Episode 48: Awakening Your True Essence Through Movement with Virgílio Beatriz
Friends, this episode was truly special to me. I had the honor of sitting down with Virgílio Beatriz to talk about a topic that inspires us both so deeply. Virgílio's greatest purpose in everything he does is supporting and awakening the essence in people, something he has been dedicated to since 2006.
In this enlightening conversation, Virgílio shares his journey from running an advertising agency to becoming a facilitator of ecstatic dance and other healing modalities. We discuss the profound healing power of movement, the origins of ecstatic dance, and how this practice can help us reconnect with our bodies and true selves in a world that keeps us trapped in our minds.
By tuning in, you'll learn:
- What ecstatic dance is and its origins with Gabrielle Roth's movement meditation work
- How regular movement practices can help quiet an overactive mind and bring you into your body
- The significance of the "wave" in ecstatic dance and why it's structured to take you through different emotional states
- Why dancing without guidance can be deeply healing and liberating
- The four ancient healing questions shamans would ask: When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop listening to stories? When did you stop being comfortable in the sweet territory of silence?
- How to find ecstatic dance gatherings worldwide
- Practical ways to incorporate movement medicine into your daily life
Topics Covered
In this heart-opening conversation, Virgílio shares his journey from the corporate world into facilitation and how his personal need for healing led him to discover ecstatic dance. He offers invaluable insights into the transformative power of free movement and how it can balance our overly mental modern existence.
Some key highlights:
- Virgílio's personal transformation after a 10-day retreat that changed his life's direction
- The origins of ecstatic dance and its connection to Gabrielle Roth's 5Rhythms practice
- How the "wave" in ecstatic dance takes participants through seven distinct stages
- The guidelines that create a safe container for ecstatic dance (no talking, no shoes, no substances, no phones)
- How dancing without substances creates a natural high through breath and movement
- The difference between being a DJ versus a facilitator in creating transformative experiences
- The experience of losing your sense of time and space as a healing medicine
- How regular movement practices can become a vital part of your self-care routine
- The challenges of inviting people (especially those with strong masculine energy) into movement practices
- The importance of community and finding like-minded people through dance
About Virgílio Beatriz
Virgílio Beatriz is a facilitator whose greatest purpose is awakening the essence in people. Since 2006, he has been creating safe spaces where people can discover their potential, express their being, and raise their vibration to support their communities.
In his retreats, gatherings, and sessions, he draws from diverse modalities including shamanism, psychology, Sufism, neuroscience, music, dance, voice work, tantra, and active meditation to awaken the true essence of each participant.
Since 2009, Virgílio has led more than 130 retreats and workshops, primarily in Portugal but also in Brazil, India, and the Czech Republic. His current offerings include:
- Purpose and vocation retreats and workshops (since 2010)
- Ecstatic dance gatherings in Portugal and internationally
- Mantras and healing voice awakening (since 2014)
- Ritualized retreats and larger gatherings (since 2016)
Virgílio lives in the Aha Habitat Mountains in Portugal in a windmill house where he connects with abundant nature, finding the energy and magic to create spaces for awakening the essence within.
