Movement Informs Thinking

5/31/20262 min read

Sometime after I became a Chi for Two® Embodiment Coach, I started telling clients, “Movement informs thinking.” For example, there are many Chi for Two practices that involve contralateral movements like “Twist” “Alternate Shoulder Rolls” and “Sway” which help the two brain hemispheres communicate more effectively. When we are triggered and feel unsafe, the right side of our brain tends to be more activated. The right side of our brain facilitates spatial awareness, creative tasks, non-verbal cues, and rhythm. When triggered we can feel much younger than our current age since about 90% of our brain develops between 0 and 5 years old. Usually, we do not develop language until about 1 year old. Movement is our 1st language.

The left side of the brain controls language, logic, and numerical computations. When we can incorporate a contralateral practice like “Sway” after being triggered and feeling unsafe we are more likely to feel in our adult bodies rather than our infant bodies. It seems for many of us with complex trauma, integrating a contralateral movement like walking or “Alternate Shoulder Rolls” is just the beginning to getting the left side of our brain online. Often, we might need to incorporate a Chi for Two gesture practice like “Drumming” “ArtMoves” or “Push” so the Fight/Flight activation has a place to land outside of the body instead of wreaking havoc in the mind.

For generations our societal systems have taught us to figure out problems in our head. However, most of us end up going down “rabbit holes” which can include a combination of Fight/Flight and Shut-down activation when trying to resolve an issue in our minds. Mindful movements such as Chi for Two somatic practices can place a pause on thinking on what has for many of us been catastrophizing down darker “rabbit holes.”

Reaching out to one’s Chi for Two Embodiment Coach can be helpful when trying somatic practices on one’s own are not enough to shift us away from “doom and gloom” thinking. The energetic exchange between the client and Embodiment Coach can promote more choice-focused thought until the client is able to access their “Inner Parents” on their own.

As a Chi for Two Embodiment Coach, I offer up to a 10-minute check-in between sessions for further support. I offer this as an alternative to our societal addictive grabs of our phones, vapes, and game controllers which perpetuate the unhealthy swing between Fight/Flight and Shut-down. Movement, our first language, can help us feel in our adult bodies when done mindfully and help us interact with the world from a position of choice rather than fear.

"When we do practices seeking presence, deep urges for support get stirred." Caroline Gebhardt, co-developer of Chi for Two®

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