The Somatic Lab
by PleasureFWRD
A women- and femme-centered space to come home to your body.
The Somatic Lab creates intimate group experiences in Chicago where nervous-system regulation, gentle movement, rest, relationships, connection, and pleasure become lived practices—not another wellness to-do list.
Chicago • Up to 12 Guests Per Group Session • Ages 18+
A SOFTER PLACE TO LAND
The Somatic Lab is a small, intentional space for people who want to feel safer, softer, and more present in their bodies.
Through guided somatic practices, gentle movement, reflection, meaningful conversation, and community, each experience offers a different doorway into embodiment.
Some evenings invite you to rest.
Others help you understand your nervous system, relationships, boundaries, desire, or capacity to receive.
Nothing is forced. You are always invited to listen to your body, participate at your own pace, and choose what feels supportive.
WHO THE LAB WELCOMES
The Somatic Lab is a women- and femme-centered space welcoming women, trans women, and femme-identified, femme-presenting, nonbinary, or gender-expansive adults who feel aligned with the intention of the space.
All guests must be 18 or older.
You may feel at home here if:
• You feel exhausted but still wired, even when you want to rest.
• Your body feels tense, disconnected, or frequently on high alert.
• You want accessible somatic practices without confusing jargon or performative wellness.
• You are curious about how nervous-system regulation shapes your relationships, boundaries, and desire.
• You are looking for thoughtful community without pressure to share or perform.
Upcoming Experiences
The Experience
Sometimes your body doesn't need another mindset shift.
Sometimes it just needs to move.
Somatic Shake & Release Night™ is a playful, energizing 60-minute experience designed to help you release accumulated stress, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with your body through intentional movement.
If you've been holding it all together for everyone else, this is your invitation to let go.
You may even surprise yourself with how good "weird" can feel.
You'll Experience
Shake to Regulate
Learn why shaking is one of the body's natural ways of releasing stress and restoring balance to the nervous system.
We'll explore guided shaking practices that encourage:
Nervous system regulation
Stress release
Increased energy and circulation
Emotional expression
Greater body awareness
No dance experience required.
No rhythm required.
Just a willingness to move.
Guided Somatic Sequences
Move through gentle, progressive shaking exercises combined with breathwork and low-impact movement to help your body safely discharge built-up tension.
You'll also explore:
Micro-release stretches
Grounding practices
Body awareness
Breath regulation
Gentle integration
Joyful Integration
End the evening with a playful community ritual that celebrates regulation, laughter, and connection.
This may include:
Free-form shaking
Gentle partner mirroring (optional)
Laughter prompts
Music and movement
Grounding through sight, sound, and touch
A collective deep breath to close
You'll Leave With
A simple somatic shaking practice you can use anytime
Greater awareness of how your body holds stress
Practical tools for nervous system regulation
Reduced tension and increased vitality
A renewed sense of freedom, playfulness, and self-trust
Good to Know
Length
60 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Beginner Friendly
Dress Code
Wear comfortable clothing you can move freely in.
Your body already knows how to let go.
Sometimes it just needs permission to move.
EMBODIMENT
A gentle, low-impact group experience designed to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and experience the power of practicing in community.
Through breathwork, somatic movement, shaking, stretching, and guided meditation, you'll learn simple practices that support stress reduction, emotional regulation, and greater body awareness.
No experience necessary.
Just come as you are.
You'll Experience
🌬️ Grounding & Breathwork
Slow down, settle into the present moment, and begin regulating your nervous system through intentional breathing practices.
🌿 Somatic Movement
Explore gentle, accessible movements that increase body awareness, improve mobility, and release accumulated tension.
✨ Shake & Release
Experience guided shaking techniques designed to help discharge stress, restore energy, and reconnect with your body's natural rhythms.
🧘 Stretch & Restore
Slow, mindful stretching to promote relaxation, flexibility, and a greater sense of ease throughout the body.
🌙 Guided Meditation
Close with a calming meditation to integrate the practice and leave feeling grounded, regulated, and restored.
You'll Leave With
Simple nervous system regulation tools you can use at home
Greater body awareness
Reduced stress and physical tension
Increased emotional resilience
A deeper sense of connection with yourself and your community
Good to Know
Length
60 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Dress Code
Comfortable clothing you can move in.
What to Bring
Blanket (if needed), water bottle, journal, and an open mind.
Healing doesn't always happen in isolation.
Sometimes it begins by breathing, moving, and remembering that you're not alone.
Find your way back to the present moment.
In the midst of busy schedules, constant stimulation, and everyday responsibilities, many of us spend more time thinking about life than actually experiencing it.
Breath & Presence is an experiential workshop designed to help you slow down, reconnect with your breath, and develop practical tools for grounding yourself in the present moment.
Through guided breathwork, gentle somatic movement, mindfulness practices, and nervous system education, you'll explore how your breath can become one of your greatest resources for reducing stress, increasing resilience, and cultivating greater awareness.
