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, 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.

Faith

“I went from feeling anxious and wanting to hide, to dancing in the middle of the retreat center completely confident in my body and loving every second of being witnessed. My biggest aha came when I realized I was no longer scanning for threats in my body or in the people around me. Instead, I was finally able to feel the goodness in my body and invite authentic, fulfilling connection with others.”

Faith, living with Multiple Sclerosis, had grown accustomed to navigating life from a place of caution and self-protection. She constantly scanned her body for discomfort or pain as a measure of danger, which created a relationship with her body marked by hypervigilance and anxiety.

During our retreat in Spain, Faith discovered a new way of being in her body. She began noticing sensations that felt good and pleasurable, and learned to stay with discomfort without immediately trying to push it away. The somatic sessions helped her move through difficult feelings, creating space to fully inhabit her body.

As she shifted out of constant self-protection, Faith opened to connection with others. She formed a close bond with another participant, and the joy she was experiencing within her body naturally expanded outward, allowing her to invite love, acceptance, and playful connection into her social life.

The embodied experience of joy, pleasure, and openness on retreat continues to shape her life at home. Faith is no longer scanning for threats; she’s embracing self-love, deeper connections, and a greater sense of freedom in her body and daily life.

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!

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.”

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!

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.

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.”