Have you ever danced your way through the darkest moment of your life — and discovered it was the only thing that actually worked?
In this episode of Scotland's Women, we sit down with Jeanique, a body-led mentor who uses intuitive dance, breathwork, and somatic movement to help women reconnect with themselves and take up space — on the dance floor and in life.
Jeanique grew up on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, where dance was never just entertainment — it was a way of living. After moving to Scotland in 2017, she began to notice how disconnected many women were from their own bodies, and how much shame surrounded something as natural as movement. In this deeply honest conversation, Jeanique opens up about a lifetime of masking — suppressing her vibrant, passionate self to fit into workplaces and spaces that weren't built for the way her brain works. She shares the toll it took, including severe burnout, and the slow, powerful process of unmasking and coming home to herself.
She also talks about one of the most painful chapters of her life — losing her mother and her sister back to back — and how dance became her way of processing grief when nothing else could move the cloud of sadness. It wasn't easy, and not everyone understood it, but she chose to honour the women she lost by keeping moving.
What started as a pattern of women surrounding her on a dance floor asking "how are you so free without a drink?" became the seed of something bigger — her own workshops, described as embodiment spaces, where women learn to connect with their bodies, alchemise their emotions, and own their existence without judgment or mirrors. This episode is for any woman who has ever made herself smaller to make others comfortable, who has grieved without knowing how, or who has stood at the edge of a dance floor wondering if she's allowed to take up space. Spoiler: she is.
connect with Jeanique at @rootedwithjeanique — follow her for more embodiment practices and to find out about upcoming workshops.
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