"Rochelle is a natural at this work. What I love is that it's just an extension of her innate curiosity and insight about the inner workings of people, energies and spaces. As a leader, she's constantly creating ways to help people tune into their true selves."
- Ophira Edut, New York, NY, Astrologer. www.astrostyle.com
"From the moment that I met Rochelle I was in awe. This is a woman who has travelled all over the globe in search of wisdom and joy. As a result, what I discovered in class was that in her gorgeous body she held the secret to helping me find my joy. I felt as free as when I was a little girl. It was so much fun, I giggled, danced and most of all I remembered how gorgeous and incredible my body is too!"
- Sarah Charlesworth, Actress and Interior Designer, Toronto, Canada
"Rochelle is not only an inspiring person but also an uplifting, encouraging, and incredibly gifted teacher. I left every class with a light heart and renewed determination to let my exercise routine focus not only on keeping fit, but aligning my desires and dreams with every movement in my being. I recommend everyone I know to take a class from Rochelle."
- Erin Marsz, Musician, New York, NY. www.erinmarsz.com
"I've always been the person who says, "I can't dance". Rochelle taught that dancing is for the thrill of feeling the movement of the body and has nothing at ALL to do with thinking about what you look like. Being a pianist, I have always felt comfortable behind a piano, but always felt I could offer more if I dared to step out into center stage. Qoya opened me up to myself and the pure, fun of feeling my own movement, so when I took center stage for the first time, I related to the audience through music AND movement!! It was truly exhilarating."
- Lucinda Anne Butler, Musician, TSO & Moby, Florida. www.lucindaannebutler.com
"Rochelle lives and breathes a boundless passion for movement. She exudes a magnetic force with this passion that is contagious."
- Janine Francolini, Founder and Board President of The Flawless Foundation, Portland, Oregon. flawlessfoundation.org
"Taking part in Rochelle's Qoya classes opened me up to experimenting with movement and my body in a way I had not explored before. I have taken dance classes since age 3, been doing yoga for 10 years and have studied Pilates and Nia. However, taking Rochelle's Qoya classes instilled a new sense of freedom in my body that I had yet to discover."
- Becca Kannapell, Jewelry Designer, New York, NY. www.poundjewelry.com
"Dear Rochelle, I really want you to know the depths of my gratitude for having your presence in my life. I have remembered so much of who I am over the last 3 months or so of dancing Qoya during weekly classes and while on one of your retreats. Your guidance, joy and ways of being have uncovered so much that have been dormant within me for I do not even know how long. I only know how happy I am these days. How much peace and joy I have all the time. How my wisdom surges through me and how my fear recedes more and more all the time. Thank you so much for being who you are in the world and leading us all to higher places!"
- Julia Ball, Boutique Owner, Laguna Beach, CA
"The most profound thing Qoya has taught me is that literally ALL the answers I seek are in my body. Generations of wisdom passed down through my DNA. My body is like a pendulum. It says yes when a situation is right and no when it isn't. At first, I would often not listen and do what my head said was 'right.' Then, I found that when I don't listen to this 'Inner Pendulum' of mine, life gets painful. So, I gave up on that head of mine! These days, my heart leads, and I find my life blossoming in ways I could have never imagined."
- Jill Marie
"Self-attunement: Qoya has given me relationship/communication between physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of me. This attunement has deepened my joy, my wildness, my love, and my ability to live and be present with myself and others. The authenticity and vulnerability of Qoya has given me deeper aliveness, and I have deep gratitude for that. I have gained so much wisdom about parts of myself, and about my emotional and spiritual truths that are absolute treasures to me."
- Jen Bracco
"The remembrance that only movement can bring, the circling of my hips, the weight of my arms, the ability to shake and swirl and move with whatever is happening inside my life, my brain, and my emotions. Qoya has reminded me that I am a creature of nature, and just like nature, I can move my body in ways that release, embrace, flex, strengthen, hold, and crack open those places of stuckness and let in the light."
