I was one of the lucky ones.  My mom saw this desire wasn’t letting up and started to become my biggest supporter and enrolling me in dance classes which came to be one of the most supportive and shaping parts of my whole life and it still is.

A team of Norwegian graduate students are here with me in Costa Rica at the Qoya retreat doing the Qoya teacher training and then we are spending a month creating Qoya for Kids.  It will be videos for parents and teachers, teacher training curriculum and classes online and in person to bring the qualities of Qoya which is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.  We remember our essence as wise, wild and free.  This is a big investment of time, money and energy and if the spirit moves you to support us, you could have a part in contributing to this project.  A muse of mine, burlesque dancer, friend and student of Qoya (and soon to be fellow Qoya teacher) wrote her recent blog post about why she is donating hundreds of dollars to this kickstarter campaign.  There’s about 48 hours left to donate and help us reach our goal.  Read her blog post here:  http://kittycavalier.blogspot.com/2012/04/support-hot-pink-tu-tus-in-costa-rica.html

I invite you to join me and Get up off that thing and dance until we all feel better.  And trust me, when we dance, we can feel better.  Try it for yourself.  Put on this song and just dance.  Make it simple, notice how much better you feel when you move.  And then imagine empowering children through simple technique that they can know how to access so much of what they seek to feel- energy, joy and the pulse of life through movement.

I’d be honored to join forces for more dancing in this world.

See our kickstarter campaign and video here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/957817556/qoya-kids

Love always wins and dance makes everything better.

Shine,

Rochelle

EmbodyQoya.com is designed to guide a woman step-by-step through her journey to learn to revel in and savor the pleasureable physical sensations of moving her body with easy to access online videos.  Integrating the wisdom of yoga, the opportunity for creative expression in dance, and the reclaiming of pleasure through sensual movement, Qoya evolves the way we have been taught to move our bodies as women.

With EmbodyQoya.com, you can learn yoga postures and sequences, breathing exercises and meditation techniques with simple short videos online.  Master basic steps every woman should know like the grapevine, box step, and latin rhythms like samba and salsa in the Wild Section. In the Free Section, learn how to slow down and take time to open your heart, liberate your hips and express your sensual essence.  There are dozens of videos that are 5-10 minutes, 15-30 minutes and full hour long Qoya routines as well.

In the midst of working on launching this project, I get a call from an amazing woman who attended my last Qoya retreat in Costa Rica.  Her and 3 other graduate students studying project management from Norway were looking for a project to help develop and launch.  Imagine my heart beating faster and faster with excitement as we began exploring the possibility of working together.  I’m so thrilled to share that these 4 amazing young women are coming to the Qoya Costa Rica Retreat April 21-28, 2012 to immerse themselves in Qoya and then to New York for the month of May to help create and develop Qoya Kids.  This is the inspiration I’ve needed to complete EmbodyQoya.com and then be able to offer Embodyqoya.com as the format for Qoya Kids as well!   They needed a project and I really needed an extra set of hands. Or four.

If you have been touched by the message of Qoya and would like to be a part of this magic as we workshop and adapt Qoya for children, I invite you to meet these amazing grad students and see their first piece of work they created to help raise money to help fund this dream.  See the video here and the details on kickstarter.  Just like a little bit of movement goes a long way, so does a little bit of help from our friends.

Another story, beyond the things that you can’t even make up to inspire the spirit and the cynic and in connection with the creation of Qoya Kids is that 2 weeks ago I went To Peru to continue studying with two of my teachers and the Peruvian shamans there as well. A simple twist of fate was that the only ticket available for my desired price was 2 days earlier than when the class started.  This was perfect because I also had this huge desire to visit Lake Titicaca.   What happened afterwards is almost a little bit beyond words for me.

I went to Lake Titicaca and hired a tour guide who I became friendly with. After seeing the divine Lake Titicaca, she told me she wanted to take me to a very special spiritual place nearby.  When we arrived she said, “these are the Qoya tombs.”  The what? I hadn’t yet shared with her that I named my work based on the last time that I was in Peru where I heard the name Qoya and it’s definition of a female manifestation of higher consciousness.  She didn’t know my business was called Qoya and I didn’t know what was about to happen.

