Do you ever feel a creative block as a founder? That nagging sense that you have ideas, but something is holding you back from bringing your vision to life?
It is a common feeling, and in a recent conversation with psychologist, certified movement therapist, ex dancer and ex model Viktoria Ilina, we explored a powerful truth:
Creativity isn’t something you either have or don’t. It’s an innate part of us that often gets blocked by fear.
Victoria’s journey from the rigid, classical world of dance to the expressive, free-flowing discipline of movement therapy offers a profound insight: What we do with our bodies can fundamentally change what we believe about ourselves.
In our conversation, we delve into how simple, everyday movements can reveal our deepest insecurities and fears. We discuss the tangible, physical feeling of low self-worth and the simple, yet profound, ways we can use our bodies to challenge these beliefs.
Our conversation is a powerful reminder that true strength isn’t about being rigid, but about being grounded and flexible. And, the biggest culprits that block our creativity are the fear of criticism and the fear of making a mistake. These anxieties can block us from sharing our ideas with the world. But, what if you could learn to embrace that fear and move towards your ideas anyway, and to let that fear take over you?
The answer, she says, lies in grounding yourself—literally.
During our chat, Victoria shared a simple yet profound exercise: Imagine yourself as a tree with deep, unshakable roots. No matter how strong the winds of criticism or the fear of failure, you remain rooted and stable.
This is a practice of building confidence and self-esteem, which in turn becomes a natural foundation for expressing your creativity. When you feel confident in yourself, your ideas can flow freely without being stifled by fear. It’s not about being fearless, but about having the courage to try, even if you might stumble.
Transcript can be seen below.
Podcast on Substack.
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I’m here with Victoria, a psychologist, dance therapist, and a long-time friend. She’s been a dancer for over 30 years and is also a model. Today, I want to talk with her about the importance of movement and its relevance in transforming your subconscious mind. This is especially useful for entrepreneurs or anyone feeling stressed who wants to unleash their creativity. We’re going to explore how movement helps with unblocking trauma and allows things to flow.
So, tell me a little bit more about your background and movement therapy. What is that?
I’ve been a dancer since I was five, with a background in classical dance where we follow very strict canons. The movements can be unnatural and even painful, especially when you’re learning professionally. After 18 years, I wanted to try modern dancing to get rid of those rigid rules. I felt a need to express myself more freely. After 10 to 15 years of performing with pop singers and different concerts, I realized I wanted a change. Psychology had always interested me, so I started studying it.
That’s when I discovered dance therapy, a branch of psychology. It was super exciting. When I tried it, I realized it had nothing to do with the type of dancing I’d learned my whole life. In fact, it was the opposite. For me, it was even more difficult than for people who had no professional dance background.
Movement therapy uses movement as a special tool because our psyche and our body are not separate—they are one. We’re not talking about the movements you learn in dance school, but the unconscious, subtle movements we make every day, every second. Even now, as I’m speaking, I’m moving. Gestures are movement, breathing is movement; as living human beings, we are always moving.
Movement therapy uses this subconscious movement. We don’t consciously control it, but we start to pay attention to it to understand ourselves better. Our minds and bodies often have different perceptions of who we are. Many of us live a “fake self,” where we pretend to be one thing while our body tells a different story. For example, I can pretend to be confident, but my body language will show that I’m not.
By focusing on our unconscious movements, we can understand our true selves. Once we become aware of our weaknesses and flaws, we can change them. Movement therapy is an investigation into the self. By slightly changing our patterns of movement, we can change our beliefs.
So, basically, you’re saying that you can use your body to change your beliefs?
Yes, of course—you can change your beliefs and your image of yourself. Our self-perception is a foundational part of our identity, built during our early years. When we are criticized, we may start to think, “I’m not good enough.” This general belief then gives rise to other beliefs. We can discover these foundational beliefs through our body language, and by working to change them, we can change our self-perception.
Let’s take self-esteem and confidence as an example. When a person has low self-esteem, they don’t value themselves; they don’t feel worthy. I’ll use “I’m bad” as a general belief. When I talk about this, my body reacts. I become smaller and narrower, literally wanting to hide.
