What is Lore?
Dear Soul on the Other Side of the Screen,
Thank you for being here. I am always humbled by the heart-centered presence of each person that is drawn to our gatherings. As I write this, I’m going to slow down, put one hand on my heart and take a slow, deep breath to honor all the life that is happening inside each of us and all around us. Would you like to join me and do the same?
This. This is what LORE is. It is taking that moment to get connected and doing practices in community to stay connected. Connected to your essence, nature, spirit, each other, life.
Photographed by Inna Schnayder
I invite you to join me and our community of guest teachers to tune into the healing power of the present moment through movement, conversation, nature connection and ritual.
We invite you to come as you are and leave as more of who you are. Give and receive community support to practice the tools and perspective to nourish you when you feel a stressed body, overwhelmed mind or anxious heart. There’s also space to celebrate your yes to life and honor the authentic gratitude you feel. Everything in this container is offered to support you in harvesting and integrating the embodied wisdom you carry from your lived experiences. Each moment is precious. And each offering will be an intentional opportunity for you to remember and honor that, like nature, we are also wise, wild and free.
After five successful sessions of LORE, I realized the profound gift of being connected to community regularly is something I would love to nourish for an entire year. We've organized this session of LORE where you can sign up for the whole year, one month at a time or even drop in for a class. For anyone who feels a resonance with Qoya Inspired Movement and LORE, I invite you to know there is a place where you can come each day and reconnect to living a Lifestyle of Reverence Everyday.
The year-long theme is called Nourishing Structures. So many of us are living in that place of no longer and not yet, feeling the need to let go of past structures and systems, feeling the call of something new and needing to navigate the liminal in-between. There is great healing power in these embodiment practices to strengthen our fortitude, awaken our spirits and meet the moments we are living.
Nourish your body through Qoya Inspired Movement sessions.
Deepen your personal relationship with nature by making Earth offerings.
Drop in for various pop-up community-led sessions like coworking, conversations, journaling with the moon and other things members are inspired to share.
Collaborate on social good projects to continue exploring how to be positive forces of change in these transformational times.
And more!
Together, we gather to honor our individual human experiences, seeing ourselves as whole and holy on our journey. We heal our hearts by being together in community.
I’d be deeply honored to dance together and see what emerges for you when you dance your relationship with creating Nourishing Structures in your own life and in the world we share.
With an open heart,
Rochelle
LORE
(DEFINITION):
A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.
Similar words: mythology, legends, stories, traditions, culture, and wisdom
Gather together in community to immerse yourself in the practices that resonate with your center. Nourish your body with movement, your soul with ritual, your heart with connection and your spirit with vision. Commit to the continuation of LORE.
Come as you are.
FOLLOW YOUR NEXT INHALE INTO
THE WISDOM OF YOUR VERY OWN BODY.
PAUSE IN SENSATION.
REST IN AWARENESS.
EXHALE WITHOUT FORCE.
TRUST THELore YOU ARE LIVING.
We are living in mythological times, activating and requiring our inner strength, courage and our latent power to become consciously embodied. Many of us feel the need to reimagine a world rooted in right relationship. Let's gather in this inquiry and explore what emerges in our togetherness.
BECOME A MEMBER
LORE is an invitation to live a lifestyle of reverence everyday through movement, ritual, nature offerings, meditation, community building and social good. The program takes on different themes and offers you an opportunity to join live or visit recordings. Notice how it feels when you make time to root yourself in reverence. A little movement can go a long time. Come see if it's true for you.
LORE | Monthly
88$Every monthMonthly Membership- Qoya Inspired Movement Sessions
- Access to LORE Library
- Live Online Zoom Sessions
- Zoom Sessions with Guest Teachers
- Inspiring Content Delivered Weekly
- Meditations & Worksheets
LORE | Yearly
888$Every yearSave $168- Qoya Inspired Movement Sessions
- Access to LORE Library
- Live Online Zoom Sessions
- Zoom Sessions with Guest Teachers
- Inspiring Content Delivered Weekly
- Meditations & Worksheets
if you feel called to this work and financial support is needed, please reach out to us here.