This experience isn't about breathing perfectly—it's about learning how your breath can support you wherever you are.
You'll Experience
• Guided breathwork practices
• Grounding exercises
• Gentle somatic movement
• Nervous system education
• Mindfulness techniques
• Reflection and journaling
• Community discussion
Perfect For
Women feeling overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected, or wanting practical tools to feel calmer, more present, and more connected to themselves.
A gentle 60-minute Somatic Lab designed to help you tune into your body's sensations, emotions, and nervous system—and begin building the skills to care for yourself with greater awareness and compassion.
Experience Flow
🌬️ 40 Minutes | Somatic Flow & Breathwork
A guided practice to help you slow down, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with your body.
Together we'll explore:
Grounding and arriving in the present moment
Breath awareness and nervous system regulation
Gentle somatic movement and stretching
Body scan
Noticing areas of tension, ease, activation, and numbness
Developing awareness without judgment
This isn't about fixing your body.
It's about learning how to listen.
✍️ 10 Minutes | Guided Somatic Journaling
Using thoughtfully designed prompts, you'll translate what you noticed in your body into words.
🌸 10 Minutes | Reflection & Integration
We'll close with a gentle group debrief to help integrate the experience.
This includes:
Optional sharing (always invitation, never expectation)
Reflection on what surprised you
Practical ways to incorporate body check-ins into daily life
One intention to carry with you into the week ahead
You'll leave feeling more grounded, more connected, and with a simple practice you can return to whenever life feels overwhelming.
You'll Carry Forward
A simple body check-in framework you can use anytime
Greater awareness of your nervous system
Increased ability to identify sensations and emotions
Journal prompts for continued self-reflection
A deeper sense of connection with yourself
The more often you check in with your body, the less you'll have to wonder what you need.
The Experience
A low-stimulation, rest-forward evening for women who are tired of being told they need to do more to feel better.
Together, we'll slow down, soften our nervous systems, and rediscover the healing power of intentional rest.
This is your invitation to pause, breathe, and simply receive.
You'll Experience
🌿 Parasympathetic Activation & Spacious Rest
Begin by gently shifting your body out of survival mode and into a state of safety through breathwork, grounding, and nervous system regulation practices.
🌾 Soft Somatic Stretch & Floor Movement
Explore gentle, accessible movement to release tension, reconnect with your body, and prepare for deep rest.
No flexibility or experience is required.
🎵 Live Sound Bath & Guided Rest
Rest comfortably as you're immersed in live sound healing and a guided meditation designed to support relaxation, restoration, and nervous system recovery.
Allow yourself to simply listen, breathe, and receive.
You'll Leave With
A calmer, more regulated nervous system
Reduced physical and emotional tension
Greater body awareness
Practical tools for creating moments of rest throughout your week
A renewed sense of calm and presence
Good to Know
Length
60 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Dress Code
Wear comfortable clothing and bring anything that helps you rest comfortably.
Recommended to Bring
Blanket
Water bottle
Journal
Rest isn't something you have to earn.
It's something your nervous system deserves.
Some of the most meaningful moments in life aren't the loudest.
They're the quiet ones.
The first sip of warm tea.
The sunlight through a window.
A deep breath.
A moment with nowhere else to be.
Tea & Stillness™ is an invitation to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and rediscover the restorative power of presence through tea, gentle somatic practices, and intentional silence.
Because stillness isn't empty.
It's where we begin to hear ourselves again.
Experience Profile
Length
60 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
You'll Experience
🍵 Tea Ritual
Begin the evening by preparing and enjoying a warm cup of tea with intention.
Rather than rushing through the moment, we'll explore the simple practice of slowing down enough to notice.
🌬 Gentle Somatic Grounding
Through breath, body awareness, and gentle movement, you'll begin settling into the present moment and inviting your nervous system into a state of ease.
🌙 Guided Stillness
Experience a period of quiet rest and guided awareness.
No expectations.
No productivity.
Simply space to be.
✍️ Reflection
Close with optional journaling and quiet reflection to notice what emerged when you gave yourself permission to slow down.
You'll Leave With
A simple tea ritual you can recreate at home
Practical tools for slowing down during busy days
A calmer nervous system
Greater presence and body awareness
A renewed appreciation for stillness
The Art of Somatic Rest™ invites us to do something many of us resist.
Slow down.
While the world encourages constant productivity, nature reminds us that rest is not the opposite of growth.
It's part of it.
The Art of Rest™ is a ritual designed to help you release the year you've been carrying, regulate your nervous system, and enter the quieter season with greater presence, softness, and intention.
Sometimes the most meaningful transformation doesn't happen through doing more.
It begins with making space.
You'll Experience
🕯 Arrival Ritual
Warm tea.
Soft candlelight.
A gentle welcome into stillness.
🌬️ Somatic Unwinding
Breathwork and restorative movement to release accumulated tension and invite your nervous system into a state of safety and rest.
🎵 Live Sound Bath
An immersive sound experience supporting deep relaxation and nervous system restoration.
