practices of yoga, meditation, clearing your system with green juices and eating organic whole foods and other self-development healing practices that all of us have been exposed to up to this point. This advice need not be applied from a place of fear.  Regardless of the Mayan Calendar ending and the predictions for an evolution in human consciousness, even if you don't personally feel a huge shift in your world right now, it's never a bad idea to establish a more powerful connection with trusting yourself.  And since it has been 26,000 years since we were aligned with Galactic Center....why not? Just do it. Go in. Trust yourself more deeply than ever before.

Here are three invitations to take you deeper in for your own guidance today.

1) Click here to do a 20 minute December 21, 2012 Forgiveness meditation with Alberto Villoldo, founder of the Four Winds Society. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZi1ODXueI&feature=youtu.be

2) One of my favorite tools for going deeper within for answers is the labyrinth.

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol for the meandering path of the soul that goes from light into darkness and emerges once again into light.  It’s a maze, but there is only one way out and that’s the way you went in.  The metaphors here are endless.

How do you walk one (or dance one)?  The way I was taught to walk a labyrinth was to go in with an intention and as you walk into the center, let all of your questions come up, all of your doubts and all of your fears. Feel yourself asking, curious and seeking for an answer. Make your way to the center and when you arrive, pause.  Sit down.  Soften.  Surrender.  Let yourself be held and seen and loved in the sacred center of the labyrinth and stay as long as you need.  Release all that binds you until all that no longer serves you is gone.  Trust that you will know when the releasing is complete.  When your inner voice tells you you’re ready, begin to walk out and instead of asking questions, allow yourself to be simply in a state of receiving.  Give your inner voice an opportunity to share what it longs to remind you of.

 How can you make one? You can make one out of yarn in your living room, out of sticks in your backyard or in the sand at the beach.  Make a labyrinth by making a spiral starting in the center and energizing and charging it with your presence as you make circles around it.  As many as seven spirals around, as few as two, do what feels right and whatever you have room for.

3) Do Qoya.  Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember our essence, our truth, our spirit as wise, wild and free.  Here is a free hour long Qoya class with the theme Feel As Much As You Can and access your inner knowing and feelings as a guide to navigate this sacred time.

Feel As Much As You Can from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

I am so grateful for your support of Qoya and honor your courageous soul as we dream a bigger dream for ourselves and for humanity.  A return to love.  A remembering of spirit.  A dance that feels honest and true.

Blessings on your journeys- inner and outer!

Rochelle

P.S. Please join us in Costa Rica April 6-13, 2013 for the quintessential Qoya experience.

QOYA RETREAT - Costa Rica April 6th - 13th 2013 from jodi jones on Vimeo.

Going Home: The Pilgrimage Back to One's Body (And other news about Qoya Kids, the online Qoya Studio (it's up!!) and the next Qoya retreat in Greece!)

"At the end of all our exploring,

Will be to arrive where we started,

And know the place for the first time."

-T.S. Eliot 

My last blog post was titled 3 easy ways to learn how to listen to your intuition.  If you're going to write about encouraging others to listen to their intuition, it puts oneself in a position of moral obligation to do the same, in order to be in integrity. So, when I received a clear intuitive message that said, "Go to Minnesota for your birthday and (specifically) go to the physical land that you were born on," I booked my ticket and packed my suitcase.

The first couple days of my visit in Minnesota, I found myself completely enchanted with my friends and family, with the beauty of all the gorgeous gardens, parks, bike trails and outdoor concerts. I went to a bunch of delicious farm to table restaurants like the Birchwood cafe, Lucia's, French Meadow and vegan oasis Ecopolitan. I was overwhelmed by the amazing women who attended my Qoya weekend workshop at Four Gates and I found myself thinking "...maybe I could move back here and make Minnesota my home base?"

I looked up the address of the hospital I was born in and was off for my pilgrimage to visit the place where this trip around the sun first began. When I arrived at what used to be the hospital where I entered this world, I couldn't believe what had replaced it- a beautiful (and chic) apartment building that just opened.  In that moment, my intuitive vision became clear - I'm coming home.

