Forget About Saying the Right Thing. Just Say the True Thing. (And a couple of earlybird offers that expire, April 25th)

Dear Friends, Here is a love letter.  A reminder.  An invitation.  An offering.  Permission to forget about saying the right thing and encouragement to just say the true thing.

Every once in a while, we are invited to embrace our truth.  Not turn away from it and pretend it isn't there, but embrace it.  Lovingly.  I think of one of my favorite Rumi poems called Not Here.

There's courage involved if you want to become truth.

There is a broken-open place in a lover Where are those qualities of bravery and sharp compassion in this group?

What's the use of old and frozen thought?

I want a howling hurt. This is not a treasury where gold is stored; this is for copper.

We alchemists look for talent that can heat up and change. Lukewarm won't do.

Halfhearted holding back, well-enough getting by?

Not Here.

 

My friend Meggan Watterson is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School who spent two decades studying holy texts from around the world and searching for the spiritual voices of women.  In her new book, REVEAL: A Sacred Manual For Getting Spiritually Naked  she shares a quote by Muriel Rukeyser, "What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open."

My world was split open by Meggan's beautifully articulated truth about her spiritual path in her book Reveal.  Her sacred manual to getting spiritually naked has my highest recommendation, as well as, her upcoming event REVEAL conference in NYC, May 18th.  I will be honored to be sharing Qoya there and here is an early bird special that is good until April 25th, so if you're feeling the call, please join us and reserve your spot.

Last weekend, I had the honor and privilege to lead a Qoya class for an event put on by another truth seeker KC Baker of the Women's Thought Leadership Society called the Public Speaking Soiree which focuses on unleashing the brilliance of women's voices.  I led these powerful women through exercises to help them remember how to tap into their body for wisdom, courage, strength and passion.  Before I led my class I was able to listen to a little bit of their Q and A and learned something I wanted to share with you.

The question was around women having a tendency to be emotional and if that is inappropriate or unprofessional as a leader.  KC shared that one of our greatest feminine strengths is our ability to be emotional, but when full of emotion to ask oneself, "what can I say here that will be of service?"  As a feminine leader, explore how you can use that emotion as fuel and fire for the highest good of all and stay in a place of service, instead of collapsing into the emotion and how it affects you personally.  It's not by-passing your emotion and experience.  It's honoring your truth and honoring others by redirecting your energy towards service. Brilliant.  You can learn more about KC,  her work and see her amazing free training videos on how to turn fear of public speaking into confidence and grace, learning how to write the speech of your dreams, and how to captivate audiences on her site at www.kcbaker.com. 

And, like the quote Meggan used inquiring what would happen if one woman told the truth about her life, KC has this post up next to the check-in table saying, "Forget about saying the right thing.  Just say the true thing."  Passion flows when it resonates as truth.

So, how do we know what is true?

Whenever someone comes to me full of angst or worry or I feel the invitation towards anxiety, I think of a definition I once heard, "anxiety is when the outer voices are louder than your inner voice."  Or, the lies are louder than the truth.  The truth, when we deeply connect to our higher self, comes through  affirmations that have love as the bottom line.  The voice of deep inner truth encourages you to align with divine timing and encourages you to follow your heart, trust yourself and know you are protected.  When we are bombarded with fear inducing news headlines and living in a state of rush and worry, we can become disconnected from the deeper wisdom and truth that is always available to us.  I don't suggest that you have an overly optimistic approach to life, where you just hope with your fingers crossed all is well and ignore signs that indicate otherwise.  I do suggest that you learn how to tap into the sacred pulse of your higher knowing that you can trust as you navigate through your life, moment by moment. Qoya trains you to do this.

Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember our essence as women to be wise, wild and free.  We focus less on how our movement looks and more on how it feels and when it feels good, that's how we know we are doing it right.  And more than it feeling good, we are looking for the place where it feels true.  Where it is authentic.  You learn how the physical sensation of truth resonates in your body and how to align yourself with it, like finding north on a compass.

