SYNOPSIS:
What if addiction is not only something to overcome, but an attempt to meet needs we have lost touch with?

In this rich and deeply embodied conversation, Ali speaks with somatic healing practitioner, integrative counselor and author Nina Pick about the life force beneath addiction, and what becomes possible when recovery includes not only the mind, but the body.

Nina expands the conversation about trauma and addiction beyond obvious traumatic events to include early attachment wounds, ancestral and intergenerational trauma, prenatal experience, and the subtle ways our earliest environments shape our sense of safety, belonging and connection.

Together, Ali and Nina explore addiction as an adaptation: an attempt to make the unbearable bearable, create connection, protect sensitivity, or meet needs for safety, soothing and belonging. Rather than shaming the wanting beneath addiction, they ask what our cravings may be trying to tell us about our deeper longings.

Their conversation moves into the particular sensitivity often found beneath addiction, the difference between craving and genuine desire, and the challenge of learning to want without shame.

And then, sober sex.

Nina and Ali explore why sexuality can become one of the most vulnerable territories of recovery, particularly when substances have previously made it possible to bypass sensation, boundaries, communication or fear. What might sex become when we begin again from “square one,” learning to listen to the body’s yes, no and maybe, develop interoception, communicate what we want, and discover pleasure without having to leave ourselves to experience it?

They also explore the difference between craving and pleasure, the heart-sexuality split, the relationship between presence and safety, and the possibility that recovery is not about becoming less alive, but becoming capable of inhabiting more of our aliveness.

Nina Pick is a somatic healing practitioner and integrative counselor and the author of Sober Secure: An Attachment-Based Guide to Dating, Sex, and Love in Recovery.

In this episode:

• Addiction as adaptation rather than simply pathology
• The life force and integrity beneath addictive behavior
• Attachment wounds, ancestral trauma and intergenerational patterns
• Why sensitivity can be both a vulnerability and a gift
• What addictive substances may reveal about unmet needs
• The difference between craving, longing, wanting and pleasure
• Reclaiming desire without shame
• Why sober sex can feel like starting from square one
• Sexuality as a meeting place for attachment wounds
• Listening to the body’s yes, no and maybe
• Interoception, proprioception and embodied sexuality
• Safety, presence, pleasure and the capacity for aliveness
• Finding life-giving ways to meet the needs addiction once tried to meet

THE BRILLIANT BODY PODCAST:
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To read more about the podcast, click here

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website: https://www.alimezey.com

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:
FREE Guided Body Mapping Taster: Heart/Sexuality Split
Five-films series (made by Ali Mezey) on renowned Family Constellation Facilitator, Stephan Hausner’s work with transgenerational influences on illness

Personal Geometry®
Ali Mezey’s body-first method for accessing and externalizing the unconscious body maps through which we experience relationships, patterns, addictions and other aspects of our lives. Using spatial relationships such as distance, direction and orientation, Personal Geometry makes these internal relational maps visible and available for exploration.
Learn about Personal Geometry®

FOR MORE NINA PICK:
ninapick.com

Author, The Mind-Body Guide to the Twelve Steps
New book coming soon! Sober Secure now available for purchase

Sober Secure
Sober Secure: An Attachment-Based Guide to Dating, Sex, and Love in Recovery by Nina Pick explores recovery through the lens of attachment, relationships, embodiment, sexuality, nervous-system regulation and pleasure. Nina describes the book as intended for people in recovery, their partners and clinicians working in addiction treatment.

Facilitator's Guide to Sober Secure Meetings free download
Landscape of Trauma Assessment

DEFINITIONS, RESOURCES & INSPIRATION:
Epigenetics
The study of processes that affect how genes are switched on and off without changing the underlying DNA sequence. Environmental exposures and experiences can influence epigenetic processes, and some epigenetic changes can be inherited, although claims about the transgenerational inheritance of specific human traumatic experiences require care.
Interoception
The processes through which we sense, interpret and integrate signals arising from within ourselves, such as heartbeat, breathing, hunger, temperature and visceral sensation. It contributes to our felt sense of our internal physiological state.
Neuroception
A term developed by Stephen Porges within Polyvagal Theory to describe the proposed nervous-system process through which cues of safety, danger and life threat are detected without requiring conscious awareness. I would preserve the word “proposed” here because neuroception is a theoretical construct, rather than presenting it as an established discrete sensory system.