I came to learn that while Qoya can be used as a word to express this higher feminine consciousness, Qoya is also the name of pre-Incan CIVILIZATION.  Indigenous people who lived with deep reverence.  For the earth.  For family.  For spirit.  For ritual.  For dance. For celebration.  For life.  I meditated at the site and felt the call to expand Qoya for kids, teenagers and start finding ways to include men as well.  The interesting and magical thing was how called I was to Lake Titicaca and to learn that this is the only place in the world the Qoya people lived.  Like I said in the beginning, you can’t even make this stuff up.

What sort of profound and multi-layered story of synchronicity lives in you?  How does it feel when the magic of the world orchestrates something beyond the ability of your own imagination to dream?  What sort of things do you notice lead you to this magic?

For me, I know that the more I do my daily rituals, the more I honor my intuition and inner voice, the more I am of service, the more I dance and the more I rest, the more open I am to receiving messages and following the call that leads me past the marked trail of my desires and into the unknown unmarked trail of things beyond what you can even dream.

If the spirit moves you, I ask for your support in the creation of Qoya kids and our team of Norwegian interns for the month of May to take the essence of Qoya and find ways to create videos for kids and parents, curriculum for teachers and other fun and effective ways to empower kids to know their true selves and to dance and revel in the joys of their life.  There’s some fun prizes too.  Looking forward to dancing together in celebration and co-creating a civilization of remembering that our essence is wise, wild and free.

With gratitude to you and to life,

Rochelle

It’s also important to ask for help. Ask for guidance from whatever your personal relationship to spirit is. Ask your angels, light, God, Goddess or other expression of the divine. After you ask, there is something else, maybe even more important than the asking. After asking for guidance, you have to listen for the answer and be willing to follow it.

When you hear your intuitive voice, when you receive the guidance for your next steps on your soul’s journey, are you able to listen?
Are you able to trust what you hear?
Are you able to take action?

Note to self: the voice often leads you out of your comfort zone. It requires something of you beyond what your logical mind can rationalize. It requires faith. It requires trust. It requires a sense of adventure.

1- Prepare yourself so you are in a better position to hear your inner guidance. I once heard the wise woman Meggan Watterson speak at her powerful Reveal conference. She shared a keen observation technique on how to decipher between your ego and soul voice. She said, “your soul voice sounds like a whisper that resonates as truth while your ego voice often sounds like a used car salesman trying to convince you of something.” To be able to hear the voice that has your best interests at heart, you must do some spring cleaning of your temple. Just move! Exercise, eat a healthy meal, get a good night sleep, meditate for 10 minutes listening to your breathing and whenever possible, indulge in the spa experience. This can be getting a massage, sitting in hot springs or drawing yourself a bath at home. It’s not just about pampering yourself, it’s about being conscious that stress and anxiety activate and feed the used car salesman. Having your body in a state of deep relaxation opens up your capacity to hear the whisper of the soul voice.

2- Practice listening. One of my favorite things to recommend when wanting to develop a deeper connection with your intuition is to take an hour of your day with no plans. For one entire hour, release any agenda and start to go where your intuition leads you. This is especially fun if you live in New York City, but can be done anywhere. On foot or in a car, just stop, take a couple deep breaths and wait for guidance. Right, left, the next town, go eat, sit in the sun, be up for the adventure. It doesn’t matter where you end up. It’s more about evoking your ability to listen and be self-guided. Your willingness to listen creates space for magic to rush in.

3- Get a community of support to cheer you on.  Let’s say you hear a message. You feel a calling. There is a soul-stirring inside you…a zing. You start to contemplate taking action. People around you may question whether it is sane, so I recommend enrolling a circle of support of people who encourage you to dream bigger dreams and to take action in that direction. What you put your attention on grows. If you start practicing listening, you will get better at listening and every time you make an intuitive decision that aligns with all parts of your Self, you will get stronger and cultivate more faith for the next one.

Personal fulfillment comes from the living of your own truth, and in my opinion, ecstasy comes from dancing in your truth. What guidance is living in you ready to be heard?  Take really good care of yourself, ask your question and be open to receiving your answer.  Once you do, let it call your courage forward.  Sending light to your journey. May it be sweet, filled with synchronicity and resonate with your deepest sense of self.