One exercise I do in Qoya classes is invite everyone to close their eyes and be still.  Then, I put on Get Up Offa That Thing by James Brown and ask everyone to stay still until they authentically want to move.  Instead of telling them to free dance, I invite them to explore the feeling of when you can't not dance and only start to move when the movement is true.   I'll post the you tube here and invite you to do the same.  Just try to sit still and notice the different quality of moving- instead of out of obligation, but from a place of authentic expression of truth.  And more importantly, let yourself receive the message that movement is medicine and get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better.  Because, Qoya believes, that when you get up offa that thing, you will feel better.  As you are moving, see if you can feel it.  If you can feel that physical sensation of what is true for you.

The reason I love doing retreats so much is that there is more space to explore our deeper truths and that our deeper truth often leads us to our deeper joy!  I'm sure you've experienced this anytime you go on a trip and as soon as you are 30,000 feet in the air, your perspective shifts.  When you step out of the mundane momentum of life, truth tends to gets revealed (quickly).

If you are looking for some time and space to reconnect with your deepest truth and study the map of the body that can lead you to your inner wise, wild and free woman, there are a couple amazing retreats coming up.  One is  a Qoya Spa Retreat at the Standard in Miami May 9-11, 2013, with an optional add-on of Intro to Qoya Teacher Training May 9-12, 2013 (special room rates good until Friday, April 26th).  I'm also ecstatic to be offering astrology themed Qoya classes with the Astrotwins as part of their first Learn How to Be Your Own Astrologer Retreat in Tulum, Mexico, July 22-28, 2013 (with a generous early bird special that expires Thursday, April 25th).  Check out my master calendar here to also see about a Qoya Celebration Retreat in Woodstock, NY and an opportunity to study with my shamanic teachers in Peru in July.

Also, please join us May 18th, 2013 in NYC for the Reveal conference to experience the power of women coming together in an intentional space. Meggan Watterson writes in her book Reveal, “In the company of women, it’s easier for each of us to remember our own truth. We remember that our lives depend on our capacity to drop all facades and pretenses. We remember the bliss of just accepting that we are here to be ourselves. And we remember, together, that the most powerful place for us to be, even if it is sometimes terrifying, is fully in our body, so that we can move with the vulnerability and compassion of a broken-open heart.”

Thank you for being a part of the Qoya community and tribe.  I know that if you are subscribed to this list or visiting this website, there is a call in you to deeply love and to remember your truth.

Cheers to that,

Rochelle Renee

Visioning a New Year in 2013: Learn How To Do A Three Card Story And The Grapevine

I've been living in LA for almost two months now, teaching Qoya and planting seeds for her to grow out West. In the last Qoya class of the year, I led the women through a visioning ritual that I want to share with you today. It's called a three card story. First, let me differentiate between visioning and goal setting. I borrowed a friend's car recently and there was a CD of a lecture by a man named Jacob Glass where he described himself as a de-motivational speaker. De-motivational because many times our motivations or goal setting can come from a place of ego whose acquisition is outside of  oneself. Strategizing for things to happen can sometimes be a useful planning tool, sometimes a pacifying approach to the ego to further the illusion that it has control and sometimes be the default M.O. to a culture that even when things are going horribly, we can help feel better by knowing we are "working hard." I'm not opposed to working hard, but am curious about becoming more conscious about from what place our projects stem from- ego or spirit.

Ego generated goals will likely be exhausting and when fulfilled, satisfaction will be fleeting.   Spirit generated visions will have a soulful satisfaction, regardless of the outcome, to know that you have given yourself fully to the task and shown up not only for the material rewards, but for the inner transformation that always happens when we grow. And why do we set goals or visualize for the year ahead? Is it because we perpetually just want more or is it because we deeply want to evolve? Is it that our dharma, the unique thing that can only be birthed in this world through us, is calling our name?

