WELCOME TO
BAILALOBAS COMMUNITY
Embodiment. Women's Empowerment. Gender Equality.
Connecting personal transformation with collective empowerment and systemic change.
BAILALOBAS is a women's empowerment and social-impact platform, founded by Liliya Foteva. It brings together embodied practice, psychological understanding, gender equality, advocacy, research and European cooperation to create spaces for women to reconnect with themselves, strengthen their agency and contribute to meaningful social change.
We believe that personal experience cannot be separated from the systems in which we live. Women's wellbeing is shaped not only by individual circumstances, but also by relationships, organisations, social expectations, inequalities and structures of power.
Our work moves between these dimensions: supporting women through embodied and collective experiences, helping organisations develop more inclusive and responsive practices, and contributing to European initiatives addressing gender-based violence and social inequality.
The body is where experience is lived. Empowerment is where change begins.
Beyond surviving. Beyond overachieving.
Back to feeling supported and alive!
There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from always being the strong one.
The woman who manages everything. Who anticipates everyone's needs. Who takes responsibility, holds things together and keeps moving, even when she has lost touch with what she herself needs.
Over time, being capable can become a way of disappearing.
BAILALOBAS creates opportunities to interrupt that pattern.
Through movement, embodied exploration, psychological insight and collective experiences, we invite women to reconnect with their bodies, recognise their needs, rediscover their boundaries and make room for a more authentic way of living.
But our work does not stop at the individual level.
We also collaborate with organisations, researchers, practitioners and European partners to address the social and institutional conditions that shape women's lives.
Three dimensions of change
01 — Individual transformation
Reconnecting with the body, emotions, needs and personal agency. Exploring the relationship between lived experience, identity, boundaries and self-expression.
02 — Collective empowerment
Creating spaces where women can move, reflect, share experiences and develop solidarity. Transforming isolation into connection and individual insight into collective strength.
03 — Systemic transformation
Working with organisations and European partners on gender equality, violence prevention, inclusion, research and social innovation.
What we do
Embodied experiences and women's group programmes.
Workshops on embodiment, identity, boundaries and empowerment.
Gender equality and violence-prevention initiatives.
Training and consultancy for organisations and professionals.
European project development and proposal writing.
Research, publications, speaking and interdisciplinary collaboration.
A platform connecting people, practice and change
BAILALOBAS brings together different forms of expertise around one conviction: meaningful change requires us to understand both human experience and the environments that shape it.
Whether you are a woman seeking a space for reconnection, an organisation developing a gender equality initiative, a university looking for an interdisciplinary collaborator or a European consortium preparing a proposal, there is a place for you in this work.
OUR WORK & IMPACT
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OUR WORK & IMPACT *
The body.
The individual.
The collective.
The system.
We approach empowerment as more than a motivational concept.
It involves the ability to recognise one's experience, understand personal and relational patterns, establish boundaries, make choices and participate in shaping the world around us.
Our approach connects four complementary dimensions.
Embodiment
The body is not separate from our psychological and social experience. It is where emotions, memories, relationships, stress and adaptation are lived.
Movement and embodied exploration can create opportunities to notice what words alone may not capture. They can support awareness, expression, agency and connection.
Our embodied work is informed by Dance Movement Therapy, psychological perspectives and trauma-informed practice.
Psychological understanding
We are interested in the relationship between personal history, identity, relationships, emotional patterns and the wider social environment.
We draw on interdisciplinary perspectives to explore how individuals adapt, develop resilience, establish boundaries and navigate change.
Collective experience
Empowerment is not only an individual process.
Spaces for shared reflection, movement and dialogue can help women recognise common experiences, challenge isolation and develop a stronger sense of belonging and solidarity.
Social and institutional change
Individual wellbeing is influenced by the environments in which people live and work.
We therefore engage with organisations, NGOs, universities and European partnerships to strengthen gender equality, inclusion, prevention and survivor-centred approaches.
