Is Gratitude a Somatic Practice?

How I move through a fear cycle.

(Make sure to scroll to the end for your subscribers-only peek at this week’s Naked Truth oracle deck card! It’s a fiery one ;P). PLUS a NEW Fermata Blaize SONG :D

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In preparation to write, I sat outside, doing a sensory pendulation somatic practice. I took in sight, then sound, then smell, then touch, then taste, and lastly, my deep inner “sixth sense, my “knowing” or “felt sense”. In focusing my attention on each sense, one by one, I brought myself into the present, where I could calm my breath, and loosen the tightness in my chest.

Now I sit here, munching on my freshly baked sourdough bread (which actually turned out somewhat like bread this time!), smelling the cookies I’ll enjoy with my daughter later. Birds sing around me. Sweet simplicities of life abound. And I am OKAY. One breath at a time, I am and will be OK, no matter what is in store for me personally and collectively.

For me, this year of 2025 started off feeling like a total shit-storm, what about you?!

My New Year’s Eve was filled with exhaustion, physical pain and conflicting emotions, and also SO MUCH LOVE AND EXPRESSION and DANCE and a SUPER FUN MOSH PIT. I really can’t complain.

And then Los Angeles burned… for weeks. The air felt unsafe. At the same time, we battled two HORRIBLE viruses. I took my child to the ER because she momentarily couldn’t breathe. Some elements of my personal life felt close to crumbling. I have ongoing concerns for people I hold dear. And I received uncertain medical news that drove an ice-pick of fear into my solar plexus. My worry for myself and my loved ones is at a high.

And I continue to be shown love, proof that beauty, peace, abundance, goodness are still ever-present around me. Yet the list of worries that plagues me brings a sense of dread that twists the very center of me into a knot that I’m compelled to send so much energy into unwinding every day to keep it from completely immobilizing me.

I’m sharing this not for sympathy, but rather, so WE as a society can have the conversation more freely about what supports us in times of great fear. I hope it serves you and us. <3

How do I cope? How am I okay? I believe the answer is in a continuous embodiment practice of rooting into gratitude.

I recognize that I am in a “fear cycle”, that this is a moment, and the only constant is change, so these moments will change. I allow myself to “MOVE THROUGH” rather than “FIX” what I am feeling. And I resource myself by embodying gratitude to support the fear and invite my experience into balance.

In somatics, we often talk about “regulating the nervous system”. It is SO important to be able to bring oneself back into the window of tolerance in order to thrive in this life, and to have optimal health. However, we aren’t necessarily meant to always be regulated. Our bodies are designed to process our experience by moving through cycles of activation and rest. And when we have valid reasons to be in activation, we should honor that! My fears aren’t coming from nowhere, and my body needs to be able to process them.

Sometimes we get stuck in activation. For me this week, the amount of stressors piled up and “trigger-stacked” to a point where I was struggling to down-shift.

Turning to gratitude made all the difference. And not just in my head. I wasn’t just talking about being grateful. I embraced FEELING, and embodying it through sensation and action.

What is “Embodiment?”

And how do we embody gratitude?

From the AI: “Embodiment is the state of being aware of and connected to your body and senses. It's an active process of being intentional about how you experience your body and incorporate that into your identity, beliefs, and behaviors.

How can you experience embodiment?

• You can experience embodiment through physical activity, such as walking, dancing, swimming, or surfing.

• You can experience embodiment through practices like yoga, Tai Chi, martial arts, and breathwork.

Why is embodiment important?

• Embodiment can help you process trauma and befriend your internal experience.

• Embodiment can help you be more aware of your body's sensations and signals.”

I believe we can bring EMBODIMENT into any aspect of our lived experience.

When I feel a “fear cycle” take hold, I can track the physical sensation of tightness in my middle, sometimes an ache in my chest, a shallowness of my breathe, tense shoulders, and a shadowiness to my vision, like everything is just a little less vivid, colorful or bright.

I can track this so acutely because of a consistent practice of somatic living, and deep awareness I’ve cultivated.

I don’t judge my fear experience.

Rather than trying to immediately shift out of it, I allow the tears to flow, I sense into the physicalization of the fear and let my body talk without telling it to change. I honor the way my wise body is processing the intensity I’m moving through.