✍️ Seasonal Reflection
Gentle journaling prompts to honor what you're ready to release, what sustained you this year, and what you hope to carry forward.
🌙 Closing Ritual
A quiet seasonal ceremony honoring rest, gratitude, and the wisdom of winter.
You'll Leave With
A calmer nervous system
A deeper appreciation for rest
Greater emotional spaciousness
A seasonal reflection practice
Permission to slow down without guilt
Before You Arrive
Length
60 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
Dress Code
Wear soft, comfortable clothing that allows you to fully relax. You're welcome to bring cozy layers, warm socks, or anything that helps you feel at ease.
Experience Includes
Gentle breathwork
Restorative somatic movement
Guided meditation
Nervous system education
Reflection and journaling
Personalized rest ritual guide
What to Bring
• Blanket• Journal • Water bottle
Please Note
This is a low-stimulation experience. Soft lighting, quiet music, and extended periods of stillness are intentionally incorporated to support deep relaxation. All practices are invitations and may be adapted to meet your comfort level.
Understand your nervous system. Change the way you experience stress, relationships, and everyday life.
The Philosophy
Your nervous system influences far more than stress.
It shapes how you respond to conflict.
How you experience intimacy.
How you set boundaries.
How you rest.
How you connect.
How you recover.
Many of us have spent years criticizing ourselves for being "too sensitive," "too emotional," or "too much," when in reality our bodies have simply been doing their best to protect us.
Befriend Your Nervous System™ is an introduction to understanding your body's patterns with curiosity instead of judgment.
Rather than trying to fix yourself, you'll learn to recognize the signals your nervous system sends every day—and discover practical ways to respond with greater awareness, flexibility, and self-compassion.
Because your nervous system isn't working against you.
It's working for you.
You'll Explore
🌿 What the nervous system actually does
🧠 Fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and regulation
❤️ How stress influences emotions, relationships, and behavior
🌸 Recognizing your own nervous system patterns
🌬️ Practical tools for regulation and resilience
🌱 Building a more compassionate relationship with yourself
You'll Experience
🌿 Understanding Your Inner Landscape
Learn the foundations of the autonomic nervous system and how it influences your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships.
🧠 Recognizing Your Patterns
Explore your personal signs of activation, shutdown, and regulation through guided reflection and somatic awareness practices.
🌬️ Practicing Regulation
Experience simple breathwork, grounding techniques, movement, and body awareness exercises that help your nervous system return to greater balance.
✍️ Creating Your Regulation Toolkit
Leave with a personalized collection of practices you can use during moments of stress, overwhelm, conflict, or emotional activation.
You'll Leave With
A deeper understanding of your nervous system
Greater awareness of your stress patterns
Practical regulation tools you can use daily
Increased self-compassion
A personalized Nervous System Toolkit™
Before You Arrive
Length
90 Minutes
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
Dress Code
Wear comfortable clothing that allows for gentle movement and floor-based practices if desired.
Experience Includes
Evidence-informed nervous system education
Guided somatic practices
Breathwork
Gentle movement
Reflection and journaling
Personalized Nervous System Toolkit™
What to Bring
Journal • Water bottle • Curiosity
Please Note
No previous experience with somatic practices is necessary. All exercises are invitations and can be adapted to meet your comfort level and physical abilities.
Healthy relationships aren't built in extraordinary moments. They're built through everyday choices that create trust, connection, and belonging.
Strong relationships rarely happen by accident.
They are built through countless everyday moments of curiosity, honesty, repair, appreciation, play, and intentional connection.
Relationships That Thrive is the culminating experience of the Relationships pillar, bringing together everything explored throughout the series into a practical framework for creating healthier, more connected relationships over time.
Through evidence-informed education, somatic practices, guided reflection, experiential exercises, and meaningful conversation, participants will explore the habits, mindsets, and relational practices that help relationships continue growing through life's many seasons.
Rather than searching for perfect relationships, this experience invites participants to intentionally create relationships where both people have room to learn, grow, change, and thrive.
Because thriving relationships are not built by extraordinary people.
They're built by ordinary people who continue choosing one another with curiosity, compassion, and intention.
You'll Experience
• Reflection on your relationship journey
• Identifying habits that strengthen connection
• Appreciation and gratitude practices
• Somatic connection exercises
• Visioning your healthiest relationships
• Interactive group activities
• Personal relationship roadmap
• Closing integration ritual
You'll Leave With
✔ A personal vision for the relationships you want to cultivate
✔ Daily practices that strengthen trust and connection
✔ Greater confidence navigating relationships through life's changing seasons
✔ A practical roadmap for continued relational growth
✔ A deeper understanding of what helps relationships truly thrive
Perfect For
Women who want to intentionally cultivate healthier relationships with partners, family, friends, colleagues, and themselves while continuing to grow throughout every season of life.
RELATIONSHIPS
Understanding how you show up in relationships begins with understanding yourself.
