ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with recognizing the attribute of movement as synonymous with life itself and psychologically with the movement of emotion in the body. It goes on to explore the shaman’s early ecstatic dances as they imitated animals and gave direct access to the spirit world, thus regulating and maintaining the overall health of individual psyches and the psyche of the tribe. The author proposes that the experience of the psyche is always an experience of ordered movement and that when opposing tensions in the psyche/soma no longer move freely, psychopathology is the result – leaving the personality stuck in one posture or another. Examples from the author’s dreams show movement in the unconscious consolidation of the capacity to move freely both inwardly and outwardly. Various forms of movement therapy are outlined, such as the authentic movement that began with Mary Whitehouse in Europe and Marion Woodman’s BodySoul approach. Finally, the importance of ‘slowing down’ the patient’s mental contents in psychotherapy is emphasized – in order to make space for the body’s wisdom to emerge.