THEN I invite balance into my experience by bringing in a supportive “other” reality into my perception and actions, in this case, GRATITUDE.

How do I embody gratitude?

It can look different on any given day. This week, I embodied gratitude by reminding myself the incredible privilege of the home in which I live, and enacted my gratitude for this precious space by opening it to another foster puppy.

(Meet Truffle from Pups Without Borders. Truffle is ready for her forever home!)

When I live out my gratitude, the next most grounding step for me is often service. In re-focusing my fear energy onto caring for another being, the fear becomes less all-consuming, my soma begins to relax, and then energize into service-oriented action which feels empowering and lets my nervous system stay in activation with a purpose, rather than just staying in an endless loop of arousal with no clear action to take.

(If you have no idea what I’m talking about, message me for the FREE Whole Body Communicator mini course that walks you through nervous system basics.)

When I embody my gratitude, I care for all the things I’m grateful for.

After moving through the peak of my fear cycle this week, I cleared my weekend and cared for my home. I mowed the lawn, swept the yard, cleaned the garage, cleaned the chicken coop, did laundry, and baked the above pictured bread and cookies. Again, I gave my body clear action to take, while reminding myself each moment how blessed I am to have this home to care for.

A hike can be a direct route to embodied gratitude.

(I know, so embodied of me to have my phone out on the hike - eye roll - had to capture that sunset, though!)

For me, connecting with nature is a sure and fast way to experience gratitude on a physical level. And resourcing with nature always helps me to settle myself back down into my window of tolerance. Gazing at sky, trees, sunset, earth brings me back into right balance with the world around me, reminding me how much beauty surrounds us all the time, even when things feel bleak in a moment.

Visiting tree friends like this one reminds me of the gift of stillness, deep roots, and slow growth.

Connecting with loved people and creatures brings me into the simplicity of the present moment.

What does embodying gratitude look like and feel like for you?

I asked this question at our Clothing Optional Expressive Movement workshop last Sunday in Mar Vista, CA.

Sometimes gratitude for our bodies looks like finding our edge, feeling the burn of a strenuous workout, showing our muscles how grateful we are for their capacity to embrace struggle, living out our gratitude for our bodies’ ability to DO HARD THINGS!

Sometimes, it looks like curling into the softest shape, nestling into the most comfortable space we can find and letting ourselves SLOWWWW DOWNNNN.

Sometimes, embodying gratitude looks and feels like doing absolutely nothing, gifting yourself the space to be.

Sometimes, it’s doing all the above, and then creating a gift (in my case, this article, to share with others. Also in my case, with my dog Luna by my side, reminding me to be grateful for HER! ;P)

Creator Corner Collective

Here’s the section where I highlight another creative, business or group I’m stoked on to spread the love! This week, I’d excited to highlight Pups Without Borders.

I’m here for the animals. It’s always been this way, since I was little! If you’re like me, and your activism and service call is for our creature friends, check out this amazing organization who is doing so much right now to help the MANY displaced pets in the LA area. So many dogs need short term and long-term fosters. Many families need help with their pets as they relocate, or donations to care for their animals during this time of great loss for our community.

Pups Without Borders is a great place to give your time or consider making a donation for treatments for dogs who need expensive medical help.

And if you don’t have time or financial resources, you can do a lot by connecting through Instagram and sharing stories of adoptable pups with your community.

You never know who needs a new best friend right now. You could me the matchmaker for dog and human connection that pulls someone else out of their fear cycle!

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Want to be highlighted in my letter? Reach out and tell me more about your work.

A new song for you:

I wrote Moving Mountains when Cali was a baby. It was recorded a while back but it just didn’t feel like the right time to share. Moving through my fear cycle these past few weeks, many of the lyrics felt so preciously accurate once more.

Take a listen and see if you’ve ever felt these ways.

My hope is this song lets you feel your feelings while also reminding you of simple truths that can help you release the grip of fear.

Moving Mountains on Youtube

More creative stuff

You can check out more healing offerings at www.weepingwillowwellness.com

Book a FREE strategy session here to meet with me and discuss joining my 12 week somatic healing program, Whole Body Communicator

Find my music anywhere you stream. Just search Fermata Blaize!

Check out my children’s book The Possum And The Bunny

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And more to come!