Healing from Injury - A Gestalt perspective

For the past five months, my body has been telling me a story I wasn’t prepared for. A neck injury with bulged discs suddenly paused the part of my life I often take for granted: dance. As a dance teacher, I move with ease, fluidity, and a kind of unspoken connection that flows through my body. Until recently, I hadn’t truly noticed how essential that connection is.

Last night, stepping back into my first dance class after full recovery, I was struck by the awkwardness of my own body. Even though my neck has healed 100%, I felt fragmented, disconnected from the rhythm and integration I once embodied so naturally. Gestalt therapy reminds us that the body is not just a vessel but a field where awareness, movement, and self-expression coalesce. In dance, every movement connects us: limbs, breath, balance, intention, and emotion all converse silently, forming an ongoing dialogue within ourselves.

Movement is more than exercise; it is communication with the self. It grounds us, integrates experience, and reconnects us to our present moment. Through this pause, I’ve come to realise how much I relied on my body’s habitual flow without consciously acknowledging it. The awkwardness I felt stepping back onto the floor is a reminder that reconnection takes time, patience, and awareness. Each movement now feels like a conscious act of rebuilding trust between mind, body, and spirit.

This experience has deepened my understanding of embodiment in both my personal life and teaching practice. Dance is not just about steps or technique, it is a continuous dialogue that unites all parts of ourselves. In the pause and the return, I am learning anew to listen to my body, honour its resilience, and embrace the beautiful, sometimes fragmented, journey of moving fully again.