(Ep. 3) Exploring Your Emotions Through Movement: Dance, Somatic Movement, & Neurodivergent Nervous System Regulation

Join Oliver Phoenix in exploring the Somatic Spectrum, today diving into the role of movement in accessing, processing, and experiencing emotions, particularly for neurodivergent people. 

Drawing from their lifelong experience as a dancer, Oliver discusses how dance and somatic movement can regulate the nervous system, explores the natural stims used by neurodivergent individuals, and highlights the importance of allowing these movements for emotional regulation. 

Tune in for insights into integrating somatic practices and embodied movement into your life and discover how these approaches can help you connect more deeply with your emotions and body ✨

00:00 Introduction to Movement as Emotional Alchemy

00:21 My Personal Experiences with Dance

02:35 Tap Dance, Vibration, & Rhythm for Regulation

04:00 Movement as a Way to Explore & Experience Emotions

07:07 Embodied Movement as a Somatic Practice

09:07 Neurodivergence and Movement-Based Stims

11:52 Invitation to Explore Somatic Movement Further

12:16 Join the Feel + Thrive Program

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Transcript

[00:00:00] I'm Oliver Phoenix, and you're listening to the Somatic Spectrum. On today's episode, we're talking about movement as a way to access, process, and fully experience your emotions, and the role that this plays in somatic work and nervous system regulation for neurodivergent people.

[00:00:21] Welcome to the Somatic Spectrum, where we explore the intersections of somatics, mindfulness, self identity, and neurodivergence. I'm Oliver Phoenix, an ADHD yoga teacher and somatic coach, and I'm going to give you insights and actionable tips for living your most authentic and supported neurodivergent life.

[00:00:45] I started taking dance classes when I was three and I think as a result of starting dance so young I often feel like dance is almost like a native language to my body. There are parts of movement as emotional alchemy that I didn't fully experience or realize until I started doing yoga or until I built a really strong personal practice of yoga.

[00:01:23] The way that I experience it, movement has this ability to make energy travel through the body and along with that often either dredges up emotions that weren't at the surface or is able to carry an emotion through expression to a place where the emotion Is satisfied in expressing itself.

[00:01:51] And when an emotion has fully played out, has been expressed, released, integrated, then the nervous system is able to come back to a more regulated state. And I think because I started dance so early as a child, I was probably often using dance as a way of. regulating without fully realizing it. and I think there's a lot of that that ties in with neurodivergence as well, as someone with ADHD and, I'm also a bit hypermobile, 

[00:02:26] I think that I used dance and the ways that I positioned and moved my body in my day to day life in ways that either were stims for me, were ways of supporting my body, like standing in fifth position at the bus stop just to like, Hold my joints in place, or tapping in the grocery store aisles because it's a loud and overwhelming place.

[00:02:59] And in tapping, I was able to find both a rhythm and a vibration and something to focus on more internally.

[00:03:10] I'm actually really fascinated by the idea of TAP specifically, and how it might play into regulating the body due to the vibrations and the often kinds of like bilateral stimulation that it can provide Yeah, uh, I'm really curious about the ways that

[00:03:30] parts of tap dance might naturally be involved in regulation, of the nervous system just in terms of, things like the rhythm, the bilateral stimulation, and the vibrations that actually pass through the resonance of the tap and, the feet movements from the floor and into the body and vice versa.

[00:03:52] wanted to record a little something to share my thoughts on this because movement is a big part of how I do somatic work and it's

[00:04:05] I think it's also something that is used in a lot of different ways in different modalities.

[00:04:11] I guess to experience how I do it, you will ultimately just have to join me for a embodied movement practice or a somatic movement practice.

[00:04:24] To me also, movement arts and music are deeply intertwined and often music and dance provides the inspiration for the emotional experience that is mapped onto and played out through the body.

[00:04:45] Or in other cases, the emotional part might be something that starts within and then you find a song to match it. And then allow kind of the music to trigger that emotional feeling that you already knew needed to be expressed. And then carrying that out, processing it through the act of dance.

[00:05:07] Right now I'm lucky to be working on a number of dance pieces that are really tied to the internal experience and also about interaction with the world. And I think that, as a neurodivergent individual, that is always such a, deep well for me to draw from.

[00:05:30] Whether it's exploring the idea of loneliness, of feeling cut off versus feeling connection with others, or whether it's about my experience with my own body as a trans person and the positive and negative feelings that I have towards my body on a daily basis, or whether it's about exploring what it means to be in my body and this world.

