Healing Isn’t Linear: Art, Music & Movement as Tools for Emotional Release

rebeccaconnors4
Jun 21
3 min read

When it comes to healing, whether from trauma, grief, burnout, or everyday emotional wounds, there’s one truth that often gets overlooked: healing isn’t linear. It’s not a straight path or a neat checklist you follow until you're “better.” It’s winding. It circles back. It moves forward, then sideways, then forward again. And in that messiness, there’s room for creativity—room for art, music, and movement to become not just expressions, but powerful tools for emotional release.

Why We Need More Than Words

Talk therapy can be transformative, but not everyone processes emotions through conversation alone. Some feelings are too deep, too complex, or too ancient for language. That’s where creative outlets come in.

Art, music, and movement speak in emotional dialects. They bypass the analytical mind and tap into the body’s wisdom. These practices can access parts of ourselves that words cannot reach memories stored in muscle, grief held in breath, rage simmering beneath silence.

Let’s explore how these tools work and how they can support your healing journey.

Art: Giving Shape to the Unspeakable

Art allows us to externalize what’s internal. You don’t need to be a skilled painter or drawer to benefit from artistic expression. Scribbling, collaging, sculpting clay, or colouring outside the lines can help you process what you’re feeling.

Visual expression offers:

A safe outlet for complex or overwhelming emotions.
A mirror to reflect your internal state, often revealing insights you didn’t know were there.
A sense of control in shaping something chaotic into something meaningful.

Creating visual art can also ground you in the present moment, a key step in trauma recovery. Whether it’s painting your fear or drawing your hope, art is a portal into emotional truth.

Music: Soundtrack of the Soul

Music has the uncanny ability to make us feel seen—even when no one is looking. A single chord or lyric can open floodgates we didn’t know were there.

Music can help us:

Regulate emotions by matching or shifting our mood.
Access memories that are tied to sound, rhythm, or lyrics.
Feel connection, especially through communal music-making or singing.
Release pent-up energy through dance, drumming, or singing aloud.

You don’t need to write songs or play an instrument to engage with music therapeutically. Create playlists that match different emotional states—comfort, rage, nostalgia, release. Let the sound carry what words cannot.

Movement: Where the Body Speaks

Trauma often lives in the body. That’s why movement is essential, not just as exercise, but as a form of expression.

Intentional movement like dance, yoga, walking, shaking, or even stretching can help release stored emotions. It allows the nervous system to discharge stress and regulate itself.

Movement practices offer:

Physical grounding, reminding you that you are safe in your body.
Release of stuck emotions, especially those stored in the hips, chest, or jaw.
A return to rhythm, something often lost in times of crisis.

Even just swaying to music in your room can be a profound act of healing. You don’t have to be a dancer to move like someone who’s learning to trust their body again.

Honour the Nonlinear

Some days you’ll feel alive and hopeful. Other days you’ll be weighed down by emotions you thought you already dealt with. It’s the nature of healing.

Creative practices remind us that being “in process” is enough. They help us meet ourselves where we are, not where we think we should be.

So the next time you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed, try this: