 Last night I ran a free-dance Qoya class as part of my Outrageous Radical Body Acceptance program. As part of the class, we always pick an oracle card (pictured left).
The card said “Just because you FEEL like trash doesn't mean you ARE trash”. What does this mean to you Liz? For me, it's a reminder that our thoughts are not real just because we have them. A thought is just that, a thought. An idea. Something that has popped into your mind. And it might not actually be founded on any truth at all. This card is a reminder of that. Because our silly, complicated, supercomputer brains don't always get it right. To be able to remember that when the negative thoughts come in is a valuable tool to help you challenge them and replace them with something more positive. You are not trash. You never have been. You are amazing. You are a true goddess. And you have always been one! If you would like to experience the magic of Qoya, I lead weekly classes in Sunbury and monthly on Zoom - click below to book your class!
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As a special way of bringing the entire world Qoya community together, the founder of Qoya Rochelle Schieck, has created a class with the theme “Embracing Wholeness” that she has shared with us. All this week (1 - 6 October 2024) in my Sunbury and my Zoom classes we will be dancing with this theme - although I will be putting my special Liz twist to it!
Qoya is a blend of all the various dance, yoga, meditation, grounding and embodiment techniques Rochelle learnt as she travelled the world. Intention Setting is a moving meditation and grounding exercise. Circling is a way of bringing gentle flowing feminine movement to your body and to feel into your body while you do it. The Heart Opening are belly dancing chest moves - side, back, front, other side and then following your heart anywhere she wants to take you around the room. Hip Opening is helping to connect you with your divine feminine, your sacral chakra. To find ways to move that feels good to you for no other reason than it feels good to you. Moving your hips for yourself not for anyone else. Yoga as Prayer is a dancing, flowing sequence sending our love to the intentions we set at the start of the class. Facing your heavy emotions in the Shadow Contrast Dance, and instead of pushing those feelings down as we normally do, here we feel them, embrace them and move your body the way she needs to move with them. Shaking, taken from watching nature docos of animals having escaped almost certain death, standing there and literally shaking through each part of your body to release all that came up during the Shadow Contrast Dance. Simple, fun, Choreographed Dance as a way of bringing the group back together, moving together and laughing. And finally, the Free Dance, where we face the light and feel those emotions and dance with them as our body needs to move. Then we Stretch as a reminder to thank our bodies for all they have done for us during the class and up until that point. We end the class with Savasana, the final relaxation, a way to allow all the learnings of the class to sink in. And all in an hour and a half!! As published in Who Magazine on 16 February 2023 Ask a woman what she hates about her body and she'll answer quickly and with a list a mile long. Ask that same woman what she loves about her body and she'll pause and have to think about it. Women have been conditioned since they're born that the most interesting and important thing about them is how they look. Friends and family will tell little girls how pretty they are rather than how smart or strong they are. There are billion dollar industries, including weight loss, beauty and fashion, that feed on our insecurities to sell us their products. And I was no different, I too hated my fat body and tried diets, lotions and potions to try and "fix" it. Thankfully things are slowly starting to change. There has been a rise in the Body Love movement, seeking to empower women to love their bodies exactly as they are now. Women like Taryn Brumfitt, Celeste Barber, Sonya Renee Taylor and Lizzo are shining a light on the systems that lead to women hating their bodies. They are showing women that there is a different way to think about your body and that it can be positive. What is Body Neutrality? For many women jumping from loathing their bodies to loving it can be a massive leap. It seems impossible, like trying to jump over the Grand Canyon. But what if there was a mid point? A landing pad to aim for in the middle of canyon that looks far more achievable? This mid point is Body Neutrality. Body Neutrality is when you can look at yourself in the mirror and there is no hate, no love, just "this is my body" and "this is what it looks like". You view your body as an instrument that allows you to live this life, rather than as an art work just to be admired. How do I change my perspective? Moving through the spectrum of your feelings about your body from Body Hate to Body Neutrality is a slow and deliberate action. It takes effort to undo decades of learning that your worth comes from how you look rather than any aspect of your personality. However, it is absolutely possible because I did it. Here are some exercises that helped me on my way to Body Neutrality. Try to notice each time you are criticising a part of your body, stop yourself and try to turn it into something positive. Change "I hate my muffin top" to "I have the softest, smoothest skin on my belly" or from "my arms are so flabby" to "I can lift my grocery bags into the car because I have these arms". At least once a day, express gratitude for your body. This body is the only body you are going to get in this lifetime and so often we forget to be grateful for it and all that it allows us to do because we have THIS body. It can be for anything, "I'm grateful for my legs because I could go for a walk today " or "I'm grateful for my hands because it means I can type " or "I'm grateful for my bum because I'm comfy when I sit down". Find an embodiment practice that works for you. For me it was Qoya, a free dance embodiment class. There is no wrong way to do Qoya. You move your body in whatever way you want and it helps you to find the joy in movement for the sake of movement rather than for any other purpose. It helps you to feel into your body and to dance with your feelings rather than thinking about them. You start to gain a new appreciation for your body and all that it can do. If dance is not your thing, try yoga, bush walking or roller skating. It doesn't matter what your chosen activity is, it's about feeling into your body and realising how wonderful it is. Once you achieve Body Neutrality, I urge you to keep going on towards Body Love. You're already half way there! Liz Reichard runs Sunranges Qoya to help women to realise their inner strength, power and wisdom through the embodied free dance practice of Qoya. To try Qoya for free, sign up to her newsletter at www.sunrangesqoya.com.au. Try this exercise
