Daily Inspiration: Meet Chelle Jozefczyk

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelle Jozefczyk

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
aI was born in a very small town in central New York where I always felt wildly different from my family and friends. I was very intuitive and interested in the esoteric and learned very early on that my thoughts and perspectives on everything from societal norms to spirituality were not something I could share with the people I loved. I had a very difficult time navigating that experience, and even as a young child I remember looking at radio towers far off in the distance from the front porch and thinking, “One day I’m going to go to those towers with the red blinking lights and see what’s there.” So it’s no surprise that once I graduated high school, I left for college in the big city and never looked back.

I moved to New York City and began practicing Yoga in 1996 with my best friend and then-boyfriend, Dave, who I eventually married and still happily share my life with. At that time in my young adult life, I was working in Finance at the World Trade Center in Manhattan and living an exhilarating life exploring the city that never sleeps. We had so much fun and received quite the education from NYC. To this day it is still my favorite city in the world.

Like many others, I took my first Yoga class at a gym with Dave. Knowing nothing of Yoga, I was initially drawn to it because I had always been a dancer and was interested in maintaining my flexibility and staying in shape. What I did not see coming was the way Yoga would completely transform me. At first, I found myself more off the mat than on. Life in New York City with Dave was exciting and a never-ending party. Yet, I kept finding myself returning to the Yoga mat, inexplicably drawn to the calm and unable to deny how I felt after class – reconnected to my center and feeling a deep inner peace, a state of being that was completely unclouded.

In 1999, Dave and I moved back to Central New York and after settling, I began studying Tribal Belly Dance and deepening my devotion to my Yoga practice. In 2006, I completed my first Yoga Teacher Training at Kripalu Yoga Center and began offering classes while continuing to perform and co-direct Shezam World Tribal Belly Dance troupe. Over the next few years, my passion for learning and spiritual evolution led me to complete two additional advanced Yoga Teacher Trainings in the Dharma Yoga lineage under Sri Dharma Mittra and also to find my Yoga Guru. Shortly after completing my additional Yoga training, I decided to leave my career in finance to teach Yoga and manage Dharma Yoga Syracuse full-time. I did that for about 5 years before eventually moving across the country to Denver in 2014, where I still offer both Yoga and Tribal Belly Dance classes.

After years of hyper-flexibility caused destabilization in my joints, I recognized the clear need to balance my body with more strength training. I had taken Barre Fitness classes back in Syracuse and fell in love with the complimentary and fiery nature of Barre shapes and movements. As a compliment to my Yoga and Dance classes, I decided to complete my Barre Eclipse Teacher Training in 2021 to share the benefits I found in this empowering workout. I have personally found the trio of these different movement modalities to be the perfect alchemy for my body to thrive, and I love to weave Yoga, Tribal Belly Dance, and Barre Fitness together in my unique way to promote balance and harmony for my clients.

At first, Dave and I were teaching classes at our own Yoga and Healing studio in Olde Town Arvada, CO which we opened together in 2018. However, that gathering space was sadly short-lived due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We were forced to officially shut our doors to our lovely little studio in June of 2020 just like so many other small businesses. We lost and yet learned so much from that experience. And ultimately it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

In early 2021, while continuing to work through my Barre Teacher Training, and during the height of the pandemic, I discovered enlarged lymph nodes in my neck that remained swollen. My intuition told me it was important to have them checked, but at that time it was very difficult to get an appointment. To my surprise, the tests came back with a diagnosis of tonsil cancer and I immediately began 7 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. My scans were clear until early 2023 when I once again discovered swollen lymph nodes on the other side of my neck, which led to surgery to have them removed. I am deeply grateful to report that I’ve faced no further incidents since. And even though the mind sometimes drops into the fear of “is it coming back,” which I believe each cancer survivor experiences to some degree, my intuition and body tell me we are all good.

The recovery process after each treatment was long and at times difficult, but the experience gave me a new perspective on my life’s purpose. My journey through the medical system and my healing process brought a new understanding and deeper clarity to my life, the expansive training and preparation my practices provided, and my work in the wellness industry as a whole. I was given the opportunity to implement the techniques I had been practicing for almost three decades to deeply support me through my treatment and recovery and experience how much they helped. The health “initiation” I passed through made me fully realize the true power of breathwork, meditation, Yoga, and other types of movement. I also was shown the vast difference between practicing techniques on the Yoga mat versus utilizing these tools to face a life-threatening illness. This gave me such gratitude for following my heart into the path of wellness as a young woman so long ago. It also galvanized my belief in these practices and validated my reasons for wanting to share them with others. The truth is when you are faced with such an overwhelming and life-altering situation, all of the training and practice you have allows you to lean on them and feel true support.

Another beautiful part of my journey is my Healing Arts path. During my earlier years in New York, I completed my Master Reiki Attunement in the Usui Reiki system and became a Wellness Advocate for DoTerra Essential Oils and a Richway BioMat distributor. I also purchased my first set of Crystal Bowls and began using them for my own personal healing.

