No, my role isn’t to direct, but to listen. As a facilitator, I serve as an active participant in allowing movement to unfold, rather than as its choreographer. The body already carries an inherent intelligence and rhythm; my task is to attune to that intelligence, follow its impulses, and offer a presence and support that allows it express more fully.

Sometimes the expression is so subtle that it might look like I’m the one leading the movement — but what I’m most likely doing is amplifying it. Other times, I may offer input or introduce new ideas, but always within a touch-based conversation based on deep listening.

No — we will never direct the session toward any particular state or outcome. One of the guiding principles of my work is spontaneity— allowing the body’s own intelligence to reveal what is ready to emerge.

That said, the water’s qualities — its warmth, buoyancy, and containment — can sometimes evoke prenatal or birth-related imprints. When this arises naturally, the medium provides a deeply supportive environment in which these early experiences can be revisited. Rather than regression, it’s more accurate to think of it as reconnection — a return to a primordial sense of safety, fluidity, and presence within one’s own being.

There are certain similarities, as we also work with water, touch, and support — but the approach is fundamentally different. In Primordial Expression, we look for movement that arises spontaneously, rather guiding the person through a set of movements, techniques or sequences. Most aquatic bodywork modalities are more or less practitioner-led; our work is body-led.

If in one of our sessions for instance, no movement arises, then the session will unfold in complete stillness — much like a meditation. Other times, the expression may be very wild or cathartic. Beyond the quality of movement, our work also focuses on the therapeutic aspects, such as working with trauma patterns towards integration. We also complement the water sessions with land-based work, allowing the embodied experience to integrate more fully into daily life.

The pool is set at exactly 35°C (95°F), which is considered thermo-neutral — meaning it’s neutral to your body. You won’t feel neither cold or hot, even if the session was to last for hours. For reference, our skin temperature is around 33°C, and our internal body temperature is about 37.5°C. In contrast, a typical swimming pool is usually set between 26°–29°C, and a jacuzzi around 39°C.

Most likely, no — full submersion is almost never introduced at the beginning in our work because our focus is not the form but rather on developing connection and allowing the organic unfolding of the experience. It is also more organic to initially develop your primordial expression on the water’s surface as well as on land.

For many people, the moment of submersion can feel like entering another dimension — profoundly peaceful and womb-like — when it happens once a mutual language and dialogue has naturally developed — often after a few sessions, and when your body natural shows intent — not because you decided that you wanted it but rather as an organic process, then the submersion can be a truly extraordinary and seamless transition.

You will never be asked by us to relinquish control. On the contrary, our focus is to make you feel fully empowered and in command of your own experience throughout the session or journey with us. However, if you recognize strong controlling patterns in yourself and wish to shift them, our invitation is to allow the process of surrender to unfold gradually over several sessions. Ultimately, giving up control is not necessarily about handing control to someone, especially not in our work — it is rather a surrender to your own body, impulses, and inner wisdom.

That can happen when the practitioner leads the session from their own agenda — applying predetermined moves, following a routine, or unconsciously projecting personal needs instead of attuning to the client’s. Water is a boundless medium; when combined with the vulnerability that such work invites, it amplifies sensitivity. Without deep listening and clear boundaries, this can easily feel intrusive rather than therapeutic.

In our work, safety and agency are fundamental. Our first session most times takes place on land to establish mutual trust and connection. We want you to always feel in full control and deeply aware of your experience. When the rhythm and needs of your body are respected, the same intimacy that once felt uncomfortable can become profoundly nourishing and restorative.

No, because there is no aim as such. Primordial Expression is an organic, emergent process — deeply individual and responsive to your body’s impulses. We never impose a belief system or guide the session toward a predetermined outcome. Our role is to listen and support your unique experience. That said, many clients do encounter moments of insight, connection, or what could be described as a spiritual experience but it is highly individual.

My primary influence was Craniosacral Therapy, particularly in its biodynamic approach, developed by Franklyn Sills, which I studied and certified in. This subtle, touch-based approach that takes place on a treatment table, rooted in Osteopathy, profoundly shaped my understanding of the body’s inherent intelligence, its capacity for self-regulation, and the power of subtle touch.

