Let’s Get Real About Body Love: A New Way to Move and Know the World

I’ve got a question for you…

It might seem a little bit personal, but it’s one of those questions that we never knew we needed someone to ask:

How do you experience your body?

A collection of physical features? A way to move your brain from place to place? A fragile set of organs that you try not think about too much? A suit of armor that often feels too heavy?

Modern life -especially here in the Washington DC area- seems to be all about thinking and pushing your way to get through every day. You’re called to depend on brains and determination to get you through.

And, even when you do think about your body, it’s about how you look to other people. Maybe this means pushing yourself to work out because you feel like you have to. Or heaven forbid, it’s all about worrying that there’s something “wrong” with you.

What if you could radically shift your relationship with your body? What if entering into a relationship with your body in a conscious, compassionate, joy-drenched sort of way could change everything?

Your Body Is Aching For a New Way to Move and Know the World

Your body does so much for you. It carries you through your everyday routine - whether that’s waking up with the sun, getting through the commute, making dinner, or making sure everyone gets the hugs they need. Your body has performed miracles too - whether it’s climbing mountains, giving birth, or surviving illness.

And, your body also holds on to your experiences - all your physical and emotional pain, all of your past trauma and embodied memories, all of your stresses and your anxieties.

Here’s something that you’ve probably heard before but that you’ve either forgotten or have never really experienced first hand:

When you pay attention to your body, when you get inside your body and ask her to take the lead, you can rewrite your life and even reprogram your mind.

Real healing and transformation begin when you get inside the body and let movement take you to the next level - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Introducing Qoya, a revolutionary yet elemental form of movement and reconnection.

Qoya is a feminine movement system rooted in the notion that through movement, we remember.

As women, we remember that our essence is wild, wise, and free.

Through a simple series of movements, Qoya guides you to slow down, awaken your senses, and rediscover the unique rhythms of your body. The focus moves to feeling rather than thinking, to being rather than doing.

Each class is centered around empowering themes that are designed to help you unhook from the stories that constantly get replayed in your mind and reconnect with your heart’s deepest knowing.

Imagine… where might a class focused on “Shine,” “Freedom,” “Dancing Your Truth,” or “Wild” take you?  

You’re invited to move through and with your emotions in each class. Every time we meet it feels like a spiritual awakening, a healing session, and a kick-ass dance party all in one.

Yes, Qoya really is the soul medicine you’ve been waiting for!

Qoya has changed me, and I know it’s what the women in our community need, so I’m teaching Qoya classes in the DMV area starting this January!

Why all women need this:

Qoya offers the sacred rebel in each of us the opportunity to defy cultural judgments and stereotypes about what our bodies “should be” and instead offers a beautiful container for creating a sacred relationship with the body.

Through the practice of Qoya, we move beyond the “I must work out to make my body look good” mentality or “Exercising is a healthy thing to do, so I’ll slog through it” kind of drudgery (though, yes, you will get those nice side benefits☺) . We discover that the body is a doorway to our “my body is my sacred ally and portal for healing.”

It goes so much deeper than the typical way that modern culture has trained us to view and experience our bodies. talking about the practice of building a soul-deep connection with your body: a new relationship with your body as a portal to your heart and soul.

Who can do Qoya?

Qoya is welcoming and easily accessible for all people who identify as women, regardless of experience, size, or fitness level.

As Qoya creator Rochelle Shiek says, “If it feels good, you know you’re doing it right.”

My journey dancing Qoya in the past eighteen months has awakened me to joy, passion, and expansion that I, even as a therapist practicing for 10 years, could not have imagined.

I decided to train to become a Qoya teacher because it answered a deep call within me to help women develop a healing, soulful, joyful practice that connects them with the wisdom of the body, mind, heart, and soul.

As a practicing therapist, I constantly counsel people about the importance of tapping into the body as a source of healing, and we implement body-based practices in every session. And yet, I have discovered something, both from my own experience and with the women I support in my practice; many of us need a sacred container for deepening our path to embodiment.

Qoya classes are like a therapy session between you and your body.  These classes offers both the structure and the freedom to come home to yourself and your body.

And I would love to share it with you.

Pin the image below so you can reference this whenever you need a pick me up!