- Kat Lindsay
"Qoya has been an instrument for connecting me back to my body after many years of being afraid of my body and its sensations and feelings. The retreats are a space for me to go deeper into my body and to enjoy its movement and learn about myself. They provide an opportunity to build relationships and to learn about human experiences. That also provide a space for all of us to share and explore who we are. In a world where we have to fill many roles, it is great to have a space just to be. Qoya has changed how I view and interact with my body."
- Geraldine Lavelle
Basically, Qoya has opened my mind to a whole new way of seeing this world.
First of all, I discovered that I had a body (!!). Until I started practicing Qoya, the only part of my body I was conscious of was my head: everything happened at that level. When I started dancing with Rochelle in NYC, I started to feel the world instead of merely living in it. When I went out of a Qoya class, all my senses were aware. I could feel a total sensation of peace and calm in my body, even in the middle of Manhattan!
Secondly, I felt rooted for the first time in my life. I knew I could trust myself, without judgement. This was a very powerful feeling that lead to life-changing decisions.
Finally, I felt connected to everyone in this world and I felt the desire and the ability to contribute. Whenever my overwhelming life prevents me from slowing down and feeling, like I did in NYC at that time, I can reassure myself that deep down "Qoya Julie" - as my friends called me when I came back to France - is here. I know that I can connect to that part of me, which will always be centered and able to guide me wherever I have to go.
- Julie Katz
"I took my first Qoya class with my sister at a retreat in Costa Rica in 2013. I had no idea what I was getting into - I only wanted a holiday with my sister. Within 15 minutes of our first session, I was hooked. I realized that I had been looking at my life through a very warped perspective almost as if I was looking through a tilted window frame. Doing Qoya for that week in Costa Rica changed my entire outlook. It righted that window and locked it into place. I clearly understood my inherent worth. That certainty of my value in this world has been unshakeable. It was magic."
- Jill Lacina
“My perspective has been expanded on movement and how beautifully spiritual it is. Rochelle talked about it as prayer, and my heart blossomed open. Moving forward, I feel more comfortable expressing myself through movement as a spiritual practice. Feminine expression and deep reverence for our bodies is gorgeous, and Rochelle helped open me up to that integration of body with soul. I love everything about this!! Thank you so so much!”
- Jen Marvos, Las Vegas, NV
"It's been only a few months since Qoya entered my life, and it is already one of the greatest tools to follow my own personal growth AND to deepen and make it "level up." Qoya always brings a lot of clarity for me in my thoughts, by connecting me to my truth. It's a deep support to whatever I'm living, and I almost feel Qoya as a beautiful supporting goddess holding my hand on my path of being fully myself.
The more I practice Qoya, the more "a lifestyle of reverence" makes sense for me. I don't want to limit myself to dancing Qoya once in a while, touching this magic and then going back to some kind of disconnected life. I want to live it every day, and Qoya is the greatest way I know to help me connect again and again.
In concrete ways, I've start embracing fully the magical and more mystical part of me: created altars in every rooms of my home, surround myself with goddess oracle cards and magical stuffs, honor and love my body, honor Earth, and express my gratitude. In my everyday life, I focus sometimes in some cues of Qoya to see how I can integrate them in a deeper lever. For now, I'm around "slow down to feel more." That's amazing! Hip Opening, too, is like the flap of a butterfly wings in my life that starts in my body and expands to a higher level."
- Claire Garin
"I was drawn to Qoya from the moment I read about it online! As a young girl, I used to dance around the house and took lessons for years, and then somewhere along the way I put dancing down. I had a perfectionist voice inside that thought I needed to do it a certain way, or for someone else, rather than just for myself. In this workshop last February, I touched some places inside that had been asleep for a long time through the Qoya movement and ritual. I was also drawn to the shamanic rituals and processes and Rochelle's amazing inclusive, loving, igniting spirit, grace, and spark."
- Rebecca Holt, Utah Words that Breathe: Sound healer, energy medicine practitioner, teacher http://wordsthatbreathe.com/