Proprioception
Our sense of the position and movement of our bodies in space. Sensory information from muscles, joints and related systems contributes to our awareness of where our body parts are and how they are moving, as well as posture and balance. 

Family Constellation Work
A systemic, experiential approach associated with Bert Hellinger that explores relationships and patterns within family systems, often through spatial representations of family members or other elements. Personal Geometry has roots in Constellation Work while developing its own distinct body-first, spatial approach.
Family Constellatio...

SYNOPSIS:
What if the autonomic nervous system is more than a mechanism to regulate – and part of the extraordinary way our bodies are in relationship with one another?

In this expansive conversation, dance/movement therapist, human rights psychotherapist and author Dr. Amber Elizabeth Gray joins Ali Mezey to explore the autonomic nervous system through the lenses of Polyvagal Theory, movement, trauma, relationship and the lived intelligence of the body. Drawing on nearly three decades of work with survivors of torture, war and human rights abuses – as well as her long collaboration and exchange of ideas with Stephen Porges – Amber takes the conversation beyond simplified notions of sympathetic “bad,” parasympathetic “good,” and regulation as the goal. Instead, she invites listeners into a nervous system that protects, mobilizes, settles, connects, plays, dances, loves – and continually responds to the bodies and world around it. 

Ali and Amber explore the vagus nerve and the promises and controversies of Polyvagal Theory; why “safety” isn’t equally available to every body; the danger of privileging particular nervous-system states; and what changes when survival responses are understood not as failures, but as expressions of an organism doing its best to remain whole. Amber also shares how movement became central to her work with profoundly traumatized people, and how her own embodied inquiry has led her toward a practice of restoration, reclamation and resistance. Along the way, the conversation wanders – as bodies do – through whales and dolphins, evolution, intuition, pattern recognition, the natural world, and the possibility that our nervous systems may be far less individual than we imagine. 

Ultimately, this is a conversation about relationship: within our bodies, between bodies, and between ourselves and the larger living world. What becomes possible when we stop trying simply to “regulate” the nervous system and begin listening to the complexity, creativity and intelligence of what it is already doing?

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To read more about the podcast, click here

FOR MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website: https://www.alimezey.com

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:
FREE Guided Body Mapping Taster: Heart/Sexuality Split
Five-films series (made by Ali Mezey) on renowned Family Constellation Facilitator, Stephan Hausner’s work with transgenerational influences on illness

FOR MORE DR AMBER ELIZABETH GRAY:
BIO: Dr. Amber Elizabeth Gray is an award-winning dance movement therapist, human rights psychotherapist, and Continuum teacher. She has worked for 29 years with survivors of human rights abuses, war, torture, natural disasters,  and historical and intergenerational trauma. Equally artist, advocate, author, educator, poet, mystic and therapist, she, her clients, Ancestors and mentors co-create, ongoing, survivor- & Spirit-centered, Polyvagal-informed approaches to DMT for trauma and resilience  that are holistic and emergent. A lover of all things wild, Amber regularly facilitates eco-somatic and movement retreats for survivors  and caregivers. She brings her RightToEmbody human rights and  BodyOfChange planetary rights work to survivors, therapists, educators, change agents and advocates worldwide. 
Her book, Polyvagal-Informed Restorative Movement Psychotherapy: Roots, Rhythm, and Reciprocity will be released August 11, 2026.