Let’s do it together. I want the audience to feel this. If you start adopting this movement, how do you feel?
I’m feeling tight and small, like I can’t talk. It’s a feeling of being squeezed, like you don’t have enough space. You become as small as possible, as if you don’t want to occupy any space. You hide. You don’t feel like you have your own place. With this feeling, it’s impossible to express yourself.
This brings us to creativity. You may be a very creative person, but you won’t give your ideas space. You can’t express them because you’re full of fear. If you feel small, the world and others feel big and strong. It’s stressful to express yourself in that state.
Basically, if you’re in a high-stakes situation like a pitch meeting, you feel inferior to your audience. How can you change that belief?
We work through the body. First, we have to become aware of our physical patterns. You can’t just force yourself to fight the fear; that’s exhausting and doesn’t change the root of the problem.
We have to start a dialogue with our body. You let your body move the way it is and notice your patterns—how you hide or make yourself smaller. Most people with self-esteem issues don’t feel their bodies well. We live in our heads, so we have to come down and start to feel and sense our body. We investigate our movement patterns.
The first step is to work on grounding. If you watch confident people, they are very grounded. The way they walk or enter a room shows they are strong. This is not a show-off; it’s natural grounding. There are exercises to help with this, as well as exercises to feel your body’s “axis.” When you’re in a stressful situation, you can use these invisible exercises to help. Of course, breathing is also key.
This work helps your body open up, moving away from that small, squeezed state. It’s like a bird opening its wings. This doesn’t happen with one exercise; we work on bringing you to a natural state where your posture is open without forcing it. It requires discipline and attention because your body will want to return to its old patterns. You have to be aware of this and consciously train your body to do something different.
So, how does all this relate to creativity and unleashing ideas? How can you tie it all together?
Creativity is an expression of self-confidence. Many creative people block themselves because they lack self-confidence or don’t believe in their ideas. They’ll have an idea but think, “It’s not good enough.” Then, another person, who believes in their idea, will move forward with it. What’s the problem if it doesn’t work? Just try the next idea.
It all connects to self-esteem. When you begin to value yourself, you start to value and trust your ideas because they are a product of your mind. Then you’ll find a way to express them without the fear of failure.
The fear of failure is one of the biggest problems that blocks us, and it’s deeply connected to low self-confidence and the feeling that you don’t have the right to exist. When people criticize us or we fail, some people react as if it’s a catastrophe. If your reaction to failure is that your world is falling apart, you will block your creativity.
This is where movement therapy can help. We can work on the basic layer of confidence: your right to exist. This means that no critic and no failure can influence that right. You exist anyway. If somebody likes you or doesn’t, if you win or lose, it doesn’t affect your fundamental right to exist. You are like a tree with roots. A tree stands no matter what people think of it. Having this feeling of deep roots and grounding is the foundation of confidence. With it, unleashing your creativity will be so much easier.
If I were to end this interview, what’s one simple exercise a viewer can do right now to tap into that feeling of existence and move past their fear of failure?
Okay, I will try to suggest something quick. First, focus on grounding and finding your center. A good visual is to imagine you are a tree with roots going deep into the ground. A strong wind may blow, and your branches may bend, but the tree won’t break because you have flexibility. This imagery helps you feel that critics won’t blow you away.
Imagine roots from your feet literally going deep into the ground. You are holding the ground. Then, feel your center, and your axis, and breathe.
When you’re in a stressful situation and you feel that sense of panic or feel like the ground is going away from you, you do the opposite. You grasp the ground and feel your axis. In stressful situations, we often stop breathing, but you will breathe and bring your attention back to your body. You just spread yourself out and remind yourself, “I exist. I exist anyway. It doesn’t matter.” Don’t let yourself fall into a state of non-existence because of criticism.
So, whenever you feel blocked by the fear of failure, practicing this exercise will help you ground yourself and start tapping into your creativity and flow again?
Yes, because anxiety blocks that flow.
Thank you so much for your time. For the audience, stay tuned to my Instagram, Substack, and website. Victoria, you also have your website and Instagram, which I will link. I’m sure we’ll do this again. Thank you.