After having my intuition guide me so clearly to my next home, I went for a walk in the closest part to this apartment building and came across this poem by T.S. Eliot.  The words were the stamp and seal of approval, the poetic synchronicity that describing goes beyond words.  When you can feel your place in the web of interconnection amongst all things.  To feel your intuition is to feel plugged in and supported in a way that is stronger than isolated and alone.  Reading this poem, could make anyone want to go home- to go back to the beginning, back to the space between two waves of the sea.

I believe that the easiest way to tap into your intuition, into your happiness, into life- is to learn how to feel it through your body, through movement.

Qoya is based on this idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember, as women, that we are inherently wise, wild and free.

That through movement, we can experience our own way home.  Back to the place we started our journey in our body and knowing it for the first time.

On my birthday, something else happened.  I launched the Qoya online studio!  It's a growing collection of videos ranging from 5-10 ,15, 30 and 60 minute videos that remind you that your body is an incredible resource of wisdom to answer your deepest questions.  Videos that remind you that your body is a vessel to wildly and creatively express your essence.  That your body is one of the easiest ways to be liberated, to feel free and to have a daily experience of your power, purpose and pleasure.

Some is free; like the 10 days to Embody Qoya (which are 10 days of 10 minutes of movement a day to get you going!) and the Qoya Kids page (which has a 15 minute video and pdf print out to guide movement for ages 3-5, 6-9 and 10-12).   The rest of the site has a membership fee of $30 a month. Check out it's first unveiling here at EmbodyQoya.com.

My dream is to share all the things in which I have been blessed to experience and learn and create them in a format that is easy, effective and fun to serve, nurture and inspire others on their  journey. Do you have 5-6 minutes today to do the first day of the 10 Free Days to Embody Qoya? A little movement goes a long way.  Just a moment of remembering can be the kickstart you need.  It can be like control-alt-delete to reset your system again.  It can be the realigning of your compass, so that your body's wisdom can guide you home.

For the pilgrimage back to one's body, there's Qoya.  And now, you can have access to Qoya through your internet connection with dozens and dozens of videos on EmbodyQoya.com as well.  And then, there are retreats, which are sacred time to live the philosophy of Qoya morning, noon and night with morning meditation and breathing, longer Qoya classes, healthy delicious meals, adventures and learning how to sit with the sacred in ceremonies and goddess rituals.  The next 2 retreats are planned for Greece in the Fall and Costa Rica in the Spring. I'll also be teaching classes in NYC at Sacred in Brooklyn Sunday July 8th and 15th at 5:15pm and another workshop in Minneapolis Sept 4-9th.  I am so grateful for the growing community of dancers, for all the blessings that are and all the blessings that are to be.

Love doesn't even begin to describe it,

Rochelle

Dream Bigger Dreams

Happy New Year Darling Dancers!

A quick note to wish you a magical New Year.  May the blessings that you put into the world boomerang back to you a million fold.

Here's also an invitation to join me in my New Year's ritual this year.  I sat down and wrote my top 11 gratitudes for 2011 and shared them with a friend, then we wrote our top 12 desires for 2012. The final part of this exercise is to then take the desire list of your friend and write your desires for him/her x 10!!! Take their desire list and magnify it, expand it, make it a shooting star, add your creativity and love of this person to see something bigger for them that they may not be able to see for themselves.  Let them do the same for you.

Gratitude is a great way to ground ourselves in the blessings of our lives and is the most fertile ground for planting the seeds of our desires.  We all love to dream, but sometimes we fall out of practice.  Holidays are a great time to press pause long enough to reflect on the past, savor the present moment and vision the future.

Know that you can do this ANYTIME, with a friend or on your own if you desire!  New Year's Day, New Year's Week, the New Moon, Your Birthday, Your Anniversary…or just because it's a Tuesday.

I believe that when you dance, you access your true essence and feel the sacred pulse of life in your body, from which all creation arises.  So, to tap into even more power and magnify your dreams, I am also gifting you this 10 minute movement ritual for DREAMING BIGGER DREAMS. (The Password is: qoya).

Thank you for a beautiful year of dancing with Qoya in 2011.  I am so grateful for you and your support and look forward to dreaming bigger dreams together in 2012! (Maybe in Costa Rica?!?)