The vision process is always self-examination. It's never, "God, I want this. Make this happen." It's always, "What do I have to become to live the vision, to manifest it, to reveal it?" The visioning process, then, is a process of transformation of the individual. - Reverend Michael Beckwith

In Jacob's lecture he encourages you to wait for some guidance and that if Spirit wants you to do something, you will know it.  So, when you get the divine assignment, that is when you go full throttle and run with it! Sounds good, unless you have no idea what your divine assignment is.

One of the three essences of a Qoya class is based on the idea that all answers are within. Qoya is like a map, like a labyrinth, into the center of one self to access each individual's deepest truths. The three card story is another way in.

Step One: pull out your divination decks. I mix up my goddess oracle cards, any of my decks by doreen virtue and my new favorite the be your own oracle cards. You can use traditional tarot cards as well.

Step Two: take a couple deep breaths to come more into your instinctual being of letting your body lead you and feeling the card draw you to it. As you pull your three cards, root into your intention that one card is to symbolize the beginning of the story, one for the middle and one for the end. Leave the cards face down and wait to turn the cards over one at a time as you are writing.

Step Three: get some paper and a pen out and write this first sentence down, "Once upon a time, there was a woman who had a vision of the year to come." Then pull the first card to tell the beginning of the story. Trust whatever the words on the card or the image draws up for you. Sometimes it can be literal, but remember, the intention is to access the vision that lives inside of you and the cards are a way to access that. After writing a paragraph about the beginning of your story, then flip over the second card and write the middle of your story. Try to let the subconscious take over and write without pauses, just letting it flow. Lastly, pull over the third card and write the end of the story.

Step Four: from reading your story, listen deeply to your words to hear the theme, mantra, or intention that came forward.  Notice the difference between setting goals on what you think you "should" do and that this exercise is to take you into your intuition to open yourself up to the bigger vision that lives in you.

Step Five: from here, I encourage you to make a playlist that evokes the remembering of this intention and dance to it daily!  For ideas on easy and pleasurable ways to move your body, check out EmbodyQoya.com online with a free 10 day intro and a monthly membership with over 50 videos.

In Qoya classes, the structure is to begin with circling each part of the body to practice focusing less on how it looks and more on how it feels, looking for the place that feels good to move and open your body.  Then, we move into heart opening, hip opening, dancing sun salutation or a warrior yoga sequence, learning a choreographed dance, shaking, dancing our intention in free dance, community sharing and connection and we end with stretching.  In the spirit of New Year's Eve, here is a short three minute video to teach you the Grapevine!

Through movement, we remember.  We remember our essence is wise, wild and free.

May you be brave enough to remember the truth and intuitive enough to follow where it guides you. May love have its way with you. May the sweetness of the New Year be yours.

With love,

Rochelle

***And if there is an intuitive nudge somewhere in your three card story to come join us in Costa Rica, we'd love to have you! See the video below and click here to register!

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.

