About this Event
Conference Description
The Whole Body Experience is a one-day immersive gathering designed to challenge the narratives we’ve inherited about bodies — and to create something braver, more compassionate, and more liberatory together.
In a culture that profits from body shame and thrives on division, this conference invites us into a different way. A way rooted in nervous system safety, body neutrality, collective care, and systemic awareness. A way that honors lived experience — from diet culture harm to purity culture wounds, from trauma to resilience.
Through a keynote address, breakout sessions, community conversations, and local vendors aligned with embodied wellbeing, participants will explore what it means to live in relationship with their bodies — not as projects to fix, but as homes to return to.
This is not a quick-fix event.
It is a reclamation space.
A room full of people willing to have the crucial conversations.
Whether you are early in your healing or years into unlearning, you are welcome here.
Mission Statement
The mission of The Whole Body Experience is to create a brave, inclusive, and body-liberated gathering where individuals can explore healing their relationship with body, food, and movement through a nervous-system-informed and justice-rooted lens.
We recognize that not all bodies live free in this world. Systems of oppression, stigma, and bias shape who has access to safety, resources, and belonging. This conference is committed to respecting and dignifying everybody and every body in West Michigan by creating a comfortable, accessible environment and connecting individuals with aligned resources, organizations, and community support.
We believe:
- Bodies are not problems to solve.
- Body shame is systemic, not personal failure.
- Healing happens in safe, collaborative community.
- Liberation is both personal and collective work.
- No one should be denied access to resources based on their body.
- A thriving community values what its members feel, see, and do — not how they look.
Participants will learn how to interrupt negative self-talk, move beyond body preoccupation, and build relationships with their bodies rooted in dignity and care. We believe that building better body image is a social justice issue. When individuals are freed from overwhelming body concerns, mental health strengthens, community vitality deepens, and empowered people contribute more fully to a vibrant, connected collective.
The Whole Body Experience exists to disrupt harmful cultural narratives, center embodied wisdom, and foster the kind of conversations that move us toward collective wellbeing.
What's included?
- FREE parking in the city!!!
- catered lunch
- swag bag
- 2 workshops and a keynote address
- experiences that will move you
- community support and connection
- vendors
Breakout sessions will be offered on topics:
stay tuned for keynote and breakout speaker announcements!
Follow the conference on social media @celebrateallbods
Learn more about Jen and her work at:
www.risingstrongwellness.com
or on instagram @jen.risingstrongwellness
Jen Bullen is a somatic healing coach, yoga teacher, and the founder of Rising Strong Wellness and The Whole Body Experience in West Michigan. Her work lives at the intersection of nervous system healing, body liberation, and social justice. She supports humans of all identities in healing their relationship with food, movement, and their bodies through collaborative, embodied, community-centered spaces.
With lived experience navigating orthorexia, diet culture, purity culture, trauma, and body image struggles, she brings both professional training and deep personal insight to her work. Her approach is grounded in consent, safety, body neutrality, and the recognition that not all bodies live free in our current culture.
Through coaching, retreats, workshops, and conferences, she creates spaces where people can soften body shame, untangle internalized oppression, and reconnect with their inherent worth. She believes body image healing is not a vanity issue — it is collective and systemic. When we move beyond body preoccupation, we free energy for joy, advocacy, and community care.
Rooted in respect for the land and the communities of West Michigan, her work seeks to dignify every body and expand access to healing resources for those historically marginalized by healthcare, diet culture, and systems of control.
When she’s not facilitating or teaching, you can find her outdoors, in meaningful conversation, or building brave spaces for people to come home to themselves.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mod Bettie Portrait Boutique, 1111 Godfrey Avenue Southwest, Grand Rapids, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 200.00