Loving and listening,
Rochelle

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Dance with me online here for a 10 minute movement ritual to dream bigger dreams (password: qoya)
Dance with me in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012 at Blue Spirit Retreat Center
Dance with me and two of my amazing muses at a new retreat called the Goddess Altar in Woodstock, NY May 21-25, 2012
Just Dance!

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
- Kurt Vonnegut

Qoya Teacher Kelly Quintia Blissful in Santa Monica

I trust you’ve heard the adage Follow Your Bliss before brought to life my Joseph Campbell and a mantra for many to live by and a common sight on inspirational quotation cards. But, what does follow your bliss mean…for real?

Often times my bliss leads me to places like Hawaii, Costa Rica, India or outside of New York City and into the magic of Woodstock.  Those are all the places I’ve led Qoya retreats in the last year and I often say, the only thing better than having a fulfilling experience that nourishes oneself on all levels of your being is creating a possibility for someone else to experience that bliss.  Always, always, always, our happiness is magnified by the generosity with which we offer ourselves to the world.  Always.

I recently watched the documentary called Finding Joe.  It’s about Joseph Campbell, his wisdom and reflections on his philosophy.   The amazing thing that Joseph Campbell did was immerse himself in stories, myths and religions from all over the world and then noticed the story line that lies inside ALL stories.  He calls it the Hero’s Journey and it is the journey we all take.  Sometimes we choose it and become a daring entrepreneur like Richard Branson, a creative genius like Bjork, a consciousness expanding athlete like Laird Hamilton (who is interviewed in the movie) or a world changing philanthropist like Zainab Salbi who started Women for Women.  And other times the journey chooses us- with grief and loss, sickness, losing a job, going through a break up or some other shift that forces us to change our direction.  We may choose it or it may choose us, but we are all on a journey.

As we travel, the mind yearns for a map.  Where do we go?  How long will it take?  Are we there yet?  Advertisers are happy to sell you their idea of the “way.” Friends and family guide you the best that they know how, but one of the interesting things that Joseph Campbell says when trying to find your way is that the one way you know that you are on the wrong track is that there is a clear path.  If there’s a path, it’s been cleared by someone else.  That was their mystery to solve.  Their puzzle to put together.  Their awakening.  Not yours.  Yours, mine and all of us, can only identify our way by going where no one has gone before.

And which direction to go and when to go?  Imagine your compass as your bliss.

Here are some hints on finding your bliss so you can follow it.

- Bliss is the one thing you can’t not do. (I remember in college I started as a dance major and felt there was no way I could not dance everyday.  It just didn’t seem possible.  I had to dance like I had to eat and sleep.  What is the thing that you just HAVE to do?)

-Bliss is when hours can pass by in minutes (I always feel this way when teaching.  Classes feel 3 minutes long.  I also feel it when I’m working on Qoya and I start to yearn for 36 hour days, because there are so many desires I want to create, so much of myself I want to pour into this work.)

-Joseph Campbell says, “When you follow your bliss, the universe will open doors where there once were only walls.” (When I was 18, I read a similar message in the rite of spiritual passage book the Alchemist.  The idea was the same, when you follow your heart, the world conspires on your behalf.  I had the good sense of deciding I would live my life like an experiment and see if that was actually true.   If it was, I would continue with that belief and if it didn’t work out, then I’d reassess.  Thirteen years later, I continue to make courageous leaps that are less rational and conventional, but are following my bliss.)

And what about challenges?  What about when you follow your bliss and then there is a dragon to slay on your path?  By following your bliss are you exempt from life’s challenges?  Does everything work in synchronistic magic and feel like you are skipping in the hills of Switzerland or lounging on the warm beaches of a Caribbean island?  No.  The documentary offers, “Opportunities to know our deeper powers come when things are challenging” and another one of Joseph Campbell’s quotes, “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”

This is important to remember as to not be overly discouraged when challenges arise.  It’s normal to have an adjustment period, to experience the fear, the pain, the temporary loss of peace, the breaking of the illusion of control, but the hero’s journey, the heroine’s journey, is the epic tale of the soul and the soul yearns to grow and as the saying goes, “Calm seas don’t make good sailors.”

When you can look at your life’s story and see the archetypical threads, you can identify where you are in it.  It can guide you to see that it is time to make the courageous leap, time to embrace your challenge as an opportunity to grow or time to look into the eyes of fear and step fearlessly into it and then beyond it.   The journey can be challenging and you must know how to source enough energy and power to do it.  So…where does that come from? From your bliss.