Connect with Virgilio
- Website: http://www.virgiliobeatriz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virgilio.beatriz/
Listen to the Episode
- Spotify
- Apple Podcasts
- YouTube
Timestamps
[00:00:00] Introduction to Virgílio Beatriz and his work
[00:02:07] Iris shares her experience with Virgílio's facilitation
[00:03:32] Podcast introduction and Iris's background
[00:04:25] Beginning of the interview with Virgílio
[00:04:56] Virgílio's journey from advertising agency to facilitation
[00:06:54] How dance became his pathway to embodiment
[00:07:49] Finding ecstatic dance as personal therapy
[00:08:39] Transition from participant to facilitator
[00:10:24] Explanation of what ecstatic dance is
[00:11:16] The origins of ecstatic dance and Gabrielle Roth's influence
[00:13:18] How tensions live in our bodies and dance releases them
[00:13:46] The structure of the "wave" in ecstatic dance
[00:16:39] Guidelines that create a safe container for ecstatic dance
[00:18:25] The transformative experience for club DJs
[00:21:04] The unique safety for women to dance freely
[00:22:20] How ecstatic dance can help quiet an overactive mind
[00:23:16] The challenge of modern life with constant mental activity
[00:25:10] The importance of the "wave" structure in ecstatic dance
[00:26:34] Our culture's tendency to "push buttons" for quick fixes
[00:28:09] The experience for first-time participants
[00:30:01] A psychologist's observation and recommendation of ecstatic dance
[00:31:25] The role of children in ecstatic dance gatherings
[00:32:56] Framing ecstatic dance as both sport and spiritual practice
[00:33:56] The four healing questions from shamanic traditions
[00:36:54] The healing power of singing and voice as meditation
[00:37:38] Imagining doctors asking the four healing questions
[00:38:24] The importance of regular practice for well-being
[00:40:38] How rhythm and repetition create safety in the body
[00:41:05] Creating new neural patterns with consistent practice
[00:43:05] The power of starting with just one minute of practice
[00:43:58] Creating your own personalized morning practice
[00:45:26] Discussion about gender dynamics in conscious gatherings
[00:47:17] The challenges of inviting masculine energy to embodiment practices
[00:53:05] Final thoughts on ecstatic dance as medicine
[00:54:42] The healing that occurs when we lose sense of space and time
[00:57:09] Virgílio's closing words on connection as pure healing
[00:57:33] How to find ecstatic dance gatherings worldwide
[00:58:37] Where to find Virgílio and his work
[00:59:37] Episode conclusion
The Power of Embodied Movement
In our fast-paced, mind-dominated world, Virgílio explains how essential it is to find practices that bring us back into our bodies:
"The major part of people are very in the brain. We come from an era of like, okay, we need to work, we need to be fast with our minds. We need to be very intelligent, smart. The mind is the most important, you know? And it's a fact the last years, it's all about this."
This over-reliance on mental activity often leads to exhaustion that isn't physical but mental:
"Normally, the tired comes from the mind because we had a lot of meetings. We are with a lot of tasks. We need to do this and that. Our brain, it's like, 'Oh, I need to send the email. Oh, I forgot this.' It's so much activity, so much energy that we need to find ways to empty our minds."
Ecstatic dance offers a powerful solution—a way to shut down the constant mental chatter and come fully into the present moment through movement.
What is Ecstatic Dance?
Virgílio describes ecstatic dance as a contemporary evolution of ancient practices where tribes would dance in ecstatic ways to enter trance states and connect with the divine and earth.
Today's ecstatic dance was inspired by Gabrielle Roth, who in the 1970s realized that dance could be more than performance—it could be deeply healing:
"Gabrielle Roth brought this concept in the seventies that we have a lot of tensions, a lot of things that we feel are already solved in our minds. But maybe, and normally, they are still present in our bodies and living in our bodies. It can be a tension in your shoulder or in your leg."
A typical ecstatic dance session follows a structure called a "wave":
"We start very slowly with no beat, connecting with ourselves, maybe with an intention, and then the music will start going up and up in the beats, in the rhythms, different colors of musics, different styles, and then we go up until we reach a really big beat, fast beat—can be trance music, can be techno. Then it starts going down again, passing through different kinds of emotions until we come to a space of totally stillness, peace, and calm. And this is when the healing happens."
This two-hour journey through different energies and emotions, guided only by music without verbal instruction, creates space for authentic expression and release.
The Sacred Container
What makes ecstatic dance different from a typical club experience are the guidelines that create a safe container:
- No talking on the dance floor to maintain the journey
- No substances (alcohol or drugs)—only breath and movement
- Bare feet to connect with the ground
- No phones or photos—maintaining full presence
- Respectful interactions—practicing active listening with others
These simple rules create a remarkably different experience from conventional social dancing:
"It's a totally opposite experience from clubs, and that's why a lot of people who were very addicted to the nights and to the clubs, when they come here to ecstatic dance, they're like, 'Wow, I've never felt this. I'm not drinking anything, and I'm so high and my energy is like, yeah, it's crazy.'"
