The Benefits of Intuitive Movement as Therapy

Many people come to therapy carrying stress, trauma, or self-doubt. These experiences don’t just live in the mind—they often live in the body. Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, in The Body Keeps the Score, describes how trauma becomes stored physically, showing up as tension, anxiety, or disconnection. That’s why including the body in therapy can be such a powerful path to healing.

Talk therapy is powerful, but it misses something crucial: the body. Trauma doesn’t just live in your thoughts or memories—it embeds itself in muscle tension, posture, breath, and physical patterns. That’s why people can talk about the same painful story for years and still feel “stuck.” Until the body is invited into the healing process, an important layer of integration remains untouched.

One way to reconnect is through intuitive movement—allowing your body to move in ways that feel natural and unplanned. Moving the body in ways that feel intuitive does such a number on people-pleasing, distrust of your impulses, and self-worth. It’s not a performance—it’s an expression of whatever wants to come out of you, and a deep trust that whatever that is, is okay.

Why Intuitive Movement Supports Healing

Trauma-informed and somatic approaches draw on the science of the nervous system, including polyvagal theory (Stephen Porges). This framework shows us that healing happens when the body feels safe enough to leave survival states like fight, flight, or freeze and return to a place of regulation. Intuitive movement can help:

•Regulate the nervous system – Movement supports the discharge of survival energy and allows the body to find balance.

•Offer cues of safety – Gentle, instinctive movement signals to your nervous system that it’s safe to soften and rest.

•Process emotions safely – The body often communicates what words cannot, providing another channel for expression as a form of therapy.

•Build self-trust – Following your body’s impulses is a practice of listening to and trusting your inner wisdom.

•Strengthen self-worth – Giving yourself permission to move freely can counteract the inner critic and people-pleasing patterns.

Bringing the Body Into Therapy

You don’t need choreography, structure, or even music to begin. Sometimes the body wants to stretch, shake, sway, or simply breathe more deeply. As a form of your own therapy, making space for these impulses can regulate the nervous system and deepen emotional processing. Over time, this helps create a stronger mind-body connection and a greater sense of safety within yourself.

Taking the First Step

If you’ve felt disconnected from your body, your emotions, or your instincts, therapy that integrates both mind and body can help. Together, we can talk about how to create a safe space for you to unwind, release, and reconnect—with no performance required.

Some good places to start are 5Rhythms or Ecstatic Dance gatherings near you. If that feels too big at first, you can find playlists for both of these online and explore movement in your own space. Or just put on your favorite songs and let yourself move however your body wants.

In Simple Terms:
Yes, I’m simply talking about moving around however your body wants to, to music. There’s no choreography, no right or wrong way to do it. It’s just giving yourself permission to move freely and notice what comes up—emotionally and physically—as you do.

If you’d like to talk more about how intuitive movement can support your healing, feel free to reach out or schedule a session—I’d love to explore it with you. LilyDawson.com/schedule