Reclaiming My Joy Through Movement
For a long time, I felt like my body was just a machine:
Feeding babies, folding laundry, moving through the day on autopilot. My mind was full, my heart was tired, and my body? She was quiet. Too quiet.
I didn’t even notice I’d lost my connection to her, until the day I stepped into an ecstatic dance and let myself truly move.
It wasn’t necessarily pretty. It wasn’t choreographed. It wasn’t for Instagram. It was for me. My body’s own language began to speak again; through a hip sway, a shoulder roll, a stomp that shook loose something old and heavy. That’s when I remembered: joy lives in the body, and when we stop moving, joy gets trapped.
The Power of Somatic Expression
Somatic practices (anything that brings you into your body with awareness) are not about looking good. They’re about feeling. When I dance, I’m not performing, I’m releasing. The music becomes a permission slip to be wild, soft, sensual, strong. Whatever my body needs that day.
Embodiment work, especially dance, has become my rebellion against the idea that a mother’s joy is secondary. It’s how I claim my space, my right to pleasure, my connection to myself.
How I Bring Dance into My Life
You don’t need a class or a mirror or fancy moves to start. Here are a few ways I keep movement alive in my days:
Emotional Alchemy: I pick one song that matches how I want to feel, not how I currently feel. Three minutes of moving to it in the kitchen can shift my whole day. My body processes the emotion through movement instead of letting it calcify inside me.
Permission to Be Silly: I dance like nobody’s watching because, let’s be real, usually nobody is. I let my arms flail, my hair get messy, and my face make ridiculous expressions. And, even if I'm at an ecstatic dance and someone is watching? I let it all out and get as silly as I want to be with no shame!
Sensual Reclamation: Sometimes I dim the lights, close the door, and move slowly, feeling every inch of myself. This is not about performing sexy; it’s about feeling sexy in my own skin. (Request my playlist if you want to listen to what I get down with.)
Why It Matters
When I dance, I am more than “mom” or “wife” or “coach.” I am a woman, alive in her body, in her power. Alive in the very moment. That joy ripples into my parenting, my marriage, my work. My kids see a mother who honors herself. My partner sees a woman who’s still lit up from within.
Reclaiming joy is not a frivolous act, it’s foundational. And sometimes, the most revolutionary thing you can do is turn up the music and let your body lead.