CLAIM YOUR DISCOUNTED COPY HERE

AMBER SOCIALS:
Website: | https://ambergray.com/
Facebook: | Amber Elizabeth Gray
YouTube: | Amber Gray@ambergray127
LinkedIn: | Dr. Amber Elizabeth L. Gray
Instagram: | Restorativeresources

PREVIOUS TBBP EPISODES WITH AMBER:
Trauma and the Body with Amber Gray: Regulation, Restoration, & The Patience of Whales...REPRISED

Trauma Healing, Somatic Psychology, and Human Rights Advocacy: LIVE AUDIENCE Q&A RECORDING W/ AMBER GRAY

Earth Body Meditation: Rooting into Beloved Ground w/ AMBER GRAY

DEFINITIONS, RESOURCES & INSPIRATION:
Nervous System & Polyvagal Theory

• Autonomic nervous system (ANS): The part of the nervous system that largely regulates involuntary bodily functions – including heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, breathing patterns, temperature regulation and sexual arousal. It continually responds to conditions inside and outside the body, helping us mobilize, rest, protect ourselves, connect and adapt.
• Somatic nervous system: The part of the peripheral nervous system primarily involved in voluntary movement and in carrying sensory information between the body and central nervous system. It allows us to consciously move skeletal muscles and perceive sensations such as touch, pressure, temperature, pain and body position.
• Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems: Two major divisions of the autonomic nervous system that work together to continually adjust bodily functions. The sympathetic nervous system is often associated with mobilization and action, while the parasympathetic is often associated with rest, digestion and restoration. These are not simple opposites or “on/off” systems; both participate dynamically in healthy functioning, movement, relationship and responses to our environment.
• Ventral vagal: Within Polyvagal Theory, a term for vagal pathways associated with the nucleus ambiguus in the brainstem and with social engagement, connection, physiological flexibility and the capacity to remain engaged with others in conditions of relative safety.
• Dorsal vagal: Within Polyvagal Theory, a term for vagal pathways associated with the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus in the brainstem. The theory associates these pathways wit...

SYNOPSIS:

What does it mean to experience yourself as a fertile body? And what happens when your body doesn't seem to be cooperating with your deepest hopes?

In this wide-ranging conversation, Ali speaks with Harvard-awarded fertility specialist Gabriela Rosa about fertility as far more than a medical diagnosis. Together they explore the meaning we attach to parenthood, the relationship between fertility and creativity, the impact of trauma and relationships on reproductive health, and why infertility is never simply "a women's issue."

Gabriela shares her evidence-based, integrative approach to fertility, explaining how removing obstacles to health often allows the body's innate intelligence to do what it already knows how to do. Along the way, they discuss IVF, implantation, sperm health, miscarriage, Family Constellation Work, embodiment, and the profound question of how we learn to trust the intelligence of our bodies – even when it seems to be saying "not yet."

Whether you're navigating fertility challenges, considering parenthood, or simply curious about the body's remarkable capacity for intelligence and healing, this conversation offers a deeply humane perspective on one of life's most meaningful journeys.

Ultimately, this episode is an invitation to reconsider one of the podcast's central questions: What becomes possible when we stop treating the body as a problem to solve and begin discovering the body's innate intelligence?

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To be an angel to the podcast, click here
To read more about the podcast, click here

FOR MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website: https://www.alimezey.com

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:
FREE Guided Body Mapping Taster: Heart/Sexuality Split
Five-films series (made by Ali Mezey) on renowned Family Constellation Facilitator, Stephan Hausner’s work with transgenerational influences on illness

FOR MORE GABRIELA ROSA:
BIO:
Gabriela Rosa, DrPH (Candidate, Harvard), is a Harvard-awarded fertility specialist, founder of The Rosa Institute, and author of Fertility Breakthrough: Overcoming Infertility and Recurrent Miscarriage When Other Treatments Have Failed. She is a pioneer in telehealth-based integrative fertility care, bringing evidence-based reproductive solutions to individuals and couples around the world.

Gabriela is also the creator and host of The Fertility Challenge, a free global online program that supports tens of thousands of participants each year. Through her proprietary F.E.R.T.I.L.E. Method®, she has helped more than 204,000 people across 111 countries. Published research on her signature program shows a 78.8% live birth rate among patients—even after years of infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and unsuccessful treatments.

