Dear Soul on the Other Side of the Screen,

I celebrated my 39th birthday this week and was grateful to receive my biggest birthday wish: a labyrinth to walk on the land where I live. We went into a large grassy field with the lawnmower and spiraled out from the center, with the high grasses as partitions. Some friends came to gather for a picnic by the pond, and then we activated the labyrinth together with sacred song. The labyrinth spiral has been an essential healing tool for me and many others. With this full moon, I invite you to embrace the adventure of going within and emerging changed. To enter the labyrinth of life, literally or figuratively, can be chosen or forced, but is always a catalyst for transformation.

There are many lores and legends on the origins and opportunities of walking a labyrinth. For me, it is the place where I allow myself to enter lost in the maze of my mind and embody the proverb that suggests, "The best way out is through."

Instead of running away, turn inwards. Spiral into the center. Meet the core wound manifesting in this situation. Pause. Reflect. Release. Give what's ready to go. Give what's already gone. Empty yourself. Just for a moment. And then in the space between the exhale and the next inhale, trust the body to guide you on how to begin again. In this place of raw vulnerability, feel your willingness to be open and receive the gifts of this challenge. Reclaim your resilience. Emerge triumphant and victorious with your inevitable understanding, grace, and growth! Ahhh, the labyrinth spiral of life!

Like movement, through the labyrinth, we remember. When we do any rituals, ceremonies or healing, one of the biggest obstacles can be our expectations, and one of our biggest allies is our willingness to feel whatever is happening, or not happening, in each emerging moment. Our praise need not only be for the life-changing epiphanies and insights, but for the daily momentary willingness to reconnect to our body, nature, spirit, and each other. Through this willingness, we awaken to the perspective of curiosity and wonder at the metaphor and meaning of our inner and outer worlds. It's all an invitation to slow down enough to feel how you actually feel. To be where you actually are. To remove the illusion of appearances and look into the tender true center of Self. Here! Here is the place where your vision opens 360 degrees. Where everything is seen and honored for what it is.

This is not a mental visualization. The unique medicine of the labyrinth is that something moves through in your body as your body moves through the labyrinth. It can be frustrating. It can be revelatory. It can be gentle. It can be intense. Our ceremonies that honor life are often mirrors, and the labyrinth spiral encourages us to enter into the symbol of rebirth. It offers a place of refuge to enter as often as we need and a way to re-emerge, embodying our wise, wild and free essence a little more each time.

If you are resonating with this invitation, perhaps a labyrinth could be the perfect way for you to honor this upcoming full moon.

Our Qoya resident astrologer Virginia Rosenberg shares:

The Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 17, 2019 (4:30 am) is a growth edge. Lean into it. These are sensitive times, and there are hard lessons to be learned. We are stretched in a face-off with polar opposites. Stay with the tension. Expand. Face the past. Turn towards discomfort. Embrace emotion and pain. These are essential elements of the journey. Trust vulnerability. Numbness will not save us. Expectations, constructs, and walls of defense will not keep us safe. Change is come. The walls are already crumbling. In this time and place, we cannot move forward unless we choose to feel. Claim your space. Feel what you feel. Find the numb parts and give them voice. Speak to what you are most afraid of. Speak of how you feel held back. Be the guardian and loving protector. Nurture the most childlike parts of yourself. Fear can be something that connects us⁠—if we turn towards it. If we hold each other’s fear as sacred and listen to it. If we trust that the hard things happening are helping us learn and grow. If we trust in our own capacities to face reality. If we trust our own tenderness and our innate instincts. Together, we can learn these ancient lessons for once and for all. We can emphasize care and remake belonging. In the places that feel confining, make more space. To find your true home, move beyond the borders of where you think you belong. Reach past the comfort zone. Trade familiarity for adventure. Take the risks that will guarantee long-term security for yourself and your loved ones. Beyond our borders is the intimacy we seek. Beyond our borders is the deepest feeling of being sated. Let down your defenses to come home to yourself and others. When we slow down to feel it all, we will grow in leaps and bounds.

Optional (but highly recommended!) is embodying this by walking a labyrinth! You can do this really simply in your home with a piece of yarn, pillows, or sticks, or you can find a labyrinth near you with the Labyrinth Locator. Watch this video for some guidance on how to make and walk a labyrinth in a simple meaningful way.