Another major influence was Watsu, developed by Harold Dull in the 1980s, with whom I studied and assisted. Working closely with Watsu helped me understand the powerful medium that is water and it opened me up to all the possibilities of bodywork and movement that is possible in it.

Peter Levine has also been a significant influence, particularly in guiding how I work with trauma. He has most likely influenced all somatic therapists today. My studies in the Alexander Technique during my acting training provided a deep awareness of posture, alignment, and movement efficiency, which I integrate into my sessions.

Additionally, I incorporate elements from Shiatsu and sports massage, allowing me to support structural and release in the body. My Vipassana meditation practice has influenced my focus on body sensations and the cultivation of presence. Finally, my three-year acting training in Stanislavsky’s Method Acting probably shaped the way I connect with clients, empathize, and attune to subtle emotional and energetic cues.

Come as you are — with all your tensions, worries, or anxieties — because that’s exactly what we’ll be working with. True relaxation cannot be forced or demanded; it emerges naturally when the body feels safe enough to let go. In Primordial Expression, we don’t try to override tension — we listen to it. Every contraction in the body holds intelligence, often reflecting a history of protection, effort, or adaptation. Through slow and attuned work, these underlying patterns begin to reorganize on their own.

Catharsis may occur, but only if it arises organically and within a safe, co-regulated context. We do not aim to provoke emotional release. While some approaches intentionally evoke catharsis as a therapeutic tool, contemporary trauma research suggests that gentle, titrated engagement with emotion and sensation often leads to more sustainable integration.

In Primordial Expression, we follow the body’s natural pacing. If an emotional wave does emerge, our role is to provide a grounded container that allows the experience to unfold without overwhelm or dissociation — supporting true resolution rather than reactivation.

Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and free to move naturally in the water. The sessions can sometimes involve very dynamic movement and stretching, so clothes that stay in place and feel secure are ideal.

Most of the benefits of Primordial Expression are experiential, rather than dependent on formal proof. Do we need validation for the healing potential of gentle touch, the expansion felt when someone is truly listened to, or for what occurs when we float in body-neutral water for a while?

Some aspects do have supportive research in fact. For example, studies on trauma integration and the neurophysiology of touch suggest measurable benefits for nervous system regulation and emotional processing. Research on floatation therapy and body-temperature regulation also highlights how neutral water immersion can reduce stress, enhance creativity, and increase body awareness.

However, these studies are not the framework for our practice. Primordial Expression is primarily about personal discovery, presence, and responsiveness. My invitation is to step into the work with curiosity, an open mind, and a willingness to observe your own responses — to find out firsthand what emerges for you, beyond any abstract evidence or expectation.

Your previous experience with aquatic treatments is not the primary focus; what matters most is the connection between us as client and facilitator and the unique process that unfolds from that connection.

We prefer to begin on land, in a more grounded environment, as well as to first initiate our primordial expression language, especially since our approach is quite different to most styles of aquatic bodywork. Entering the water immediately may lead your body to reproduce familiar movement patterns from past sessions. Starting on land allows for a fresh, original pathway to emerge, where new movement and expression can naturally arise.

There is always some level of energetic exchange between two people connecting, particularly through touch. However, in Primordial Expression there is no intentional energy transmission as practiced in modalities such as Reiki. Our focus is not on transferring or channeling energy, but on cultivating a field of awareness in which the body’s own intelligence can unfold.

In Primordial Expression, movement arises almost involuntarily, from a state of passive listening and deep attunement within the body. By contrast, most conscious movement practices—like Authentic Movement or Contact Dance—often involve a more active, intentional, and directed engagement with movement.

We emphasise on allowing movement to emerge naturally, without force or deliberate control, so that the body can express itself through its own spontaneous, organic language. This approach encourages a surrender to inner impulses, rather than consciously directing them, providing a pathway into the body’s innate intelligence and somatic wisdom.

My approach evolved when I stopped applying the techniques I had learned in Watsu—the first form of aquatic bodywork which I trained in—and instead began listening deeply to my clients’ bodies as they floated, as I drew on my subtle touch-based skills I had learnt in craniosacral therapy.