SOCIALS:
Website: https://fertilitybreakthrough.com/

Socials:
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
X
TIKTOK

RESOURCES, DEFINITIONS & INSPIRATION:

Tara Brach
Buddhist meditation teacher, psychologist, and bestselling author known for her work on mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional healing.
https://www.tarabrach.com

Martha Beck
Harvard-trained sociologist, bestselling author, and life coach whose work explores personal transformation, purpose, and living in alignment with one's deepest values.
https://marthabeck.com

The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
A groundbreaking book exploring how trauma affects the brain, body, and nervous system, and why healing often requires body-based as well as psychological approaches.
https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score

John Gottman
Psychologist and relationship researcher whose decades of research have transformed our understanding of what helps couples build lasting, healthy relationships. He is co-founder of The Gottman Institute.
https://www.gottman.com

Family Constellation Work
An experiential therapeutic approach developed by Bert Hellinger that reveals unconscious family and relational dynamics through spatial representation. It is used worldwide to explore patterns of trauma, belonging, and connection that may influence present-day relationships and well-being.

Corpus luteum
A temporary hormone-producing structure that forms in the ovary after ovulation. It secretes progesterone, which prepares the uterus for pregnancy.

Endometriosis
A chronic condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, often causing pelvic pain, painful periods, and fertility challenges.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
A common hormonal condition that can affect ovulation, menstrual cycles, fertility, metabolism, and hormone balance.

ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
A specialized IVF procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg to achieve fertilization, often used in cases of male-factor infertility.

Sperm parameters
The characteristics measured during a semen analysis, including sperm count, motility (movement), morphology (shape), and vitality, which help assess male fertility.

Can eggs repair sperm DNA fragmentation?
Healthy eggs possess natural DNA repair mechanisms that can repair some damage in sperm DNA after fertilization. However, this capacity depends on the quality of the egg and the extent of the sperm's DNA fragmentation.

SYNOPSIS:
What if intelligence is far bigger than IQ, rational thought, or what we've been taught to measure? In this fascinating conversation, Ali sits down with coach and researcher Rachel Fell to explore neurodiversity as an expression of human biodiversity, challenging our assumptions about what it means to think, feel, perceive, and truly know. Together they venture beyond the limits of our culturally conditioned understanding of intelligence, revealing a far broader way of knowing through our lived experience as sensing bodies.

Whether you identify as neurodivergent or simply long to feel more fully alive, this episode offers a refreshing invitation to rethink intelligence itself. From trauma, sensitivity, and nervous system regulation to movement, emotion, and the remarkable adaptability of the human body, Ali and Rachel explore how reclaiming our full-bodied intelligence may be one of the most important - and hopeful - frontiers of our time.

To subscribe now, click here
To be an angel to the podcast, click here
To read more about the podcast, click here

FOR MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website: https://www.alimezey.com

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:
FREE Guided Body Mapping Taster: Heart/Sexuality Split
Five-films series (made by Ali Mezey) on Stephan Hausner’s work with transgenerational influences on illness

FOR MORE RACHEL FELL:

BIO: Rachel Fell is a coach, consultant and collaborator working at the intersections of neurodiversity, living intelligence, perception, and embodied awareness. 

For over six years she has worked with gifted, neurocomplex, sensitive and intense adults around the globe, co-exploring in the service of full-body intelligence and their unique paths to realization and fulfillment. A published author, speaker, and teacher, she also consults and collaborates with organizations on intelligence and its development, leadership, and brand/identity and business projects. 

RACHEL – Website

RACHEL – Instagram

RELEVANT THE BRILLIANT BODY PODCAST EPISODES:
First Rachel Fell: Bridging Divides with Rachel Fell: Neurodivergence, Conscious Body Awareness & Inclusive Intelligence
Live conversation with Rachel Fell: Neurodiversity, The Body & Inclusive Intelligence: LIVE AUDIENCE Q&A RECORDING with Rachel Fell & Ali Mezey
Panel Discussion: The Democratic Body with Ali, Sarah Peyton, Amber Gray & Rachel Fell
Philip Shepherd, Embodiment Leader & Author: Coming Home to the Body with PHILIP SHEPHERD...Reprised

OTHER LINKS:
Dr Svetlana Masgutova: https://masgutovamethod.com/

Svetlana Masgutova Educational Institute

The Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration - MNRI® Method

Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix with Sally Field. Delightful.
An Immense World by Ed Yong
Original Wisdom by Robert Wolff

EXPLANATIONS:

"I think, therefore I am" / Cartesian Divide – René Descartes' famous philosophical statement that placed thinking at the center of human identity. It also contributed to the enduring Western separation of mind and body, often referred to as the Cartesian mind-body split.

