The Sacred Art of Taking Up Space

There’s a kind of magic that happens when a woman stops apologising for her existence.

When she stops folding herself smaller so others can feel taller.
When she lets her voice shake and still speaks anyway.
When she walks into a room, and her body or her energy doesn't ask, “Is it okay if I’m here?”

Taking up space is sacred work. It’s the kind of rebellion that doesn’t need a picket sign — just a body, a breath, a choice to honour the self.

What it really means to take up space

To me, taking up space means I allow myself to move how I want to move.

I stretch my arms wide.
I take deep belly breaths in rooms that weren’t built for me.
I flirt if I feel like it. I cry if I need to. I dance with my full body when the music hits right.

It means I let my emotions move through me — not shut them down to make others comfortable.
It means I say what I need. I ask for support. I reject what doesn’t honour me.

Taking up space, energetically, is about knowing I’m allowed to want. To need. To not explain myself.
It’s about building a world around me where I feel safe to be me — not just tolerated, but wanted. Valid. Important.

And that starts within.

Why we shrink ourselves instead

Here’s the thing. Most of us weren’t raised to rise.
We were taught to please.
To smile when we wanted to scream.
To create comfort for others, even when it came at the cost of our own.

We were taught that “good” women stay quiet, stay agreeable, stay small.
That making others uncomfortable — even by simply existing fully — is a sin.
That taking up space is selfish.

And many of us have been surrounded by “takers.”
People who happily accepted our care, our silence, our compromise — and then resented us when we dared to set a boundary.

So of course it feels wrong.
Of course it feels dangerous.
Of course we question ourselves.

But here’s the truth:

✨ You are just as worthy of space as anyone else.
✨ You do not need to earn your right to be here.
✨ And rising — fully, audaciously, unapologetically — is a radical act of rebellion in a world built to keep you small.

What shrinking looks like (and why it hurts)

Shrinking isn’t always visible to the outside world.

It can look like:

• Apologising for everything — your voice, your hunger, your needs.

• Saying “you decide” because you don’t trust your own preferences.

• Becoming a chameleon in social spaces — always agreeable, always pleasant.

• Staying silent when something feels wrong.

• Being the observer, not out of choice, but out of fear.

I’ve been there.

I’ve sat in rooms where I didn’t feel allowed to move, let alone speak.
I’ve been pleasant when I wanted to be powerful.
I’ve stayed quiet to avoid conflict, then resented myself after.

But every time I’ve chosen to speak — even with a quivering voice, even with tears streaming down my face — I’ve felt something shift inside me.

A remembering.
A rising.

Every time I've chosen to speak up or take up space, I've felt power.

The moments that change you

I remember standing up to an employer whose behaviour made me deeply uncomfortable.

I cried. My voice shook. I questioned myself for days, and felt that I was in the wrong.
But I said my piece. And I didn’t die.
In fact, I grew stronger.

Or years ago, when a colleague tried to kiss me during work hours — entitled, smug, expecting compliance.
I said no.
I walked away.
Even when he tried to guilt-trip me afterwards, I held my ground. (know I should have done more, but back then I was THE biggest people pleaser).

Those moments weren’t glamorous.
They were messy and terrifying.

But they changed me.
They taught me that I matter. That my voice matters.
That I don’t need to be pleasant to be worthy.

Sometimes, I have even been CELEBRATED for speaking up! 

Gentle ways to start taking up more space

Let’s make this tangible, yeah? You don’t need to roar from rooftops (unless you want to). You can start small. Sacred. Soulful.

✨ In your body:
Stretch your arms wide in front of a mirror. Notice how little space you actually take up — and then take more.
Stand tall. Power stance. Feel the ground beneath you say: “Yes, you belong here.”

✨ In your voice:
Talk to yourself aloud when no one’s listening. Sing badly. Speak louder. Feel the edge of your comfort zone — and step just beyond it.
Play with the sound of your own truth.

✨ In your decisions:
Pick the drink. Choose the dinner. Say “this is what I want.”
Stand by it, even if it makes your stomach flutter with discomfort. You’ll be proud of yourself later.

✨ In your relationships:
Notice where you shrink. Where you prioritise their comfort over your own.
Then… start sharing what you actually think. What you actually want.
You don’t need to go full dragon — just start telling the truth.

✨ In your inner world:
Join spaces where your bigness is celebrated, not judged.
Where your mess is welcome.
(Like my free community — Worthy & Rising — come take up space with us. It's off facebook, but there's an app you can use when you've signed up: itunes: kajabi communities - Google Play: kajabi communities)

You are the power behind the magic

Taking up space is like casting a spell with your body.

Every movement, every word, every breath is an incantation.
A declaration that says:
I exist. I matter. I am allowed.

And when you begin to honour the sacred ground of your body — the boundaries of your energy, the full spectrum of your emotions — you start to reshape your world.

Because you are not just in this body.

You are the creator behind it.

And when a creator remembers her power… the world starts to shift.

So take up space, love.
Reclaim it. Expand into it.
Be too much. Be loud. Be soft. Be seen.

Your presence is not a problem.
It’s a blessing.

And it’s time the world felt the full glow of it. ✨

Now go join my community: Worthy & Rising.