Thank you for this moment where we meet to explore what is most true and how we can call on the physical sensation of our bodies to affirm that truth. Thank you for your courage to be here at this time in this way. And always, thank you for the love you are and the love you share.

With love in every direction,

Rochelle

Los Angeles Classes with Rochelle Schieck

There are two chances to dance with Rochelle Schieck in Los Angeles this summer! Both classes are $22 at the Electric Lodge (1416 Electric Ave, Venice, CA 90291).

Click here to learn more and register.

Sunday, July 14, 5pm-6:30pm: Trusting Your Inner Wisdom

A common thread of doubt prevents many of us from following the intuitive voice in our bodies because we don't value it as wisdom and may not recognize our body’s messages as sacred. Your body’s wisdom, your intuitive knowing, is your inner divinity talking to you – whether you call that source Buddha, Jesus, Mary, Krishna, or another sacred name. You are the intermediary between heaven and earth, between the formless and form, between chaos and calm, and your body is the temple that houses that sacred flame within you. Activate your body in this class to deepen your trust in the inner wisdom that lives inside you so it can live through you!

Sunday, August 4, 5pm-6:30pm: The Wild Power of Self Love

It’s simpler than you think. You just have to be you. Here. In present time. You don’t have to chase all the karma chameleons from the past or the fantasies of the future. What does it feel like in the moments when you get to just be yourself and be loved for that? That wild and powerful place where the well of your self-love overflows, and you know you are more than enough. Let's go there through movement.

Qoya Retreats with Rochelle Schieck this Summer

There are two chances to dance with Rochelle Schieck at a Qoya retreat this summer in the United States:

Kripalu Retreat in Stockbridge, Massachussetts: June 30 - July 5, 2019

Embody your Wise, Wild and Free essence through movement at the renowned Kripalu Retreat center in Stockbridge, Massachussetts.

Click here for more details and to register.

Multiversity Retreat in Santa Cruz, California: July 21 - 26, 2019

Dance with the theme Embodying Your Sacred Work at the beautiful Multiversity Retreat center in Santa Cruz, California.

Click here for more details and to register.

Qoya Retreat in Taos, New Mexico

July 19 - 21, 2019

Join Samar Ocean Wolf Ciprian and Dr. Rosita Arvigo for a retreat in the sacred landscape near the Rio Pueblo river.

Click here to learn more.

Qoya Retreat for Teens

August 11 - 16, 2019

Send your teen girl to Badass Girls Camp with Eliza Reynolds in Plainfield, Massachusetts for a week of belonging, adventure, and shining her unique light.

Click here to learn more.

To continue diving into the energy of this moon, you may also be inspired to check out the Embodied Astrology: Sagittarius course which includes an introductory video to give you an overview of Sag's aspects, a Qoya Movement Ritual so you can embody your own personal relationship to Sagittarius, an integration video with an exercise to apply in your life, worksheets with journal prompts, and a blessing for deep reflection.

Click here to learn more.

Love this blog?

Enjoy more Qoya movements, rituals, and philosophies in our online course, A Call to Create, which helps you embody the wisdom of our book, Qoya: A Compass for Navigating an Embodied Life that is Wise, Wild and Free.

For free support, check out our library of movement rituals, our free e-course 10 Days of Qoya Love, the Lifestyle of Reverence podcast, or browse the archives over on our blog.

RETREATS TO REMEMBER YOUR ESSENCE

Kripalu Retreat (Massachussetts) with Rochelle: June 30 - July 5, 2019

Taos Retreat with Samar: July 19 - 21, 2019

Multiversity Retreat (California) with Rochelle: July 21-26, 2019

Qoya Retreat for Teens with Eliza: August 11 - 16, 2019

India Retreat with Rochelle: October 13 - 22, 2019 - SOLD OUT

Hawaii Retreat with Rochelle: January 5 - 12, 2020 - enrollment opens soon!

Collective Retreat in Costa Rica: March 28 - April 4th, 2020 - enrollment opens soon!

INITIATION TEACHER TRAININGS

Kripalu Retreat (Massachussetts) with Rochelle: June 30 - July 5, 2019

Multiversity Retreat (California) with Rochelle: July 21 - 26, 2019

French Online Initiation with Claire Garin: August 13 - 15, 2019