Ballet culture, perfectionism, and eating disorders

In this powerful and deeply embodied conversation, I sit down with Juliana Allen - somatic experiencing practitioner, trauma-informed guide, and founder of Reclaim with Juliana - to explore nervous system regulation, reclaiming your body, and increasing your capacity to live from truth instead of obligation.

Juliana shares her journey of overriding her body for decades - through dance culture, perfectionism, an eating disorder, and even heteronormative expectations - before finally learning how to listen inward. Her story of coming out later in life during the pandemic is a powerful reminder that we don't know what we don't know - until we slow down enough to feel.

This episode is about unlearning, grounding, increasing nervous system capacity, and reclaiming your fire in a way that doesn't burn you.

Juliana will also be kicking off our 2026 Speaker Series inside the Embracing Intensity Community, where she'll go deeper into nervous system regulation and capacity building. I'm still welcoming feedback on the 2026 lineup - so reach out if you have requests!

About Juliana Allen

Juliana Allen (she/her) is a somatic experiencing practitioner in advanced training who specializes in nervous system regulation and trauma healing through the body. Through her work at Reclaim with Juliana, she helps women reconnect with their bodies, increase emotional capacity, and stop overriding their inner truth.

Her work is grounded in lived experience - including recovery from a long-term eating disorder, coming out as a lesbian in her mid-30s, and dismantling perfectionistic conditioning rooted in ballet culture. She brings depth, honesty, and fierce compassion to the healing process.

You can find her at:

• Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana

• Website: reclaimwithjuliana.com

In This Episode:

• How overriding the body begins early - through school structure, dance culture, and social conditioning

• The connection between perfectionism, eating disorders, and nervous system dysregulation

• What it was like to come out later in life during the pandemic

• Why many of us were never taught to know what we actually want

• The role of somatic experiencing in trauma healing

• Why nervous system capacity determines how much we can hold - emotionally and relationally

• The difference between artificial regulation (like forcing calm) and true embodied regulation

• Why grounding is essential for fiery, "windy," or ADHD-leaning personalities

• How intensity becomes a gift once we learn how to stay with it

• Increasing your capacity so you can better serve others - and expand impact outward

Key Themes Reclaiming the Body

Juliana speaks candidly about years of overriding hunger cues, emotions, sexuality, and discomfort - and how learning to "stay with" sensations changed everything.

Nervous System Capacity

The more regulated your nervous system, the more you can hold - for yourself and for others. Capacity expands impact.

Intensity Isn't the Problem

Intensity feels overwhelming when we don't know how to be with it. But when grounded and embodied, it becomes power.

Grounding as a Daily Practice

Especially for those who feel "airy," fiery, or scattered - grounding practices and anchors are essential.

"The more work I do personally, the more my capacity increases. The more my capacity increases, the more I'm able to hold with other people. And then the more their capacity increases, the more they are able to do their work in the world. And it just expands."

Resources & Links

• Reclaim with Juliana: https://www.reclaimwithjuliana.com

• Instagram: @reclaimwithjuliana

• Join the Embracing Intensity Community: embracingintensity.com/community

• Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook: embracingintensity.com

If this episode resonated, consider sharing it with someone who's learning to trust their body again.

And if nervous system regulation is something you've wanted to understand more deeply, join us in 2026 when Juliana returns to speak live inside the community.

Intensity doesn't have to be overwhelming. With capacity, it becomes expansive.