Your bliss is the thing in this world that connects you to the truth of your soul.  You must find this.  And if you don’t know what it is, you are about to start having the best time trying.  It may be taking cooking classes, starting to garden, taking a week off to go on a retreat somewhere amazing, becoming a mother, painting the sunset, whatever it is that awakens you.

Follow your bliss like a compass.  Trust that like the sun will rise and fall, so will the universe support you on your hero’s journey.  And in those sweet moments of your bliss, savor them, savor them, savor them. Also, remember to write thank you notes for all the blessings you receive.

I invite you to Expand Your Ability to Receive your Bliss with this free 20 minute Qoya video.

It’s also only 6 weeks until the Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012 and we are down to our last 10 spots.  If you’re thinking about coming, please let me know to ensure there will be a bed for you to sleep in!  I’m also excited to announce another retreat I’m doing called the Goddess Altar  May 21-25, 2012 in Woodstock, NY at Menla Retreat center with two of my favorite muses and teachers.  As always, I look forward to dancing together at the perfect time.

Shine on,

Rochelle

]]> http://www.rochelleschieck.com/2012/03/10/follow-your-bliss-for-real/feed/ 0 http://www.rochelleschieck.com/2012/02/17/on-a-scale-from-one-to-ten-rate-your-relationship-to-time/ http://www.rochelleschieck.com/2012/02/17/on-a-scale-from-one-to-ten-rate-your-relationship-to-time/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:44:11 +0000 admin http://www.rochelleschieck.com/?p=1306 On a scale from 1 to 10, rate your relationship to time.

One means you think time is a cruel pain in the ass who stands between you and what you want 24/7.  You feel victimized by time and generally anxious as every thing is either too fast or too slow for your liking.

Five is you are rather neutral. You’re not particularly upset about the past or enthusiastic for the future. Your relationship to time is like that to toast. It’s nice when it’s there. You have potatoes if it’s not. Whatever’s clever.

Rate yourself as a ten if you dance with time and take it like your passionate tango partner. You savor the pauses between the voices of your desire and the appearance of them in your physical reality like foreplay. (The enjoyable kind.)  Is there not enjoyable foreplay?  That’s for another blog post.  You revel in gratitude for the room to breathe between life’s experiences and see the perfection in your and the universe’s timing. Even when it feels wildly imperfect, you have a deeper trust that at some point you will realize that it was perfect all along. Until that becomes obvious, you are patient.

So, on a scale from 1 to 10, what is YOUR relationship to time?
Write it down a piece of paper or start a new note on your iPhone.

I lead retreats, classes and workshops for women based on the idea that through movement we remember.  We remember our essence is wise, wild and free.  Through a combination of yoga, dance and sensual movement we embody the feminine and focus less on how it looks and more on how it feels and when it feels good you know you’re doing it right. It’s a shift from moving in your body in pursuit of an external sense of validation to an internal sense of validation.  It’s like a Joseph Campbell dance class.  You follow your bliss and see where it takes you.   For the next Qoya retreat in Costa Rica, the theme is the dance of time, so I’ve been researching and workshoping how we as women relate to the concept of time.

Here’s what I found. Almost everyone is mad at time. There is some serious grudge holding! Some disappointment. Heaps of doubt. And a general distaste for the drink that time has served us. Just about everyone I observe feels like if they were in control, they would be doing a much better job at sequencing life’s events than Mr. And Mrs Time.

Suggestions for this struggling relationship to time? As always, it’s internal.  I can’t recommend  using one’s will to fight, shift and attempt to force life in the direction we desire, but I can recommend exploring shifting one’s perception.

How do you do that? You feel it.  The move is to evolve your perception.  Shamans talk a lot about breaking out of the binds and illusions of  linear time into circular time.  Kabbalists talks about our unhappiness (and timing) coming from egoic desire for the self alone and happiness found (timing approved of) when we shift into our souls and serving the desires for the highest good of all.

My experience shifts when I am less caught up in a specific judgment about this moment in time or the spot on the journey from which I sit, but I become the sacred witness to the dance of time itself.  Where it’s less of a marking on my “timeline” and more of a timelessness of eternity of spirit.  As woo woo is it may sound. You know when you feel it.

