A Thanksgiving Message of Gratitude, Healing, and Peace + My Black Friday Dance Special

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite weeks of the year, not just for the food, the fall colors, or the warmth of family gatherings… but because this week naturally invites reflection. It invites a pause. A breath. A moment to sit with what matters most.

And as I sit here today, thinking about the last year… the last decade… truly, the last lifetime of experiences that have shaped me… I feel one thing rising to the surface more than anything else:

Gratitude.

Deep, embodied, soul-level gratitude.

Gratitude for the people who shaped me.

Gratitude for the healing I never believed I’d experience.

Gratitude for the dance community that has held me in some of the darkest and brightest seasons of my life.

Gratitude for the breath in my lungs and the strength in my body.

Gratitude for the presence, connection, joy, and peace that now guide my days, the same things I now teach through Dance to Uplift.

This blog is a thank you letter.

A reflection.

A celebration.

And an invitation.

Because I believe your healing, your joy, and your connection matter, and this week, I’m offering something special to help you step into 2026 with intention, purpose, and a personalized path back to yourself.

But first, I want to share my heart.

The Gratitude That Lives in My Bones

If you’ve been following my journey, you know that my story has not been simple. My healing has not been linear. My path has asked for courage, surrender, and grace I didn’t always feel like I had.

I have walked through satanic ritual abuse.

I have walked through divorce.

I have walked through the unraveling of everything I once knew.

I have walked through seasons where my nervous system was shattered and survival was the only thing I could feel.

But I also walked through healing.

I walked through breathwork that brought me back home to myself.

I walked through somatic practices that reconnected the parts of me that trauma had scattered.

I walked through dance — West Coast Swing — that literally rewired my nervous system, restored my joy, and reminded me who I truly was.

And through every season, I wasn’t walking alone.

To My Students

You are the reason I teach.

Your willingness to step onto the floor, sometimes shaking, sometimes excited, sometimes unsure, is one of the greatest honors of my life.

You trust me with your healing.

With your connection.

With your marriage.

With your nervous system.

With your personal story.

You show up.

You breathe.

You move.

You reconnect.

And you remind me every single day why this work matters.

Thank you for letting me walk beside you on your journey.

To My Mentors

There are teachers who impact your technique… and then there are teachers who impact your soul.

To every instructor who saw potential in me when I couldn’t see it in myself, thank you.

To the mentors who taught me how to lead, how to follow, how to feel, how to be, thank you.

To the dancers who held space for me as I rebuilt my life, thank you.

Your wisdom lives in everything I teach.

Your belief in me helped me find belief in myself.

Your presence is woven into the DNA of Dance to Uplift.

To My Family

Thank you for loving me through seasons when I barely recognized myself.

Thank you for believing in my healing even when the path didn’t make sense.

Thank you for supporting me as I built a life from the ashes.

Thank you for cheering, encouraging, praying, holding, and standing with me.

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation.

It happens in community.

And my family has been part of that community in ways I can never put fully into words.

To My Friends — My Chosen Family

You know who you are.

You were there for the breakdowns.

The breakthroughs.

The nights I questioned everything.

The days I felt like giving up.

The seasons where joy felt out of reach.

And the seasons where joy poured back in.

You helped me feel safe again.

You helped me laugh again.

You helped me dance again.

You helped me trust again.

I am grateful for every soul who has stood by me during the hardest chapters of my story.

To My Savior, Jesus Christ: The Steady Source of My Healing and Peace

As I reflect on gratitude this Thanksgiving season, there is one relationship that has carried me through every chapter of my life, my relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. When I think about healing, connection, resilience, and the peace I have now, I know none of it would have been possible without Him.

There were years when I felt shattered by trauma, exhausted by survival, and unsure how to take the next step. My nervous system was overwhelmed. My heart was weary. My spirit felt tired. Even in the moments when I appeared strong on the outside, there were quiet places inside me that ached for comfort, safety, and direction.

Christ met me in all of those places.

In every moment of fear, He brought reassurance.

In every moment of confusion, He brought clarity.

In every moment of heartbreak, He brought healing.

When I couldn’t feel peace, He held it for me.

When I couldn’t find my voice, He spoke to my heart.

When I couldn’t carry myself, He carried me.

His love has been the foundation beneath my movement.

His grace has been the breath inside my breathwork.

His presence has been the steady grounding beneath every somatic practice I now teach.

His light guided me back into my body when trauma taught me to disconnect.

His whisper reminded me that joy was still mine to reclaim.

Every breakthrough I’ve experienced, from regulating my nervous system to finding peace in my body again to rebuilding my life to dancing with authentic joy, has been because of his guidance.

Christ is the reason I can extend compassion to every part of myself.

He is the reason I can love others more deeply.