Our guiding principle: We connect embodied understanding with practical action and systemic awareness.
“If you have yet to be called an incorrigible, defiant woman, don’t worry, there is still time.”
About Liliya,
An interdisciplinary professional connecting psychology, embodiment, gender equality and European cooperation.
✨ Join the Movement ✨
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✨ Join the Movement ✨ *
Dance Movement Therapist
MA in Organisational Psychology
Successful EU Project Development & Funding Specialist
Women's Rights and Gender Equality Advocate
Founder & Podcast Host, BAILALOBAS UNSTOLEN POWER
My professional journey has developed across different countries, disciplines and organisational environments.
I have worked in international corporate settings, contributed to European funding initiatives, collaborated with organisations addressing inclusion and social challenges, and developed a professional practice in Dance Movement Therapy.
These experiences have shaped a central interest: understanding how people, relationships and institutions influence one another — and how meaningful change can be created at individual, collective and systemic levels.
I hold a Master's degree in Organisational Psychology and completed professional training in Dance Movement Therapy at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
My work combines European project development, gender-equality advocacy, psychosocial practice, research and interdisciplinary collaboration.
MY PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Organisational Psychology
My academic background in Organisational Psychology informs my understanding of organisational culture, human behaviour, leadership, inclusion, workplace dynamics and institutional change.
I am particularly interested in the relationship between organisational environments, psychological wellbeing, power dynamics and meaningful participation.
Dance Movement Therapy
I am a certified Dance Movement Therapist, with more than 600 clinical hours.
My experience includes work with women survivors of gender-based violence, children, older adults, including people living with Parkinson's disease, and groups experiencing social exclusion.
My professional experience includes a six-month intervention at Oranje Huis / Blijf Groep in the Netherlands, working with women affected by domestic violence.
I am interested in the role of embodied awareness, movement, creativity and relational processes in psychosocial recovery.
European Funding & Project Development
I have professional experience in European proposal writing, funding strategy, project design and international collaboration.
My work has involved initiatives in education, social inclusion, gender equality, digital innovation, responsible AI and organisational development.
During the past year, I contributed to 18 EU Cascade funding submissions, with 5 approved and 4 additional proposals reaching the pitch stage.
Women's Rights & Gender Equality
My work with women affected by gender-based violence has shaped my commitment to survivor-centred approaches, women's autonomy, institutional responsibility and the prevention of violence.
I am particularly interested in coercive control, post-separation abuse, embodied recovery and the ways institutions can better recognise and respond to gender-based violence.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Full member, European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP).
Full member, Asociación Española de Danza Movimiento Terapia (ADMTE).
RESEARCH & EDITORIAL WORK
Co-author of “Putting back the puzzle pieces” of life after domestic abuse, published in The Arts in Psychotherapy.
Editorial work with the International Journal of Body Psychotherapy.
Creator and contributor to professional dialogue on coercive control and embodiment.
MY WORKING PHILOSOPHY
I value intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical responsibility and the ability to translate complex ideas into meaningful action.
I believe that expertise becomes more valuable when it can connect different perspectives, challenge established assumptions and create opportunities for change.
My work is guided by a simple principle:
Human understanding and systemic change belong in the same conversation.
Download Liliya’`s ELSEVIER scientific research “Putting back the puzzle pieces” of life a f t e r domestic abuse”, done with the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Panteion University of Athens.
Foteva, L., Brailas, A., & Rodríguez-Jiménez, R.-M. (2026). “Putting back the puzzle pieces” of life after domestic abuse: A pilot study on the effects of Dance Movement Therapy on self-esteem and anxiety in women survivors of gender violence in the Netherlands. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 100, 102496.
LILIYA IS A FULL MEMBER OF 2 profesional institutions:
✅The European Association for Body-Oriented Psychotherapy(EABP)
✅ The Spanish Dance Therapy Association (ADMTE)
Hillary Rodham Clinton said it best: "Women's rights are human rights!" If you firmly believe this too, let's talk.