With love,

Rochelle

P.S. Click here to do the Qoya 10 minute movement ritual on Dreaming Bigger Dreams! (Password: qoya)  Happy New Year! xo

A One Way Ticket To Paradise

My holiday gift to myself this year is a one way ticket to paradise. I'm talking about paradise literally AND figuratively.

Literally, I bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii.  Starting January 2nd, I am leading the New Year's Qoya Kauai Retreat. After that, I'm still open to the universe/spirit/god/goddess/my intuition to guide me.

Figuratively, I am inviting you to get your own one way ticket to paradise and join me. There is the paradise "out there". The paradise that seems elusive and temporarily experienced on a vacation, in the acquisition of a desire or in the daydreams and fantasies of the mind. There is also the paradise inside, that is available to us anytime regardless of external circumstances. It is the place where we feel ecstatic. Alive. Awake. Aware. Wise. Wild. Free. Ourselves.

The gift I am offering to you is a map to your inner paradise through movement.

Qoya connects us back to ourselves so that when you move your body in a way that feels good, you start to tap back into your essence, your truth, your radiance, so you can source from that center.

Once you have that tangible and measurable sensation in your body to reference, you can use it like a compass when making future decisions.  Does taking this job make my body zing like the way I felt when I was dancing?  Does this food make me feel lethargic and tired or full of energy like when I finished the Qoya routine?  Once you have experienced yourself at a high vibration naturally by simply moving your body, you know how to create the conditions to experience it again anytime you need it. (You move!)

The whole point is to notice what works.  What lights you up.  What makes you feel alive and more connected to yourself, spirit and others.  Then, do that more often.  It sounds simple, but sometimes we forget.

Qoya is based on the idea that through movement we remember. We remember, as women, that we are inherently Wise, Wild and Free. Wise, Wild and Free are also the essence of the movement forms that influence Qoya. Wise comes from the wisdom of yoga. Wild is from the creative expression in dance. Free is from the pleasure found in sensual movement. The focus is less and less and less on how it looks and more and more and more on how it feels. When you're moving your body and it feels good to move, you're doing it right.

Here is the link to a one hour Qoya routine called Paradise (Password: qoya)! It and dozens and dozens of other videos like it will be on EmbodyQoya.com (the online Qoya movement studio I am working on as I travel), but until that launches, I would love to share this with you and encourage you to explore finding the way that your body wants to move, finding your map and your way to your inner paradise in 2012.

I know there are many of you on this list who have never actually tried Qoya. Thank you for your support and I hope that you enjoy this video as an appetizer and that we can dine together and feast on Qoya in person sometime in a class or retreat together. For those of you who I have danced with, I hope this will be a reminder that takes you back into the physical sensation of remembering and expressing your true self through your body.  Please let me know how you like the video!

***To prepare for your Qoya class, wear comfortable clothing (the movements are a combination of yoga, dance and sensual movement).  Most people prefer to do the class barefoot.  Before doing any exercise, it is best to be well hydrated and have an emptier stomach.   Always listen to and honor the unique needs of your body.  The class is one hour long.

Here's the link to the class again! Password: qoya.

May we remember how to connect to the joy and pulse of life by feeling paradise in our body.  And if you'd like to join us in person for Qoya's next excursion to Paradise, look at the Spring Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012 at the beautiful Blue Spirit Resort.

Dancing in gratitude,

Rochelle

Feel Your Wildness Now

I am a wild woman who thrives as she creatively expresses herself, offering her unique essence and gifts to the world.

So are you.

My vision of a wild woman is a feminine creature with a strong life force. She knows what she loves and makes it a priority. She can light up a room with her sense of humor, wear clothes that radiate her own self-expression, and is always the first person on the dance floor. Or maybe her wildness lingers on the sidelines, coy and calm, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge.

Either way, she is wild in a way that breaks past the invisible force fields of expectations. She no longer needs to be "nice.” She parties in the proverbial box, and invites others to venture out of it. She stirs your sense of adventure and encourages your curiosity. She is the most fun person you know.

She is you.

What holds us back from being Wild?

