Emotional Liberation Through Movement: Bridging Exercise and Exorcise
The words “exercise” and “exorcise” have fascinated me for their shared root in the concept of expelling, yet they diverge dramatically in meaning. “Exercise” calls to mind physical activity, discipline, and the exertion of the body in a structured way. It is often framed as a means to strengthen or condition the body. On the other hand, “exorcise” suggests something far more spiritual, an act of purging or ridding oneself of something unwanted, often with an emotional or metaphysical weight.
The histories of these two words reveal an intricate relationship. “Exercise” comes from the Latin exercere, meaning "to drive forth, keep busy, or set in motion." It has always held associations with deliberate, repetitive action, primarily in relation to the body. “Exorcise,” by contrast, derives from the Greek exorkizein, meaning "to bind by oath" and later "to drive out evil spirits." While the former implies a methodical physicality, the latter speaks to an emotional or spiritual release. Together, they present a duality: one is about conditioning and fortification, while the other is about removal and liberation.
In my practice, these terms merge as I contemplate the body’s role in processing emotion. When we engage in exercise, we are not merely strengthening muscles but also moving energy. Through somatic practices, I have come to see that physical exertion often mirrors a kind of emotional exorcism. The body holds emotions, sometimes long after the mind has tried to move past them. Trauma, grief, joy—they all leave traces in muscle memory, in posture, in breath.
In movement, especially through expressive dance, we activate these stored emotions. Each stretch, contraction, or breath becomes a form of release—an exorcism of sorts. Through this embodied practice, I can explore how to not only expel unwanted feelings but also transform them into something tangible and expressive.
Both “exercise” and “exorcise” speak to the necessity of release, of movement. In exerting the body, we give ourselves permission to feel, to confront, and ultimately to release. Somatics has become the language through which I navigate this dual process, where every motion serves to both exercise and exorcise the deeper layers of emotion embedded in the body’s fabric.
