Kim

“It was liberating to feel so safe to move my body and express myself freely. I searched for so long for a way to feel more at home in my bones, and the Sedona retreat was a turning point for me. I feel confident and empowered to take up space, whereas before I was constantly anxious and stayed small.”

When Kim signed up for my Sedona Somatic Retreat in Oct 2023, she was overwhelmed with anxiety in her body, life, and relationships. Through all of the work she had done, she believed she needed to find more grounding and containment within herself, so that she could function healthily.

Once Kim began to engage in the somatic therapy practices on retreat, she experienced life-changing shifts as she tried on movements that were physically bigger and more open. She realized, “I don’t need to keep containing myself. I need take up more space and let myself be seen.” Over the course of the next few days, she took the risk to be “bigger.”

During our sessions, she let the group of women see her move more freely. She allowed the tears to flow and fear to move through her body as she opened up her body & heart. For the first time in her life, she had an embodied understanding of what it’s like to feel safe to be seen. 

As a result, Kim released the majority of her anxiety that she carried in her relationships and everyday life. She is able to own her confidence & power, and speak up for what she needs, even if it is different from what other people want.

Kim acknowledges that the retreat was not a quick fix to all of her issues, but it immensely changed the trajectory of her healing & life. She is now moving forward in her career and relationships more capable of giving & receiving deeper, unconditional love, and emanates love in a way she has never been able to before.

Femke

“I have had thousands of euros and hundreds of hours of therapy and none of the spaces have been so mindblowingly transformative as the one we share. I am grateful.”

From the outside, Femke seemed to “have it all” when we met in 2018. She was an up-and-coming performing artist surrounded by many people who admired her. But on the inside, she was falling apart. She was highly insecure, anxious, and unfulfilled by her relationships.

Once we began the healing work, Femke discovered that she had built her life based on trauma and fear. She constantly abandoned her needs to impress others just for a moment of validation and fame. This is why so many praised Femke while she felt empty on the inside.

Femke’s patterns immediately showed through the movement process. Initially, she claimed to feel fine, when in reality, her body revealed the opposite in session.

Once Femke felt safer to feel her emotions and express them in our therapeutic relationship, we dove even deeper. I guided Femke to embody more power, strength and assertiveness. Initially, her nervous system rejected this idea.

Her nervous system almost went into a Freeze response each time she began to express more power through her physical body. But with my guidance, she moved through this fear and learned, within her entire being, that it is safe to be powerful. It is safe to say no and disappoint others. This was something she’d been trying to convince herself for many years through the mind; however, through the body and movement, she finally believed it and followed through with aligned action in her relationships.

We recorded the video interview above in August 2022 – about 3 years after we finished working together. In this video, you’ll see short clips of Femke moving on her own, as well as she and I moving together. This may help provide a clearer picture of how powerful this work is via body & movement.

Jen

“I had multiple therapists tell me I was “unhealable” – I tried years of therapy without ever feeling better. At Orit’s retreats, I was able to finally release trauma and I experienced true love & acceptance with a group of strangers. The amount of love I received on these retreats has left me speechless. Now I trust myself to move through my emotions and feel safe to express myself authentically.”

In February 2024, Jen attended her first Somatic Retreat with us in Sedona. She’d been feeling hopeless about her ability to live a joyful life without past trauma constantly bogging her down. During her many years of therapy, all of her therapists told her they couldn’t help her and abruptly ended their therapeutic work, leaving Jen with deeper abandonment wounds.

In Sedona, Jen began to uncover and express her deep fears around releasing her trauma. She had several panic attacks in the months before. She worried that she’d be intolerable or inconsolable if she accessed her trauma on retreat. Jen made huge strides in Sedona. One of the key moments was allowing herself to be physically held by the group during one of the sessions. Even though she was initially shaking, trembling, and afraid of receiving this love, she was eventually able to regulate her nervous system and release some tears.

Jen left Sedona feeling more hopeful than ever before. She could envision a life where she wasn’t constantly hijacked by trauma. However, Jen’s inner-knowing told her that she needed to go deeper. She felt her body ask her to release trauma more fully.

Jen came to her 2nd Somatic Retreat at the Redwoods in July 2024. On this retreat, Jen completed the process she began in Sedona. Even though she almost had a panic attack on Day 1, she finally released her trauma by Day 3. Her breakthrough happened in session where we explored Somatic Parts Work (IFS).

During the visualization process, Jen saw herself as a young, scared 4 year-old. She was curled up and hiding out of fear. This felt very intense for Jen. I reminded her she could take breaks and go back into the exploration whenever she was ready. I encouraged her to stay with these intense sensations and follow what her body truly wanted to do next (a skill she began developing in Sedona).