Many times in our lives, we overvalue the more masculine qualities of structure, strategy, linear thinking, predictability, and our return on investment. The cost is that we undervalue our more feminine qualities of intuition, creative expression, big desires to do what truly nourishes us, and our ability to revel in the joy of the present moment. The consequence is feeling unfulfilled by too much structure and then feeling guilty if thereʼs too much pleasure. Qoya guides you back to your essence, to connect with the wild part that lives in each woman and let her out to play.  The world needs women who are willing to be bold and a little wild now more than ever.  Let's get there.

FEEL YOUR WILDNESS NOW.

To experience the wildness in you right now, turn on a song you love LOUD, and dance. Feel the freedom of moving any way your body wants to. Feel the life force inside of you. Move — to the music, to the beat of your heart, to your own pulse. Dance because you can no longer not dance.

When you have tapped into the feeling and freedom to be wild, creative and expressive- how can you apply that in your life?  How can you be a little wild today in a way that serves the greater good?  How can you leap forward instead of hold back?

Qoya offers an opportunity to wildly liberate yourself from habits and expectations to find more connected and creative ways to express yourself- first, in your body and movement.  Then, in the way you approach your daily life.

To go deep into your dance and deeper into the gifts that Qoya offers, I invite you to feel that wild woman come out.   Come to a class at Sacred in Brooklyn, join us for our upcoming Woodstock Retreat Labor Day Weekend and stay tuned for our online Qoya studio launching next month in September.

I look forward to dancing with you soon!

Shine On Wild Ones, Rochelle

Feeling Good

I’ve been back from Costa Rica for about a week and I am still Feeling Good.  Hands down, without comparison, the Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica was one of the best weeks of my life.  Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember, that our essence is Wise, Wild and Free.  We reclaim our bodies as the pathway to spirit and enjoy expressing ourselves as embodied soul.  Seeing over 30 women take the journey into themselves through their body and emerge with bright sparkling eyes, strong toned bodies and ecstatically expressive hearts was an honor to witness.

Qoya is about turning up the volume of each woman's inner wisdom, of her creative spark and of her desire- first through her body, then in her life.  In Qoya, we focus less and less and less on how “it looks” and more and more and more on how it feels.  When it feels good is when you’re doing it right.   This is a shift from being previously dependent upon external validation and transitioning into a place where you trust your body as a guide and not only approve of it’s messages and desires, but you listen to and follow them!

Once you truly know the messages of your body- once you truly trust the messages she gives you in the form of your intuition, your instinct, your gut feelings, your zing- then you can fly.  You can rely on your own sensation as your compass.  I think I may have quoted Shakira on this blog before, but here it is again, “Your hips don’t lie.”  Neither does your heart, your yoni, your gut or your full body zing.  However, be wary of the monkey mind that loves to loop you around.  If the mind starts to sound like a used car salesman trying to sell you something, that is probably your ego trying to recruit you for team fear.  If your inner voice's guidance feels expansive and timeless and bold, that is probably the voice of your inner wisdom.

I want to share with you a couple of profound moments where I followed the zing in my body and the consequences of doing so.  These are times where it made no rational sense to make the decision I did, but I just did it anyway.  I  took bold action in the direction of my desires because I felt a strong hit of intuition.  It started with a deal I made with myself around 12 years ago where I decided that I believed that the universe would always support me in the pursuit of my true heart's desire. Therefore, all I had to do was figure out what that heart’s desire was and leap in that direction.  Before you read these stories, imagine what it would be like in your own life or what it would be like if we all believed the world is conspiring on our behalf.  What if we all believed that whenever we step out of our comfort zone and stretch in the direction of our biggest dreams that we are sacredly supported? It could be fun.

I hope as you read these stories your awareness of the ways you are supported and the remembering of the courage you have already modeled in your life arises. What I really hope is that those dreams that have been a soft whisper start increasing in volume and begin to howl like a wolf for it’s pack.

Once upon a time, I had a feeling that enrolling in Shaman School at the Four Winds Society was my next step.  Please note, this did not make logical sense to use all my savings to travel around the country and then to Peru for 6 months studying energy medicine.  However, I felt the zing in my body and I am devoted to answering the call when it arises, so...off I went.