Sometimes the Best Advice Is Your Own

There have been many days, weeks, maybe even a year where I felt I personally rocked New York City.  I savored every moment in it.  I would meet a friend for yoga at 6:30am in Lower East Side, go for a green juice after at my beloved Juice Press and then buzz off to a series of meetings/work dates at different locations throughout the day at the Ace Hotel, various Le Pain Quotidien's or my most frequented spot Jivamukti cafe.  Then, I'd head over to Brooklyn to teach Qoya at Sacred Brooklyn and go out to one my favorite restaurants in the city Flatbush Farm after that.  If the spirit moved me, I'd end up dancing after at Barbes, Brooklyn Bowl, NuBlu, or some other place determined in that particular present moment.  Get home after midnight and wake up to do that or some other variation that included museums, parks, plays or other city adventures.  Days like those, I loved all the variety that each neighborhood offers, the inspiring people at every corner and the buzz of New York City around you.  And then, as if a switch turned off, all of a sudden the sound of the subway got a little louder, the lack of only one tree in sight a little more depressing, the heat a little more oppressive and was it me or were there really 1000+ plus people on this particular block? I came home the other day completely defeated by New York, cried with exhaustion and woke up the next morning with severe and sudden strep throat.  For the next 2 1/2 days, even texting was ambitious and challenging to my low energy level.  The fever, body aches, painful attemps to swallow (ouch!) and inability to sleep were a strong invitation to surrender into the swamp of fear, pain and despair. The goal is being emotionally responsible right?  Definition of responsible being able to respond.  Not collapsing into our wounds like a child.  Not dismissing them like an emotionally unavailable way-too-busy-for-this adult.  Right in the middle.  For me, it's going deep into the darkness with certainty of what is on the other side. Hint: love and light.  I shed tears.  I wondered why, what could I have done differently.  I blamed myself for getting sick...and then I didn't.  I let go to surrender into the experience of what was happening, knowing that it would get better.  And, when I couldn't surrender, I watched movies of other people's challenges that they overcame.  I also cheered my immune system on.  (I think she liked that.  I should write her a thank you note).  As I swallow in this moment without wincing, I'm writing to you from the other side.

The other side of those moments.  Those moments when you really feel like the unknown is too much.  It is too scary.  The pain is too great.  When will it go away?  The bills are due next week, where will the money come from?  Your heart is bleeding to create your art, but what if "they" don't like it, what if it's not good enough? You care about him or her so much, but if you tell the truth will they leave?   Those moments where you can become so paralyzed in the what if's, you can really get lost.  You can forget.  And, sometimes you need someone or something to help you remember.

Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  Through movement, we remember our essence as being wise, wild and free.  We remember how to locate and identify our essence through movement and then use our connection to that essence like a compass as we navigate our lives in this world.

Recently, Kitty Cavalier, a burlesque dancer and the creator of the School of Charm and Cheek, (who is one of the women that went through the Qoya teacher training in Costa Rica last spring and who is pictured to the left with me) wrote a blog post about her inspiration to start teaching weekly Qoya classes in Manhattan. You can read it here.  (I also encourage you to take her classes if you are in the city. They're perfect.) As I was recovering from not feeling well, faith still strong, but a little lost, I read her quote me in her blog with the words I said to her, "Just start. Whatever dream it is you have, just start with what you have in that moment, but just start."  It was the perfect thing for me to hear in my back in the saddle state and it was something I had already said, already knew, but just forgotten.

Sometimes the best advice is your own.  Know yourself well enough to know the ways that you can connect back in with your own inner wisdom.   It can be through movement like Qoya or yoga, meditation or prayer, being in nature or on a pilgrimage, getting a good night sleep or taking a long hot bath.  Investigate which ways really work for you and maybe write a little list to keep, so when you need them and forget, they're still there.  Another way to evoke hearing your own advice is to imagine how you would advise your best friend with the issue that has come up in your life.  Offer yourself the same honesty, compassion and kindness that you would to him or her.  Most spiritual teachings guide you to remember that all you seek is already within you.  The next time there is something looking to be discovered, resolved or created- go within to find it.

My last class in New York City for a little while is Sunday, July 15th at Sacred Brooklyn.  The theme is the next paragraph which is a poetic collection of the song titles and lyrics from the playlist I'll use.  Come dance with us in Brooklyn or with us in spirit by listening to the playlist on spotify, click here.

Take up your spade and break ground.  

The Sun is up, a new day is before you.  Sun is up, wake your sleepy soul.  

Sun is up, hold on to what is yours.

There is no greater love than being able to say thank you sun.

Like a moth to a flame, burned by the fire.  My love is blind, can't you see my desire?  

That's the way love goes.

Drive while helplessly hoping to stay strong and keep your faith alive.

The Wolves, the man on fire and passion may take you out,

but even when the stars go blue, hide tide or low tide, I'm going to be your friend.

I believe in a better way and a higher love and am here to remind you, you are not alone.

