Valerie Hope Cherrin: I have been fascinated by magic and mystery and the unseen world since I can remember. As a child, I used to feel the presence of that world around me all the time and wonder why nobody was speaking about it. I thought maybe when I began school, then they would teach us something of the energetic world. As you know, that didn’t happen. So, I went in search of people who seemed to have a greater understanding what it is to be human. I sought a greater cosmology that spoke to my whole being: body, mind, heart, and soul. What you find on this website are some of the glimpses of understanding that have been graced upon me along the way.
Many moons ago, I got a tattoo on my right calf whose message is: Be Curious, Courageous, and Compassionate. This has become my credo. A little about how those things show up for me below.
May you find ease in your body. May you find joy in your heart. May you find peace in your mind. May you find beauty in your soul.
I welcome connection and inquiry in this dance of life. Feel free to reach out to me through the contact page.
When we dive into the language of the body, there is a whole world of communion possible. The intelligence of nature becomes more available through our own living system. When our focus on movement in the present moment, allowing new patterns to arise, we are also shifting our neurological and emotional patterns. Many of us spend our days in a few well-known movements, going between laying down, standing, sitting, walking and, perhaps some form of exercise.
With conscious movement, we can explore and expand our range of awareness. We can be curious about life with our whole bodies. It’s a way of informing ourselves from the inside out and creating space for something brand new to arise.
I spent many years traveling the world, in search of truth, in search of connection, in search of home. Only to realize that this is all contained within my very being.
I left home just months after high school to look for what I deeply felt was missing in my life, community. The ironic part of this is that I grew up in the Village of Arden, an intentional community. However, in my heart, I was still grieving something I had never found. That sense of place in the world. I traveled to Thailand, Greece, India, Nicaragua, and all across the United States, looking for my place in the world.
After dancing with Gabrielle Roth for the first time in 1999 at the Omega Institute, I began showing up on dance floors wherever I went. And I began to find home inside of myself, in the dance, in the moment. This sense of embodiment has become a reliable practice for connecting to myself, others, community, and spirit. I am now an Open Floor Teacher and helping others to find their place in the world through movement.
The more embodied I am, the more fluid my connection with others. As humans, we all have access to feeling at home in ourselves. My passion is to support others in this self-discovery through bodywork and movement combined. There is a natural reciprocity between these two embodied disciplines. I am continually attuned to this ongoing dialogue both one on one and in groups.