Aided by the water´s buoyancy, warmth, and my support, I noticed bodies moving in extraordinary ways without their active engagement. Sometimes the body curled into a fetal position, sometimes it arched into a backbend, sometimes it rolled across the water’s surface. At times it felt like a dance, at times a meditation, at times it was cathartic.

As I followed these expressions, I witnessed clients entering a very creative and organic process—like a river gaining strength, washing through obstacles toward a state of flow. Obstacles here being holding patterns that dissolve, deep tensions that unwind, emotions that surface, or traumatic imprints that integrate. The movement was never just physical—it carried emotion, it had a force, it was an inner expression — a primordial expression.

As facilitators, we understand the power dynamics inherent in our work, and our primary role is to support your process without introducing our own personality, stories, or agendas. Transference is a natural aspect of any therapeutic connection— especially within the intimate nature of our work — so it is very important, first of all to understand the relational dynamics, as well as to maintain a neutral, professional stance at all times, emphasising communication and providing a safe container for process and integration.

Not at all. You will not float on your own in our sessions. We provide customized leg floats with the right buoyancy for each person, and your head will always be fully supported while your nose will never go underwater (except if we work with full submersion in which case we will use a nose-clip). If needed, we also use additional floating support under the sacrum.

Yes — although we do not engage with sexuality directly, nor do we use intimate touch as found in some tantric or sensual bodywork. Primordial Expression works with the body’s innate intelligence, and many of the essential conditions for healing sexual trauma and reclaiming pleasure are naturally cultivated within this process: a profound sense of safety, the clear establishment of boundaries, the reframing of touch as dialogue, and the experience of being fully seen and held without agenda.

As the body begins to feel safe enough to sense again, memories and emotional imprints can surface and integrate. In this way, the work often supports the restoration of one’s natural capacity for pleasure, vitality, and trust.

We create a safe, non-judgemental space where your unique process is honored and respected. Besides, you will find that the spontaneous body-led quality of expression that we seek in our work often comes more easily than other forms of expression.

Absolutely. Our sessions are fully tailored to each participant’s needs. However, specifics will depend on the actual facilitator. In my case, I have worked special needs for many years. The medium of warm water supports and allows gentle exploration of movement which is especially great when land-based movement is compromised.

While analysis is secondary to experience, participants can develop a reflective practice, noting recurring patterns, relational dynamics, or emotional themes. Interpretation is invitational, not prescriptive, and focuses on integrating insights rather than labeling behavior.

For the work we do, the water needs to set at 35°C (95°F), a thermo-neutral temperature for the human body. This neutrality ensures that your muscles remain relaxed and that your body can fully surrender, rather than tensing to regulate its temperature. If the water were cooler or warmer, subtle movements and deep somatic processes would be compromised. The neutral temperature also enhances the sensory-deprivation effect. In this state, the boundaries between body and water often begin to dissolve, allowing you to experience a profound sense of weightlessness and spatial expansion — a sensation many describe as floating through space.

Absolutely not. We do not see all tremors or shaking as indicators of trauma. And even when they relate to trauma, there are usually many simultaneous processes at play. We don’t believe trauma can be singled out or worked with in isolation—it is part of a continuum of lived experience. Sometimes it is mere energy being mobilised in the body, awakening your inherent vitality.

Psychedelics are one of many pathways into expanded states of consciousness — as is breathwork, sound, rhythmic movement, circular songs, or meditation. In Primordial Expression, the fluid and often involuntary movement that we focus on and the deep inner connection that we facilitate and often lead to an expanded state already. Additionally, the warm body-neutral water temperature and sensory deprivation it creates, can facilitate profound alterations in perception, often comparable to psychedelic experiences. I recommend, especially at the beginning, approaching this work substance-free, allowing your nervous system to rediscover its own innate capacity to access depth, expansion, and altered states through pure presence and somatic awareness.

Movement itself is not the goal—expression is. You will express in your own unique way. That said, you might be surprised by how your body naturally moves once it is supported in a safe and fluid environment. Suppleness and fluidity by the way are not dependent on flexibility. It’s also worth noting that the people you see in the videos had already engaged in various sessions before being recorded.

It may appear that way — but no, I don’t direct the movement. Think of it as a dance: I mirror and tune into the body’s natural impulses, tracing and supporting them while inviting flow. Occasionally, I may offer subtle input or suggest new movement possibilities, either through touch or energetic cues, but this is always within a dialogue with the body.