"Today I asked my body what she needed,
Which is a big deal Considering my journey of Not Really Asking That Much. I thought she might need more water. Or protein. Or greens. Or yoga. Or supplements. Or movement. But as I stood in the shower Reflecting on her stretch marks, Her roundness where I would like flatness, Her softness where I would like firmness, All those conditioned wishes That form a bundle of Never-Quite-Right-Ness, She whispered very gently: Could you just love me like this?" by Hollie Holden https://www.hollieholden.me/ The above poem popped up on my Fb feed and it reminds me of the sadness I felt the first time I read this poem some time ago. I was sad that I too felt about my body how the author did. That I also did not love my body as she was. But rather than only feeling sad, I also felt like it was an awakening. That there was another way how I could feel about my body. And that hope is what I have run with. And worked with for years. And finally come to a place where I can appreciate my body for what I can do because I have here, rather than just being focussed on what she looks like. Would you like to feel that way about your body too Liz? If the answer is yes, I have designed a brand new program to uncover those deep stories of conditioning, fear, disgust, false beliefs and untruths that you have been subjected to since you were born and to change them into Outrageous Radical Body Acceptance. The Outrageous Radical Body Acceptance program starts on Monday 16 September and will go for 10 weeks. It will be weekly zoom group calls where I will guide you towards your own version of body acceptance in a safe and non judgmental space in sisterhood. I will teach you the tools and tricks that helped me get to where I am with accepting my body as she is as well as monthly Qoya classes, guest speakers and a viewing party of the doco "Embrace" plus so so so much more! Early bird pricing of $450 for the program is on until 25 August. The price then jumps up to $500. Payment plans are available. Are you ready to completely change the way you think your body? And have the best summer of your life? This morning we danced with the theme of “Connect to Nature” in my Sunbury Qoya class. It can be so easy at this time of year to cocoon and stay indoors in front of the heater, especially when we think of our seasons in terms of the northern hemisphere.
For the Wurundjeri people, the indigeous custodians of this land where I live in the Macedon Ranges, this season is called Waring or in English, wombat season. It's one of their longest seasons, running from April to July. It's called wombat season because it's the time of year when they are the most active. We also get our coldest days and the most rainfall at this time of year too. I find that I tend to go a little stir crazy if I haven't been outside by 4pm. I start to feel a bit off and wonder why until I realise I haven't been out yet! Even if its cold, I'll chuck on a jacket and beanie and do a short walk through my gum trees. There's something kind of special enjoying plants that I planted myself years ago - as all you gardeners would already know. I love listening to the birds. At the moment they are in heaven because my pin cushion hakea is flowering and there are still some bright pink flowers left on my gum behind the house. The wattles all have buds so soon my garden will be a riot of yellow with all the different varieties. By being outside and connected with nature, I feel as though I am part of nature, rather than just a visitor or an observer. So I encourage you, find your way to connect with nature each day. Go outside even if it's cold. Feel the cold wind and the rain on your face. Acknowledge the change of the seasons and revel in the difference between them. I promise you will feel better for it!! I'd love to know how you connect with nature, comment below to let me know! As a kid, you were your most free, unfiltered, joyous, pure self. It's only as you started to grow up that you are told stories about what you “should” be doing, or not doing, or how you should look and behave and be.
Then you start to get confused and feel as though the person you are is not “good enough". So you try to fit into the box of the “perfect” child, teenager, adult, daughter, staff member, girlfriend, wife, mother…. It's fucking exhausting and its little wonder that you might be feeling a bit lost about who you truly are and what you deeply desire. You might feel as though life is good but there's still a little niggle that something is missing. As a way of starting to reclaim your true authentic sweet little you I invite you to think about this question: What was your favourite thing to do as a child? Was it:
Now that you've worked out what it was, my next question to you is, when was the last time you did it? Was it:
My third question is, why did you stop doing it? Was it because:
My last question to you is this, what's stopping you from doing it now? This is your permission slip to go do IT with no judgement or shame. Go and embrace your inner you and PLAY! I'd love to know your answers to my questions and how you went doing your activity! Comment below to let me know! Do you feel as though something is missing from your life but you're not sure what it is?
