An urban sanctuary for somatic movement, intuitive dance, breathwork, ritual, and women circles. A place where you come to move, feel, express, and liberate yourself back into your power and authenticity.
Move. Release. Liberate. Rise.
Somatic movement is the practice of listening to your body from the inside out—because your body isn’t just something you carry around, it’s where your nervous system, emotions, and lived stories live. When we spend all day “in our heads,” we can get stuck in looping thoughts and survival patterns; intuitive dance helps you drop beneath the mental noise and reconnect with your truth. In the body, there’s wisdom—signals that reveal where you’re holding, and what you’re ready to release. Somatic movement gives you a safe, grounded way to feel, express, and integrate.
Offerings
Experiences designed to help you release, reconnect, and return to self-trust, clarity and authenticity.
Trauma-informed.
All bodies are welcome.
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A free-form dance practice designed to help you shake off stress, tune into your body, and reconnect to your natural rhythm. Inspired to help you focus on FEELING over looks, PLAY over control, and let your HEART lead instead of your mind. We use the principles of grounding, sounding, breathing and listening to access deep parts that want to be expressed.
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A nervous-system-friendly journey to clear stagnant energy, soften stress, and reconnect to what your heart is calling in. We’ll begin with grounding pranayama, then move into a dedicated 30-minute Emotional Release Breathwork practice to help emotions shift and move (no talking required). From there, you’ll sink into Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep) to deeply restore and anchor a sankalpa—your heart’s intention—into the body. We’ll close with gentle Group Reiki to support integration, settling, and lasting calm.
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A soft healing experience that blends restorative rest, Reiki energy healing, and intentional ritual to support emotional release, energetic cleansing, and nervous system restoration. This class is for the part of you that is tired of holding it all together and is ready to be supported.
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A slow, nourishing practice that blends long-held, supported yin postures with gentle somatic awareness to help release tension, soften the nervous system, and reconnect you with your body from the inside out. Perfect for anyone feeling stiff, stressed, emotionally heavy, or in need of deep grounding.
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A deeply restorative sound journey that uses vibration, stillness, and gentle body-based awareness to calm the mind, regulate the nervous system, and bring the body back into harmony. This class invites you to stop doing, start receiving, let sound guide you into deep rest, and get a frequency reset.
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About
Hi, I’m Ariana Rodriguez — but most people call me Ari.
I’ve danced for as long as I can remember — nearly 18 years of my life spent rehearsing, competing, and learning the language of the body. I always knew movement held power: it was my way of expressing emotions I didn’t yet have words for. Even then, I could feel that the body carried wisdom far beyond the mind.
Later, I dove into the science behind it — studying somatics, the nervous system, and trauma-informed psychology. As a specialist in eating disorders and body image, I’ve witnessed firsthand how trauma, stress, and self-criticism live in the body as tightness, pain, and disconnection. And through my work as a specialist Registered Dietitian and somatic practitioner, I noticed a pattern: the more “heady” a person described themselves, the more rigid, tense, or distant they felt in their body.
And that was me too.
For years I lived in my head — a classic Type A, overachieving perfectionist. I believed love was something I earned by doing, achieving, performing. I felt shame in taking up space, fear in expressing myself fully, envy toward those who seemed effortlessly authentic.
Until one day, in an ecstatic dance workshop, everything cracked open.
For the first time, I moved without choreography, without performing — and something ancient in me woke up. I realized most of us aren’t actually disconnected from our bodies; we’re afraid of them. Afraid of looking silly, of being too much, being judged, or getting it “wrong.”
After a decade of working with people with eating disorders and body image struggles from a therapeutic lens, followed by a move from London to NYC to get a second Masters degree in Psychology and Spirituality, I decided it was time to open a studio that really honoured my love and conviction for the power of somatic movement.
That’s why Liber8 was born — for the ones ready to step outside the damn lines, shake off the judgment, release perfection, and remember JOY.
Liber8 is space to move, play, express, and align — freely, fully, and unapologetically, baby!
Come join me.
When I’m Not Holding Space…
You’ll find me gardening, dancing barefoot in my kitchen, reading a juicy book on my kindle, traveling the world, cooking, bonding with friends, or creating my other projects — the Beyond The Dress podcast, or my upcoming book.
My Credentials:
MSc Human Nutrition (McGill University)
Registered Dietitian
MA Psychology + Certificate form the Spirit Mind Body Institute (Columbia University)
Somatic Practitioner
200hr - Registered Yoga Teacher (Hatha, Vinyasa, Nidra)
Others: Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor, Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner (EFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner (NLP), Body Image Expert Certified, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy- Enhanced (CBTe), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Reiki Level I & II
FAQs
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Nope—Studio Liber8 isn’t about performance, choreography, or “getting it right.” Our classes are guided, but you’re always invited to move in a way that feels natural for your body, whether that’s big and expressive or small and subtle. You can take breaks, rest, sit, or simply sway and breathe—this is a space to explore, not impress. Come as you are (awkward, tender, joyful, nervous, curious)… it all belongs here.
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Wear comfy clothes you can move and breathe in. Bring a water bottle, and optionally a journal if you’d like to integrate what comes up after class. Herbal tea and water are always provided.
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Yes. Our offerings are designed to be trauma-informed and choice-led—meaning you’re always in control of your pace, your space, and your level of participation. We hold an understanding that stress, trauma, and old protective narratives can live in the body as tension, shutdown, hypervigilance, or feeling “stuck,” and that gentle, embodied practices can support release and regulation over time. That said, Studio Liber8 is not a replacement for psychotherapy or medical care—we’re a complementary, supportive space where you can move, feel, and reconnect in a grounded container. You’re always welcome to modify, pause, step out, or simply witness—your safety and consent come first.
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Expect a cozy, welcoming space with a guided arrival, nervous-system–friendly prompts, and a flow of music that supports you to warm up, drop in, and move intuitively—plus time to ground and integrate at the end so you leave feeling clearer, lighter, and more you. It’s also a place to play and express: make sounds, be cringe, take up space, laugh, cry—everything is welcome. Classes are small and intimate (max 15 people), with no mirrors and no performance—just you, the music, and the truth your body is ready to move.
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Absolutely. Studio Liber8 is an inclusive space—all bodies are welcome. We welcome queer, trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive folks, and we’re committed to creating a respectful, trauma-informed environment where you can move, express, and take up space as you are. Some offerings may be specifically for women-identifying folks (or another clearly defined group) to hold a particular container; if so, it will always be stated clearly in the event description. Otherwise, you’re invited—come join the fun.
Let's Connect
Want to rent the space, host a private ceremony, or learn more about our offerings? Get in touch—we’d love to connect.
"The human body is not an instrument to be used, but a realm of one's being to be experienced, explored, enriched and, thereby, educated."
— Thomas Hanna, founder of Clinical Somatic Education
