Joya has been Internationally known and recognized for her expertise in intuition, motivation, inspiration and empowerment. She has lived through one long dark night of the soul, which included loss of businesses, betrayal by best friends, being diagnosed with a tumor, lots of karmic clearings, bankruptcy, long stretches of depression and now losing her home and everything she owned in devastating Valley Fire in September 2015. She aspires to walk her talk and embrace all darkness to transform what wants to be seen, felt, understood, accepted and shifted.
Who are you?
“I know I am a bringer of joy, play and light and therefore I love my new name Joya, that showed up in my field in 2011. I also know that I have been blessed to experience many deep and very dark experiences like sexual abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, so many kinds of fears, ancestral burdens, feminine collective clearings, ghosts and disembodied beings. My name in the past, Petra, has been my rock – she offered such endurance, strength and resilience. So today, I feel like I am the light, I am the dark, I am still learning to be with it all and to unite with all emotions until they move through like a thunderstorm at times, until my inner sun shines again.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
“I love going deep, so when life has offered or offers me obstacles or challenges, I go to the core until there is nowhere to go. There I usually have my moments of awakening, of release, of freedom and I bring back tools that support others. I aspire to walk my talk, to experience and then share the pearls of wisdom with others. I am a student of life – I will study and learn until the end of my life-time. Life is my university and I become the channel; I birth new thoughts and ways to be; I create my realities and wish to inspire everyone and the Universe to expand this way.”
Joya, you have incredible compassion and understanding…
“Yes, one of the gifts of my many inner, shamanic, meditation and healing journeys have been a deeper level of understanding the human condition and bringing in so much love and compassion for my clients who feel stuck or struggle with what is. I am not a saint, so sometimes I struggle, too.”
I would really like to know what value your workshops and retreats have. Would you please share how you will help me enrich myself? Blunt. Honesty.
“It takes the two of us, I offer the sacred space and you will say yes to showing up fully, yes to yourself and ultimately yes to healing your old wounds. I have heard my workshops and retreats are full of wonder and miracles, I love to play and at the same time take my participants deep into their own hearts and souls. You are safe, you are welcomed, you are protected. I call in all of our divine teams, a big aha for women, to realize we don’t have to do the work by ourselves, we can be supported. And in that warm, fuzzy, safe place, you can surrender and release and transformation happens almost effortlessly. You will feel your essence, you will expand into love and trust, you will speak your truth. Know each workshop will offer a different nuance of discovery. The ‘Essence of Femininity’ is an initiation into the deepest experience of divine womanhood, this to me is the foundation, Level 2 evokes ‘Sensuality, Wildeness, Self-love and Playfulness, we invoke four powerful archetypes, ‘Mermaid Magik’ allows you to find your voice, feel deeply, speak your truth, the ‘High Priestess Retreat’ is about opening up through trust to our ancient wisdom and intuition, being a living embodiment of the divine feminine.”
Why do you believe in me…in us…in existence?
“I believe because it is more fun this way. I believe because I can literally feel each and everyone’s potential. I believe, because mother earth and nature show the magic and wonder to me every day. I believe and bow to the infinite wisdom of existence, to your, my and our expression of existence. What a trip it is! Such creativity exploding…”
You’re like a folklore pixie with iridescent glitter and paramount, linear and vavavoom power – a paradox ‘shakti.’ Is that intended? Is that being a woman?
“Well, thank you for the compliment of seeing me. I have to laugh outloud. I am just being me, sculpting myself every moment. I truly wish to be real and authentic and in that I am expressing my divine womanhood. I can so easily run my male energies and programs, and to come back to softening, gentleness and flow takes a lot of grounding. I created a postcard with women of my community, called BEING A WOMAN…and everybody shared what it means to them. I learned so much. I learn so much from my sisters. I am simply a woman who loves beauty, singing, nature, healing waters, deep connections, laughter, tears, joy, sensuality, sexuality…what does it mean to you BEING A WOMAN?”
What makes you giddy with happiness? How is Joya JOYfull?
“Joya joyfull happens when I play, when my little one inside and outside goes wilde. I am giddy with happiness when I teach my workshops and retreats, I enter the ‘zone’ as they say in sports. I am super happy when I travel and experience new cultures and adventures. I am joyful when I take care of myself and have enough time for self-care. I am happy when I can contribute to the well-being of others, knowing that my family and friends are well. I am the happiest when I spend time in nature, when sailing on lakes, jumping naked into creeks, brooks, rivers, lakes ~ this is when Pixie-in-Politics (my nickname) is in her element. I am filled with joy after coaching sessions, everytime I get to share my gifts, my light.” I am deeply moved through connection, touch and intimacy.
Whom do you admire in life and why?
“I admire nature. I could spend all day in the forest or on a lake, just being and listening. I admire everybody that has used their voice to speak the truth. I admire peace-makers. People who stand up for goodness, while risking their own lives. I admire people who dream and create their visions into reality. Some of my male heroes are film-maker Alfonso Cuaron, Peter Gabriel and Paolo Coelho. When I worked in the film industry, I admired Meryl Streep who could become wholeheartedly every character she played. I admire ALL of the goddesses and the many gifts and qualities they share with me.
One of my heroines is the artist Beatrice Wood, who lived to 105 years. Her secret was art, young men and chocolate. I was supposed to visit her for tea, got a cold and the next week she passed, she, this wise crone is always on my goddess altars when I teach. She was the muse to so many famous artist and she, herself became famous really late in her life. So you see, it’s never too late, now is the time. I bow to all the wise elders, dead and alive.”
How did the new name of Joya come to you?
“I was going through my transition with my now former husband Marcus and moved into nature to spend a lot of time by myself and work through my own wounding and issues with it. I decided to sign up for a series of Tantra Trainings to deal with my own sexual wounds and it was then during an intense process, that my faciliator asked me ‘what is your new name’ and Joy(a) surfaced immediately. I call the experience my initiation into the 2.Act of my life. I needed a new name frequency.”
Would you share a secret with us, please?
“I still feel not enough, like I am flawed at times, and today I know the only remedy for that is to love myself so deeply. So my secret is that I am madly in love with myself. First.”