A movement practice
made for the body
you have right now.

Accessible dance built to support your nervous system, not push past it.

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A lot of nervous system programs promise to fix you or push you to override your symptoms.

That's not what this is.

Soma Dance Method

The same movements dancers intuitively apply on stage to express art have been used to mobilize patients with polio, connective tissue disorders, depression, anxiety, and other conditions. The overlap is no accident. Movement holds a language for what nervous system state the body is in. And most of us are only ever taught a few words of it. Soma Dance Method takes the whole vocabulary of dance and aims it at the nervous system to shift its state.

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On stage
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Standing at home
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Seated
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Lying down
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On stage
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Standing at home
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Seated
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Lying down
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On stage
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Standing at home
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Seated
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Lying down
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On stage
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Standing at home
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Seated
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Lying down

Move your nervous system without the pressure to heal.

Name it

You determine your nervous system state by naming what you feel. Your emotions point to your state.

Find it

Every state has a place on the polyvagal ladder, and every movement in the method belongs to one of those states.

Move it

As the movements become comfortable, we combine them into short flows that let your body express the state it is holding, at whatever capacity your body allows.

Bloom

The first program from Soma Dance Method.

  • A new dance class every week
  • A live flow class with Kristilee every month, with Q&A
  • All movement flows can be modified for standing, seated, or lying down, depending on your capacity
  • The full video curriculum, taken at whatever pace you want
Bloom Membership
$59/month

Cancel anytime.

Checkout opens soon.

This is for you if

  • You're managing a complex chronic condition and tired of being told to push through it
  • You want a movement practice that adapts to you, not the other way around
  • You're open to allowing your symptoms to be present instead of fixing them
  • You've been sick for a while, and you're looking for a gentle way to start moving again
  • You've been feeling down or worn out from chronic illness, and you're looking for something that brings a little joy back
  • You want to learn how to feel your emotions in your body, not just think about them
  • You want a movement practice that makes you feel seen and accomplished, not defeated

This isn't for you if

  • You're looking to push your body past its limits
  • You want to change your physique
  • You're looking for a magic pill, a diagnosis, or a cure (this isn't a treatment program for disease)
  • You want a rigid program with strict rules to follow
  • You're not ready to slow down or be gentle with yourself
  • You're looking for another program that measures progress by symptom elimination
  • You're not open to the art of dance and expression
Kristilee, founder of Soma Dance Method, smiling in the desert at golden hour
Hi, I'm Kristilee, the dancer and founder behind Soma Dance Method.

The story

I started dancing when I was 2 years old. By 22, I had earned my BFA in Dance, spent over a decade teaching, and built my entire identity around movement. Dance wasn't just what I did. It was how I understood myself.

Then, in March 2020, everything changed. I woke up one day unable to stand. I was diagnosed with severe POTS, and within weeks, what I had spent my entire life building, my dream of eventually making it to a Broadway stage, was gone.

For the next few years, I did everything I could to get it back. I read every study, tried countless protocols, and immersed myself in brain retraining and nervous system regulation programs that promised if I changed my thoughts, my body would follow. When they didn't work, I believed I was doing something wrong.

Eventually, I realized that my desperate search for a cure had become part of the cycle. The more I tried to make my symptoms disappear, the louder they became.

When I stopped trying to fix them and met them with curiosity instead of fear... they gradually began to quiet, giving me back a quality of life I never thought I'd have again.

Only then was I ready to rebuild my relationship with dance in a way that honored the body I had, not the one I was trying to get back. Drawing from my training in Bartenieff fundamentals, somatic movement, and my own experience navigating chronic illness, I created Soma Dance Method, a practice designed to help others feel seen, supported, and reconnect with joy in their bodies.

When was the last time you moved your body for fun, instead of something you had to get through?

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