COMMUNITY PRACTICES
QOYA INSPIRED MOVEMENT, RITUAL, NATURE & COMMUNITY
OUR SCHEDULE
Explore our offerings as an invitation to come to as many sessions as you are inspired and able. Qoya Inspired Movement class recordings will be available within 24 hours for those who are unable to attend live. No recordings will be shared of our conversation gatherings or of people's personal sharing.
Inspired Movement
Qoya Inspired Movement is a movement practice based on the idea that through movement, we remember. We remember that our essence is inherently wise, wild and free. Wise, wild and free draw reference to the movement forms we practice in a Qoya class and Inspired Movement Sessions.
Wise, calls on the wisdom traditions of yoga, meditation and contemplation practices that bring us into the physical sensation of truth in our bodies.
Once we feel resonance with our inherent wisdom, we invoke our innate Wildness with dance. Not performance dance, more like when you are folding laundry and a song comes on that you love and as the music moves you, you dance how you feel. In this context, wild asks what is your authentic expression beyond inhibition and conditioning.
Free, asks us to expand our capacity for joy through pleasure based movement. Of course, we all go through healing journeys in our body and still we hold space for the exploration, "is there anything I can do (or not do) that makes it feels more nourishing to be moving by body right now."
All sessions will honor the Wise, Wild and Free essence in each of us and for this iteration of LORE there will be an exploration of embodied integration on each of them.
Qoya Inspired Movement invites you to get connected and stay connected as you live a Lifestyle of Reverence Everyday.
Ritual
In each of us there is a space that only love fills. Ritual activates our attunement to our personal and collective cycles by coming into right relationship. We honor the pain of the past by harvesting its lessons and composting its remnants. We savor the gifts of the present with gratitude and celebration. We vision the future with a prayer for what truly nourishes us and is in service to the highest good of All.
Community
This is a place to befriend one another. LORE is a community where instead of being anonymous and passively receiving information, you are invited to connect and strengthen the foundation of friendships through sharing in classes in breakout rooms and the larger group.
Please note that alongside opportunities to share in Qoya classes, there is always space for you to take care of yourself on days and moments where you prefer to journal, rest and keep to yourself during the sharing prompts in class.
To deepen into community, come join us for:
QOYA COWORKING SESSIONS: We will pull a card, set an intention for our time together, partner share for accountability, have a dance break to celebrate half way through and opportunities for Q&A to gather the wisdom of the circle.
QOYA CONVERSATIONS: Explore pop-up conversations to the theme of the month. This is a casual time to be together and follow the flow of conversation.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CONVERSATIONS: Commit to the path of healing for our world guided by trained facilitators merging the worlds of trauma healing and social justice during our pop-up sessions.
NATURE OFFERINGS: Gather together to be in the practice of deepening one's personal relationship with nature though making nature offerings.
QOYA REFLECTION JOURNALING WITH THE MOON: Make time to look up at the sky and then look within your heart to notice and express what emerged for you this week. Integrate your experiences by writing them down.
Lore: Nourishing Structures
The first iteration of LORE was a 3 month offering specifically designed to nourish the Qoya community through the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere in 2020. We gathered to prioritize physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health in the midst of a global pandemic. We also supported one another feeling the acceleration of change around us and committed to dismantling systemic injustice inside ourselves and our communities, paving pathways for more equality in our lifetimes.
After five iterations of LORE, this is an invitation to keep LORE going on a consistent basis acknowledging that how we live our daily lives makes up how we live our lives. For those who feel the call to stay connected to community, deeply listen to the wisdom of their body, make offerings from their heart to nature, this is a place to gather.
The theme for 2024 is Nourishing Structures. As so many old ways of being dissolve and decompose, may we hospice and heal, tending our grief and simultaneously listen for the needs of the seeds readying to rise up.
