Linda Hartley’s journey into somatic movement therapy has been a deeply organic evolution, rooted in decades of embodied exploration, teaching, and healing.
As the founder of the Institute for Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy, she has woven together practices like Body-Mind Centering®, Authentic Movement, and somatic psychology to support emotional and physical well-being. Her work emphasizes the power of presence, the wisdom of the body, and the profound connections between self, others, and the Earth.
In this interview with MysticMag, Linda shares insights from her 50-year path—offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of integrative somatic practices.
What inspired you to establish the Institute for Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy, and how has it evolved since its inception?
There was never a single moment of decision or a grand plan to start the Institute. In 1990, I was invited to teach a year-long program in Body-Mind Centering® in Berlin by a colleague who had studied with me. That initial invitation grew organically—what began as weekends in Berlin, with time in Italy at the beginning and end, gradually expanded as more people expressed interest. One small group continued meeting for six or seven years. At first, I called it “Introduction to Body-Mind Centering,” but when the Body-Mind Centering School started developing their own training in Germany, I realized I needed a different name. Together with that first group of students, we came up with the name that would eventually become the Institute for Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy.
Authentic Movement was part of the early exploration, though I wasn’t formally teaching it yet. After five years in Berlin, I spent a couple of years teaching in London, but for various reasons, that stopped. Then I was invited by a student in Hamburg to teach there, and the German students were incredibly enthusiastic and fully committed. I’m deeply grateful to those German students for their energy and readiness to leap in.
In 2003, I brought the program back to the UK, where it has been running ever since. By then, the program had begun to take on a more defined structure. The first-year modules included Infant Movement Development, Authentic Movement, and Therapeutic Presence. My own training as a counselor and psychotherapist influenced the curriculum, leading to the addition of a full module on what I now call Somatic Psychology—exploring the psychological dimensions that emerge through body-based work.
In 2011, I was invited to teach in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the program continues to thrive with two parallel groups. Two students from that first Lithuanian cohort were from Moscow, and they initiated a program there as well. Due to COVID and the war, the Moscow program now runs largely independently, supported by a team of teachers we’ve trained over the years.
Over time, I developed a faculty of experienced teachers from Germany, the UK, Lithuania, and Russia. I’ve now stepped back from teaching entirely, and each program has its own director, organizer, and team. The UK directors currently hold the umbrella of the full Institute. As of two years ago, I have served only as a consultant or supervisor when needed. It’s been a 33-year journey filled with teaching, traveling, and organizing—a truly organic evolution.
How does your approach to Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy incorporate practices like Body-Mind Centering® and Authentic Movement?
Body-Mind Centering® has always been the foundation of my work—it was the starting point and continues to underpin everything we do. In our training program, three out of the five modules are specifically focused on material derived from Body-Mind Centering®, and this is deeply integrated with elements of Authentic Movement and somatic psychology.
Authentic Movement, in particular, offers a powerful way for students to deepen their self-awareness and integrate what arises during somatic movement practice. This might include unconscious material, emotional responses, or even traumatic experiences. Authentic Movement provides a safe and supportive space to process these experiences—first and foremost within one’s own practice, and then in learning how to witness others.
The witnessing aspect is central: it involves being fully present with compassion and acceptance, without judgment. We intentionally set aside psychological analysis and theory in these moments, allowing whatever is happening in the present to unfold naturally. Being witnessed in such a space can be deeply transformative for participants.
We also use this approach to cultivate sensitivity to psychological dynamics such as transference and countertransference—skills that are valuable in any therapeutic context. While this isn’t a psychotherapy training, it’s essential that students develop an awareness of the emotional and psychological material that can emerge in this work. That’s where somatic psychology comes in, offering practical models and frameworks that complement the experiential practices.
Can you elaborate on the benefits of somatic movement therapy for individuals dealing with stress-related disorders or emotional challenges?
Yes, that’s a really important question. Somatic movement therapy helps bring us into the present moment. When we pay close attention to our bodies—our sensations, our felt sense, our movement impulses, and patterns—we naturally anchor ourselves in the here and now. This is significant, especially given how our minds tend to drift into thoughts about the past or future. Somatic movement offers a way to take a break from that mental noise and gently return to the present.
Another key benefit is that it invites us to slow down. While the movement isn’t always slow, there is generally an emphasis on turning inward and paying close attention. This supports the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system—the part of our system responsible for rest, recovery, and healing. Healing from stress or past trauma requires access to this state, and somatic movement provides tools to help us shift into it. Once we’re in this slower, more grounded space, the body can begin to integrate new sensations and patterns, allowing healing and change to happen more readily.
This inner focus also helps us connect to our authentic self. For individuals who have experienced abuse, addiction, or other emotional challenges, reconnecting with the self is often central to healing. Somatic practices offer a gentle and embodied way to support that process—especially when practiced with care, support, and appropriate guidance.
Additionally, these practices can evoke pleasurable sensations in the body, much like massage does. While it’s not massage, somatic movement can stimulate the release of endorphins, which benefit both our mental health and our relationships. These are just some of the primary benefits that come to mind—there are certainly many more.