Finally, Jen sobbed. She audibly cried out loud. She no longer let her fear of releasing, or making others uncomfortable, get in the way of her reaching the release her body was begging her to experience.

Jen was so amazed by what happened, that she joked around afterwards, saying, “That was annoyingly magical.” 😂

As you can hear from Jen talking in this video, she finally faced her biggest fear of feeling intense emotions and releasing them. Not only did she turn out okay, she felt lighter and freer afterwards. Every aspect of Jen’s life changed after that – she has a newfound ability to love herself compassionately; she released the lifelong constriction from her throat, allowing her to literally speak more confidently & freely; she trusts herself to feel & move through her emotions; and instead of hiding, she is FULLY expressing herself with the people in her life.

There’s so much more to Jen’s experience that is incredibly inspiring. Check out the video to hear more!

Nancy

“My nervous system is calmer and I don’t overreact like I used to. I’m more confident and assertive instead of being stuck in my head and worrying about every little thing. I didn’t think it was possible for me to heal, now I know I can.”

When Nancy joined my group program in June 2021, she was terrified of being seen and judged. While all the other members introduced themselves in the 1st week, Nancy continued to hide.

Finally, after 6 weeks, Nancy wrote an official introduction about herself. She said, “This is better than nothing,” admitting that she wanted to post a video of her moving like the others did, but it was too scary to move her body, and especially be seen in it.

Over the next 6 months, Nancy gradually became more comfortable connecting to her body and expressing herself through movement. Not only did she move with us in live sessions, she also posted very vulnerable movement videos of herself moving through grief and pain. It was clear that Nancy was finally able to be with difficult emotions instead of impulsively reacting, numbing, or escaping from them.

Nancy also showed up in joy, play, and celebration – the “positive” emotions that she never felt safe to show growing up, or even in her adult life. We witnessed Nancy embody blissful states of being. We witnessed her feeling proud of her progress and healing.

Lastly, Nancy broke old patterns and learned new behaviors via movement, which dramatically strengthened her relationship skills. She says her favorite new pattern is being able to express anger and be assertive in a healthy way instead of yelling and overreacting. Nancy continues to share just how much this has improved the relationship with herself, her partner, and her children.

Nancy stands strong in her renewed sense of power, freedom, and self-confidence. Her new way of being is palpable from how she speaks about herself and her growth… and how she moves through it, which you can see in the clips of her dancing (in the video above).

Kim

“I thought I was broken after 20+ years of therapy, and now I feel so settled in my body. My nervous system drastically calmed down and my anxiety barely registers. I trust myself and have the self-love I’ve been searching for this whole time. This brought me and my partner closer than ever before.”

Before working together, Kim experienced intense Relationship Anxiety with her current partner. She had already gone through two divorces and she was ready to end her current relationship just to alleviate herself from the crippling anxiety it triggered. Kim sensed that the anxiety wasn’t truly about the relationship; it was trauma. But she felt hopeless after 20+ years of therapy trying to heal.

Kim committed to working together as a last resort. She wanted to give herself one more chance to heal.

From the very first session, Kim’s nervous system went “from a 10 to a 4.” By the end of the program, her anxiety was virtually gone. She found a new level of self-love where she was able to speak up for herself in all of her relationships.

The truth is, Kim’s new level of authenticity and assertiveness created unusual tension in her relationship– at first. Her partner wasn’t used to being with an empowered woman who was able to say “no.” But eventually his nervous system adapted too. Now, they have a much healthier relationship where they are both able to freely express themselves and love each other without hiding.

To hear specific examples about how movement helped Kim heal her trauma, check out her video interview above. You’ll also see real clips of her moving through pain, grief, empowerment and joy!

Justin & Julianne

“Looking back, our conflicts weren’t really disasters. It was us looking through a screen colored by past trauma. Once we healed the way we were physically reacting to each other, it changed everything for us in a way that nothing else ever had.”

Justin & Julianne were planning to file for divorce right before we began our work together. They had already done years of couples counseling, relationship life coaching, and conflict resolution exercises.

They were reluctant to try another “thing” but, to be honest, I told them during our initial consult, “I really believe you guys are going to have a completely different relationship once you’re done with the program.” I believed this because I was seeing them clearly, while they saw each other with trauma-tinted glasses.

After every session, Justin and Julianne had mind-blowing insights about how their problems weren’t as horrible as they originally seemed.

For example, in one session, I had them explore physically moving further away and closer together. In their day-to-day life, it felt detrimental when they each wanted time and space away from each other. They felt guilty for wanting more independence, so they abandoned their own needs to try to match each other. This led to deep unfulfillment within themselves and hopelessness about the relationship as a whole. But when they moved further away from each other in the safety of our session, they realized it wasn’t detrimental at all.

