I truly found Qoya by accident and wanted to share that experience with you as part of my bio.

After a number of people very close to me, including one of my closest friends who was like a sister to me to suicide, my father to cancer, choosing to end my marriage, a sudden loss of a very close friendship without reason at the time, I found myself in a very dark place. Facing every day, day after day was emotionally crippling and I finally reached a point where I had to do something. I was barely existing, on the inside anyway. We all have great facades when we want to hide the reality of what’s going on inside.

I found myself at a Holotrophic Breathwork workshop, which was the key to me learning a great deal about myself and what I needed to do. I had so much grief inside me and many levels of protection in place that I wasn’t even aware of. I became aware of some total disconnects I had in my body from incidents of abuse earlier on in my life. I thought I had dealt with these incidents on a psychological level. I was totally unaware of the trauma and the impact that these incidents had had on my emotional and physical body and the memories it held.

Having identified these issues I then had to find a way to work on them that felt safe. November 2016 I was searching and searching and reading when I saw a link on a website to Qoya. I remember thinking “Qoya, what the heck is that. Never heard of it”. I watched a video made by Rochelle Sheik, Founder of Qoya, and another one and another one. I sat and cried and cried than signed up to become a teacher. I did my first classes online as I couldn’t find any Qoya teacher in Australia at that time, the closest I could find was New Zealand. In January 2017 I was in New Zealand doing my Qoya Initiation training, and my first in person Qoya class! I knew without a doubt that I was in the right place doing the right thing and there was a healing going on.

Then, as it does, life stepped in and challenged me, as it does to us all and I put all that was important to me on hold. You know, that self-sabotage default that many of us have.

Once again feeling lost, betrayed, hurt, confused I knew I needed to get back to what was right for me and I again committed to completing my Qoya training and signed up for my intensive training. December 2018 I was back in New Zealand on the beautiful Coramandel Peninsular immersed in everything Qoya and with the unquestioned sense that I was there not only to grow but to heal and find something in me that I was missing.

I teach Qoya as I truly believe that in a world where we are surrounded by perceived pressure, internal and external expectations, stress, anxiety and brokenness that it is important to find somewhere to stop, breathe and remember who the heck you are. In a Qoya class you get just that, and what a precious gift that experience is. It allows you to trust yourself and to listen to yourself because in reality, everything we need to know about ourselves is within us. Accessing and trusting it can be the difficult part!

Throughout my life I have done many things that has shaped who I am. I am someone that loves to learn and grow, a mum , a massage therapist/body worker, a beef farmer and so much more!

I look forward to continuing my journey and dancing with those who come my way!