Dance therapy: how to heal the soul with dance
Have you noticed: we have some kind of era of ideal people. Super face, super body, super weight. And we strain ourselves in pursuit of super results, missing the most important thing - how we feel right now. It turns out that constantly monitoring what we eat, how we sleep, even how we wrinkle our foreheads, is not so safe. We become disconnected from our body, and this is fraught with problems. More on this below.
I practice various types of meditation to increase so-called mindfulness. Being in the present moment, without evaluation or judgment. Including yourself. Your body, your achievements. Why is this needed? We become filled with the understanding that this is total happiness. This state is terribly difficult to achieve while sitting on a pillow, because our mind, like a frisky monkey, jumps from branch to branch, that is, from thought to thought.
And then by chance (of course not, we know that all these are gifts from the Universe) dance therapy came to me. I've had a couple of sessions and am now a big fan of this method. It is in movement that this state of unity of body and mind is easier to achieve.
The method turned out to be so effective that in the fall I decided to organize a retreat with dance and movement therapist Yulia Morozova. Such a long weekend in the Tuscan wilderness, where, among the local open spaces, we, the participants, will be able to practice this most rarely achieved mindfulness in the process of dancing. And not only. After all, it turns out that dance solves many other important problems.
I asked questions to our coach Yulia Morozova. Julia lives in Holland, where she has a private practice in dance and movement therapy, she treats people with dance.
— Julia, tell me how, in principle, dance can heal?
“The ancients knew this absolutely precisely, and healing rituals were certainly accompanied by dancing and singing. In the modern world, this knowledge has been forgotten, and dance has come to be viewed as entertainment or high art. However, now is just the time when ancient wisdom is returning, enriched with new knowledge. Thus, at the intersection of dance, psychology, ancient healing practices and modern neuroscience, dance and movement therapy arose, which has existed as an independent profession for more than half a century and has been helping people. The basic principles of TDT (dance movement therapy) say that movement is a reflection of a person’s inner mental life and his relationship with the outside world: the way we move is the way we live, the way we live is the way we dance. By changing something in our dance, in the way we move, we can learn to act differently in life. Dance is communication, and communication is the most important basic human need. TDT techniques help us become masters of communication with ourselves and with the world, not in words, but with our whole being, every cell of the body.
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We talked a lot about the importance of contact with the body, why this contact?
— By contact with the body we mean the constant and direct experience of unity, the interconnection of the bodily, emotional, cognitive and social aspects of our Self. The fact that sensations in the body are inextricably linked with emotions and thoughts, and vice versa. That we determine our needs (physical and emotional), not focusing on some dogma accepted from the outside (sleep should be so much, carbohydrates so much, it’s dangerous to do this, but it’s not), but based on the holistic experience of the body and mind, which sometimes we call it intuition. Ignoring and controlling our physical needs means losing this contact. And today there is often speculation. Healthy lifestyle, nutrition, sports, sometimes even yoga, the same dance is often, alas, used to make the body toned, cellulite smoothed out, and the kilograms gone. To be beautiful, first of all. But in striving for the ideal, we lose the joy of life and the feeling of our own worth. By losing contact with the body, we lose a sense of integrity, a sense of connection with the world around us and other people.
— Let's talk more about the benefits of dance movement therapy. What would you note are the most important aspects?
— There are a lot of them, I’ll list a couple. 1. Helps express emotions.
Not all emotions can be expressed equally easily verbally. Some emotions are considered “good”, and expressing them verbally and non-verbally is “easy and pleasant” and is accepted in society. Other emotions (anger, shame, fear, disgust) have been labeled “negative” and many have difficulty not only expressing them, but even recognizing and recognizing their presence. TDT makes it possible to express emotions in an environmentally friendly way, safe for yourself and others.
2. Helps relieve stress.
Any physical movement contributes to this. SDT in this sense helps not only to reduce the level of stress reaction at the physical level, but also through greater awareness of the connection between the emotional and the physical.
3. It’s hard to believe, but dancing prevents aging!
Research in the field of neurobiology has proven that dance promotes the development of a large number of associative neural connections and is the most effective method in preventing aging. That is, the sooner we start, the better. It also increases self-confidence and self-esteem. Develops creativity and imagination.
In dancing, we return to that state that all four-year-old children know - the state of play, when the barrel becomes a submarine or a spaceship, and we ourselves are the heroes of our invented stories. This is different from those games where there are pre-conceived moves and rules; spontaneity, improvisation, and following your interest and inspiration reign here. The dance does not have to be perfect, and the drawing does not have to be beautiful from an aesthetic point of view. Their main value is that they express outwardly what is happening inside you right now at this moment.
— So this also helps the famous mindfulness, to be in the moment?