After a passionate study of the divine feminine for many years, I found myself in tears in my first introduction to shamanism.  This was an unbroken lineage of energy healing for thousands of years all in service to the divine feminine.  The divine feminine being mother earth.  Many of the metaphors of healing are done through connection with nature as a way to connect with spirit.   One of my most powerful overlaps of the divine feminine and shamanism was during a pilgrimage to the sacred mountain Salkantay (pictured to the left) outside of Cusco.  All of the mountains around Cusco ground a particular energy and this mountain was said to hold the energy of the "Undomesticated Feminine."  Shamans (of the Andes) believe that when you die your body goes back to the earth from which you came, your spirit goes to the heavens, but all the knowledge you acquired goes to the mountaintops.  Many medicine men and women will hike to the tops of mountains and meditate to access insight to their questions.  We hiked 16,000 feet over 5 days, took breaks to be in awe at the wild avalanches and at the top of that mountain is where I received the clarity of my message for Qoya: that our nature is wise, wild AND free.  It was there that I saw that Qoya is an opportunity to express and embody the full range of woman as kind and wise, nurturing and soulful, sensual and erotic, fierce and protective and wildly wildly creative.  All of us.

After hiking Salkantay, I went into the heart of the Amazon jungle to study with the Shamans there and here begins a beautiful synchronistic tale.

1- I meet the co-founder of Omega, Stephan Rechtschaffen, but I didn’t know he was the founder of Omega.  I just knew him because he came to my yoga class, we chatted a little and then went our separate ways.

2- Two weeks later, my inner voice demanded, “Go to Omega this weekend! Go to Omega this weekend!”  “Ok, ok!  I’ll go!” I conceded.    I arrive and the first person I see is Stephan.  I am amazed at the coincidence of meeting him in Peru and then running into him a couple of weeks later at Omega.  He mentions it’s not such a big coincidence because he founded Omega and is there quite often.  Ha!  I express my gratitude for him co-founding one of my favorite havens on the east coast, a center devoted to the evolution of consciousness and bringing like minded people and teachers from all over the world together.  He mentions he also started a place in Costa Rica called Blue Spirit and that he runs groups there too.  I shared with him my vision for Qoya as a way to evolve how women relate to their bodies and feel their spirituality by embodying the feminine.  Later in the conversation, I voiced my desire to bring women on retreat to Costa Rica. He said, “Let’s put you on the calendar.”  This was the beginning of a dream coming true.  The picture to the right is one of the gorgeous women on this last Qoya retreat fully embodying her wise, wild and free self dancing on the beach.  Nice.

3- During my first retreat in Costa Rica last December, guess who stayed in the room next to me?   Alberto Villoldo! Alberto is the founder of the Shaman School I attended, The Four Winds.  He was vacationing with his gorgeous wife and teacher Marcela Lobos, who led the trip I went on in Peru a couple months earlier. Can you believe it?  I invited Marcela to be a guest at my Qoya class one morning.  She came and she loved it and then invited me to teach Qoya at her next Women’s Altar retreat in Utah in April 2011.  I love how this story keeps intertwining and unfolding.

4- I had the most amazing time in Utah doing my first sweat lodge and going through the rites of passage of the feminine from maiden to mother to crone, with Marcela. I loved the opportunity to learn about the feminine through the experience of being in a true circle, where each woman was honored for her voice, medicine and unique expression.  It was a powerful and transformative week to be initiated through ceremony into the feminine rites of passage.  Click here to see about a similar class Marcela is teaching in her native Chile this fall.  I took many of the gifts of the Women's Altar into the Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica.  See picture below from one of our fire ceremonies at the beach where we stepped into the timeless tradition of gathering around a fire.

5- After the Women's Altar class, I took a red-eye from Utah back to New York and attended an amazing event put on by my dear friend Janine Francolini, the founder of the Flawless Foundation.  The Flawless Foundation is devoted to seeing the perfection in every child, focusing on bringing more loving and compassionate care to children with mental illness.  One of the speakers was Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy who spoke right to the heart of everyone in the audience.  Mr. Kennedy was addressing the topic of mental illness as a civil rights issue and asking each one of us to open our hearts and minds to see the “spark of divinity” in everyone and to truly treat others as we would like to be treated, with dignity and respect.

