Episode #131: Unlocking Emotional Healing: Toni Bergins and the Power of Dance for Women Over 50

Unlocking Emotional Healing: Toni Bergins and the Power of Dance for Women Over 50

In this powerful episode, embodiment coach Toni Bergins shares how movement can serve as emotional medicine, helping us release trauma, pain, and repressed emotions stored in the body. Discover how JourneyDance  Toni’s transformative dance practice, helps individuals heal by using movement to express what words cannot.

Toni’s personal journey from emotional repression to liberation through dance offers deep insight into how childhood experiences led her to unhealthy coping mechanisms, including eating disorders. She reframes eating disorders as emotional disorders —physical attempts to purge overwhelming feelings that have no other outlet.

JourneyDance provides a liberating and accessible way to reconnect with your body and emotions. This revolutionary practice is open to people of all ages and abilities, focusing on authentic self-expression rather than technique or performance. Whether you’re in a wheelchair or have full mobility, Toni explains how to modify movements to suit your needs, making it accessible to everyone. The emphasis is on how you feel, not how you look.

This episode is perfect for anyone feeling emotionally stuck, disconnected from their body, or seeking alternative healing methods. If you’re looking for a fresh approach to emotional healing and want to explore how movement can help release stored trauma and promote emotional well-being, this episode is for you. JourneyDance  offers an empowering, non-verbal path to healing that can complement traditional therapy.

Listen to Toni Bergins as she guides you toward using the power of dance to unlock emotional healing and connection. It’s time to transform your relationship with your body and emotions—starting today.

Key Takeaways from Unlocking Emotional Healing with Toni Bergins

Repression, Expression, and the Origin of Emotional Disconnection:

Toni opens up about her upbringing in a household marked by extreme emotional contrasts—some family members were explosively expressive, while she was the one who internalized emotions, presenting as joyful while secretly compartmentalizing. This early dynamic shaped her into a keen observer, but stifled her own emotional release. It wasn’t until she discovered dance that she began accessing and expressing deeply stored feelings. She shares how movement, rather than words, gave her the freedom to release trauma, paving the way for her signature phrase: “Tell your story to the dance floor.”

Bulimia as Emotional Purging and the Journey to Self-Love:

Toni reframes bulimia not as an eating disorder, but as an emotional disorder—a misguided method of emotional release. She describes the addiction to the cycle of purge and relief, rooted in unprocessed emotional weight rather than body image concerns. Her turning point came in her early twenties, when she committed to self-love and radically shifted behaviors that were self-destructive. This theme highlights her early steps into spiritual healing and self-mastery.

From Corporate Life to Embodied Healing Through Dance:

Before founding JourneyDance, Toni followed a conventional path—college, public relations, and teaching. But corporate life didn’t align with her spirit. Her personal healing began at Kripalu Center, where a profound experience led her to reconnect with her body and uncover her path. Although she explored traditional dance forms, she realized her true calling wasn’t in choreography, but in using dance as a vehicle for emotional and spiritual transformation.

Discovering the Power of Freeform Movement and the Birth of JourneyDance:

Toni shares how structured dance didn’t suit her. She couldn’t count in rhythm and felt disconnected from performance-based movement. What she found instead was a shamanic, expressive, and therapeutic form of dance—one that allowed for emotional alchemy. Her training in somatics and movement therapy laid the groundwork for what became JourneyDance, a modality rooted in inner transformation, free movement, and embodied emotional expression.

The Structure and Purpose of JourneyDance:

JourneyDance isn’t just about movement—it’s a structured path through embodiment, emotional expression, and spiritual connection. Toni describes the journey she guides students through: from grounding and self-awareness to emotional catharsis and transmutation. Using archetypes like fire and alchemy, students release old stories and reconnect with vitality, all without verbalizing trauma. This section outlines how the dance space becomes a sacred, healing container.

Inclusivity, Accessibility, and Safe Emotional Exploration:

Addressing common fears around dance, Toni emphasizes that JourneyDance is accessible to all—regardless of age, physical ability, or dance experience. Participants are guided safely through emotional layers, with modifications for every body. Whether you’re dancing in a wheelchair or lying down, the emphasis is on inner movement and permission to feel. This makes JourneyDance a deeply inclusive modality for emotional release and healing.

The Role of Crying and Collective Emotional Release:

Crying, once stigmatized in Toni’s own emotional repertoire, became a key part of her healing. She describes how JourneyDance sessions often open up this gateway for participants, who are grateful for the opportunity to release long-held grief or rage. In a culture that prizes emotional control, she reframes crying as a powerful act of release that creates space for joy, clarity, and connection.

Encouraging Risk-Taking and the Power of Trying Something New:

Host Beverley Glazer reinforces Toni’s call to “take the risk.” For those who feel stuck or overwhelmed by life or therapy, JourneyDance offers a new path. There’s no need to “look good” or have a dancer’s body—just a willingness to move and feel. The message is simple but profound: transformation often begins the moment you do something different, especially when it feels unfamiliar or vulnerable.

Toni’s Offerings and the Global Impact of JourneyDance:

Toni shares her expanding work, including retreats, trainings, and her book Embody: Feel, Heal, and Transform Your Life Through Movement. With nearly 2,000 certified JourneyDance teachers worldwide, her movement continues to grow. She invites listeners to explore the practice through online classes, audio experiences, and even destination dance retreats. Her message: your passion can become your purpose, and healing through movement is a gift we can give ourselves and others.

Connect with Toni Bergins

Connect with Bev:

Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock

https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer/

Need advice? Schedule a time to talk: https://calendly.com/reinventimpossible/15min