That there's this niggle there but you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong? Really, everything is just “fine”. And yet… The niggle is still there. The little voice saying there's much more out there for you. That you still haven't done the thing that you have always truly wanted to. But now you don't have the time, the money and you're too old anyway? What if I told you that none of that is true? That you can have what you want, you can answer that niggle and live the most glorious, turned on radiance life you've always wanted? In my Reignite Your Fire group coaching we will work together in an online small group setting to really listen to that niggle, work out what we can do to answer it and how you might be able to fulfill it once and for all! In this intro course, I will teach you how to connect in with your body and your pvssy and how that will turn your inner radiance on and dial up your intuition to 1000! This is powerful stuff and practicing it in sisterhood is truly one of the best ways to experience it. Here's the lowdown:
Got questions? Ask away below! What a hot long weekend that was in Victoria!!! The temp has finally dropped in Melbourne and surrounds but I know that parts of the state are still super dry and hot - I'm looking at you Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill!
Because of the oppressive heat predicted, for the first time in its 70 year history, the Moomba parade was cancelled. It was devastating news to all those involved, including my son and his girlfriend who had been working on the costumes for over two months. But it was the right decision to make. To have hundreds of people (including lots of kiddos) ready and dressed in hot costumes for hours, to have people lining the streets to watch and to have all the support people around in 37 degree plus heat was simply a recipe for disaster. So instead, they made the hard but correct decision to cancel. These kinds of decisions take strength, determination and a knowing that it is the right choice. I know that when I've been faced with similar decisions, it is my innate knowing, my intuition, let's face it, it's my pussy that is guiding me to make the right, albeit hard, decision. How do you fair with making tough decisions? What is your guiding light? Comment below to let me know! For decades, I told myself that I had “black thumbs" instead of “green” ones. That I was no good at gardening and that all the plants I touched died.
And yet… I planted lots of native trees and shrubs when my son was born (almost 24 years ago) and they flourished (left pic above). They provide homes to lots of birds and insects. We have magpies nesting in them every year. The bees and ants love it when the gum trees, wattles and bottle brushes flower. This year I had my best ever year of growing my own rhubarb (centre pic) and made the most amazing cake with it. And I reckon I might be able to harvest a bit more too! I bought an elephant ear plant from a lady on FB (right pic the one in the white pot) and saw that it had a little baby growing in the pot as well. So I repotted it into the red pot and its growing so very well! And the white one has another couple of babies too! It would appear to anyone else that I am a gardener. That I do have a green thumb. So why do have this story in my head about my abilities as a gardener? Especially since its not true? My father was incredible with plants. He would break of bits of plants from anywhere and could get it to grow. At that time, I would have been around 8 or 9, I was lousy with plants. But the seed of the story was planted and it continued to grow and repeat itself. Until… I suddenly realised when I harvested all the rhubarb a few weeks ago that it was no longer true. In all honesty, it may never have been true. I have released that story and I am now proud to say “I AM A GARDENER”! What stories have you been told about yourself and continue to say? That you aren't creative? That you can't sing? That you can't dance? That you're unco? That you're [insert your story here]? Is it actually true? Was it ever? I invite you to revisit those stories and to really think about them if they are in fact real. Because I reckon you are far more accomplished and capable that you think. That you always have been, but you buried it. Let the story go and fly! My son graduated from university on in mid December 2023. It was a fancy ceremony in the old Exhibition Building in Carlton. Lots of interesting outfits from the higher ups and gowns and silly hats (my son's words!) on the graduates.
As part of the ceremony, Dr Anthea Skinner, musicologist - a fancy way of saying that she's a music researcher, who's research is focussed on adapting instruments for people with disabilities - gave the keynote speech. Dr Skinner spoke about the advice her mother gave her as a young woman with a disability who was unsure of how she would navigate a world that she didn't “fit” into: “No one who was just like everybody else ever did anything truly amazing. No one who was just like everybody else ever changed the world.” I share Dr Skinner's words (and those of her mother) as a reminder to you too, that what makes you unique is how you will make your mark. Embrace your 'weirdness', your 'kookiness', all the things that make you you. Your way of looking at things, your creativity, your opinion matters. I encourage you to celebrate your Youness and all that it entails. Because no one who was just like everybody else ever did anything truly amazing. |
AuthorLiz Reichard is a Radiance Coach and Qoya teacher. Her mission is to help as many women as possible remember the power of their own bodies through Radiance Coaching & Qoya classes. Archives
October 2024
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