A GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL MONTAUK

Want a more meaningful beach retreat this summer? Colleen Kelly, Bret Caretsky and Madeleine Murphy of the Montauk Juice Factory, share their guide to spiritual Montauk…Images: Elayne Safir

spiritual montauk on the Numinous

Montauk: it’s the energy vortex of the East Coast summer. The air is special up here, charged with a cosmic energy that engulfs and transforms you the moment you cross the stretch. So if you’re planning a visit to The End, make the most of the vibes with our top 7 ways to elevate your mind, body and spirit—allowing the blend of salty air and sacred land guide you on an inward journey to the deepest part of yourself.

1. Ground down. Meaning kick off your shoes (and socks) and feel the earth. Enjoy a long, barefoot beach walk is gonna feel extra special since the sand between your toes in Montauk is made of small fragments of clear quartz, leaving you feeling instantly clearer and stronger. Let the negative ions seep into your skin, and balance out the positively charged toxins in your body.

2. Be a litter picker. During your stay, if you see any loose litter blowing down the beaches pick it up and recycle—to give Mother Earth the signal to continue to give back to you throughout your visit.

spiritual montauk on the numinous

2. Get salty. Visit the Montauk Salt Cave for a holistic and rejuvenating wellness experience surrounded with the healing energy of pink Himalayan sea salts and rocks. Designed to clear toxins from our lungs and nasal passageways, this magical place is deeply restorative for the respiratory tract and spirit. Check out their website to see what salty healing events they have going on. If you’re lucky you may even stumble upon a Kundalini class with our good friend and gong queen, Jen Frasher.

3. Salute the sun. Watching the sunrise or sunset can lessen anxiety, stress and depression, since it encourages us to slow down and be conscious in the moment, as we observe every streak the sun has painted in the sky. Soon your mood will match the colors—bright and vibrant—and you will naturally have less headspace for irritability and worry, and more for beauty and joy. We recommend checking out the beaches at Navy Road where you can watch the sun set over the water in the summer months. Visualize the energy from the sun spreading from your crown to the rest of the body while letting the sounds of the water relax your inner being.

4. Get tribal. Weekly drum circles are held on the beach, but you’ll have to ask around to try to attend one. It’s worth the legwork to connect to the rhythmic beat, tap into your primal side, and unleash your inner wild.

spiritual montauk on the Numinous

5. Unplug and create. If you’re looking for a place to get quiet and seek inspiration, try the walking labyrinth—a hidden gem built by a local community group. Overlooking Fort Pond Bay, this intricate path of stones is a beautiful spot for walking meditations, contemplation and mindful moments. Every step is a chance to remind yourself of something to be grateful for; to let go of something that is holding you back; or to just be fully present in the moment.

6. Get your flow going. Yoga is obviously a yes in Montauk! Our favorite is Yoga Lila (which means “divine play” in Sanskrit) for creative classes in a beautiful, inspiring studio—or try their SUP yoga classes if you are a drawn to the water.

7. Make some magic. A definite date for the diary is the Montauk Magic Retreat. Hosted by Numinous contributor Fern Olivia and rockstar shaman Alyson Charles in a private home by the ocean, you can enjoy daily movement and meditation, beach hikes, chanting, chakra and aura cleansing accompanied, by plant based cuisine and MJF cold-pressed juices. July 20-25 2016.

spiritual montauk on the Numinous

8. Pay us a visit. This isn’t just a shameless plug! Swing by 12 South Etna Avenue to fuel your body and your high-vibe vacay with high-integrity juices and smoothies. Our organic, nutrient-dense juices are made with intentional, purpose-driven recipes to make every cell in your body rejoice.

Inspired by our cosmic surroundings and natural environment, we also offer the MJF Apothecary—a rad self-care line of botanical beauty formulas that are holistic, gentle and effective. Drawing on the wisdom of the earth, the power of the ocean and the magic of the same functional ingredients we use in our raw kitchen, every product is 100% organic and handcrafted in small batches—all designed to keep your Montauk glow shining even longer.

Join The Montauk Juice Factory and Kalisa Augustine for a special Spirit Animal 101 workshop July 16 2016. Learn what a spirit animal is and how to connect with yours, followed by a shamanic journey with sound healing crystal bowls, guided visualization, served up with high vibe raw food and juices. All the details are at this link! 