With the 50th anniversary of his JFK’s speech, Patrick Kennedy will be launching this decade’s “Next Frontier,” as exploring the “inner space” of brain disorders –– “a moon shot to the mind.”  This event is to be a catalyst for a unified, all-fronts effort like his uncle’s, President Kennedy's, space program.  The moon shot to the mind program is needed to combine research, build awareness and explore neuroscience to understand and heal neurological illnesses.

I spoke with Mr. Kennedy after his speech about how moved I was with his asking everyone to wake up to see the “spark of divinity.”  What I heard was an invitation not only to see the “spark of divinity” in these children with brain challenges, but I heard the call to wake up and see the spark of divinity in all of us.  I asked him if he had heard of the recently published book Power Up Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Enlightenment by David Perlmuetter and Alberto Villoldo.  The book combines the perspectives of a medical anthropologist and shaman with a neuroscientist to come together to explain the ever emerging connections between spirituality and science in a way to heal and power up your brain.  (I highly recommend this book and sent a copy of the book to Patrick Kennedy's office as a gift).

The moral of this story is like the most morals of most stories.  Trust yourself. Take incredible care of yourself by clearing your mind, opening your heart and feeling good in your body so that when your intuition arises, you know yourself well enough to clearly hear and trust it.  Then, take bold courageous leaps in the direction of your desires.  Follow your bliss.  Follow the flow.  And write thank you cards to those that help you along the way.

• What synchronicities in the past have lit you up?
• How much do you call on your own intuition?
• When a synchronicity happens, do you pay extra special attention like it is a dialogue with the divine or do you write it off as a mere coincidence?

I invite you to invite in more synchronicity, more miracles, this week.  Let the magic unfold!

Since my passion is in movement, here is a video to get you back into your body feeling good in your hips. Do this once a day or several times a day, but the most important thing is to do it.  Through movement, we remember.

Feeling Good from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

Join us on one of Qoya’s next adventures!:

• Classes in New York City at  Sacred in Brooklyn Wednesdays and Sundays 7-8pm
• Launching of EmbodyQoya.com (an online Qoya studio) in May/June 2011
• Labor Day Weekend Qoya Retreat in Woodstock, NY September 2-5th, 2011 with an option to participate in a Qoya Teacher Training September 2-7th
• Qoya is going to India in October 28th- November 9th, 2011!!!
• The next Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica is officially April 21-28th, 2012 with an option to participate in Qoya teacher training.

I so look forward to dancing together,

Rochelle

Some get strong. Some get strange. Sooner or later, it all gets real. Walk on.

Some get strong.  Some get strange.  Sooner or later, it all gets real.  Walk on. -Neil Young

Some get strong. Three years ago, I moved to New York City.  A 20-something idealistic young woman from Minnesota with no job leads, no big savings account, no permanent place to live, nada. What I did have was a strong intuitive feeling in my body.  A zing.  A deep sense of inner knowing that this was the right move for me.  I also had a ticket to see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. That was September 11, 2007.  *Side note- I recently attended the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and highly recommend checking out any of the footage on their website.*

When is the last time you remember you just knew something?  Where you felt it in every cell of your body?  Where you honored the wisdom that came from your body?  Where you took a risk and had faith in your own strength?

Some get strange. Life is bizarre.  It takes random twists and turns.  People you trust make decisions that affect you, sometimes negatively.  People you can't imagine effectively running a bake sale get elected into public office.  It gets weird.  And as we go through our days, our own perception shifts and evolves.  Some mornings we feel elated. Some lonely nights we feel victimized and wronged by the world. Some afternoons we are just trying to see past the cloudy fog of indecision.  Either way, the only constant is change and sometimes the change is strange.  We can easily look around our personal world and/or the collective reality and say WTF is going on?  One thing to remember- sooner or later, it all gets real.

Sooner or later, it all gets real. All things must pass.  Instead of getting caught in the dramatic loop, try to ask yourself, "how is this serving me?"  Just by asking the question, you open yourself up to the answer. There is a great book about this process of looking for how a difficult situation maybe serving you called Radical Forgivenessby Colin Tipping.  Eckhart Tolle says, “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”  If we can get real with ourselves, we can start to see the soul gift of the circumstances we are in and walk on.