The experience of how each of these different healing modalities impacted me while undergoing cancer treatment and the healing process afterward opened up a new pathway for me very quickly. In fact, the diagnosis is what ignited my passion for Sound Healing specifically and led me to become a certified Sound Healer, Cacao Ceremony facilitator, and a Crystal Tones Alchemy Singing Bowl Partner and Sacred Instrument distributor. Everything I share with clients is very important to me, but I have found that working with Sound and connecting individuals with their own sacred Sound Healing instruments has become my heart’s work. Currently, that’s what I focus on the most. And Dave and I were blessed to be able to finish the basement in our home to create a new space to work out of.

Over the years, I’ve evolved into a compassionate, intuitive, and gentle healer, and my path has guided me to expand in very unique ways. I bring many different skills together for my clients, including Sound, movement, and energy modalities to encourage radiant health and well-being. I have now come to consider myself what I call a Spiritual Alchemist, weaving together decades of teachings and techniques from my vast experiences, training, and life situations in a distinct way. The profound benefits I have experienced by utilizing everything that was taught to me are my guiding light, and my passion is to share what I love and have learned with others as they find their own path of growth, healing, and transformation.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been lots of bumps, twists, and side roads along my journey, but I believe that’s what keeps life interesting and is part of the human experience. Everything from my childhood experiences to the unexpected loss of my brother, through losing our studio due to the pandemic, my diagnosis and recovery, and then the re-opening of my home-based studio space has been filled with extreme sorrow and difficulties, as well as extraordinary blessings. I feel there are so many things to be grateful for in my life, but being human also comes with such pain and struggle. Life seems a very difficult thing to navigate at times, but my faith in the Source of all things has always guided me to trust in my journey and to keep my light shining bright. I feel I’m here for a purpose and I have so much love for my life. I can only pray that I bring joy and love to others, and in some small way help them on their own path by sharing what has been so graciously been given to me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I feel like I covered my spiritual work in the first question extensively, so I’ll expand on my dreams and how I hope to bring my work to more people.

I dream of taking my work to a bigger audience and working more with clients who resonate with me and my unique vibration. I think many of my current clients choose to work with me because of how I integrate the power of love and laughter into everything I offer. My biggest obstacle to that dream if I’m being honest is that I do not do a great job letting everyone know that I’m here or even what I do. It’s a struggle to get the message out. Of course, part of the reason for that is because I had a long recovery from treatment. And let’s not forget we also went through a collective pandemic, so I try to remember that and give myself grace when I feel like I should be further along than where I am. I try to enjoy the journey a bit more than I used to and trust that my soulmate clients will find me when the time is right.

Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of being invited to share my work in many different communities around the Denver area, and the opportunities seem to be expanding more quickly now. I have loved getting to know different studio owners and their clients and hearing about what they experience from my work. I have also enjoyed connecting with other healers and practitioners who wish to collaborate in new and fun ways.

My next few goals are to host more workshops and events (especially in the realm of Sound Healing), as well as offer Pop-Up Shops to introduce myself as a Sound Healing Instrument specialist to people who wish to begin their own Sound Healing practice either publicly or privately. I am always looking to create meaningful relationships with owners of event spaces who are interested in my work and wish to host me.

My big dream is to ultimately open a Spiritual shop where I can bring more sacred instruments into service, connect clients with their own collection of healing instruments, and provide other treasures for customers to discover. In my vision, the shop will also have a movement and event space to offer the community different types of gatherings along with a few private healing rooms for more individualized work. That dream feels big and beautiful to me, but more than that, I believe it is also a deeply necessary space for the community to come together to love one another, heal, and grow. Sometimes it seems as though we’re moving farther away from each other because we don’t sit together often anymore. My deepest heart’s desire is to create a space that allows for the collective to be together more frequently and in many different ways.

For any of you reading this, if you feel this speaks to your heart, I’d absolutely love to hear from you. Let’s explore how we can bring more love and light to our communities and our world.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The qualities and characteristics that I look for in others who inspire me are authenticity, integrity, honesty, and above all, love and kindness for others. I strive for each of these characteristics in myself and my work. I believe I am worthy of all of those qualities when I look to someone else for support, therefore, I am always aware of how I serve and assist those who look to me for what I offer.

I also feel being grounded and stable is sometimes missing when you work in the spiritual realm. Sometimes people bring their personal life issues into their work, not realizing that they are transferring that energy to their clients. One of the most important things for me is to put my own “stuff” to the side and support clients from a place of neutrality, stability, and groundedness. I am always mindful that it isn’t about me when I’m sharing my work.

Lastly, going through a life-threatening illness has completely changed my idea of success. For me, I am much more clear with my boundaries and my energy. I was good in the past about this, but sometimes would be too available to clients. Now I know that taking care of myself is how I can take better care of others.

Sharing my unique gifts and light with the world is my life’s purpose, and my approach is using love and laughter to create more harmony and peace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.OneYogaAndHealing.com
• Instagram: @OneYogaShala @HarmonySoundTemple