[00:06:02] And like each of those things, as I say them, you probably have your own emotional reaction to them, whether you resonate or not, but if you do resonate, what you're feeling is likely different than what I'm feeling.

[00:06:19] one thing that I've only come to realize recently is that When I quit dancing for a number of years as a teenager, those were the years that I, I mean, it's a rough emotional time for most people. But I don't think it was helped by the fact that I had cut myself off from the best way that I'd had of processing emotions.

[00:06:44] connecting to my body and Being able to Play those out and let them move through my body . 

[00:06:52] When Dance as an outlet for that was taken away. I found That I became a lot more constricted, in the sense that my emotions caused me to tense, to curl inward, to tighten. And that was basically the opposite of the release, the extension, , all of the things that dance offered me.

[00:07:17] Now I'm really curious to talk about this with other neurodivergent dancers, so if that's you and you want to chat on the podcast about it, please drop me a note, send me a DM.

[00:07:31] The way that I incorporate embodied movement into the somatic practices that I share within my programs and in classes and workshops is very much with the intention of creating a space where

[00:07:46] we're basically creating a container to use movement. As a medium or a vessel through which the emotions can express themselves and be played out to completion, so that they become integrated and rather than becoming stuck in the body or staying stuck in the body if we're accessing something, from a past experience through movement, we're able to allow that energy to play itself out and be released.

[00:08:23] And this is something that's necessary in the cycle of nervous system regulation. 

[00:08:29] By doing this with Movement, I think that it's a really great medium for having this approach of curiosity and playfulness that I love so much in trying to help us get back to a place of being unmasked, being our neurodivergent, most authentic selves, and Moving in the ways that feel natural that feel intuitive to us.

[00:08:57] And also in this space, it really being not a space of dance performance, but of being a very personal experience where, you know, how you look as you're dancing doesn't matter at all. Because again, you're doing this as a process for yourself. And the great thing about this is, you know, those are community norms that we set when creating this space so that you feel comfortable expressing things through your body movement in the way that you need to.

[00:09:31] Another thing I wanted to talk about with movement is the ways that neurodivergent people use movement based stims naturally. A few that I can think of off the top of my head are, swaying or rocking. And this one in particular is one where there's actually been quite a bit of research done about the positive effects that this has for nervous system regulation.

[00:10:00] That is like so cool to me and also makes me feel quite a sense of anger and some sadness when I think about How many neurodivergent people were taught to suppress their movement based stims that we now know were actually our ways of regulating our nervous system in response to the overload that we take in.

[00:10:33] the sensory information that we are constantly, receiving and that can be overwhelming. And it turns out that these stims are really beneficial for us and I would say crucial even to being able to regulate our nervous systems. It's pretty disheartening to realize that basically like we were intuitively doing these behaviors that help us because of the unique ways that our brains function in the ways that we take in and process information.

[00:11:06] And so really the, the problem was the fact that we were taught not to do this or reprimanded from doing this or told that it wasn't socially acceptable to do this in public. And as a result of that, a lot of us stopped doing those things. Or, you know, we switched to things that were less noticeable or more internalized.

[00:11:30] But my point is there's actually quite a bit of scientific research that talks about how movements that are commonly used by neurodivergent people as stems Really benefits our nervous system regulation So this is also something that in my program feel and thrive we will have time to discuss as a community and also Explore and get curious with What things feel intuitive to us and maybe there are some practices that you can bring back into your life that we find through curiosity in playing with embodied movement and in some somatic movement practices that we'll do together.

[00:12:17] If listening to this episode has you wanting to move, then I encourage you to, when this episode ends, cue up a couple of your favorite songs and just allow yourself to listen into your body and move in any way that feels good to you. And if you're interested in learning more about how you can use these.

[00:12:40] movement practices or would like to get curious about how moving your body can help you to access and process your emotions, then please click on the link in show notes. You can sign up for the waitlist for my small group program, Feel and Thrive, which is launching soon, and also get access to a short somatic practice that we can do together..

[00:13:06] If you're tired of suppressing parts of yourself, ending up in burnout or overwhelm, and are ready to learn strategies to self soothe, live in harmony with your big emotions, and connect or reconnect to your truest self, you're in the right place. This fall, I'm creating a small group program that will help you develop personal somatic practices.

[00:13:31] So that you can spend less time in shutdown and more of your life doing the things you love. If you're looking for a supportive environment and personal transformation, sign up for the launch waitlist at the link in show notes.