THE NUMINOUS PRESENTS: MERCURY RISING

Join us and Standard Talks for our Mercury Rising event, a full day of next level wellbeing and cosmic empowerment…

HL_Numinous_MercuryRising_Square

YES – we’re organizing a day-long event right in the middle of the up-coming Mercury Retrograde period. Are we crazy? NO. Because it’s time to break some taboos and show you how to make this much maligned Cosmic aspect work FOR YOU.

Numinous founder Ruby Warrington has curated Mercury Rising – a very special roster of talks and workshops, featuring some of our favorite modern mystics. Co-hosted by Standard Hotels, the day-long event is designed to help empower you in navigating this tricky astrological climate.

Famous for creating delays, miscommunications, and wreaking all kinds of havoc with our schedules, Mercury Retrograde has become the Donald Trump of the astro calendar – but there’s nothing to be afraid of! With awareness and a willingness to embrace what comes up, this can be a potent time for healing old wounds, tidying up unfinished business, and working WITH the Universe to carve out your best future.

Our Mercury Rising event has been designed specifically to show you how – with 3 instructional, fun and interactive workshops, PLUS individual tarot readings to leave you feeling fully empowered and with a Cosmic goddess glow!

Click here for tickets and logistics – and read on for everything you need to know…

DATE:
Saturday, May 7 2016

LOCATION:

The Standard, High Line, 848 Washington Street, New York, NY, 10014 (PLUS make a weekend of it with a 15% discount on rooms with the code MERCURYRISING) 

TICKETS:
Full day – $89 (including drinks and snacks)
Individual workshops – $35 each

RUN OF PLAY:
11am-12.30pm – F*ck You Mercury Retro Salon with The Astro Twins
Elle.com astrologers Tali and Ophira Edut break down WHY Mercury Retrograde gets such a bad rap, while providing expert insight about how we can actually make the energy at this time work in our favor. They will also provide an in-depth overview of the planetary aspects influencing this specific Mercury Retro phase, to further illustrate how to maximize the cosmic potential of the times – with a view to setting up your best summer ever.

12.30-1.30pm – Break (with refreshments from the Montauk Juice Factory + option to add on a lunch-box from Standard Hotels)

1.30-3.30pm – Lead Your Own Moon Ceremony with Deborah Hanekamp
As well as teaching participants the proper protocols for creating your own New and Full Moon ceremonies, this workshop includes an overview of how to work with the different phases of the Moon each and every month – including diet, lifestyle, and wellness practices. Living in alignment with the lunar cycles is a way of connecting to your own innate power source, giving you the inner strength to navigate any Mercury Retro hi-jinx!

3.30-4pm – Break (tea + pastries)

4-6pm – Breathwork for Mercury Retrograde with Erin Telford
Breathwork is an active meditation technique designed to move stuck or heavy energy, and a super fast way to emotionally detox – the perfect healing for clearing anything that’s come up during the Mercury Retrograde period. Think part self-healing technique, part catharsis, part adult temper tantrum, and part psychedelic experience! Set to music,  you will be held in sacred space during the entire session, releasing what isn’t yours to hold anymore and emerging with more light and clarity.

6-7.30pm – Individual soul tarot readings with Lindsay Mack (drinks + canapes)
We finish the day with sunset refreshments on the terrace, where The Numinous resident tarot reader Lindsay Mack will be available for mini one-to-one soul tarot sessions. With this final piece of cosmic guidance in your toolbox, you’ll be primed to thrive despite whatever the Mercury Retro phase sends your way – you may even find yourself looking forward to the next one!

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THE ASTRO TWINS
Through their popular astrology website, identical twins Ophira and Tali Edut help “bring the stars down to earth” with their unique, lifestyle-based approach to astrology. They are also the official astrologers for Refinery29, ELLE.com, Elle Australia, Virgin Hotels, GaranceDore.com and Interview Germany.As well as being featured in numerous publications, the sisters have read charts for celebrities including Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Jessica Simpson and Sting.
www.astrostyle.com

mercury rising deborah hanekamp on The NuminousDEBORAH HANEKAMP
Deborah Hanekamp is a Seeress and Medicine Woman carrying over 15 years in the healing arts as an Initiated Amazonian Curendara, Reiki Master and Yogini. Guided by the present moment, Deborah has facilitated Medicine Readings and healing ceremonies all over the world. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Time out New York & The Numinous.
www.unityessences.com

 

Erin Telford Mercury Rising on The NuminousERIN TELFORD
Erin’s mission is to help people heal their relationships with themselves. She pulls from a toolbox of therapeutic conversation, lifestyle and spiritual counseling, essential oils, crystals, mantra and other healing tools. She is a healer, acupuncturist, herbalist and Reiki Master and leads individual and group Breathwork sessions. She was recently featured in Refinery 29 as one of “6 Women Who Are Redefining Wellness in New York City.” She is also a regular contributor to The Numinous and Live the Process online magazines. www.erintelford.com

