In-MOTION with Michelle - new

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In-MOTION with Michelle - new

BALLET TEACHER / INTEGRATIVE MOVEMENT PRACTITIONER

Ballet for children & adults.

Somatic sessions for embodied well-being & nervous system nurture through movement & breath

Creating spaces that are supportive, welcoming, & rooted in care. Whether through classical ballet or somatic movement, my intention is the same: to explore all the ways movement brings joy, connection, restoration, and nourishment to our whole being—body, mind, heart, and soul.

25/03/2026

We often name the science - endorphins, fascia, the nervous system, dopamine, muscle memory, neuroplasticity, alignment - and all of that matters.
The science is real, and it gives us language for what is happening in the body.

But sometimes it is also a little simpler than that...

☘️Moving your body to music...
☘️Expanding through space...
☘️Balancing in a retiré...
☘️Remembering choreography...
☘️Coordinating arms and legs and breath in beautiful ways...
☘️Finding rhythm...
☘️Sensing timing...
☘️Adjusting, refining, trying again...
This all touches and nourishes something deeper within us.

We begin to sense a shift.
A movement.
A quiet journey - from the mind into the body, into the here and now, and into presence.

And perhaps this is the part we forget:

✨️Movement is not something extra we add when we have time. It is part of how we feel fully alive.✨️

In a culture so focused on longevity and ageing well, we sometimes overlook the simplest things.
Eat well - but don't forget the treats too. 😉
Sleep enough.
Spend time in nature.
Laugh often.
Move and dance more - not perfectly, not dramatically, just consistently.
And perhaps, with a little more awareness… and a touch of grace. 🩰

17/03/2026

Most of us were taught that we take ballet class to get better at ballet.

To refine technique.
To perfect the steps.
To impress the teacher.
To keep up.
To become the “good” student.
To chase the elusive standard of 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓...

But the real reason we return to class - whether as older teenagers or adults - is often much deeper.

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭.

It’s a chance to regulate the nervous system through movement, breath, and rhythm.
A space to reconnect with yourself and with others who share the language of movement.

A moment to step away from the noise of the outside world and remember the human being you are beneath it all.

Yes, we grow in strength, technique, skill, coordination, balance, musicality, and discipline.

But more than anything class brings us 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

✨️Back to sensation.
✨️Back to feeling.
✨️Back to breath and expression.

✨️Back to the simple, experiential knowing of what it feels like to be alive in a body.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫.
It is about 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠.

12/03/2026

The practice of ballet refines
𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - our 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 - in ways that few things can. Not even taking a walk can match the deep layers of proprioception ballet guides us into.

(Side note: And this comes from the queen of taking walks 😁 - I 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 a good walk.)

But 𝐰𝐡𝐲 is this awareness important?

✨️ Because it shapes coordination, grace, and control.

✨️ It helps us orient ourselves in our own bodies - how we stand, move, balance, and relate to the space around us.

✨️ And over time, it helps restore and rebuild something many of us lose - 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Especially when that trust has been disrupted by injury, giving birth, (peri)menopause, stress, trauma, long periods of illness, or simply time away from movement.

In my own life, ballet helps me realign my posture, encourages my shoulders to soften back, and invites my body to move with the music. And somehow, through these small shifts, I feel myself returning home.

Remembering that 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 -
a sensing, breathing, feeling body.

Life is not only something we understand with the mind.
It is something we 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕 - 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.

And practices like ballet quietly refine that awareness again -
helping us find our place in space, and in ourselves.

Sometimes the way back to ourselves begins with simply remembering where we are in space.

10/03/2026

✨ Curious about your nervous system?

Have you ever wondered why your body shifts between feeling calm, overwhelmed, energized, or shut down - sometimes without you fully understanding why?

In this upcoming workshop, we’ll gently explore the different states of the nervous system, how they influence our daily lives, and simple, practical ways to support greater balance, resilience, and wellbeing.

I’ll be co-hosting this with my lovely colleagues, and we’re really looking forward to creating a warm, supportive space where we can learn, reflect, and explore together.

There will also be a delicious lunch 😉 and plenty of meaningful insights along the way.

If this sparks your curiosity, you’re very welcome to join us. And if you know someone who might benefit, please feel free to share this with them.

✨ More details in the flyer below.

06/03/2026

BREATH at DUSK: A Practice of Rest 💫

I’m inviting you into a 90-minute mini breath experience - a quiet step away from the noise and demands of daily life;
a small invitation to pause, to exhale, to rest, and to simply be.

☘️ If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated…

☘️ Tired but wired and unable to switch off…

☘️ Caught in racing thoughts, or noticing your breath feels tight and rigid…

☘️ Carrying a little irritation, restlessness, or disconnection ...
..then this early evening may offer the gentle pitstop of care, reset and nourishment your body has been asking for.

Breath at Dusk 💫 is a guided mini-retreat experience of resting and being, with your breath gently leading the way.

Together, we will explore breath as a steady resource for settling, allowing the nervous system to exhale and recalibrate in its own time.

✨️A space to withdraw for a short while.

✨️ To rest.

✨️ To soften.

✨️ To recalibrate.

In anticipation of World Breath Day later in April, this is an invitation to pause the ongoing performance of coping and gently return to embodied experience - honouring the quiet intelligence of your breath and its steady capacity to guide you back to ease, groundedness, and yourself.

Come exactly as you are.
Your breath will meet you there.

03/03/2026

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 “𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕” 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆.
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 - 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.