He is the reason I can teach connection, passion, and peace.

He is the reason Dance to Uplift exists in the form it does today.

I am endlessly grateful for Him, for His example of pure love, for His mercy, and for the quiet, powerful ways He has held me through every season of my healing. His influence is woven into every class I teach, every woman I uplift, every couple who reconnects, and every person who walks through my doors searching for joy and finds peace instead.

I would not be who I am without my Savior.

And I am profoundly grateful that He has walked each step of this journey with me.

How Thanksgiving Brings Me Back to My Purpose

Every November, I come back to the same truth:

Connection is what heals us.

Movement is what brings us back to our bodies.

Breath is what brings us back to our center.

Love is what brings us back to ourselves.

This is why Dance to Uplift exists.

This is why I teach movement as medicine.

This is why I weave somatic healing into West Coast Swing.

This is why my January series — Move with Meaning, Play Passionately, and Live in Love — are built off the pillars that healed me:

Presence.

Intention.

Breath.

Connection.

Joy.

Peace.

And this New Year, I want to help you step into 2026 with a personalized foundation, something that meets you exactly where you are and supports where you’re going.

Which brings me to…

My Thanksgiving Week Gift to You: Black Friday Free Private Lesson Offer

In honor of this season of gratitude, I am offering something I’ve never offered before, and something I am only offering for two days.

For Black Friday, Friday, November 28th, and Saturday, November 29th, when you sign up for any of my January 2026 classes or courses, you will receive:

**A FREE 45-minute personalized private lesson (only offered to those reading this blog, everyone else is 30 min.) (value: $90)

This includes:

• Move with Meaning – Level 1 “Rooted”

• Move with Meaning – Level 2 “Connected”

• Live in Love – 4-Week Couples Date Night Series

** WHen signing up in the box list "Black Friday Special"

This private lesson can be used for:

• personalizing your technique

• customizing your goals

• strengthening your connection

• grounding your nervous system

• deepening your confidence

• refining your styling

• reconnecting with joy

• starting your year with clarity and purpose

This is your chance to get one-on-one support tailored to your body, your story, and your goals, a session that aligns your January class with where you truly want to grow.

Because 2026 deserves to be the year you return to yourself.

🖤 This offer is ONLY valid on Black Friday and Saturday.

🖤 The private lesson must be paired with a January 2026 series.

🖤 Spots will go quickly, small class sizes

Why This Offer Matters to Me

I didn’t just want to do a random sale.

I didn’t want to join the noise of discounts.

I wanted to create something meaningful, something that reflects my gratitude for you and supports you in the deepest way possible.

Because one of the greatest gifts someone ever gave me…

was presence.

Personalized support.

Someone sitting with me, seeing me, teaching me how to reconnect with myself.

This private lesson is my way of offering that to you.

A moment for you.

A moment for your healing.

A moment for your joy.

A moment for your connection.

A moment to start your year grounded in peace.

What a 45-Minute Personalized Lesson Can Do for You

People underestimate what can happen in 30 minutes when movement, breath, somatic connection, and intention work together.

In just half an hour:

• your body can open

• your breath can deepen

• your nervous system can settle

• your connection can strengthen

• your confidence can rise

• your joy can return

• your technique can transform

• your relationship can shift

• your purpose can realign

• your whole year can change

I’ve seen massive breakthroughs in short sessions.

And I know how powerful it will be when paired with your January class.

2026: A Year for Purpose, Joy, and Peace

If this year has taught me anything, it’s this:

When you invest in your embodiment…

when you reconnect with your breath…

when you choose connection over isolation…

when you move with intention…

healing happens.

Peace returns.

Joy expands.

Love deepens.

Life opens.

I want that for you.

I want that for everyone who walks into my studio.

I want that for every woman, every couple, every dancer, every beginner, every person longing to reconnect with themselves.

2026 can be the year you choose:

• confidence

• connection

• passion

• purpose

• joy

• peace

• healing

• embodiment

• PLAY

• meaning

And I’m here to walk that journey with you.

My Thanksgiving Wish for You

This week, as you gather with your loved ones, I hope you:

• feel grounded in your body

• savor the moments

• breathe deeper

• feel joy return

• feel peace settle in

• feel gratitude soften your heart

Whether you’re dancing in the kitchen, walking with family, sitting quietly in reflection, or laughing until you cry, I hope you feel the gift of being alive, present, connected, and held.

Thank you for being part of my world.

Thank you for dancing with me.

Thank you for trusting me.

Thank you for growing with me.

Thank you for letting Dance to Uplift be part of your story.

I am endlessly grateful for you.

And I can’t wait to see what we create together in the new year.

With love, gratitude, and deep connection,

Shalay

Live in Love. Move with Meaning. Play Passionately.