Lindsay Mack Mercury Rising on The NuminousLINDSAY MACK
Lindsay Mack is an intuitive tarot reader, teacher and heart centered healer based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the founder of Sacred Tarot School in NYC, and regularly tours her classes, workshops and Soul Tarot readings all over the world. She is the co-facilitator of Brooklyn Fools Tarot Intensive, located at Maha Rose in Brooklyn, and she is a full time tarot teacher at Spirit Weavers Gathering.
www.lindsaymack.com

MATERIAL GIRL, MYSTICAL WORLD: ROCHELLE SCHIECK

Total lifestyle envy alert! Just wait until you read about Rochelle Schieck’s Mystical World…PLUS shamans and Liquid Sunshine in the round-up of Ruby’s Mystical Week.

Qoya founder Rochelle Schieck. Read more at TheNuminous.net!
Qoya founder Rochelle Schieck

Almost everyone I’ve spoken to this week has been experiencing the change of seasons like a wall of water to be waded through, or a heavy cloak of fog obscuring all hope and light – myself included. Hibernation season incoming! As a spring baby, I always find this downshift into darkness pretty hard to handle, which can only mean one thing – time to ramp up the self care and dive into my spiritual practise…

It’s also the week I’ve been sunshine dreaming about a January trip to Costa Rica :: drinking Liquid Sunshine from the Montauk Juice Factory :: talking chakras and conspiracy theories with my shaman, Manex Ibar (yes I have a shaman now, full report coming soon) :: mixing Meditation & Margarita’s at Danielle Mercurio’s mystical monthly NYC meet-up :: interviewing the gorgeous Felicity Jones, star of Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything :: and thanking the all-seeing creator for my new Isabel Marant Etoile flight jacket (seriously, TF for Isabel Marant)

Isabel Marant Etoile Benny jacket, available at Matchesfashion.com. Read more at TheNuminous.net!
Isabel Marant Etoile Benny jacket, available at Matchesfashion.com

So I first met this week’s Material Girl on the Astro Twins’ Become Your Own Astrologer retreat in Tulum last year. As creator of sensual movement class Qoya, it was Rochelle’s job to get us out of out astro-addicted minds and back into our bodies – which loosely translates as: “host an awesome dance party every night.”

I’ve since come to realize (main via her brilliant Facebook posts) that this is pretty much what Rochelle’s life looks like. Based mainly in Venice, CA, she seems to spend most of her time tripping from retreat to delicious retreat, all in the name of spreading the girl-empowering message that: “our essence is wise, wild and free.”

Rochelle Schieck, we want your life! Here’s what makes her Mystical World go ’round…

:: MATERIAL GIRL ::

My Look I led a Qoya workshop in Woodstock, NY last weekend, and as I was walking through the forest, smelling the fresh air and seeing all the leaves changing colors and gracefully falling to the ground, I felt a thrill noticing the temperature had dropped low enough to pull out my favorite piece of clothing – my Pendelton poncho! I wear it religiously as if my soul is expressed through its fabric and design, which honors all of our indigenous roots. I wear the poncho with black leggings and heels to dress it up, or, to keep the shaman chic vibe going, with my Minnetonka Moccasin booties.

Rochelle Schieck in her Pendelton poncho. Read more at TheNuminous.net!
Rochelle in her Pendelton poncho, $399

My Fragrance I live in Venice, CA, most of the time, but after my time in Woodstock last week I went to stay with a friend in NYC. She laughed, commenting that whenever I come to visit, my scent of rose and sandalwood fills up the whole apartment. It’s Amma Rose Oil and it is intoxicating. I like to put it on my wrists and neck, but since I’m 5’2, I also put a small amount on the top of my head as a gift to all those I hug that day.

Rochelle Schieck's favorite Amma Rose Oil. Read more at TheNuminous.net!
Amma Rose Oil, $35

My Pampering I couldn’t go to NYC without making a pilgrimage to Spa Castle in Queens. Four floors. There’s a gold sauna, a salt sauna, a jade sauna, an infrared sauna…even an igloo!! The quintessential Korean spa treatment is to get a scrub and massage that feels on the verge of too aggressive, but leave you feeling like polished gold for the next 72 hours. Rumors are there is a new location opening in Midtown Manhattan in the fall!