Because they had physical experiences of moving away from each other, and realizing it wasn’t as horrible as they imagined, it gave them the embodied experience that it was safe to be more independent. Plus, we explored different ways they could choose to come back together. They especially loved slowly walking back towards each other and brushing up against each other’s shoulders.

Even six months after they finished the program, they told me they still do this particular movement which makes them laugh and feel more playful together. Plus, it’s been empowering to feel in command of their bodies and choose how they want to connect to each other instead of being on autopilot and going through the same old motions that didn’t spark excitement anymore.

For more examples on how exactly movement helped them heal and transform their relationship, see their video above.

Corrie

“I used to constantly question my marriage and think about leaving. Now I have so much excitement and joy about our relationship without any confusion. After all these years of painting a scary picture of my husband and picking on his flaws, I can finally take in how much he loves me.”

Corrie used to spend hours in her head thinking about leaving her marriage. She fantasized about running away and how things would be better if she wasn’t with her partner.

Once we began to release old trauma from her body, her brain understood the difference between her current reality and past trauma. She realized that her husband is not a “monster” from her past.

After we finished working together, I asked her what changed in her marriage. She said, “I see him again… Instead of the scary version I painted of him, I can see him and all the expressions of love and devotion that he does every day.”

Before the program, she had only focused on his flaws and the ways in which he could hurt her. Once she rewired her nervous system and took off her trauma-tinted glasses, she was hopeful and excited about their relationship.

Corrie finally stopped sabotaging every possible moment of real love and intimacy. She developed healthier patterns with her partner and their daughter.

Full transparency: it took a few months for her family to believe that Corrie’s new baseline was calm, present, and affectionate. During that time, they still feared that she’d immediately flip out after she came home from work. They eventually all adapted to a new level of calm.

Corrie had spent years in therapy trying to achieve this without success, and she almost gave up on her relationship that she’s now so happy to be in.

You can hear Corrie talk about her experiences and see her moving through her healing in her video above.

Michael & Claire

“Couples Dance Therapy with Orit helped us unblock, grow and develop our relationship in such a powerful and positive way. This saved us so much time and money, allowing us to reach such a deep level that we didn’t even imagine was possible in such a short time.”

Claire and Michael felt generally happy together, but they were stuck in certain areas of their relationship. They wanted to improve their sense of fun, adventure and laughter together, like the early days. But they often got lost in challenges of parenting and other adult responsibilities.

They knew they needed to make more time for each other and improve their communication to deepen their relationship, but they weren’t able to break through on their own. That’s when they signed up to work with me.

Here’s what Michael said about the transformation he experienced through working together: “I’m expressing my feelings more quickly, rather than holding it in, and in a way that’s easier for Claire to receive.  I feel much more connected with myself and Claire, and this is something I’m excited to continue to grow. I was amazed to learn that we didn’t have to revisit the past in order to move forward and strengthen our connection.”

Claire said: “We have a healthier, more respectful, and attuned way of responding to each other’s changing needs. I can now stay present when I feel the urge to blame Michael. This has helped me communicate clearly what I need without attacking him.”

What they both said: “We both feel that we’ve improved the way we communicate and express our feelings, in a more equal and balanced way. We have a newfound ability to better and accurately receive each other’s communication. We’re no longer threatened by our different needs for space, and when we’re ready to reconnect, we come back to each other much stronger than ever before.”

Allow me to expand on the “equal” part: Claire felt disempowered by not taking more “masculine” roles like paying the bills. Michael felt that the “feminine” aspects of his emotions were unseen and unvalidated by Claire.

Now, Claire is free to take more control over the financial parts of their partnership that makes her feel more equal, while Michael feels that his emotions are just as valid and deserve the same amount of space as Claire’s. This skyrocketed their level of respect for each other.

They met all of their intentions from when they signed up to work together, and uncovered an incredible amount of understanding about themselves and their relationship. They’re excited to keep exploring & deepening their connection!

Brigid

“I always said that I wanted ease and grace and I feel that’s where we’re at now. Everything’s much easier.”

Brigid started working with me with the goal to revive her stale and disconnected marriage. The biggest issue was that Brigid froze up whenever she and her husband needed to have a serious discussion. As a result, she also avoided and shut him out from important areas of their lives.

Because Brigid witnessed domestic violence between her parents, she developed an irrational fear that this would happen with her husband too. Rationally, she knew that he had never hurt her, but her nervous system and body continued to freeze. As a healer herself, Brigid tried many different therapies, from traditional talk therapy to energy healings. None of these approaches helped her heal or behave differently.