Every relationship tells a story—but before we can understand our relationships with others, we first need to understand the patterns we bring into them.
Relationship Patterns is an experiential workshop designed to help you explore the ways your past experiences, beliefs, nervous system, communication style, and relationship habits influence the way you connect with others.
Rather than focusing on blame or fixing relationships, this experience invites curiosity.
Together, we'll explore why certain interactions feel effortless while others leave us feeling misunderstood, disconnected, or emotionally drained. Through evidence-informed education, somatic practices, guided reflection, and meaningful conversation, you'll begin recognizing the relational patterns that shape your everyday life.
Whether you're single, dating, partnered, married, navigating family relationships, or simply wanting healthier connections, this experience offers practical tools for building greater awareness, emotional intelligence, and authentic connection.
You'll Experience
• Guided somatic awareness practices
• Reflection on relationship patterns
• Introduction to attachment and nervous system responses
• Interactive learning activities
• Journaling prompts
• Small group discussion
• Practical relationship tools
• A personal reflection practice to continue at home
You'll Leave With
✔ Greater awareness of your relationship patterns
✔ A deeper understanding of how your experiences shape connection
✔ Practical tools for developing healthier relationships
✔ Reflection prompts for continued learning
✔ Greater compassion for yourself and others
Perfect For
Women who want to better understand themselves in relationships, improve communication, develop healthier connections, and build more intentional relationships in every area of life.
Trust isn't built through grand gestures.
It's built in ordinary moments.
Keeping your word.
Repairing after conflict.
Being emotionally available.
Respecting boundaries.
Following through.
Showing up consistently.
Over time, these moments become the foundation of secure, connected relationships.
Cultivating Trust™ is an experiential workshop exploring the habits, conversations, and relational skills that help trust grow—and what to do when it's been damaged.
Because trust isn't simply found.
It's cultivated.
You'll Explore
🌱 What trust is—and what it isn't
🤝 The small moments that build trust over time
🧠 The role of the nervous system in feeling safe with others
💬 Honesty, transparency, and consistency
❤️ Repairing trust after disappointment or conflict
🌿 Rebuilding self-trust and trusting others again
You'll Leave With
A deeper understanding of how trust is created
Practical ways to strengthen trust in your relationships
Tools for rebuilding trust after rupture
Greater confidence in communicating with honesty and consistency
A clearer understanding of how self-trust influences every relationship
Healthy boundaries aren't walls—they're one of the clearest expressions of self-respect.
Many of us were taught that saying "yes" makes us kind, helpful, or loving.
But over time, constantly putting others before ourselves can lead to exhaustion, resentment, and disconnection from what truly matters.
Healthy boundaries are not about pushing people away.
They're about creating relationships where honesty, respect, and care can grow.
Boundaries & Self-Respect is an experiential workshop that helps women understand boundaries as an act of self-awareness rather than self-protection alone.
Through evidence-informed education, somatic practices, guided reflection, and interactive exercises, participants will explore how boundaries reflect our values, needs, energy, and capacity—not our worth.
Together, we'll examine why boundaries can feel uncomfortable, how guilt often appears when we begin changing old patterns, and how to communicate limits with confidence, compassion, and clarity.
Because boundaries are not about controlling other people.
They are about honoring yourself while remaining connected to others.
You'll Experience
• Somatic awareness practices
• Personal boundary assessment
• Identifying where resentment begins
• Exploring values, needs, and capacity
• Boundary communication practice
• Interactive partner exercises
• Guided journaling
• Home integration practice
You'll Leave With
✔ Greater clarity about your personal boundaries
✔ A deeper understanding of why boundaries can feel difficult
✔ Practical language for communicating boundaries
✔ Increased confidence navigating guilt
✔ Greater self-respect and relational confidence
Perfect For
Women who struggle saying no, often overextend themselves, feel guilty prioritizing their own needs, or want to create healthier relationships rooted in honesty, respect, and mutual care.
Pleasure isn't something you earn. It's something you learn to notice. Rediscover pleasure as a daily practice by learning to notice what brings you alive in ordinary moments.
When was the last time you experienced pleasure without feeling like you had to earn it?
For many women, pleasure has become something reserved for vacations, special occasions, or the rare moments when everything else has been taken care of.
Work comes first.
Family comes first.
Responsibilities come first.
Somewhere along the way, many women stop asking one simple question:
What brings me alive?
The Pleasure Practice is an experiential workshop that invites you to redefine pleasure—not as indulgence or escape, but as an essential part of living well.
Rather than focusing solely on sexuality, this experience explores pleasure in its many forms: the warmth of the sun on your skin, meaningful conversation, nourishing food, music that moves you, creative expression, restful moments, laughter, beauty, movement, intimacy, wonder, and yes, sexuality.
Through evidence-informed education, somatic practices, guided reflection, experiential activities, and community conversation, you'll begin noticing how pleasure supports emotional wellbeing, resilience, connection, and overall quality of life.
