The neuroscientist Bessel van der Kolk has spent decades researching trauma. He said that a pivotal point in his career was when he saw the health of the bodywork people, a bunch of people who looked much healthier and moved with greater ease and freedom than did the neuroscientists, the psychoanalysts, and the cognitive behavior people who he was usually around. Then, he experienced how bodywork opened up parts of himself that he’d never had access to before. A good example of body work is yoga.
Playful movements set to music can boost brain function for those interested in self-improvement, or for those suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Music accesses the emotional, the intellectual, and the physical parts of the brain. Simple movements set to music can awaken the senses and allow easier access to places in our brains that can otherwise be difficult to reach. We connect on a deep level to music. Our body depends upon its own rhythms such as heartbeats, the breath, and digestive peristalsis to stay alive. Musical rhythms resonate with us innately.
Movement allows our chi, or energy, to flow through our chakras in a fluid, malleable way. Being “in the flow” is a core truth for being at one with the Universe.
Dance, do yoga, Tai Chi, QiGong, and other movements to music to release that which needs releasing within your deeper self, to repair and heal. Yin yoga which holds poses for longer lengths of time is an especially great yoga practice. And dance, dance, dance.
One Seeker's Story 