A Safe Space for Authentic Expression
For women especially, ecstatic dance offers a rare opportunity to move freely without unwanted attention:
"As a woman, obviously when you go to a club and you want to dance, you always get attention that you actually don't want—you just want to dance. And that's what I really love about ecstatic dance. It was my first experience where I could just express the way that I want to express without people coming to me or touching me or coming too close. It's a very respectful space."
This level of safety allows participants to fully surrender to the experience, exploring different ways of moving beyond social conditioning.
The Healing Medicine of Lost Time
One of the most profound insights Virgílio shares is about the healing that happens when we lose track of time and space:
"I feel the real medicine is when we lose the sense of space and time. This is a real medicine. It's when you can reach the alpha states in your brain when you are in deep connection with yourself. You can sense much more everything around, but you are very clear in a more void space, in a space of emptiness."
He compares this state to the blissful connection experienced during lovemaking:
"When you are making love with someone that you really love, you are in such a deep connection. In that moment, you forget totally everything. You are just there with yourself and with the other person. And it's such presence. And after, you feel in a state of like, 'Wow, there's such a bliss, there's such a void.'"
This state of presence and connection is the ultimate medicine—a healthy way to release tension and reconnect with our essence.
The Four Healing Questions
Perhaps the most powerful part of our conversation was when Virgílio shared the four questions that shamanic healers would traditionally ask someone seeking healing:
- When did you stop dancing?
- When did you stop singing?
- When did you stop listening to stories?
- When did you stop being comfortable in the sweet territory of silence?
These fundamental questions point to ancient wisdom about what humans need to be well. In our modern world, we've often abandoned these basic medicines:
"When I dance, when I sing, or when I receive a story that enchants me and inspires me so much—this is pure healing because it switches your energy. And the same with silence. We are also with so much noise around us, and also our brain is always thinking. Coming to places of silence—your system just comes to a calm state."
The Importance of Regular Practice
Virgílio emphasizes that maintaining a regular practice is essential for wellbeing:
"If we are not doing the maintenance of our system, of course, welcome the problems. When problems come, you are without resources, inner resources, to solve them and deal with them."
He suggests starting small—even just one minute of practice daily—and building from there:
"Even if we start with one minute, it's already amazing and then we grow. I remember this morning practice that I'm doing now for 10 years. In the beginning, it was like with a lot of energy, this kind of New Year's resolutions. And then after three days, you're just like, 'Okay, no, I'm hearing the birds. I don't want to get up.'"
The key is consistency over 21 days, after which the practice becomes integrated, much like brushing your teeth:
"I cannot take a shower now if I don't do my practice before. It's like, 'Oh, it's missing something.'"
Key Takeaways
- Movement is medicine—it helps release tension stored in the body that the mind cannot resolve
- Ecstatic dance offers a structured but free-form way to express your authentic self
- Regular practice, even just minutes daily, creates new neural pathways for wellbeing
- Community and safe spaces are essential for deep healing to occur
- The four healing questions (dancing, singing, stories, silence) offer ancient wisdom for modern challenges
- Losing your sense of time and space is a sign of deep healing taking place
Virgílio reminds us that connecting with our essence through movement isn't about performance or looking good—it's about authentically expressing what's within and finding freedom through that expression.
About the Host
I’m Iris Josephina—functional hormone specialist, orthomolecular hormone coach, and entrepreneur. Through Cycle Seeds and The Inner Rhythms Podcast, I support people in reconnecting with their cyclical nature, deepening body literacy, and reclaiming hormonal harmony from a place of sovereignty and embodied knowledge. Most people know me from Instagram, where I share stories, tools, and inspiration on cyclical living, menstrual cycles, fertility, hormones and more.
Let’s stay connected:
📸 Instagram: @cycleseeds
💻Visit the Cycle Seeds website