Some of the themes we will be exploring in 2024 with the theme of Nourishing Structures are:
Nourishing Your Nervous System
Embodying Reverence
Embodied Relating
Reawakening the Heart
Trusting Transformation
Generosity is Generative
Ever Expanding Love
Attuning to Harmony
Compassionate Integration
Listening to Land
Tending the Sacred Space Within
Testimonials for LORE
"In addition to providing space and grace for reclamation and reverence, LORE has expanded my sense of agency, connectedness, and healing personally and within the collective."
— Jamia Wilson, New York, NY Activist, author, editor, creatrix
“I adore LORE! I love the daily Qoya movement and full Saturday and Sunday classes - they feel like church to me. Because I am unable to make many of movement sessions live, I especially love & appreciate that the recordings are available for me to visit when it fits into my schedule. I also appreciate the Social Justice book club, as it keeps me accountable to continue the conversations, remain educated, and find the tangible ways I can get involved and be an ally for change.”
— Mallory Griffiths
“What an eye opener Qoya has been! What I discovered was transformational for me. I'm discovering how to tune into my body (never have); how to connect spiritually with and through my body; a group of women from all over the world with whom to share perspectives and experiences. Specifically, LORE has been a saving grace: I love the daily practice offerings; I love how you shake it up periodically so it doesn't become stale; I LOVE the rituals with Sarah for Full Moon and New Moon; the weekly conversation group discussion is like having lunch with stimulating, reassuring girlfriends; it's a safe haven in these tumultuous times that feeds me body and soul.”
— Carlie Martin
“Thank you for introducing me to ME in this opened space of self.”
— Susan Cotter
“LORE offered me a daily connection with Source through movement. Daily connection to a community that I love. Showing up for myself on a regular basis in a way that is meaningful and deeply fulfilling.”
— Elan McAllister
“Thank you so much for creating this online space and community. Your creativity has nurtured and sustained me through the dark, pandemic winter, opened my heart, and my soul...everyday I see something, feel something, experience something transformative.”
— Cheryl Fox
“The wisdom, growth and energetic amplification I have received by taking part in this course far outweighs the time commitment. In short, this is the most worthwhile thing I've ever done!”
— Lauren Platte
“I have enjoyed feeling a part of a larger Qoya community and I feel it has been this beautiful benefit and silver lining to have come out of the pandemic.”
— Hilary Pidden
“Having a Daily practice has been so transformative - I look forward to dancing EVERY single day.”
— Shannon Funt
“Thank you so much for the gift of LORE! I am so grateful. Installing daily movement practice that is soul-centered and heart-opening has brought energy and flow into my daily life that has been so supportive during these times. Beyond that, I now feel the strength and passion coming back in that will provide fuel for building the life I truly desire. Thank you Thank you Thank you!”
— KT Ronshausen
“Each Sunday morning I hungrily opened the email to see what the theme for the week would be. As the week went on I felt I was unwrapping a glorious present with another one arriving on Sunday.”
— Maya Banas
“From the very first session I felt held, lifted, loved and in community. I’ve laughed and cried and made new friends. It’s been my favourite thing ever to be a part of, utterly life enhancing. Thank you.”
— Sonja Lockyer
“Qoya has been a means of staying connected to myself and to the Divine during challenging times. It is also a means of supporting others . . . a symbiotic exchange where we share and ultimately expand as individuals and as a community.”
— Stacy Lynch
“I have really loved having a space and place to show up and care for myself and my body every day. It made committing to care for myself so much easier because I didn't have to rely on myself to figure out what to do every day. Knowing there were others showing up with me made it so much easier and way more fun!”
— Nicky Smolter
You're Invited to Join Us
LORE was so powerful
we decided to do it again!
In 2024, our LORE theme is Nourishing Structures. It is an opportunity to see what is possible when we get connected and stay connected to ourselves, nature, spirit and each other through movement, ritual and community to live a lifestyle of reverence. Join anytime and cancel anytime!
