Your Voice Matters: A Journey of Healing Through Movement and Sound

Woza Moya recently hosted a transformative six-week Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) program, facilitated by Gina Holloway Mulder, a registered voice movement therapist, author, and creative healing practitioner. Designed for members of our community, the workshop offered a powerful opportunity for healing, self-expression, and emotional release through movement, voice, and creative exploration.

Voice Movement Therapy is an embodied, creative approach to healing that uses the voice and body as tools for self-discovery. Through a combination of vocal exercises, breathwork, expressive movement, and personal reflection, participants are gently guided to reconnect with their inner selves. Gina’s sessions integrate practices such as journaling, drawing, singing, and poetry to help unlock emotion, build confidence, and support well-being. Rather than focusing on “fixing” and diagnosing, VMT encourages people to listen to their own bodies and voices – often discovering strength, resilience, and freedom in the process.

Over the six weeks, participants explored what it means to inhabit their bodies with presence and intention. Movement exercises helped release tension, while breathwork became a resource for grounding and calming the nervous system. Through these embodied practices, participants began to reconnect not only with themselves but with each other. The process included deep creative reflection. Through journaling and drawing, participants gave shape to emotions that were often hard to express with words alone. Some expressed feelings of heaviness, heartbreak, and constraint. But alongside those images came visions of nature, peace, safety, and healing.

As voices emerged, something shifted. Once-silenced participants found the confidence to sing, speak, and take up space. A group song – initially a daunting task – became a celebration of courage and shared vulnerability. One woman even spoke of her decision to take a public stand against gender-based violence in her community, empowered by the work she had done through the sessions.

For many of the people who took part, the experience was not what they expected, in the best possible way. Several participants admitted they had assumed the sessions would focus on improving vocal quality or singing skills. Instead, they found themselves beginning with the body. The process of reconnecting to breath and movement was surprising and even uncomfortable at first, but as the sessions progressed, they began to understand the importance of grounding — and how much the body holds. One participant reflected that the most valuable thing she’s taking away is the ability to relax her body in moments of stress and tension. Mnqobi Buthelezi, who joined just as the sessions were coming to an end, shared:

“As a person who sometimes struggles with anxiety, the session was something I didn’t know I needed.”

These reflections highlight how VMT meets people gently but powerfully – opening up space for healing, even for those who arrive unsure or unexpectedly.

By the end of the program, the shifts were undeniable. Participants who had arrived weary and uncertain were standing taller, breathing more freely, and speaking with newfound clarity. Many spoke of reduced pain, deeper emotional release, and a stronger connection to their inner voice. As Gina shared, “healing is not something done to us – it is something we need to do for ourselves.” Through reconnection with breath, body, and voice, participants rediscovered the strength they didn’t know they had.

“Your Voice Matters” was more than a workshop. It was a safe, brave space where people could explore their stories, move through pain, and claim joy – all through the resonance of their own voices. It reminded us that healing doesn’t always come through words or analysis, but sometimes through a sound, a breath, or a moment of movement that says: I’m here, I matter.

To learn more about Voice Movement Theatre or to explore individual or group sessions, you can contact Gina at:
gina@voicemovementtherapy.co.za
www.voicemovementtherapy.co.za
www.iavmt.org

Gina is also the author of Singing the Psyche: Uniting Thought and Feeling Through the Voice, available on Amazon or directly from her.
Follow her Facebook page: facebook.com/bodymindvoice