Family Constellation Work – A therapeutic and experiential approach developed by Bert Hellinger that explores how unconscious family dynamics and inherited patterns can influence our lives, relationships, health, and sense of self.

Dr. Spock & "Crying It Out" – Mid-20th-century parenting advice, influenced in part by pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock and later behavioral approaches, often encouraged allowing babies to cry rather than responding immediately. More recent attachment and developmental research emphasizes the importance of consistent, responsive caregiving for healthy nervous system development.

DEFINITIONS:

Human exceptionalism – The belief that humans are fundamentally superior to, or separate from, the rest of nature and other living beings.

Afferent and efferent – Afferent signals carry information to the brain from the body and senses; efferent signals carry commands from the brain back to the body.

Phenomenology – The study of direct, lived experience—exploring what it feels like to perceive, sense, and exist from the inside.

ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) – An eating disorder characterized by extreme restriction or avoidance of certain foods, often due to sensory sensitivities, textures, smells, or fear of negative experiences with eating. It...

SYNOPSIS:
Ali is in the hot seat today! The tables have turned as longtime friend, student and Television Producer, Lauren Gleason, interviews Ali about her body-based method, Personal Geometry® - a practice she developed to give the body a language that our cognitive minds can immediately access and understand. 

Together, they explore how Personal Geometry® and body mapping techniques are used in therapeutic and clinical healing, particularly in addressing challenges related to the body, sexuality, and addiction. Ali shares how she refined her method while working in renowned rehab centres in Los Angeles, offering real-life examples of its impact and honoring the influence and her experience of Family Constellation Work.

They discuss the power of mapping relational dynamics - how visualizing the roles we hold in family systems can illuminate unconscious patterns, especially in the context of addiction and trauma. Other topics explored include the common phenomenon of emotional incest, the challenges and call to work with perpetrators, sexual biases as a facilitator, and our universal need to belong.

At its core, Personal Geometry® is a somatic practice that taps into the body's innate, felt-sense understanding of spatial relationships. By bypassing psychological defense mechanisms, it directly reveals how we unconsciously position ourselves in relation to others, environments, and internal conflicts. This non-verbal, embodied approach provides a clear and immediate visual representation of a client’s inner world, making it an invaluable tool for therapists, facilitators, and anyone seeking profound transformation. 

PERSONAL GEOMETRY TRAININGS
Join the Next Personal Geometry® Foundations Class  (online over Zoom)
Now enrolling - click here for more details. Next cohort starts February 8th, 2025.
Our audience gets $250 off - just mention the show when contacting Ali. 

A seven-week online class - perfect for therapists, sexologists, coaches, and healing practitioners. Foundations is the prerequisite for advanced classes on Sexuality and Addiction, and individuals seeking personal healing are welcome too!  

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website:  https://www.alimezey.com

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:

https://www.alimezey.com/personal-geometry-foundations

Transgenerational Healing Films: https://constellationarts.com/
Body work: https://www.alimezey.com/massage-body-therapy

MORE LAUREN GLEASON:
Instagram for Personal Geometry®: @the.unfolding.you
Instagram For Entertainment & Media @gynisis.productions  

BIO: Lauren Gleason is Creative and Entertainment Professional with over a decade of experience across film and television. Parallel to her career in entertainment, Lauren’s other lifelong passion has been personal development. Beginning when she was first certified in Reiki I at fourteen, she was fortunate enough to be exposed to a wide-range of mind-body wellness techniques from Family Constellation Therapy to Continuum, to Joseph Culp’s Walking In Your Shoes—finally becoming certified as a Personal Geometry Practitioner in 2025 under Ali Mezey. At their core, stories embody the human path of transformation. Lauren’s mission is to create engaging, multi-genre stories that illuminate and entertain, while helping individuals uncover and rewrite their stories along the way. Follow Lauren’s conscious media endeavors with Gynisis Productions and her Personal Geometry practice with The Unfolding You. 