Those moments where time expands and so does your mind, heart and spirit.  Times like when you see a desert sunset, when you feel the warmth of your lover’s body in the middle of the night.  When you are enchanted by the contagious laughter of a child.  When you channel something bigger than yourself and do great work.  When you experience the bliss of helping someone else on the next part of their path. Mostly, I feel the ecstatic agreement with time when I dance.

With my heart beating, music playing and body dancing somehow life clicks into that place where it makes sense again.  I feel more like an eagle able to see the big picture again.

Qoya is a map back into our essence, but as the old spiritual saying goes, “there’s lots of ways to climb the mountain.”  Maybe it’s through movement for you too.  Maybe it’s through being in nature.  Maybe it’s through self-care.  Maybe it’s through going on a vacation and taking time to rest and adventure.  Maybe it’s through being active surfing, kayaking, paddle board surfing or hiking.  Maybe it’s a combination of all those things and you come to Costa Rica to dance with time for a week.  However you do it, just like your therapist would discourage you from yelling at your significant other and blaming your problems on them.  I invite you to look at your relationship with time and find a way to give time a little love.  Maybe a thank you note.  Have you ever thought of thanking time before?  Probably not.  Coming into right relationship with time releases us from the grip of the past and the worry of the future, so we can be fully present in the now.  Which is where all the good stuff is.

Would love to dance with you in NYC or in Costa Rica at the perfect time.

Always love,

Rochelle

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.

Thank you to the dozens and dozens of amazing men and women who came together to donate $12to $500 to the Flawless Foundation for a chance to win a raffle for a spot at the next Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012.   All donations were matched by a generous donor and almost $5,000 were raised to fund yoga programs for children with mental illness.  I am so grateful for the spirit of generosity and interconnection present to make this magic happen.  And a special congratulations to Kathleen Hunter for winning!

For those of you who are still interested in indulging in the idea of joining us in Costa Rica, I wanted to share with you the theme.  Some past Qoya retreat themes have been exploring the woman that is wise, wild and free, dancing through the chakras while in India and dancing with the elements while in Hawaii.  The theme for our Costa Rica trip in 2012 will be Dancing with Time.

By honoring the past with gratitude, the present with our presence and the future with our biggest dreams, we will dance our way into right relationship with time.  A common struggle for women is the doubting of their own timing.  Instead, we will collect the gifts from the past like hidden treasures.  We will learn the map of Qoya to access our most wise, wild and free selves and express that into the world in present time.  We will vision our highest destiny and then magnify it by 10x or even more!

The beauty of our lives depends on our ability to dream bigger dreams, to go beyond what we know and to tap into the infinite possibility of our lives.  Through movement, we can remember these eternal truths that lie in the heart of every soul.  Sometimes we forget, but luckily through Qoya, we can all find another way to remember.

I hope that you will be able to join us!  If you are, please note that if you have a strong preference for a room you may want to book soon as there are only a couple ocean view rooms left.   See more information about the retreat, schedule and what it includes here! http://www.rochelleschieck.com/qoya-in-person/retreats/

May blessings wash up on your shore!

With love and gratitude,

Rochelle

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

Card is made by www.curlygirldesign.com

After finishing Qoya’s fifth retreat in the last year and first New Year’s retreat in Hawaii, I was infused with an even deeper sense of gratitude for how beautiful life can be.  I spent last night sitting on an island in the middle of the ocean under the light of the full moon fueled by the sparkling stars, decaf chai, strawberries and dark chocolate as I wrote a dozen thank you cards and felt like I could have written a thousand.

From this place of abundance, I feel called to honor the blessings in my life through service with the consciousness of our interconnection.  I truly believe that as you get stronger, I get stronger and as I get stronger, you get stronger.  So, it is with the desire for all of us to go higher in 2012 that I offer you the chance to give generously from your own abundance and receive the opportunity to come to the next Qoya Retreat to Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012 as my guest.

The fine print: You can win a spot in the next Qoya Retreat in Costa Rica April 21-28, 2012 (an $1,800 value!), but airfare and any other additional costs are not included.  To see what is included, look here!

