Intuitive Movement for Eating Disorder Recovery
Since an eating disorder disconnects us from our bodies and keeps us stuck in the head where it feels safe, we can’t talk ourselves out of the disordered eating.
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The body, which is feared and avoided, and which the eating disorder has disassociated us from, needs to be included too. Connecting to the body is a pivotal aspect of recovery and Intuitive Dance can be a tool to support the deepening into this embodied transformation.
From this body-first, bottom-up, embodiment approach, we go underneath the mind’s meaning-making of the eating disorder.
This can be challenging for folks with eating disorders as there is often body-phobia - but connection with the body can restored when done in a titrated, safe and supported way.
This means we should add to the toolbox, expanding the repertoire of embodied awareness and somatic regulatory resources that can support us in managing our energy, feelings, physical sensations, and nervous system.
As we expand on learning how to acknowledge, ground, balance, soothe, and accept the changing energy flows within us, we build tolerance to be with, rather than suppressing, numbing or ignoring our fear of the feelings and connecting to the body (which is what the eating disorder tries to do).
In this way, the energy doesn’t keep building and building, whilst being suppressed and hidden, waiting to explode and subsequently drown our system like a river that has burst its banks.
We can develop embodiment skills and nervous system capacity that help us downregulate, soothe and settle, release what can be released in titrated ways, and support us in moving from a grounded place of inner flow and harmony.
When we slowly return to the soma - to our first, primal language of the body through movement, sensation, sound, touch, and impulse we have a chance to experience our healing in a different way.
Developmentally, our motor neurons myelinate before our sensory neurons, so we actually moved before we could sense; movement (body language) is our first language that we all understand.
All of our interactions and gestures that we do consciously and unconsciously around other people and in the world are forms of movement.
At its core, movement is the language of relationship that bring us closer into connection and safety, and away from danger and from what doesn’t resonate.
When we see how the body is involved in all moments and how it is moving all the time, we can start to consciously connect with it more, and use it as a resource to support us in moving towards our needs, wants and preferences, empowered.
How our body responds and reacts to the world is a more accurate gauge of our real experience than conscious awareness of observed behaviour.
When we move out of the narratives of the mind and connect with the body, we experience ourselves in a direct, present moment way through the language of the body.
Connecting to the body is a necessary step in recovery.
Moving from the thinking mind into the feeling body, we deepen inner trust, strengthen emotional resilience, and anchor embodied connection.
By expanding our ability to regulate, ground, and nourish ourselves, we learn how to be with our fears (whatever they may be), leading to the eating disorder eventually letting go of us.
Letting go of controlling food rules can be really tough. Leaning into intuitive eating can be even tougher. This is because intuitive eating is act of trust with the body.
To build trust with the body we can explore the practice of intuitive, authentic movement. We can test the waters of the unknown through movement and dance - and this can support us in eating more intuitively too.
No longer following external rules, we can listen and respond to our internal cues.
This process is a gateway to meeting ourselves in an authentic way.
If you feel called to explore how intuitive movement can support your recovery journey, you can enroll in Inbody: A Movement Program, a self-paced online program that incorporates nervous system regulation tools, mindful movement, and somatic awareness and education, to inspire recovery from a body-first, embodied approach.
Inbody weaves over 10 hours of experiential embodiment practices that are sensitively guided for those who are still learning to trust their bodies, alongside somatic education that deepens our understanding of why we do these practices (indeed, resistance is a thing when we start to drop into the body, so it’s helpful to have the higher brain on board via the educational pieces that can remind us of why we are doing this work).
If you desire to trust your body’s authentic guidance, and you know it is possible to access feelings of safety, connection, and flow through your body, I invite you to dance alongside me.
Explore how mindful movement, embodiment practices, and a somatic approach can best support your journey towards establishing a more trusting, free, and authentic relationship with your body.