Intuitive Movement To Stop Playing Small

Do you ever feel like you’re dimming your light just to keep the peace?

Maybe you:

• Say yes when your whole body is screaming no
• Play “chill” or “low maintenance” because you’re afraid of rejection or abandonment
• Put everyone else’s needs first, then feel resentful and exhausted
• Love to dream big… but when it’s time to act, you freeze, fawn, or disappear

On the outside, it looks like you’re doing fine. On the inside, you feel like you’re constantly shrinking to fit everyone else’s comfort level.

This one-off Intuitive Movement to Stop Playing Small session is a 90-minute somatic experience designed to help you:

• Notice where your body is still bracing, shrinking, or making itself smaller
• Gently unwind people-pleasing and “good girl/good kid” patterns held in your nervous system
• Practice taking up more space—physically, emotionally, energetically—through movement
• Feel lighter, bolder, and more connected to your real, unedited Self

We’ll use breath, grounding, music, and intuitive movement (no choreography) to explore what it feels like to expand instead of shrink.

This is part gentle workout, part nervous-system reset, part movement-based self-therapy. You may sweat a little, you may cry a little, you may laugh a lot.

Nope. 🙅‍♀️

This is not a dance performance class. No mirrors, no choreography, no “right way” to move. If you can breathe, sway, or wiggle awkwardly to a song you like, you are qualified.

You’ll be guided with invitations like:

• “What would it look like to take up 10% more space?”
• “What does your ‘no’ feel like in your body?”
• “How does your body move when you’re not trying to be liked?”

You choose what feels right. Small, slow movements are just as welcome as big, expressive ones.

From a science perspective, this is somatic embodiment work that supports your:

• Nervous system regulation: Gentle movement + breath help shift you out of chronic fight/flight/fawn and into more grounded states.
• Interoception: You’ll practice tuning into internal sensations (tight chest, clenched jaw, butterflies in the stomach) so you can recognise your needs earlier.
• Implicit pattern change: Many “playing small” behaviours are stored as body-based habits, not conscious thoughts. Moving differently in a safe space gives your brain + body new options and pathways.

In plain language:

We’re teaching your body that it’s safe to be more you.

1. Arrival & intention

2. Somatic warm-up

3. Intuitive movement journey

Guided free movement with music as we explore:

• Saying “no” and “yes” with your body
• Taking up more space physically
• Moving from fear/fawn into a more empowered energy

You’ll never be forced to do anything. Every invitation is optional.

4. Integration & reflection

We’ll end with stillness, a few minutes to journal, and an optional share:

You’ll leave feeling lighter, clearer, and more in your power.

This is for you if you:

• Identify as a people-pleaser, perfectionist, or recovering “good girl/good boy”
• Are afraid of conflict, rejection, or abandonment and often shrink your needs
• Know you’re meant for more, but your body still freezes or fawns when it’s time to be seen
• Are tired of talking about your patterns and want to feel a shift in your body

All genders, bodies, and backgrounds are welcome. This is a consent-based, trauma-aware space.

• Comfortable clothes you can move in (leggings, sweats, etc.)
• Water bottle
• Journal + pen for reflection
• Optional: warm layer/socks for closing relaxation

Hi, I’m Ari 👋

I’m a lifelong dancer, somatics nerd, and recovering overthinker who used to shrink myself in every room. On paper, I’m a Registered Dietitian with a MSc in Nutrition (McGill), a yoga teacher, and I hold a Master’s in Psychology & Spirituality from Columbia University’s Spirit Mind Body Institute. Along the way, I've also received training from world leaders in different therapeutic modalities including NLP, ACT, CBT-E, Body Image Work, Embodiement Coaching, and reiki.

In real life, I’m obsessed with how movement, nervous system work, and soul science help us stop abandoning ourselves and start living as who we really are.

I created this session as a playful, powerful lab where you can practice taking up space in a safe, trauma-aware, non-judgmental environment—so it becomes a little easier to do the same in your relationships, work, and everyday life.

• This is a therapeutic, educational practice, but it is not psychotherapy or a substitute for medical/mental health care.
• You’re always in choice about how much you move or share.
• No prior dance or “somatic” experience needed—just you, as you are.

Come play, dance, release, and expand!

Hope to see you there :)

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Ariana Rodriguez