MEET STEPH

Greetings! My name is Stephanie Chee Barea, founder of The Rangeley Hideaway, Her Festival, and mela.yoga. I am a multicultural spiritual guide and lifelong educator with over 24 years of experience teaching embodied healing practices and creating brave spaces for transformation. I work with conscious professionals and visionaries to strengthen and upskill their capacity to tap into internal wisdom, establish space, create flow, and make decisions with greater clarity and ease.

I hold a B.A. in Biology from Columbia University, and am both a practitioner and educator of the science and philosophy of Tantric Hatha Yoga in the Sri Vidya tradition – a 5,000 year-old oral tradition of the Himalayan Sages. Always learning, I continue to study with my mentors: Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Jean Mazzei, Sherri Mitchell Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset, and always – the Natural World.

The mantras I hold express the language of Nature – sacred streams of timeless wisdom that first emerged from the Himalayan Mountains.

I published my first mantra album, Igniting Protection, in 2019, and I’ve also been featured on Thrive Global, Omnes.live, The Cosmic Business Podcast, The Himalayan Institute, and Down East Magazine. My 1000+ hours of formal training certifications include EYRT-5oo, YCEP, Yoga Sutras, Vishoka Meditation, and Relational Life Therapy.

My highest aspiration? To know and be in concert with the intelligent power of my heart. A such, I choose to live my life as if it were a grand ritual – weaving the sacred and mundane into a truly rich experience of beauty, creativity and joy.

I currently flow between the San Francisco Bay Area and Rangeley, Maine with my husband, two children and two cats. I love to stay active through dance, yoga, surfing, hiking, and paddling – always seeking grace, strength and confidence in relationship to nature.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER

FEATURED ON

Omnes.live

• Downeast Magazine

• Thrive Global

• Himalayan Institute

• Cosmic Business Podcast

• WTVU

• Omnes.live • Downeast Magazine • Thrive Global • Himalayan Institute • Cosmic Business Podcast • WTVU •

FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT ME

I am the founder of The Rangeley Hideaway. My family saw a need in the community we love – for a place to gather in warmth, kinship and light – and so began a 2-year project to envision, design and build a beautiful new building in the heart of Rangeley, Maine. We are now a thriving coffee and co-working center where you can find me with my family for part of every year.

1.

I’m a regular host and founding-facilitator of Her Festival. Launched in 2019, Her Festival is an annual spring gathering for women to reconnect to their authentic leadership and power through ritual, conversation, community and the elements.

2.

My father was a Korean immigrant and my mother is descended from some of the earliest white settlers in what is now Maine. Growing up in a multicultural family gifted me with the capacity to see, accept and love the diversity and the unity of the human experience.

3.

I am both a scientist and a creative. I enjoy engaging both halves of my brain through practices that involve beauty, precision, and creativity. My personal practice is in the ancient meditative art of crystal mala making. You can see my work here.

4.

I am married to my husband of 29 years and a proud mother to two amazing, almost-grown children. I’m preparing to enter a whole new stage of motherhood as a soon-to-be empty nester. Luckily we also have two cats.

5.

MY CORE PERSONAL VALUES

SPACE FOR BELONGING

I know what it feels like to be alone in the world – always out of the box and never within (no matter how hard I tried (#stillnotawhitegirl) to find a box) – and as a multiracial woman, what it feels like to “not belong” in one’s own community (or perhaps even any community). This inspires me to anchor spaces of belonging for others, and inspires my work in guiding and mentoring others. It allows for an experience of diversity as one that is also an experience of wholeness, as no one is left out. My capacity to hold space for belonging feels like the highest service I can offer to the world.
CONTINUOUS LEARNING

I have been a curious seeker my whole life. My father was an oceanographer; my mother a teacher; and the passion for learning was in abundance in my home. I love to see the world through a scientist’s lens – to observe, question, and analyze – and to invite possibility for wonder, “eureka” moments, and of course, mishaps and errors. I believe life is inherently more interesting when you’re in a stream of continuous learning. It’s also a more forgiving way of living your purpose.
PLAYFUL NATURE

When we tend to that pristine, playful spirit of youth, we invite a more buoyant presence to guide us through the world. My clearest and most joyful memories are steeped in the wildness of ocean and forest, where I learned to both see and interact with the joys and wonders of nature. Where I learned to play and bravely adventure alongside the elements. Where I learned to get muddy and get out of my comfort zone. This energy is my essence – what keeps me light, what keeps me grounded, what keeps me spacious and nurtured at the level of spirit.

FROM FEAR TO BELONGING

Do you believe your words have power and impact? How do you believe we, as women, are particularly impacted by societal messages of fear, competition, and scarcity?

In this Voice America episode of Women Thriving Unapologetically, Steph talks openly about lateral violence and amplifying the language of peace, painting a picture for changing our use of language - rather than using words that dehumanize, how we shift towards the language of abundance, kinship, belonging and love.

Original air date JUN 2022: FROM FEAR TO BELONGING with Steph Chee on Women Thriving Unapologetically

JOYFUL WORDS FROM PAST CLIENTS

I now have a sense of ‘enoughness’ in me that I’ve only hoped for over many years. The depth of knowledge, the language, and perfect word choice that Steph somehow always seems to find in our sessions opens me. I begin to melt into who I truly am. I feel such gratitude to have somehow been guided to Steph as a teacher.

Sue C.
Steph tends to and strengthens my connection to the highest source of wisdom that is deeply embedded in my being. Thank you, Steph, for creating this container of support that focuses on illuminating the power of my soul and spirit. I feel blessed to have you in my life!

Barbara S.
I decided early on to trust the process; to not focus on outcomes and to accept what changes occurred or insights arose. Steph’s equanimity and modeling of lifelong commitment to honoring her inner light allowed me to do just this. I now know my body - its constrictions and asymmetries. I feel more spacious and am able to let go and surrender more.

Victoria C.
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