In all our voluntary movements there is also an involuntary component, representing the essential motility of the organism. This involuntary component, which is integrated with the voluntary action, accounts for the aliveness or spontaneity of our actions and movements. When it is absent or reduced, body movements have a mechanical, lifeless quality. Purely voluntary or conscious movements give rise to few sensations other than the kinesthetic sense of displacement in space. The feeling tone of expressive movement comes from their involuntary component—the component not subject to conscious control. The fusion of conscious and unconscious elements or of voluntary and involuntary components gives rise to movements that have an emotional ring, yet are coordinated and effective actions.

Alexander Lowen