Together, we'll challenge the belief that pleasure must be earned and explore what becomes possible when we intentionally create more moments that nourish us.
Because pleasure isn't a luxury.
It's part of being fully alive.
You'll Experience
• Guided somatic awareness practices
• The PleasureFWRD Blueprint
• Sensory exploration exercises
• Reflection and journaling
• Group discussion
• Guided movement
• Identifying personal pleasure barriers
• Designing your own daily pleasure practice
You'll Leave With
✔ A broader understanding of what pleasure truly means
✔ Greater awareness of the moments that bring you alive
✔ Practical ways to incorporate pleasure into everyday life
✔ A personalized Pleasure Portfolio™
✔ Permission to prioritize joy without guilt
✔ A simple daily pleasure practice
Perfect For
Women who feel disconnected from joy, overwhelmed by responsibilities, curious about living more intentionally, or who want to reconnect with pleasure in everyday life—not just during special occasions.
No previous experience is necessary.
PLEASURE
The Experience
Awareness • Ritual • Lasting Self-Care
A guided somatic experience designed to help you reconnect with your body's natural capacity for pleasure, identify areas holding physical and emotional stress, and create a personalized ritual that supports nervous system regulation and deeper self-connection.
Rather than searching for more, you'll learn how to experience more by slowing down and listening to your body.
🌿 Guided Body Scan & Somatic Pleasure Mapping
Using breath, body awareness, and gentle somatic practices, you'll explore your body's unique landscape of sensations.
Together we'll identify areas of:
Ease and openness
Physical tension
Emotional holding
Stress patterns
Safety and regulation
Pleasure, comfort, and vitality
🌸 Design Your Personal Somatic Ritual
Co-create a simple, sustainable daily ritual that helps translate your somatic practice into everyday life.
Your ritual may include:
Breathwork
Gentle movement
Self-touch (non-sexual and grounding)
Sensory practices
Mindfulness
Journaling
Rest
Intention setting
The goal isn't perfection.
It's consistency.
You'll Leave With
A personalized Somatic Ritual tailored to your needs
Greater awareness of your body's stress and pleasure patterns
Practical tools for nervous system regulation
A deeper connection to your body and emotions
A sustainable practice to support everyday well-being and a more connected intimate life
By the end of this session, you'll leave with a personalized somatic ritual designed to support your nervous system, deepen your relationship with your body, and nurture a more connected intimate life.
Pleasure begins with presence.
The more connected you become to your body, the more available you become for intimacy, joy, and authentic connection.
Question the stories you've inherited about pleasure, worthiness, desire, and what you're "allowed" to want.
Explore the beliefs you've inherited about pleasure, desire, femininity, success, and worth—and consciously decide which ones still belong in your life.
Long before we began making our own choices, many of us inherited ideas about who we should be.
Be nice.
Don't ask for too much.
Take care of everyone else first.
Don't be selfish.
Work hard before you rest.
Good girls don't...
Women your age shouldn't...
Mothers are supposed to...
Partners should...
Over time, these messages can quietly shape the way we experience pleasure, relationships, rest, ambition, sexuality, our bodies, and even our sense of identity.
Who Told You That? is an experiential workshop designed to help women gently examine the beliefs they've inherited—and intentionally choose which ones they want to carry forward.
Through somatic practices, guided reflection, experiential learning, journaling, movement, and evidence-informed education, participants will explore the stories that have influenced their relationship with pleasure, self-worth, femininity, desire, productivity, and belonging.
This workshop isn't about rejecting everything you've been taught.
It's about becoming conscious enough to decide what truly aligns with the woman you are today.
Because freedom doesn't begin when someone gives us permission.
It begins when we realize we can choose.
You'll Experience
• Somatic awareness practices
• Identifying inherited beliefs
• Family, culture, and societal message mapping
• Reflection and journaling
• Group discussion
• Values clarification exercises
• Guided visualization
• Personal liberation practice
You'll Leave With
✔ Greater awareness of inherited beliefs
✔ Practical tools for questioning limiting narratives
✔ Increased confidence making values-based choices
✔ Greater self-trust
✔ A clearer understanding of the life you want to create
Perfect For
Women navigating identity shifts, questioning old expectations, reconnecting with themselves, exploring pleasure without shame, or wanting to intentionally redefine success, femininity, relationships, and wellbeing on their own terms.
Discover how expanding your capacity to receive joy, pleasure, and goodness can transform the way you experience everyday life.
Have you ever noticed how quickly you move past the good moments?
You finish a project and immediately think about the next one.
Someone gives you a compliment and you brush it off.
You finally have time to rest—but instead you feel guilty.
You experience a beautiful moment, yet part of you is already worrying about what comes next.
For many women, the challenge isn't that pleasure is unavailable.
It's that fully receiving it feels unfamiliar.
Letting It Be Good is an experiential workshop that explores one of the most overlooked aspects of wellbeing: our capacity to stay present with joy, beauty, connection, and goodness without rushing past them, minimizing them, or feeling like we have to earn them.