OTHER RESOURCES, LINKS AND INSPIRATIONS:
FREE Guided Body Mapping Taster: Heart/Sexuality Split

Jane Peterson
Bodies In Space by Jane Peterson
Bert Hellinger

Center for Healthy Sex
The Body Has a Mind of its Own by The Blakeslees
ProprioMassage® - Ali's massage method

Jane Peterson: The Systemic Body: Navigating Relational Dynamics and Systemic Consciousness with Jane Peterson, PhD

Gil Hedley: "pars intima" instead of "genitals"
The Body is a Gift with Gil Hedley: A Reverential Journey into the Human Body

FUNCTIONS OF ADDICTIONS: Addictions serve as adaptive strategies the body develops to regulate overwhelming emotions, trauma, and unmet needs. Addiction functions as a way to manage distress, create boundaries, or seek connection when healthier strategies are unavailable, often reinforcing cycles of disembodiment and dissociation.

PROPRIOCEPTION: One’s internal sense of where one’s body parts are located in space and how they are moving. Proprioceptors are located in muscles, tendons, cartilage and joints

CARTESIAN DIVIDE: The conceptual separation between mind and body, coined after René Descartes, emphasizing a dualistic view of human existence, isolating mental and physical aspects.

FAMILY CONSTELLATION WORK is a global therapeutic approach that explores an individual’s emotional and behavioral challenges in the context of their family system. It seeks to uncover hidden dynamics, unresolved traumas, or entanglements in the family lineage that may influence current issues. The process often invo...

SYNOPSIS:
This episode explores the idea that creativity is fundamentally embodied rather than purely mental. Gary describes the body as an “interface” or instrument through which creative energy flows, emphasizing that without the body, expression itself wouldn’t be possible. Creativity is framed as a collaborative process – between body, mind, and a larger “divine” or universal intelligence – rather than something generated solely by individual effort. Gary and host, Ali Mezey, challenge the common mind-body split and reframe the body as an active participant in creative expression, not just a vessel.

A central theme is the role of somatic practices (movement, breathwork, dance) in unlocking creativity. Gary shares his personal journey from disconnection and shame around the body to rediscovering it as a source of intelligence and creative flow. Through somatic work, he was able to release stored tension, trauma, and self-judgment, which had previously blocked his creative expression. The conversation highlights how presence in the body – rather than over-identification with thoughts or past experiences – can open access to what is often described as “the zone” or a flow state.

The discussion also touches on identity, trauma, and how experiences are “held” in the body. While both Ali and Gary acknowledge that emotions and trauma can manifest physically, they question simplistic or overly rigid interpretations of this idea. They emphasize the importance of approaching the body with curiosity and presence rather than trying to “fix” it. The body is seen as intelligent and self-organizing, capable of healing when given the right conditions, though not everything can or needs to be resolved.

Finally, the conversation addresses the practical side of creativity – discipline, skill, and sharing work with others. While creativity may flow naturally, bringing it into the world often requires structure, support, and persistence. Gary reframes discipline as something that can be supported through somatic awareness and addressing internal resistance (like the inner critic). Ultimately, creativity is portrayed as both a deeply personal and relational process – one that involves not only expression but also connection, refinement, and, for many, the courage to be seen. 

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website:  www.alimezey.com
Body Mapping Video Library

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:

www.alimezey.com/personal-geometry-foundations

Transgenerational Healing Films: www.constellationarts.com
Constellation Work is a highly effective method to delve into healing transgenerational trauma, unburdening consequent generations from the influences of traumas which can be transmitted epigenetically.

MORE GARY GOTTSELIG:
GARY BIO: Gary Gottselig is a Creative Ignition Coach, author of #1 Amazon Best-selling poetry book, A Legacy of Rainbows and creator of Unleashed Somatic Dance.

He works with writers, poets, and creatives who know they have a book inside them but keep getting stuck. Through somatic practices, breathwork, and movement, he helps them burn through self-judgment so they can finally write the book that’s been waiting to come through them.

He is deeply passionate about embodied liberation and how it unlocks deeper creativity and authentic self-expression.