Walk on. So what do you do? What do you do while in limbo? What do you do in those inbetween places where you are living between the clear desire of what you want and the reality of where you are?  Neil Young strums his guitar and sings Walk on. In our case, I invite you to dance on. Imagine taking a sticky situation in your life on as your dance partner, as a welcomed dance partner. Start to dance with it.  Start to dance with life.

Remember, there is a very simple thing that always works to get back into our bodies.  A way in which we can get real again.  A way in which we can walk on.  It's so simple, no experience required.  You just have to be willing to try.

What is it?

Movement.

Dance.

Shaking. (ecstatically)

1- Watch this short 2 minute video and shake along with it!  On your own, shake each part of your body for 10-15 seconds. You will feel rejuvenated and more like your true self.  That vibrant true self.  Use this simple exercise as a tool to get back into your body, to get real and to walk on anytime you need it.

2-  Click here to listen to Neil Young's song Walk On as you slice organic red peppers for dinner, walk to your next appointment or get ready for your day.  Feel yourself taking life as a dance partner as you go from task to task.  Notice how a little music can brighten up the most mundane part of our days. Feel the cycle of life moving through you and just like you accept the seasons changing from summer, fall, winter to spring, find that same acceptance with change that some get strong, some get strange and sooner or later, it all gets real, walk on.

3- Come dance with me!   If you're in New York City, I'm teaching 4 classes a week and your first class is FREE, drop-ins are $30 or you can purchase a $100 all you can dance Qoya pass good through December 8, 2010.  Click here to see Qoya class dates and times. There are also 4 spots left for our Costa Rica Retreat December 11-18, 2010.

I look forward to dancing with you,

xo

Rochelle

I invite you to shake right now.  Notice how you feel.  Notice the zing in your body.

Shaking from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

I’ve got a feeling.

I’ve got a feeling. A feeling deep inside. Oh Yeah. If you’ve got the feeling too, now’s the time.

Oh darling, there are a lot of reasons to go to Costa Rica. It will be beautiful. Stunning, really. A day in the life will include the warm ocean, sun shining and being at the beach in December. All you need is love, but there will also be delicious food, amazing women and experts leading you to explore more ways to embody the most powerful feminine parts of yourself in movement, health and relationships.

But straight up, sister to sister, whether it is Costa Rica or something else that is calling you, now is the time. No more mañana. No more long and winding road. No more holding back or playing small. Imagine taking giant leaps in the direction of your full expression. Playing big and being bold about what you want to call into your life. Courageously dreaming as if there were no limits.

Now is the time to come together to dream bigger dreams for ourselves and for our world.

In my life, the magic consistently stems from the expression and embodiment of my most feminine qualities. The connection to my intuition and the earth. The reveling and savoring of the blessings in my life. The conscious expression and acknowledgement of gratitude. Honoring my unique gifts and finding more ways to make my contribution to the collective whole. My favorite are the moments of synchronicity that leave me in awe at the greater mysteries of life. I guarantee that the magic is there for you too. Come to Costa Rica to give the wise, wild and free woman in you a place to dance.

Whether it be this trip to Costa Rica or another big calling in your life. If you've got the feeling, leap! (Like the monkey in the video below.)

I've Got a Feeling. from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

Let’s continue to build and support a community of women who are devoted to being wise, wild and free.

Now, let's dance! See video above for examples of the movement described below.

Movement: Imagine clearing cobwebs or pushing back any perceived limitations of: time, money, old beliefs, nay-sayers.

Intention: Reconnect with the place of pure possibility. Believe in Miracles. Trust that when you follow your deepest truth, you will always be supported. Feel yourself dancing between the faith that you are headed towards your greatest becoming and the place where you are right now.

Music: I’ve got a feeling by the Beatles. Notice those feelings, those instincts, those desires and go for it!

Take it with you: Ask someone today what one of their big dreams are. When they tell you, imagine it is possible for them. Then imagine what it would it look like if it was 10x bigger and from the depths of your deepest knowing encourage them to take action in the direction of their desire and to keep dreaming even bigger. Do the same for yourself. Together, we can create a culture of being willing and courageous enough to dream bigger dreams.