Come dance with me up on the hill where they do the boogie or

with me and julio down by the schoolyard.

Follow your own advice.  Follow mine if it resonates as truth in your heart.  My advice for the day is to try Day 2 of the free 10 day into to EmbodyQoya.com.  The theme is Just Move (kind of like Just Start, but with movement)! Here's the link to check it out with a free 5 minute video to get your body moving.

I look forward to dancing with you at the perfect time.

With love and two dancing feet,

Rochelle

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

Dancing Your Heartbeat

Dear Dancers of Light, I hope this finds each of you doing well in whichever season it is in your heart. Maybe you're feeling like hibernating and contracting like winter in the morning and warm and expressive like the summer in the evening. Maybe filled with enthusiasm and the sparkle of possibility like spring when you think he or she might call. Maybe the pain of letting go, like when the last leaf falls off the tree in autumn, and you're the one who knows it's best for both of you if you don't call. Wherever you are, with all this valentine's day hula-a-baloo the inner romantic or cynic in us is easily evoked.

Valentine's day is the dramatic obsession with the quest for finding love outside of yourself, as in, your valentine.  However, most wisdom teachers encourage you to first go within.  Qoya agrees.  While there are hundreds of books and classes to help you heal your heart, open your heart, find your soul mate, manifest your perfect lover, conjure true love, keep it once you have it and along the way learn how to love yourself, I was deeply moved recently when reading new book by author Agapi Stassinopoulos Unbinding the Heart where she simply says,

"There are no seven or eight simple steps to unbind our hearts, but there is one choice that we all have, and this is our golden opportunity in every moment of every day, whatever small or big challenges it brings: Do I shut down or do I choose to open up one more time, even deeper?"

Reading those words are liberating from the how to's of studying the magic equation to bring love into our lives.  With this example, loving becomes a simple practice in each present moment to be willing to open your heart one more time?

Are you in?  Can you feel the physical sensation in your heart of contraction or expansion? Do an experiment and think of someone and notice how your body responds.  Are you closed?  Can you open?

I invite you to think of this the next time your phone rings, the next person you have a conversation with or the next time you look in the mirror. Can you choose to open up your heart one more time, even deeper?

A friend put this quote on my Facebook yesterday, "those who don't move won't notice their chains." Agreed. I invite you to open your heart just a little bit more than feels safe and to dance just a little more wildly outside your comfort zone. To help, here is a preview of one of the shorter videos that will be on my online Qoya studio. This is called Dancing your heartbeat and is less than 5 minutes of movement leading with your heart.

The most effective and enjoyable way I know into the heart, into our essence, into the well of love is by going within. The fastest and most pleasurable way I know in is Qoya. The movements of yoga, dance and sensual movement unbind and release us to express our wise, wild and free essence and that's why I show up and offer Qoya to you as a gift from my heart.  May we all realize that it is not the question of whether we are gifted, but what are our gifts.  And with whatever gift we are blessed with, may valentine's day be less about the fairytale of romantic love, but the love of life and sharing of our gifts from our heart and the dance of it all.

Love big. It doesn't matter how big, but just a little more each moment that you can.

With a dancing heart, Rochelle

P.S. Qoya updates! If you're not in New York, know that I am so excited when I can offer you EmbodyQoya.com. So so so excited. Until then, if the spirit moves you, please consider joining us for the next Qoya retreat in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012.

If you are in New York. I'm here too!!! and teaching Qoya in Manhattan Saturday mornings 9-10:15am and in Brooklyn Sunday afternoons 5:15-6:15pm. See more details here.

All my Qoya classes the next three saturdays in Manhattan, are donation based and all donations go to Gems. See more about them here!

Would LOVE to see you and dance together.

Know the Movements that Refuel Your Soul

Know the places that recharge your spirit.

Know the people who inspire your life.

Know the movements that refuel your soul.

If I asked you the three places in the world where you feel the most like you- would you know what they are?  The places where you feel deeply grounded?  The places where you feel like you have the most joy?  Where you have the most epiphanies?  The places where you feel the most powerful?