My Jewels My best friend since college, Becca Kannapell, started Pound Jewelry with her mom and sister, and they make my favorite pieces on the planet. Right now I’m really into their pendulum pendants – which are completely gorgeous, and double as a divination tool. I even wrote a piece on how to swing a pendulum inspired by my love their jewelry!

Pendulum pendants, $85 each, Pound Jewelry. Read more at TheNuminous.net!
Pendulum pendants, $85 each, Pound Jewelry

My Food Whenever I’m in NYC I end up traveling around the city seeking different variations of a macrobiotic bowl that has rice, steamed kale and vegetables, seaweed and a large amount of Tahini sauce. My go-to’s this mission are Souen (for their Macro Bowl), Jivamuktea Cafe (Yogi’s choice) and Anjelica Kitchen (Dragon Bowl).

My Gift to Me I recently booked a Boudoir photo session with Lori Berkowitz, who specializes in capturing the beauty of a woman in her sensual essence. Sensual energy is life force energy. The stronger one is, the stronger the other. But this doesn’t have to be translated into the framework of sexual relationships with others – it can also mean reclaiming the physical sensation of the divine in your body, and honoring that sensation and the body itself as sacred, whole and holy.

 

:: MYSTICAL WORLD ::

My Morning Ritual On wakening, I immediately roll over into child’s pose to count on my fingers ten things I am grateful for. Then I slide into half pigeon and feel something I want to celebrate about my life on each leg before laying back into Vajrasana (hero’s pose) and imagining what I’d like to co-create with the divine today. Here’s a free video on YouTube I made for anyone to follow along Bed Yoga

My Sign I AM a Gemini. Gemini Sun. Gemini Moon. Gemini Venus. Gemini! Also Taurus rising, which explains my passion for the body and the sacred work I do in the world focusing on embodying the soul through a movement system I created called Qoya.

My Mantra In a sentence (and a hashtag): “#dancemakeseverythingbetter”

My Healer My favorite healing has always been collapsing or resting into the embrace of Mother Earth. Every jump in the ocean restores me. Every moment of relaxation while sitting next to a tree, softens my body into trusting the cycle of things. Every breath of fresh air in the mountains calms my thoughts and invites me to remember all I have to do is be here now. Every dance around a fire helps me feel the pulse of my own heartbeat and recognize it as the same heartbeat that dances through us all.

Rochelle Schieck connecting with natures in a tropical setting. Read more at Thenuminous.net!

However, if my access to nature is limited, my team of healers includes several astrologers, body workers, shamans, intuitives and the occasional impulse call to Californiapsychics.com. I recently had my world rocked (again) by checking in on my favorite Shamanic Astrologer Sao. He is a passionate man put on this earth to assist with the awakening of the divine feminine and the way he gives a reading, it goes into the center of your soul. For daily inspiration, weekly and monthly horoscopes and yearly readings, I love to check in with the AstroTwins who help make everything make sense in the most intuitive and simultaneously scientific interpretation of my chart. And for chart readings assisted by akashic guides, I am grateful for Virginia Rosenberg and Heavenly Bodies.

My Reading With all the Gemini in me I read a lot, and many books at the same time. The novel that soul stirred me recently is Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, about the true story of Rumi and his soulmate happening concurrently to a modern day 40-year-old woman on her journey to learn the forty rules of love.

I also just finished an advance copy of my friend Betsy Blankenbaker’s first novel, Autobiography of an Orgasm. A nod to Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, it’s the most honest account I’ve ever read of a woman’s sexual journey, dealing with childhood abuse, confusion as a young woman, marriage, giving birth to four children, and then the unexpected turn of events that led to her turning fifty and exploring the connection between the sensual and sacred by researching her relationship to orgasm. It’s part erotica, part informational “how to” and completely compelling.

Autobiography of an Orgasm by Betsy Blankenbaker. Read more at Thenuminous.net!

My Mission The intention behind Qoya, the movement system I created (or rather, is creating me), is to share the idea that through movement, we remember that our essence is wise, wild and free, and to follow the feeling of truth when we experience it in our body. Through my Qoya classes, workshops, retreats and teacher training, we remember that the body is a portal to those sacred moments that can rarely be explained, but must be felt and experienced. To the Numinous!

To find out more about Rochelle’s work and experience some Qoya for yourself, sign up for her free 10 Days to Love Qoya and receive a short video embodiment exercise.

You can also connect with Rochelle on Facebook.

Qoya by Rochelle Schieck logo. Read more at Thenuminous.net!