— American dance therapist Christina Caldwell proposed an alternative term, bodyfulness. Mindfulness, by its very name, puts the mind at the center, although this practice is used in different areas of working with the body. I think it's time to give the body a voice. To be in the moment, experiencing bodily sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts, images and reacting to all this in motion, as one inseparable process. I think that dance is where you can practice body-mind unity, mindfullness, bodyfullness...life and as a result, the level of vitality increases. When the body and mind come into greater balance and contact, when a person is more sensitive to his needs and follows them, when a person recognizes all emotions and gives them the opportunity to be expressed, when creativity, play and spontaneity become an integral part of everyday life, a person inevitably will feel more alive. Sometimes this is called sexuality, but here it is important not to narrow life to sex; I am more impressed by the concept of “eros perception of life.” Not erotic - here the excitement is concentrated in certain parts of the body and you need an object on whom to discharge it, namely Eros. How to be alive at all - then every cell of the body lives and flirting occurs with the World.
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Do I understand correctly that dance gives freedom?
- Another one! In essence, we become the choreographers of our lives. Life is a dance, but we are not just involved in it and moving in the flow and whirlwind of events. Everyone can look at the events around them and themselves in them as a choreographer. What is this dance about now? Where is the stage? What music? How can you change the rhythm and tempo, add lightness, or vice versa, weight? Which other dancers should you bring on stage, and perhaps ask someone to sit quietly in the corner? Or maybe we should announce an intermission and everyone should go and relax? Or compose a new ballet? And if I am the dancer of my life, and the choreographer, and the stage, and the spectator at the same time - can you imagine how much freedom and how many opportunities open up at once?
The dance-psychological retreat “La Danza” with the participation of Yulia Morozova will take place on October 11-14 in Tuscany. https://www.lavitatoscana.it/la-danza/ Every detail, place, all activities, trips and events will be part of a continuous process, a dance-journey - to become choreographers of your own life. Lidia Davydova, storyteller, author of the La Vita project - trainings and retreats in Tuscany. https://www.instagram.com/lidia_david0va/
Photo: ina.yoga/instagram.com
The response of body-oriented psychotherapy to the challenges of the pandemic
– How has body-oriented psychotherapy responded to the forced transition to the online space caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the introduction of self-isolation?
Svyatoslav Shekh: The arsenal of body-oriented therapy has a wide range of methods and tools, and although at first glance it seems that body-oriented therapy and the online format are incompatible, this is not entirely true. There are non-contact bodily techniques, for example, breathing, meditative or metaphorical, which can be used while working on Skype or even over the phone, without video. We can simply talk to a person, he will switch his attention and give us auditory feedback. If the situation leaves us no choice and we see that the client needs bodily work, we can find a suitable tool in the rich arsenal of body-oriented therapy.
It is clear that in this case the experience of a specialist is of great importance: he must confidently master the techniques and methods of bodily work in direct contact with the client, and have a good understanding of the client’s possible reactions. Only when a specialist has enough skill can you work in absentia, via Skype and telephone.
– People who spent six months of the pandemic alone, for example, doctors who left home so as not to infect loved ones, or those who live away from family and work remotely, were deprived of hugs, handshakes and other important touches. What does this mean? What harm does self-isolation cause? And how can body-oriented psychotherapy help?
Svyatoslav Shekh: It is very difficult to face only yourself for a long time. This leads to the actualization of internal conflicts, asthenization, since there is not enough energy from the outside. Being in a confined space and reducing physical activity contributes to an increase in anxiety and fear. And, of course, we are people, and we always need the Other, without the Other we cannot survive.
In the process of working with a client, even through Skype, we remember the body, the soul, and the fact that they are connected to each other. This helps a person a lot; it makes it easier for him to endure isolation. It is this holistic approach that makes body-oriented therapy an extremely intensive method. A person very quickly achieves deep awareness, shares his experiences, processes conflicts, relieves tension, unloads. This is especially evident in the presence of direct bodily contact with the client, but during therapy at a distance, focusing on the signals and reactions of the body gives good therapeutic results.
– Could you recommend an exercise for self-regulation that a person can do without the supervision of a psychotherapist?
Svyatoslav Shekh: Today there is a wide range of self-regulation techniques. For example, breathing techniques. The simplest thing you can do is breathe. Under stress, our breathing changes. Through the normalization of this most important and core physiological process, one can extremely quickly influence the psychological state of a person and the psyche as a whole. A person must begin to breathe with awareness: inhale - pause - exhale - pause - inhale.
When we direct all our attention inward, become aware of ourselves, this makes it possible to “live our life,” calm down, and come to a little balance.
There is a more difficult exercise, you need to breathe and mentally count: inhale-exhale - one, inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale - two. When you count to ten, all your worries will go away a little, simply because you are busy counting and breathing. Thoughts about problems seem to dissipate, become easier, tension subsides, you begin to feel better and gain the ability to once again find the resources you need so much. Sometimes people lose count, then you need to start again. 10-15 minutes is enough to achieve a more resourceful state.
Exercises should be tailored to a specific person. Otherwise, you can advise something, but the person hurts there, and he will have an unpleasant experience. And there will be no one nearby who could explain that for this person this is a very correct dynamic. A therapist is needed not only to suggest or apply this or that “correct” technique, but also to be there when a person is going through an internal process.