What if I asked you about the people who inspire your life?  The ones that have been around so long, no action is requrired for you to be moved by them, just knowing they exist is inspiration enough.  The new ones that captivate and catapault you into a higher realm of consciousness, fun or both!  Who are the mirrors of light when darkness is around and are like a bonfire in which your spirit can warm itself up on the coldest of nights?

What are the movements that refuel your soul? That GIVE YOU ENERGY for your journey?  How can you move in a way that you instantaneously remember that there is a part of you that is sacred, eternal and divine?  Do you know?   Wouldn’t it be fun if you did?

It’s up to each of us to take the time to notice and what you look for is what you see.  The next time you flip through your travel photos remember how it felt.  Where were those magical recharge stations?  Whenever you find one- be sure to go there more often.

When your phone rings, watch how your body responds.  Are you avoiding the caller? Sulking in obligation? Excitedly answering?  Stay close to the people who light you up.

The next time you go to the gym, go for a run, take a yoga class, twirl around in pole dancing, leap in dance class, strengthen your core in pilates or explore the wise, wild and free woman in Qoya~ notice what movements illuminate the path back to yourself.

Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember as women that we are inherently wise, wild and free.  My vision is that as you become centered in your deepest truth and feel empowered as you embody your essence, you dance with pleasure along your unique path that leads to the highest destiny for you and for all of us.

If you'd like to try Qoya, check out these videos online: a one hour Qoya routine called Paradise, a 10 minute movement ritual for Dreaming Bigger Dreams or a 5 minute exploration of sensual movement.  (Password to videos is: qoya.)

I’d love to hear what your favorite moves are as you dance, your favorite spots on the earth and some of your favorite people and why!  Please share with me on facebook and share this with a friend if you think they’d enjoy it.

Love,

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

I Shall Be Released.

One of my last nights in Costa Rica I was lying in bed distraught, despondent and, in a way, delusional.  I was beyond upset.  There was no logical reason for me to be under the covers at 7:30pm (while in a warm beautiful tropical country in December while my contemporaries were snowed in during a New York blizzard).  However, I was sincerely contemplating going to bed and the thought of 12 hours of slumber seemed like a great idea in the pursuit of trying to find a way to ease the pain.  I’m aware of the hormonal shift that was naturally occurring in my body at that time and that the decrease in serotonin during this particular time of the month could have been a fair explanation and yet... there was such an overwhelming sadness. Instead of resisting, I dove in.  I opened myself to feel all the pain, all the sorrow and it hit me like a weight.  Like someone threw me an anchor to catch and I was holding on as it took me to the bottom of the ocean floor.  I looked around at what was there. What is this sadness? What is it’s essence?

I thought of the most recent book I read called The Diamond in Your Pocket by Gangaji, a western enlightened woman.  She says, “Just take a moment, this moment, to let everything go- the search, the denial, the rejecting, the clinging.  Let it all go and just for this moment rest in the truth of your being.  Then whatever comes after that can be seen and experienced in the context of the sanctuary of beingness.”

After a strong wave of peace and surrender came over me, I heard my inner voice encourage me to move.  Not to have to change anything, not having to make it different, but just to feel my body move and to feel the life force that animates my body.

I went to my computer and made a quick playlist titled Neosporin.  As soon as I started dancing a smile came across my face.  I actually have a theory that I’ve tested on the women that have been to my Qoya classes.  I believe that one of the easiest ways to access and embody our own happiness is to move in rhythm.  And by happiness, I really mean beingness- where you are at peace and enjoying the present moment you are experiencing.   Try and see if it is true for you too.

Here is a quick 2 minute video to feel yourself move in rhythm and notice if you too shall be released.  Released from what?  Released from whatever is blocking you from receiving all the love, abundance, health and creativity that has it’s eye on you.  Can we open enough to be present and in the present can we experience our true selves with delight? I believe we can.