Through our work together, Brigid accessed a trauma memory that completely surprised her. This memory never came up in all of her other therapy. We released it together and it immediately lifted a huge burden of fear she’d been carrying since she was 14 years old.

Brigid continues to contact me occasionally to share how much easier and more connected her relationship is with her husband now. She is thrilled that she is also more regulated and calm with her children, too. You can see and hear Brigid talk more about her experience in the video above.

Becky

“I felt so loved. I felt so seen and accepted in a group of primarily strangers. It enabled me to see others with love, even those who believed different things and chose different paths in life. This was such a magical and divine experience to feel the interconnectedness of our humanity and care for each other in such a short time.”

Katrina & Greg

“We’ve opened up an emotional connection that we hadn’t been able to feel even after years of therapy and coaching. As we’ve worked through our trauma together, we now feel safer with each other and are no longer emotionally volatile. Even when we argue, we can put the breaks and connect back with more intention and compassion.”

Carol

“I have a Master’s in Counseling and nothing has been more effective than integrating movement into my healing. I don’t know how it works, and I don’t care to know how it works, I just know that it does work.”

Jessica

“After more than 20 years of energy work and mindset work to heal my trauma, this program clicked everything into place. My marriage has been restored.”

Sam & Gina

“I feel seen with certain things for the first time ever. We’re on the cusp of bigger change and openness to meeting each other where we need. We are softer with one another and have more calmness in communication and compassion. The energy in the Couples Dance Therapy Sessions is vulnerable yet powerful, safe, yet it pushes us beyond our normal comfort levels. Orit is able to really see us well and she gives the utmost respect and care for each couple. It’s been transforming.”

Kellie

“Moving in front of others and being accepted is a very freeing feeling and created a feeling of empowerment within me.  Seeing others accept my movement helped me to accept myself. This is a feeling I now carry in my body wherever I go.”

Nisa

“I’ve had large amounts of time where I feel like my best self and love everything I do & say with everyone. Finally, my insides match my outsides. It’s an indescribable ease and comfort that I’m forever grateful for.”

Kristin

“I was able to stand up for what I believe in, even though it was different, and still be accepted. For my body to experience that was life-changing. It’s opened my eyes to see the people at home who love me, who’ve stuck with me, and are committed to me. I can now speak up for myself without being pushy, and I trust that they’ll still be there for me.”

Carmen

“The movement techniques gave me the missing puzzle piece that allowed me to finally access the fear that was stuck in my body and make everything click. I went from being numb to now being in command of my body. I can take loving care of myself and my partner without overreacting or dissasociating.”

Claire

“I now have strong boundaries and can ask for my needs without apologizing all the time. My husband said he enjoyed seeing that I could fully enjoy my life without having to constantly please or put others first!”

Camila

“If not for this work, I would’ve gone back into disempowering patterns during recent situations that were very challenging.”

Sarah

“I let love in! I let someone in after getting hurt and that was huge for me.”

Krystin

“It was amazing the change that I saw not only in myself, but also in my husband. We are able to communicate so much better and found our connection again!”

Gina

“I’ve never felt more empowered in myself and I now have a new level of confidence. I’m able to be unapologetically me.”

Shay

“This saved my life because I was just struggling to keep breathing.. and now, I have a life worth living.”

Stefania Rossi / @dearmyanxiety / 400K+ followers

“I tried dance and movement therapy with the amazing @orit.krug last week and it was a really cool experience. I’m always looking to add tools to the toolbox of things I use to cope with anxiety. I’m very open to trying new things, and I’m so glad I tried this 🤍  Thank you @orit.krug for holding a safe space for me to express myself. You’re such a warm soul!”

Yvette Aloe / @yvette_aloe / 100K+ followers

“If you are looking for a movement therapist follow @orit.krug. She is so wonderful at holding space and does virtual sessions with anyone all over the world.”

Brit L’Amour / @brit_lamour / 60K+ followers

“For those who are healing and looking for something other than talk therapy, google Orit Krug – she uses the remarkable process of Dance Therapy and nervous system techniques to help heal deep rooted issues that so many of us deal with. It’s beautiful to see how this type of therapy can help us connect with our bodies and help heal from things like unhealthy cycles, childhood trauma, negative core-beliefs, marriage problems, communication blocks, emotional triggers, body image, confidence, etc. If you’ve tried talk therapy and feel like you need something different to help you achieve your goals, you can give this a try! My personal experience was helpful and really special.”

Morgan Pommells / @morganpommells / 100K+ followers

“I am really excited to see such a well-trained coach like @orit.krug really building something that is so beautifully trauma informed.”