Lore Schedule
nourishing structures
We live in times of accelerated change and transformation. To support the grief and loss of all that is being released, to stay present with the blessings that are here now and to be available to the guidance supporting collaborative paths forward, you are invited to notice the positive impact movement, ritual, community connection and nature prayers makes in your life. This is an invitation to walk a path where your LORE is to live a lifestyle of reverence everyday. Reverence for yourself: mind, body, heart and spirit. Reverence for Mother Earth that offers us everything we have and the opportunity to be here. Reverence for one another and the interconnectedness of the world we share. Reverence for Life.
Energy Exchange
for joining LORE
LORE | Monthly
88$Every monthMonthly Membership- Qoya Inspired Movement Sessions
- Access to LORE Library
- Live Online Zoom Sessions
- Zoom Sessions with Guest Teachers
- Inspiring Content Delivered Weekly
- Meditations & Worksheets
LORE | Yearly
888$Every yearSave $168- Qoya Inspired Movement Sessions
- Access to LORE Library
- Live Online Zoom Sessions
- Zoom Sessions with Guest Teachers
- Inspiring Content Delivered Weekly
- Meditations & Worksheets
each MONTH has a theme
february
nourishing your nervous system
Notice the power of nourishing your nervous system with embodying practices that combine your intuitive way of being with body with modern scientific and somatic approaches.
march
DAILY LIFESTYLE PRACTICES
Imagine a moment in your life where you felt the interconnection of all life. Explore invitations to offer your reverence, respect and regard to whatever is directly in front of you through movement, ritual, community connection and nature prayers.
april
embodied relating
Call on your own self-awareness practices to be authentic to what is present for you while also actively exploring relating with the person you are connecting with. Explore relating skills through movement, ritual, community connection and nature offerings to inspire and deepen your personal relationships.
may
reawakening the heart
Whatever is going on in your life right now, are you willing to open your heart to it? Accessing our hearts can be tender territory. Explore through movement, ritual, community connection and nature offerings what supports your capacity to listen to and be present with your heart.
june
trusting transformation
Living in times of accelerated change, imagine what it would feel like in your body, in connecting with others and in your prayers if you trusted the transformational process you were in individually and the collective one we are in together.
july
generosity is generative
When one awakens to our inherent interconnection and the deep understanding that we are all woven together, there is an opportunity to explore how each act of generosity is generative to our shared world.
august
ever expanding love
Whatever happens or does not happen, how can it be the next step of our own heart's capacity to embody an ever expanding love?
september
attuning to harmony
Like tuning a guitar, explore how you can attune to harmony by aligning with the healing forces of nature, the natural cycles of your own body and the hearts of one another.
october
compassionate integration
Embracing our wholeness asks us to actively participate in our own shadow integration. Explore how much simpler and kinder this experience can be through movement, ritual, community connection and nature offerings.
november
listening to land
For whatever question you are holding in your life, imagine listening to the land right where you are right now for an answer. Notice if through movement you can better listen to your body, if by listening to another human, you can better hear their heart and if by listening to the land around you, you can better land in this present moment.
december
tending the sacred space within
As changes surround us, continue to tend the light within. Honor the sacred spark inside yourself and place it on the altar of your body to be nourished well and often through movement, ritual, community connection and nature offerings.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who can be a member?This program is for women, people who identify as women, or non-binary people.
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Do I need to know anything to start or have any previous movement experience?No - all movement levels are welcome.
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I don't think I can join every day. Do I have to attend every session?Absolutely not. We invite you to use LORE to support your lifestyle, attending as many sessions as feels good. You can also access the recordings for a month after the course has completed.
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Does LORE count towards Qoya Teacher Training?No. LORE is not part of the Qoya Teacher Training program.
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I have more questions. Who do I contact?Any questions we haven't covered here? Email us at support@qoyainspiredmovement.com.