The Magic of Rhythm from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.

Remember, the main message of Qoya is that through movement we remember.  We remember, as women, that we are wise, wild and free.  By taking a moment to move, we can tap back into the truth of ourselves and our being.  Being wise. Being wild. Being free.  Being.  Being...Released.

I'm so grateful you're here.

With love, Rochelle

P.S. Thursday Morning Qoya Classes begin 1/13/11 from 9:30-10:45am and Tuesday Night Qoya Classes begin 1/18/11 from 7-8:15pm.   Click here to see more details!

P.S.S. The next Qoya Retreat is set for April 16-23, 2011!   Click here to see more info on registering for this upcoming adventure!

And just for fun...Nina Simone singing I shall be released.  Sending love your way.

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.

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.

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

Yes, it’s true. I’m quoting Earth, Wind and Fire. But, stay with me. I recently heard Barbara Biziou, author of The Joy of Ritual, speak and she said something along the lines of, “Our lives have become a series of run-on sentences where we are so busy, we’re not taking time to stop, to slow down and really be present with each other. Rituals are an opportunity to put a period at the end of the sentence, to mark the important times in our lives.”

A birthday dinner where we sit down and celebrate a loved one’s life. Last weekend, families observed Yom Kippur to fast, pray and atone. Halloween is coming up, where we dress up and that day becomes memorable because it breaks us out of the mundane pattern of our lives, sometimes feeling like Groundhog Day. As much as I love Bill Murray (see photo below) let’s consciously mix it up today and remember the 21st night of September (or whenever you read this).

Question: What is something that you can honor about your life? What is an accomplishment, big or small, that you could acknowledge?

Find examples of things that you have already done that you are choosing to celebrate:

*ways you have been courageous in taking action towards your dreams by researching possibilities, connecting with a like-minded community or graduating from a program

*ways you have been standing for what you believe is important, modeling the behavior you desire to see in others....being the change

*ways you have lived your life with great love, where you extended an olive branch symbolizing peace, choosing to be kind instead of needing to being right

*ways you have lived your life with beauty, even if it didn’t always seem that way, but today you choose to view your life as a journey, an epic one, and you as the heroine.

See the places where simply your presence has contributed to the well being of this world. Write one or more instance down on a piece of paper. Let's dance to that.

Intention: Once you find something and you have written it on a piece of paper, create a simple ritual to honor it. Some easy ideas are lighting a candle, setting an intention to celebrate, put on a special outfit (optional, but very fun) and then be fully present as you do your movement.

Example: My very close friend Becca invited me out to dinner last night to celebrate the launching of this site www.wisewildfree.com. I thought...how can we make it memorable? How can it be more than just dinner but marking this as a special day? I came up with the idea that we would put on hot pink sequence dresses and tap dance around New York City, just to make ourselves laugh. We never made it outside because we were having so much fun dancing around her apartment. Now I will always have the gift of our memorable celebration dinner. Breaking up the run-on sentence of our days, we put an exclamation mark on our night.

Movement: With the stage set (candle lit, consciously honoring a part of your life, and maybe a fun outift...) dance! Kurt Vonnegut says, “Dance! Even if the only place you have is your living room.” Trust that your body knows how to move and give it the space to move the way it wants to. Bend your knees, feel your hips move from side to side, take deep breaths into the sensation of your body and go for it.

How to take it with you into your day: Once you’ve celebrated yourself in your own creative way, take a moment to think- is there someone close to you who you could reach out to and acknowledge a moment in their life? Make sure you don’t skip your own celebration and go straight to doing it for someone else. Do yours first! From all the energy and joy you have from your own celebration, you'll have infinitely more to give.

For a song to dance to...you guessed it- September by Earth, Wind and Fire. Click on the link below for the music video and ideas for costumes! Enjoy and report back on what sort of fun memories you create. I’d love to hear.

Click here to see Earth, Wind and Fire singing September on You Tube