What role does the Discipline of Authentic Movement play in your therapeutic and teaching practices?
As I mentioned earlier, the Discipline of Authentic Movement provides a powerful support for exploring, deepening, and integrating personal material. At its core, it’s about developing the inner compassionate witness—first toward ourselves, learning to observe our experience with acceptance and care. From there, we gradually learn how to extend that witnessing presence to others.
These days, I’ve stepped back from much of my previous work, including individual therapy. Instead, I now focus on facilitating small group retreats in the Discipline of Authentic Movement—usually with four or five people. In a sense, the dynamic has shifted: rather than the discipline informing my therapeutic work, it’s now my therapeutic background that informs how I teach and facilitate Authentic Movement.
I serve as a teacher and witness in these groups, but my psychotherapeutic awareness is always present in the background. It helps guide what I choose to say—or not say—when offering reflections to a mover. If trauma arises, being trauma-informed allows me to navigate the moment with sensitivity and care, adjusting my role or stepping out of witnessing if needed to better support the individual.
Earlier in my career, the practice of witnessing was a foundation for my therapeutic and teaching work. Now, it’s the reverse—the therapeutic lens enhances how I hold space within Authentic Movement sessions. I track not only the group or individual but also my own internal responses: what I’m sensing, what might be occurring in the space or in the relational field.
What I particularly love about working in small groups is how it allows for integration of individual healing within a shared, intimate container. It’s not just one-to-one work anymore—though there is space for that depth—but it happens in a collective setting, almost like a chosen family. Each participant gets the chance to move, to be witnessed, and to witness others. That shared experience can be profoundly healing.
How do your workshops and retreats support participants in exploring the connection between body, earth, and spirit?
The foundation of my work is bringing awareness to bodily sensations, movement pathways, and emotional experiences. From this embodied attention, a natural connection—and often a deep love—for the Earth tends to emerge. I’ve observed that as people become more grounded in their bodies, their relationship with the Earth develops organically. This feels especially vital in our current ecological climate.
In somatic work, we often explore this connection more explicitly. For instance, we might investigate our relationship to gravity or the Earth through our bones—feeling how the mineral composition in our bodies mirrors that of the Earth. We explore our fluid body in connection with the oceans and rivers, or examine breath in relation to the trees, acknowledging the miraculous reciprocity in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. These specific explorations root participants more deeply in the living systems around them.
In Authentic Movement practice—especially within the Discipline of Authentic Movement—we invite expanded awareness not just inward, but outward to the environment. This often opens people to a richer connection with nature and the world around them. My studio is located in my garden, surrounded by trees, birds, and open fields, which allows for a very direct and sensory relationship with the natural world during practice.
Many participants also report that, over time, this embodied awareness opens them to a spiritual dimension. It might not be called “spiritual” by everyone, but qualities like compassion, joy, awe, and a deeper love for self and others begin to arise. For some, this evolves into a conscious spiritual practice—or supports one already in place.
I resonate with the phrase my teacher Janet Adler used: embodied awareness practices—they offer a way to touch the mystery of spirit through the body itself. This is not about bypassing difficult experiences, but rather moving through the body, sometimes encountering pain, and discovering it can serve as a portal into something greater than the personal self.
Through this work, people often feel connected to something larger—be it the collective, the Earth, a bird in a tree, or the space beyond their body boundaries. What emerges is not a transcendent spirituality, but an immanent one—rooted in the body, the Earth, and the present moment.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the field of somatic movement therapy and its integration into broader therapeutic practices?
That’s such an important question. In my most recent book, I wrote in the preface about the idea of “nesting”—how the somatic movement community has felt like a nurturing nest for these practices over the decades. Now, it feels as if the practices are ready to take flight, like fledglings leaving the nest. I truly believe that what has long been held in private studios and safe circles is ready to move into the wider world.
My hope is for somatic movement therapy to become more visible, accessible, and integrated into mainstream culture. Here in the UK, there have been small but significant steps in that direction—some of our graduates have brought somatic practices into NHS and community health settings through what’s known as “social prescribing.” This makes these practices available to people who might not otherwise access them privately, which is something I deeply value.
More broadly, I see a growing recognition of the importance of embodiment in the field of psychotherapy. While somatic movement therapy isn’t quite the same as body psychotherapy or somatic psychotherapy, it has much to offer—and I hope to see more integration of somatic approaches into psychotherapy training programs. Encouragingly, more research is now being done to document the benefits of somatic movement therapy, helping to build its credibility while preserving the spirit and essence of the work.
Another area I care deeply about is the role somatic practices can play in our ecological awareness and healing. As we discussed earlier, there is a natural connection between embodiment and caring for the Earth. Emerging fields such as ecopsychology and “ecosomatics” reflect this growing intersection. These practices not only support individual healing but can also help foster a collective responsibility for the well-being of our planet.
After all, we cannot truly be well if the Earth is not well. The health of our bodies and the health of the planet are deeply intertwined.
Find out more at: www.lindahartley.co.uk and www.ibmt.co.uk