For dancers returning to ballet as adults, it is easy to measure ourselves against who we once were, or who we think we should be. Beginning again asks something gentler. It asks for 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 rather than perfection.

Let the practice of ballet start not with correction, but with 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

Begin with one slow, intentional breath - because breath itself is movement.
Allow the inhale to rise softly and naturally, as if making space inside you.
Pause there for a moment.
Then let the exhale release quietly - a softening, a letting go, a settling into the moment.

Feel yourself arrive in your body, not as someone trying to become something else, but as someone who is already enough to begin.

This is not about returning to a past version of you.
It is about meeting the body you live in now - capable, aware, and alive and beautiful.

Move with it.
Not against it.

01/03/2026

There are times when we move through life with strength and grace.
And there are times when life asks more of us than we feel ready to hold.

When the nervous system carries too much for too long, we lose our internal rhythm.
Our bodies become rigid and contracted.
Our breath becomes tight and shallow.
Our awareness and presence narrow.

And life shifts from something we experience to something we simply try to manage.

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 is a one-hour class of guided therapeutic somatic practices, gentle movement, and supported breathwork. Together, these help you metabolize stress and tension in both body and mind - slowly, safely, and without force.

This class is created for those who feel tired,
quietly overwhelmed,
or worn thin by the pace of life.

It invites and supports you to:

☘️slow down
☘️soften
☘️feel more spacious in your body
☘️settle your nervous system
☘️clear mental noise
☘️leave feeling more grounded, present, and responsive instead of reactive
☘️feel a little more like yourself again

This is subtle, gentle work. There is no pushing. No performance. No striving.

Regulation isn’t about shifting your mindset - it’s about the gradual retraining of your nervous system. This class offers you the space to do exactly that.

Restorative Motion classes are especially supportive for:

☘️people living with chronic pain

☘️those navigating burnout or exhaustion

☘️nervous systems carrying long-term stress, trauma, anxiety, or depression

☘️anyone who has learned to disconnect from their body just to cope

If your body, mind, and nervous system are asking for steadiness, gentleness, and permission to slow down, you are warmly invited to reach out to find out more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

📆 FRIDAYS (weekly): 8-9am @ Garsfontein
📍https://maps.app.goo.gl/oui2CXHdXYZrdAyH7?g_st=awb

📆 SATURDAYS (monthly): 8-9am @ The Willows
📍
https://maps.app.goo.gl/tKmqDcehkFFZADUM6?g_st=awb

☎️ Whatsapp: 083 261 9634

24/02/2026

Evening is a good time to slow down and check-in with your body after a busy day. And a small, kind sensory choice can be just what you need to help your nervous system move from the busyness of the day into a more settled place

Choose one small thing that helps you feel more comfortable and settled, such as adjusting the temperature, dimming the lights, sitting quietly, taking a slow breath, or reducing noise around you.

Rest can start with one simple, intentional choice.

23/02/2026

This weekend, I found myself in the company of the most wonderful, open-hearted human beings. 🤍 There was breath. Learning. Sharing reflections. Storytelling. Trees. A tiny backyard forest that felt more like a cathedral of green. More breath. And truly delicious, nourishing food! 😊

I attended the Pneumanity Foundations Course with Breathwork Africa - a 3-day immersive training in the art and science of conscious breathing that felt far more like a retreat than a course. What I already knew was deepened and integrated in a fresh way. And what I didn't know unfolded into new understanding, insight and clarity.

The course was everything - and more! - I had hoped it would be. Simon and Natalie, our facilitators, were simply incredible! They created such a beautiful, intentional space for us all.

I left feeling embodied, grateful, inspired, and very full - in the best way. 💚

17/02/2026

When it comes to the structural rhythm of a ballet class, I believe in the gift of a repetitive warm-up at the beginning of class.

In a world that constantly pushes novelty, speed, and “more,” repetition can feel undervalued. But in the body, repetition creates safety and ease. Structure builds trust. Familiarity allows the nervous system to settle.

When a warm-up stays the same over time, the body no longer has to search.
It knows the music.
It knows the sequence.
Posture arrives with less effort.
Attention settles and body awareness deepens.
The dancer begins the class already inside herself.

This is not about limitation. It’s about regulation.

A familiar warm-up becomes an anchor. It invites dancers out of their heads and into sensation. Into breath. Into presence. There is less scrambling, less proving, less pushing - and more listening and trusting that your body already knows what to do.

Of course, new material has its place. It keeps curiosity alive and builds skill. But the repeated warm-up opens the door to the dancer’s dancer-self - the place where movement feels honest, grounded, and available.

And from that place, real growth happens.

10/02/2026

"𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔..." - 𝑬𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍

And yet, it’s often the body that holds the key to feeling freer.

Movement doesn’t ask for answers. It offers 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. A chance to step out of constant thinking and into something felt, rhythmic, and alive.

Whether through the structure and elegance of adult ballet, or the slow, nourishing pace of Restorative Motion, movement can help ease the nervous system and create space inside.

If your mind feels busy, perhaps your body is the doorway back. ✨️

☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

If you’re longing to move again - whether through the structure and expression of adult ballet, or the slower, nourishing pace of Restorative Motion - you’re warmly welcome. Both classes offer supportive spaces to move, breathe, and reconnect in ways that feel respectful and kind to the body.

Feel free to reach out if you’d like to know more. 🤍

02/02/2026

A gentle practice of presence to return to again and again this month. 😊

Address

Pretoria

Telephone

+27832619634

Website

http://www.inmotionwithmichelle.weebly.com/

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