We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Elise Peterson, MS, BC-DMT. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren Elise below.
Lauren Elise , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
The short answer if how I found confidence and self-esteem is through dance.
I was deeply insecure in high school and college. In the 90s and early 2000s, pressures to be a thin waif were very high. I’m naturally a curvy girl. These days I love that about myself, but it took many years of self-hate, an eating disorder, and eventually finding a form of dance that felt welcoming to me. When I was 21 my world was totally upside down and inside out. I was seeking outlets for movement while beginning eating disorder recovery, and I found a bellydance class. Honestly, I was desperately trying to sneak in more exercise (which I was supposed to be limiting in my recovery), but what I found in the dance class ended up helping me more than I ever expected. I looked around to natural women’s bodies moving through all different body types and ages. Seeing a variety of realistic bodies helped me. I also needed movement and somatic awareness to help me regulate. Bellydance wasn’t something most people knew how to do, so we all were learning this core awareness together. It was safe for me to be a beginner. Over time, the movement felt so good that I knew I would never want to stop. That was over 20 years ago, and I still don’t want to stop. There are so many ways finding a movement outlet gave me confidence and self-esteem. I was able to slowly work on a skill and artistry, which helped my confidence. However, connecting with my body after years of self-hate gave me so much more than confidence. I’ve written a book on how movement can help you feel better in your own skin, and I can’t wait to share it!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I use beginner-friendly dance and movement to help people feel better in their own skin physically and emotionally. I believe when you feel better in your body, you feel better about your body. When you respect and honor your body’s boundaries, you learn have better boundaries in your life so you can continue to do your amazing healing work in this world. I use the skills I honed in dance/movement therapy grad school to help other helping professionals heal from burnout and vicarious trauma. I use the experience I have working in the world of eating disorder treatment to help people heal their struggles with body image through somatic practices and joyful movement. I love to help people untangle their associations with movement – this use of movement is to help you feel better about yourself without changing your body. I have a book coming out this year about the way I work with movement, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Meanwhile, I work 1:1 and in groups over Zoom to help people heal body image issue and helping profession burnout. You don’t have to have any background in dance or movement to participate, as the movement work is highly adjustable for your needs. Since my background is also as a mental health therapist and coach, we verbally process the themes, goals, and obstacles that you may be facing while weaving in homework and coping skills you can use between sessions. I love working with my clients and helping people feel energized and confident, ready to share their magic with the world.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Prioritizing trauma-informed practices. I was highly fortunate to be introduced to trauma safety in 2001 with an amazing mentor for some crisis intervention volunteering I was doing. Ever since then, the safety of trauma survivors in my sessions has been incredibly important to me. Since that time I have continued to learn about the nervous system and how trauma reactions may play a role in our daily functioning. I find this approach incredibly helpful in gently helping clients make progress towards their goals. Since trauma healing needs to happen in the body, my movement-based work needs to be trauma-informed and also is one of the most important pieces of how I help people heal trauma.
2) Unpacking fatphobia and weight stigma. My entire outlook was dramatically changed when I had to de-stigmatize weight gain in order to have a healthy life. Unfortunately, our diet culture is steeped in fatphobia and weight stigma. I have seen countless clients be directly harmed by the way our culture treats weight and bodies. I have unfortunately witnessed great harm done in medical settings which often lack adequate training on eating disorders and how to listen to women and marginalized people. I became further disillusioned when I learned how much fatphobia and weight stigma are rooted in racism. Healing my relationship to food through eating disorder recovery and becoming an intuitive eater has been an adjacent journey to this process.
3) Reclaiming dance for “the people.” Dance and movement are valuable parts of our daily lives as humans, whether or not you will ever be professionally trained as a dancer. Dance isn’t just for the ballerina or the hip hop star. Dance is a part of humanity just like singing “happy birthday” at the table. When we allow ourselves to claim the power of this part of our humanity, we can feel more joy and confidence. We can process trauma and heal. We can have community. We can learn something about ourselves. We can physically feel better. We can help our brain create new neural pathways. We can get endorphins. We can feel our emotions more deeply. We can be more human when we allow ourselves to embrace this part of our humanity, regardless of skill or training.
The advice I have for people who are just starting to explore these journeys would be to just notice the messages you are given and consider who might be profiting from them. Also notice your own experience and the feedback you get from others since not everyone will have the same experience. Prioritize listening to voices that haven’t been historically centered.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client is an empathetic, artsy woman who loves to help others but is constantly feeling self-conscious, burned out, and in her head. She typically has some kind of movement background that she has been having a hard time prioritizing recently with the many demands she is juggling between work and family. She’s open-minded and loves to try new things to see if they will help her feel better. Often, she’s got ADHD and has issues with food and weight when she’s stressed out. She chose a helping profession and loves her work but has a hard time creating the life she wants because her boundaries are soft. She probably has cats and at least one tarot deck.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laurenelisepeterson.com
- Instagram: @laurenelisepeterson
- Facebook: Lauren Elise Peterson
- Linkedin: Lauren Elise Peterson
- Youtube: @laurenelisepetersonllc
- Other: Tiktok @laurenelisepeterson
Image Credits
Emerald Dove Photography