Through evidence-informed education, somatic practices, guided reflection, experiential exercises, and meaningful conversation, you'll begin recognizing the patterns that interrupt pleasure and discover practical ways to remain present with the moments that nourish you.
This experience isn't about creating a perfect life.
It's about learning to fully experience the life that is already unfolding around you.
Because sometimes the greatest act of self-care is simply allowing a beautiful moment to be enough.
You'll Experience
• Somatic practices for receiving pleasant experiences
• Guided mindfulness and sensory awareness
• Reflection on guilt, productivity, and worthiness
• Interactive partner exercises
• The neuroscience of savoring and positive emotion
• Journaling prompts
• Group discussion
• Daily pleasure integration practices
You'll Leave With
✔ Greater awareness of what interrupts your enjoyment
✔ Practical tools for savoring meaningful moments
✔ Increased comfort receiving joy without guilt
✔ A deeper understanding of your relationship with pleasure
✔ Daily practices for expanding your capacity to experience goodness
Perfect For
Women who struggle slowing down, feel guilty resting, move quickly from one achievement to the next, or want to experience greater joy, presence, and appreciation in everyday life.
Rediscover the quiet confidence and authentic sensuality that emerge when you feel at home in your body.
The Philosophy
Confidence isn't something you put on.
It's something you embody.
And sensuality isn't about performing for someone else.
It's about experiencing yourself more fully.
Many women enter midlife carrying years of expectations about how they should look, move, age, and express themselves.
Some feel disconnected from their bodies.
Others feel invisible.
Some simply no longer recognize the woman looking back at them.
But confidence doesn't disappear with age.
It evolves.
Cultivating Confidence & Sensuality™ is an invitation to reconnect with your body, your presence, your sensuality, and the quiet magnetism that comes from feeling deeply at home in yourself.
Because the most attractive quality isn't perfection.
It's authenticity.
You'll Explore
✨ Embodied confidence
🌿 Sensuality beyond sexuality
❤️ Body trust and self-image
💃 Movement and authentic expression
🌸 Style, presence, and self-perception
🌞 Living with greater confidence and vitality
You'll Experience
🌿 Coming Home to Your Body
Through gentle somatic practices, reconnect with your body as a place of wisdom, strength, and pleasure.
💃 Rediscovering Sensuality
Explore sensuality as a way of moving through the world with presence, curiosity, confidence, and self-expression.
🪞 Rewriting the Story
Identify limiting beliefs you've carried about aging, beauty, confidence, and desirability—and begin replacing them with more supportive narratives.
✍️ Embodying Your Next Chapter
Leave with practical rituals that help you continue cultivating confidence and sensuality in your daily life.
You'll Leave With
Greater confidence in your changing body
A deeper connection to your authentic sensuality
Practical rituals for self-expression and embodiment
Increased body trust
A renewed appreciation for this season of life
Before You Arrive
Length
3 Hours
Designed For
Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
Dress Code
Wear something that makes you feel comfortable, beautiful, and authentically yourself.
There is no expectation to dress up—only an invitation to feel at home in your own skin.
Experience Includes
Somatic embodiment practices
Guided movement
Reflection and journaling
Body image exploration
Practical confidence rituals
Personal integration workbook
What to Bring
Journal • Water bottle • Curiosity
Please Note
This experience celebrates confidence and sensuality as expressions of self-connection. There is no nudity or sexual activity.
Receiving isn't selfish. It's a skill—and one that transforms the way we experience love, support, pleasure, and connection.
Many of us have learned how to give.
We care for others.
We solve problems.
We anticipate needs.
We work hard.
We stay busy.
But when someone offers us a compliment...
Help...
Rest...
Support...
Love...
Or pleasure...
We often pull away.
We minimize.
We apologize.
We insist, "I'm fine."
Receiving isn't passive.
It's a skill.
One that asks us to soften our defenses, quiet our inner critic, and trust that we don't always have to earn what nourishes us.
The Art of Receiving™ is an experiential somatic workshop exploring what happens in your body when you receive—and how expanding your capacity to receive can transform your relationships, well-being, and everyday life.
Because receiving isn't weakness.
It's openness.
Experience Profile
Length
90 Minutes
Designed For: Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
You'll Explore
🌿 Why receiving can feel uncomfortable
❤️ The nervous system's role in receiving
✨ Receiving without guilt or obligation
🌸 Compliments, care, support, affection, and appreciation
🤲 The balance between giving and receiving
🌞 Expanding your capacity for connection
You'll Experience
🌿 Understanding Your Receiving Patterns
Explore the beliefs, family messages, and nervous system responses that shape how you receive care, support, appreciation, affection, and generosity.
🤲 Receiving in the Body
Through gentle somatic practices, notice how your body responds when receiving attention, kindness, stillness, encouragement, or support.
❤️ Practicing Openness
Experiment with simple exercises that invite you to receive without immediately giving back, fixing, apologizing, or minimizing.
✍️ Creating a Receiving Practice
Develop practical rituals that help you welcome support, appreciation, pleasure, and connection with greater ease in everyday life.
You'll Leave With
Greater awareness of your relationship with receiving
Practical tools for expanding your capacity to receive
Increased self-compassion
Greater comfort accepting support and appreciation
A personalized daily receiving practice
What if feeling good wasn't something you had to earn?
Many of us were taught to believe that productivity comes before rest.
That caring for others comes before caring for ourselves.
That pleasure is indulgent.
That slowing down is lazy.
That we have to earn joy.
Over time, these messages become more than beliefs.
They become patterns in our nervous system.
Patterns that make it difficult to receive, rest, celebrate, play, or simply enjoy being alive.
Permission to Feel Good™ is an invitation to gently explore the beliefs, stories, and nervous system patterns that may be limiting your capacity for pleasure, rest, joy, and fulfillment.
Not by forcing positivity.
But by learning to recognize what already feels supportive—and giving yourself permission to experience more of it.
Because feeling good isn't a reward.
It's part of being human.
You'll Explore
✨ Why feeling good can feel uncomfortable
🧠 The nervous system and receiving pleasure
🌿 Guilt, productivity, and self-worth
❤️ Receiving without needing to earn it
🌸 Everyday joy and sustainable well-being
🪴 Creating new patterns of permission
You'll Experience
🌿 Understanding Your Patterns
Explore the beliefs, family messages, cultural influences, and nervous system responses that shape your relationship with rest, joy, pleasure, and self-care.
❤️ Expanding Your Capacity to Receive
Through guided somatic practices, notice what happens in your body when you experience support, appreciation, ease, or pleasure.
✨ Practicing Permission
Experiment with small moments of receiving, slowing down, and allowing yourself to simply enjoy the present moment—without needing to justify it.
✍️ Creating Your Permission Practice
Design a personal ritual that helps you notice and gently challenge old patterns while cultivating more joy, rest, and fulfillment in everyday life.
You'll Leave With
Greater awareness of limiting beliefs around pleasure and rest
Practical tools for supporting nervous system regulation
A deeper capacity to receive joy and support
Personalized daily practices that encourage self-permission
A more compassionate relationship with yourself
Before You Arrive
Price
$75
Length
90 Minutes
Designed For: Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
Dress Code
Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to relax and move comfortably.
Experience Includes
Evidence-informed education
Somatic awareness practices
Guided reflection and journaling
Breathwork
Gentle movement
Partner and individual reflection exercises
Personalized Permission Practice guide
What to Bring
Journal • Water bottle • Curiosity
Please Note
This experience is designed to support self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and embodied well-being. Participation is always voluntary, and all practices can be adapted to your comfort level.
Slow down. Notice more. Rediscover the extraordinary in the ordinary.
The Philosophy
Most of us move through life on autopilot.
We rush through meals without tasting them.
We listen without truly hearing.
We touch without fully feeling.
We become so busy thinking that we stop noticing what our bodies are experiencing.
Yet our senses are one of the most direct pathways back to presence.
Awakening the Senses™ is a guided somatic experience that invites you to slow down and reconnect with the five senses through curiosity, movement, breath, texture, sound, scent, taste, and touch.
Not to escape everyday life.
But to experience it more fully.
Because when we awaken our senses, we often awaken ourselves.
You'll Explore
🌸 The relationship between the nervous system and sensory awareness
👃 Scent as a pathway to memory and presence
👂 Deep listening and sound awareness
🖐️ Texture, temperature, and mindful touch
👁️ Seeing beauty with fresh attention
🍊 Taste and mindful nourishment
🌿 Everyday rituals that awaken your senses
You'll Experience
🌿 Arriving in the Body
Begin with grounding breathwork and gentle somatic movement to transition from thinking into sensing.
👁️ A Sensory Journey
Move through a series of guided sensory invitations exploring sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste with curiosity and presence.
🌸 Expanding Awareness
Notice how different sensory experiences influence your nervous system, emotions, memories, and sense of connection.
✍️ Integration & Reflection
Close the experience with guided journaling and create simple daily rituals that invite more presence, pleasure, and sensory awareness into everyday life.
You'll Leave With
A deeper connection to your body
Greater sensory awareness
Practical tools for slowing down
Personalized sensory rituals
A renewed appreciation for everyday moments
Greater capacity for presence and pleasure
Before You Arrive
Length
90 Minutes
Designed For: Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Experience Level
Open to All
Dress Code
Comfortable clothing that allows for gentle movement.
Experience Includes
Guided somatic practices
Sensory exploration
Breathwork
Gentle movement
Reflection and journaling
Seasonal sensory tasting
Aromatic exploration
Curated take-home sensory ritual guide
What to Bring
Journal • Water bottle • Curiosity
Please Note
This experience may include essential oils, herbal teas, fresh herbs, fruit, chocolate, citrus, flowers, natural textures, music, and other sensory elements. Alternative options are available for participants with allergies or sensitivities.