Be entered into the contest by donating $12 to the Flawless Foundation for their $12 for 12 months of good karma in 2012 fundraising campaign. Each dollar up to $25,000 will be matched by a generous donor AND all the funds raised through Qoya will go to yoga programs for children.  You can be entered for each increment of $12 you give before midnight on Sunday, January 15th. And there’s no limit to how many times you can enter.  It is also transferable so you can win and give the retreat spot as a gift! (To men and women~ I guarantee you know at least one woman who would love you for this gift!)

One of my top 12 desires for 2012 is to be a catalyst for charitable giving and so when I saw this final push for a fundraising campaign with Flawless, I had an instant epiphany on how to make that dream come true.  Here’s why I am choosing to make this donation to Flawless.  I know the organization very well as I’ve been a volunteer and have watched it grow from its inception.  I was at their first big event at the Millennium Hotel in NYC in 2009.   I was at their memorable event at the Burden Mansion on Fifth Avenue MC’d by Lisa Bloom and with the most inspiring panel of speakers like the Honorable Patrick Kennedy, Karenna Gore Schiff, Garen Staglin among others.  I’ve been to their dinner fundraisers that turned into dance parties and I’ve been on the phone with founder Janine Francolini when she’s gotten big news like Moby is coming to the next event and endorsing Flawless and their mission or while she was on her way to be with the kids for one of their amazing programs that involve healing through gardening, the arts or yoga.  I was at their most recent event at Freg Segal in LA, where Flawless partnered with artist Tara Dixon and her business Gratitude Designs.  I’ve been blessed to be a witness to the common thread between all of these events and the work Flawless does.  The common thread is love.

Not love you only from a distance love.  Not love you only when it’s convenient love.  Not love only when it’s conditional love.  Real. Enduring. Soulful-even-when-it’s-hard-love. Especially when it’s hard love.

There is nothing convenient about trying to raise a child with mental illness.  And there is nothing harder than trying to navigate your boundaries to take care of yourself when someone you love is struggling with mental illness.  The reaction to the discomfort around mental illness is to look away.  The ostrich technique.  If I bury my head in the sand and then if I can’t see it, maybe it will go away.

However, the totem animal of the Flawless Foundation is not an ostrich. It’s a peacock.  The Flawless Foundation’s mission is to “See the Perfection in Every Child” and  take a stand for more humane, compassionate care for children and adolescents who live with mental health and neurodevelopmental challenges.

The Flawless Foundation fulfills its mission by funding holistic healing programs and removing the stigma that holds people back from rallying around this important cause. Whether it is our own challenge or that of someone close to us, a culture that turns away from the reality of suffering that our fellow humans are going through affects all of us.

In a time and place in the world where there are so many worthy healing causes, the Flawless Foundation stands out to me as a brave and soulful warrior stepping towards the tender minds and souls of children and their care takers to love them right where they are at, seeing the perfection not only in every child, but in everyone.

And isn’t that what we are all trying to do in our own way?  Bring more love and light to this world?  I am. I am devoted to leading Qoya classes, retreats and creating an online Qoya studio through which women have the invitation to remember the deepest truth of their soul as they move their body.  And the only thing better than experiencing a deep remembering and soulful connection to the divine in my body is the idea of being able to be a catalyst for someone else to experience it and imagine the healing impact that could have for them.

I believe that is possible through the yoga programs that the Flawless Foundation initiates and I invite you to join me in supporting the Flawless Foundation in their courageous work. The ability as an organization to approach children with love restores their dignity, gives them the help they need and acknowledges the divine spark that lives in them as the divine spark that lives in us all. We can open our hearts big enough to hold the complexity of these situations and hold space for them to heal and be loved right where they are.

To enter: Go to the Flawless Foundation website and donate.  Send your confirmation email from paypal to rochelle@wisewildfree.com and write Costa Rica in the title.  Every time you donate an increment of $12 you will be entered in the raffle.  There is no limit to how many times you can enter.  No limit to how much we can love. No limit to how much we can dance.  Raffle will be drawn January 16th and all donations must be made by midnight the evening of January 15th to enter.

Ready. Set. Give.

With love and aloha,

Rochelle

P.S. In the spirit of giving and excitement about launching my online Qoya site, here are links to a free one hour Qoya class online, a 10 minute movement ritual in the spirit of the new year to Dream Bigger Dreams, do a quick 5 minute video to gently open up your body with circling or tap back into the power of your pleasure with a five minute video to explore some sensual movement. The password is qoya.  And good luck winning the raffle!