Conscious movement is an exciting, creative, and accessible healing modality.

Photo Credit: Anas Qtiesh 

The first time I tried ecstatic dance, years ago, I thought it was weird. After years of partner dance training, I felt annoyed by the lack of structure. In fall 2022, a dear friend reintroduced me to the practice, and I fell in love. 

This year, I wrote 10 ecstatic dance articles, sharing my journey, others’ stories, and expert advice. I highly recommend this practice, which can simply look like breathing and letting your favorite music move you. 

Like the journey of self-love, my process took a long time and included many bumps. I’m still in my process. That’s why having fun with it and celebrating milestones feels so important. Healing journeys never really end.

“As I move through my body, beginning with my head and ending with my feet, I consciously offer each part of myself to the dance. I do this with an attitude of prayer, surrendering myself to the dance and letting it guide me through inner landscapes of bone and blood, of hearts and hands, of dreams and desires,” wrote Gabrielle Roth, author of the bestselling book, “Sweat Your Prayers: The Five Rhythms of the Soul.”

During early ecstatic dance research, I discovered Roth, the woman who introduced our modern culture to free-form dance. Her famous “five rhythms” offer a supportive structure for spiritual movement work or “ecstatic dance.” Roth’s guidance seriously inspired my movement practice and ecstatic dance content. I quote her lyrical voice often. 

Through regular group and solo dance, I’ve become more embodied and more connected to my intuitive and primal self. My physical and emotional health improved noticeably. Plus, I’ve made many sweet connections along the way.

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1. “Heal Your Soul in Dance With 5 Rhythms”

In this article, I explain the five rhythms. Using quotes from Roth’s book, I synthesize inspiring concepts to deepen your body connection. 

“The reality is that I demand more from my workouts—I want God. When I dance I feel the presence of a divine force, and this is my addiction. Feeding it is as simple as putting on the right music and letting go,” Roth explained.

2. “How Ecstatic Dance Supports My Healing Journey”

My dance journey includes healing perfectionism and purity culture wounds, incorporating shadow work, and honoring my pole dance adventure insights. 

This post outlines ecstatic dance benefits and includes insights from influencers like Yarixa Ferrao, founder of the Unleash Movement.

3. “How One Devoted Ecstatic Dancer Builds Self-Trust”

For my first long-form interview article, I explored my friend Sean’s journey. His experiences sounded so relatable. Sean described self-conscious feelings, meditation struggles, and why he keeps showing up for dance. 

“I realized dance was a really powerful tool for me to reconnect with joy in the present. Getting better at dance as a form of self-expression is just a process of trusting yourself. Ecstatic dance to me is like the perfect gymnasium to work out exactly the muscles that I want to grow stronger in all aspects of my life,” Sean shared.

4. “Local Belly Dancer Feels Fully Seen in Ecstatic Dance”

I also got to explore my friend Terra’s dance journey. As a professional belly dancer, she loves using movement as a communication tool. She views her years of dance training and choreography as emotive tools that help her play with others in free-form dance.

Like a fish in water, she feels most at home on the dance floor. After a group dance, she feels cleansed and free from the stresses of the week, like her work in social services. 

5. “How Free-Form Dance Generates Holistic Wellness”

This post includes 2021 UCLA health research about conscious dance. Researchers outline many dance benefits, especially for people with chronic stress-related illnesses. 

I also interviewed my friend Ava about her conscious dance practice:

“Having the invitation to move however my body wants to move itself, allows me to work through stuff that just doesn’t come up generally. Exercising all helps, but moving however I need to move, makes things right. I feel like I’m able to tune into my body and unwind things. It’s more efficient than exercise for working through anything emotional that is stuck or stored,” said Ava.

6. “How Roth’s Dance Archetypes Facilitate Wholeness”

The more I dove into Roth’s “Five Rhythms of the Soul,” the more fascinated and excited I felt. I loved exploring her concepts for internal masculine and feminine integration. 

7. “How I Became Friends With My Body”

The Medium platform curators “boosted” this article, sharing my loving insights with a wider audience. I’m so proud of my process and the winding journey that led to such a compassionate relationship with my body. 

8. “How Shared Creativity Supports My Trauma Healing” 

This post includes insights from trauma experts like Bessel van der Kolk and Dr. Gabor Mate. I explain how creating and sharing creativity uncovers and releases buried traumas.  

As a group activity, ecstatic dance does wonders for channeling authentic emotions safely. There’s so much creative synergy on the dance floor! I’ve shed so many older patterns and so much unhelpful conditioning. 

9. “5 Free-From Dance Concepts to Inspire Your Practice”

Pulling from Roth’s work, I put together a simple step-by-step guide for conscious movement. Like shadow work, free-form dance helps us incorporate discoveries from our unconscious. 

10. “How One Dance Guide Inspires My Ecstatic Journey”

One Sunday, I synchronously met a conscious dance facilitator from Canada. Ovelia Catjoa dropped in for a San Francisco dance event in between flights. During a post-dance picnic, I interviewed her about her movement journey and advice for beginners. 

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As someone who used to work out religiously with much more structure, I find free-form movement so beautifully intuitive and embodied. I feel more balanced when I listen to my body and incorporate authentic movement–which sometimes still includes squats, push-ups, and warrior poses. 

Writing about dance continues to ignite my passion for this playful healing practice. I enjoy the process so much and regularly use Roth’s five rhythms concepts to let my emotions flow. I’ve noticed myself feeling more confident, integrated, graceful, tuned in, and loving. So I keep showing up.