Every relationship experiences conflict.
The difference isn't whether conflict happens.
It's what happens next.
Some couples shut down.
Some become defensive.
Some pursue while the other withdraws.
Some repeat the same argument for years without understanding what's happening underneath it.
Conflict Without Disconnection™ is an experiential workshop designed to help you recognize your conflict patterns, regulate your nervous system during moments of activation, and practice staying connected—even when you disagree.
Because healthy relationships aren't built by avoiding conflict.
They're built by learning how to repair it.
You'll Explore
❤️ Your conflict style
🌿 Nervous system activation during conflict
🗣️ Listening without defensiveness
💛 Repair after rupture
🤝 Boundaries during disagreement
✨ Staying connected while honoring differences
You'll Leave With
A deeper understanding of your conflict patterns
Tools to regulate during difficult conversations
Practical repair strategies
Greater confidence navigating disagreement
A stronger foundation for lasting connection
Designed Women and femme-aligned adults, ages 18+
Some of the most important conversations we'll ever have are also the ones we avoid.
The conversation about our needs.
The apology we've been postponing.
The boundary we're afraid to set.
The truth we've been holding back.
The fear isn't usually the conversation itself.
It's what we imagine might happen because of it.
Brave Conversations™ is an experiential workshop designed to help you communicate with greater honesty, clarity, and compassion—without losing connection to yourself or the people you care about.
Because courage isn't speaking without fear.
It's speaking with care, even when fear is present.
You'll Explore
🗣️ Preparing for difficult conversations
💛 Speaking with honesty and kindness
👂 Listening without becoming defensive
🌿 Regulating your nervous system during conflict
🚪 Boundaries and clear requests
❤️ Repairing after hard conversations
You'll Leave With
Greater confidence having meaningful conversations
Practical communication tools
Increased emotional regulation
More clarity around your needs and boundaries
A deeper capacity for honest connection
Your Questions, Answered
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The Somatic Lab is a women- and femme-centered series of intimate group experiences by PleasureFWRD in Chicago.
Through nervous-system education, gentle movement, breathwork, shaking, reflection, rest, and meaningful conversation, the Lab offers practical ways to deepen body awareness and explore how embodiment shapes your boundaries, desire, relationships, and connection with yourself.
Each experience welcomes up to 12 guests, allowing the space to remain personal, grounded, and supportive. No previous experience, fitness level, or flexibility is required. Every practice is an invitation, and you are always encouraged to participate at your body’s pace.
The Somatic Lab can be a complete practice on its own or a gentle doorway into more personalized support through PleasureFWRD.
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The Somatic Lab is a women- and femme-centered space welcoming women, trans women, and femme-identified, femme-presenting, nonbinary, and gender-expansive adults who feel aligned with the intention of the space. All guests must be 18 or older.
You may feel at home here if:
You feel exhausted but still wired, even when you want to rest.
Your body feels tense, disconnected, numb, or frequently on alert.
You want accessible somatic practices without confusing jargon or performative wellness.
You’re curious about how nervous-system regulation shapes your boundaries, desire, relationships, and connection with yourself.
You want thoughtful community without pressure to share or perform.
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Each experience is different, but may include:
Grounding and nervous-system education
Guided breathwork and body awareness
Gentle somatic movement, stretching, or shaking
Rest, meditation, and sensory practices
Reflection and journaling
Meaningful conversation and community connection
No previous experience, fitness level, or flexibility is required. There is no pressure to perform, share personal information, or participate in every practice. Everything is offered as an invitation, and you are encouraged to listen to your body, make adjustments, and move at your own pace.
Ready to go deeper?
The Somatic Lab can be a complete practice on its own or a gentle doorway into more personalized support.
If something opens during an experience and you feel ready to explore it privately, PleasureFWRD offers:
• Private somatic intimacy and relationship coaching for women
• Couples intimacy and relationship coaching
• The Midlife Collection for perimenopause, menopause, and what comes next
• Private rituals and bespoke experiences
What People Are Saying
“After one Somatic Lab evening, my whole system felt different—like someone turned the volume down on my anxiety and turned the volume up on my body. The movements were so gentle but somehow went deep. I left feeling softer, grounded, and actually rested… without having to ‘perform’ anything.”
— L., 34, Chicago
“I’ve done years of talk therapy, but my first somatic intimacy session with Mayra showed me things my mind could never touch. We went slowly, tracked my body, and by the end I felt a sense of safety and warmth in my chest that I honestly didn’t know was possible. It’s changing how I set boundaries and how I show up in my relationships.”
— M., 39, Chicago
“Working with Mayra felt like a deep homecoming to my body. I came in feeling numb and disconnected, especially from my desire, and through gentle somatic practices she helped me reconnect with sensations I didn’t even know I was missing. I feel softer, safer, and more present in my body now—like I finally have a body that can say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ with clarity instead of chaos.”
— K., 31, Chicago