In a session of Primordial Expression, it’s essential that clients feel empowered and in control of their own process of surrender, rather than feeling led or having something imposed upon them. The session unfolds from the body’s intelligence and its own inner guidance.

You do not need to do anything. Sexual energy may naturally arise through the movement itself or through the flow of your body’s vitality.

Sexual energy can be seen as a source of creativity and life force, after all it is the source of creation. In our culture, it is often either repressed or narrowly directed toward sexual expression. If arousal arises during your session, I invite you neither to suppress it nor to actively pursue it. Instead, simply observe, breathe, and allow the energy to move.

This can create a natural process of sublimation, where the energy in the lower centres of the body can expand and nourish your entire system. This concept has deep roots in ancient tantric traditions.

Non-doing in Primordial Expression is a state of attentive receptivity where the body leads. Unlike meditation, which often cultivates stillness, non-doing here allows dynamic, spontaneous emergence of movement.

Somatics derives from the Greek word soma, meaning body. While psychotherapy primarily explores the self through the mind and thought processes, Somatic Therapy engages the self through the body, emphasizing the intelligence and awareness of bodily sensations.

Somatic practitioners recognize that emotions, trauma, social and cultural conditioning, and other life experiences leave imprints in the body, often creating holding patterns. By cultivating mindful awareness of these bodily sensations, Somatic Therapy allows clients to experience greater freedom, integration, and alignment, supporting overall well-being.

Somatic Movement Therapy focuses on movement itself, providing a direct pathway for the body to express, release, and reorganize these patterns.

Not at all. You will be continuously supported throughout the session, and you’ll also be able to stand comfortably in the pool, as the water only reaches around chest height (the pool is 1.20m deep).

We prefer to work without any external influence, as our focus is on your expression, which arises from within you. Music can impose a particular rhythm or mood. That said, we may occasionally use sound or vibration in a subtle, complementary way—without a rhythmic or melodic pattern—when it serves the process.

As with any meaningful therapeutic journey, regularity is key—especially at the beginning, when deeper inner processes tend to open up and we begin encountering specific patterns to work with. Once a week can be very supportive. Later on, we can space out the sessions more. Another effective way of working is through a more intensive rhythm over a short period of time—such as in a retreat. This often kickstarts a deeper process, which you can then continue to integrate with more spaced-out sessions.

It’s great to hear you found value in our website. It was created through many years of experience and dedicated work. If you’d like to quote us, please send us a quick message and ask us directly — we’ll most likely be happy to approve it as long as you include a link to our site. 

No prior experience is necessary. We will meet you exactly where you are.

Yes. For children, we often present our sessions as a playful exploration, using imagery of water creatures, while still offering a deeply therapeutic experience. Sessions tend to be shorter to match their attention and energy. Participation however will always depends on the facilitator’s experience with younger clients and appropriate permissions. In my own practice, I’ve worked extensively with children, including autistic children, and have seen how transformative and joyful this work can be for them.

Yes. Many of our clients find it particularly supportive alongside psychotherapy, where the cognitive processing complements our somatic focus. It can also be an integrative practice for those exploring plant medicine or psychedelic therapy, helping to ground, embody, and integrate experiences. It can also complement more active somatic practices such as Feldenkrais or other movement-based approaches, where participants engage their body intelligence in a more intentional, exploratory way.

These experiences are acknowledged as natural expressions of the psyche and soma. Participants are invited to explore and integrate them within their own understanding. Facilitation remains grounded in presence and somatic awareness, rather than imposing interpretation.

It can be, but that will first depend on whether the facilitator feels comfortable with it, and if the space itself supports a culture of acceptance around nudity. Secondly, it’s important to consider the depth of emotional vulnerability that our work can bring. For many participants, the process itself — exploring new movement, expression, trauma integration — can already feel profoundly exposing, so nudity may sometimes be overwhelming.

Yes. Primordial Expression cultivates the quality of being with — developing your presence and deep listening skills towards subtle bodily signals and impulses. Our work offers a deep study in attunement, holding space, somatic intelligence, and relational resonance — skills that can enhance any therapeutic, coaching, or facilitation practice.