Want to learn a little more?

Click here to see the full Costa Rica flyer.

Check out me being interviewed by Kate Northrup last week at http://katemoller.com/one-simple-step-you-can-take-to-feel-more-alive-right-this-instant-glimpse-tv-with-rochelle-schieck/

Click around on my website at www.wisewildfree.com to see more info about the blog, Costa Rica retreat, classes in NYC and Brooklyn, private sessions and upcoming events. There's also a great video on the About Rochelle page so you can see what a Qoya class looks like.

Through movement we remember. We remember, as women, that we are Wise, Wild and Free.

Cast all your votes for dancing, Rochelle

Rochelle Schieck www.wisewildfree.com

Remembering and Forgetting.

Welcome to wisewildfree.com. My name is Rochelle Schieck and I am so glad you're here and grateful for how you got to this page. Last month I met Carolyn Garcia, who was the wife of Jerry Garcia. Jerry Garcia's voice and music that he played with the Grateful Dead was an anchor to many people spanning generations ranging in musical influences from folk to rock to funk~ all leading back to a message of love. There was an inquiry in the music of the spaces between our moments of remembering and forgetting. Remembering and forgetting that love is always what is most important. Always.

We're human. We're busy. We forget.

But, it's so important to know the ways in which we can remember. Remember how good it can be. Remember how good it already is. Remember the divine spark and pulse of life that lives in us and through us.

Carolyn Garcia said that the Grateful Dead their shows began in the late 60's with an intention to have a place where the community could meet. The community of people who were excited about the social revolutions of civil rights, women's rights and making love- not war. Right now in the midst of our own generation's war, economic fallout, impending environmental issues and 24/7 news media reminding us of our challenges, it's easy to forget what is really important.

I'm sending out the invitation to remember. To remember what is of the most supreme importance to you. The people, places and things that light you up. The remembering of the deepest truth of who you are- your joy and it's expression. When I heard Carolyn Garcia say, "They were creating a place for the community to gather," it just hit me. In every cell of my body I felt my desire to create places for my community to meet.

For the women who want to howl by the light of the moon, tread in the waters of the warm ocean, indulge in delicious organic food and be surrounded in a group of like minded women to continue the conversation of what it is to be ultimately feminine- please join me and Liyana Silver, relationship expert, and Alisa Vitti, women's health and lifestyle expert in Costa Rica December 11-18, 2010 for an epic week of remembering the profound pleasures of being in nature, being in community with women, being on an adventure and time to just be. Click here to see the gorgeous flyer and get more information.

For the women who want to practice movement and learn techniques of breathing, the power of setting intentions, have a sacred space to meet once a week to be encouraged to have their bodies express their true self and their feminine power, please join me for Qoya classes in Brooklyn and Manhattan starting next week. Click here for schedule and how to register.

For the women who want to have access to their source energy, like a shot of espresso, who want to carve out a couple minutes of their day to remember the joys of being wise, wild and free, who want to say yes and thank you to every thing that crosses the path...let's dance. Let's dance today and please use this blog as a resource for you to dance anytime you desire.

Question: What helps you remember? What people, places or activities do you engage in and it is an easy flow of positive energy that wakes you up, makes you feel alive and helps you remember what is most important to you. For some it's the ocean. For others it can be hiking outdoors. An old friend. A new friend. A divine meal. A lover. A child. Sipping a hot cup of tea while looking out the window. I believe for all of us two ways we can remember are through dancing and through community.

Movement: Feel your feet. Feel your connection to the floor. Feel grounded in the present moment through physical sensation. Play with moving your feet as fast as you can. Try to touch as much of the ground as you can with your feet. Remember the childhood joy of hot potato and imagine you are stopping out a fire with your feet. Have fun in your body! See video below for suggestions and someone to dance with.

Feel your feet to be wise, wild and free. from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

Intention: The intention is to remember. Remember what is important to you and dance for that. Tap into more energy in your body and feel the awareness of your feet.

Take it with you into your day: Can you get your feet to touch the earth today? Walking in the grass, sand or on stones? Feel your feet throughout your day and notice where they take you. Let them lead you to the places that delight you and help you remember what is most important to you.