GARY LINKS:
STARTS TOMORROW (April 28th) SO JOIN NOW!
Blaze Across the Page:
7 Day Challenge to Burn through Self-Judgment So You Can Start Writing
(Launches Tuesday, April 28th. Doors close Friday, May 1st at midnight)
Book a Creative Breakthrough Call with Gary
For writers who’ve been putting their book off and are ready to start
Instagram: @garyunleashed

Get a Copy of His Poetry Book

If you would like to receive a link to watch/listen to Gary's guided somatic process to unleash more of your creativity, please write: [email protected] and we'll send it! Due to copyright issues, we couldn't do it otherwise.

More show notes on the way!

THIS IS PART TWO - Listen to part one here

CONTENT HEADS UP:  This episode contains discussions of death, dying, end-of-life care, and sensitive topics related to mortality, including chosen suicide and medicalization of death and illness. Listener discretion is advised, especially for individuals who may find these topics distressing or triggering. Please prioritize your emotional well-being while engaging with this content.

Also, Ali wants to note that when she asks Karen about her thoughts on suicide, she meant to make a disctinction between “chosen” suicide (when someone wants to live but they are in too much physical pain/their body is too deteriorated without hope of recovery) and “suicide under duress” (meaning due to emotional/psychological/spiritual pain, that may or may not be accompanied by an unavoidably dying body, the person does not want to live). Of course facing a death someone does not want can also be considered duress! 

SYNOPSIS:

What does good acting and dying have in common? In this episode, Ali discusses all things death, dying, and living as bodies with Karen Bellone, Certified End-of-Life Doula and Death Educator. They focus on the interconnectedness of life and death, the significance of conscious living, and the complexities of end-of-life care. Karen shares her experiences working with dying individuals, highlighting the challenges of the dying process, including issues related to dementia and Alzheimer's. They discuss the importance of compassionate and holistic approaches to end-of-life care, emphasizing the need for conscious decision-making aligned with personal values to achieve a good death without regrets. Throughout the conversation, they reflect on the essence of embodiment and the importance of being present in the moment, trusting the intelligence of the body to embrace a richer life and ultimately a better death.  

ALI & KAREN EXPLORATION POINTS:

-  The concept of a 'good death,' this discussion emphasizes the significance of conscious decision-making and holistic approaches to end-of-life care, challenging societal norms and perceptions surrounding death.

-  The complexities, ethical considerations and medicalization surrounding end-of-life decisions, highlighting the need for open dialogue and support for individuals facing such choices.

-  The role of a Death Doula, illuminating the profound support and guidance provided by these compassionate professionals in assisting individuals and families through the dying process, fostering a sense of empowerment and comfort.

-  How our physical and emotional bodies communicate and play integral roles in the dying process, highlighting the importance of listening to and honoring the body's wisdom. 

-  Insights into embracing conscious living, pursuing meaningful experiences, and aligning actions with personal values to cultivate a sense of fulfillment and purpose.

-  Sensory experiences shape our perception of life and death, emphasizing the significance of sensory elements in the dying process and fostering connections with loved ones.

To be an angel to the podcast, click here: 

To read more about the podcast, click here: 

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website
BODY MAPPING VIDEO LIBRARY

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information

Transgenerational Healing Films

MORE KAREN BELLONE:

Film Website: 

Website: The Seventh Sense 

BIO:

Founder, Doula, Educator: Karen Bellone, MFA, is a Certified End-of-Life Doula and Death Educator. She is the founder of The Seventh Sense in NY’s Hudson Valley, where she is an integral part of a worldwide community that is reigniting the wisdom of death within our modern lives. She is also founder of Exit Strategy for Dying, a monthly Death, Arts and Culture Readers supporting a resource hub to educate and refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation. Prior to embracing her passion for end-of-life work, Karen has had a long career as an award-winning filmmaker and internationally collected photographer. She received a BFA in Film Production from New York University, and did graduate work with the world-renowned Actors Studio, through their inaugural program at the New School for Social Research.

After training and becoming certified with INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association), Karenworked with an innovative hospice in Los Angeles where her skills as a death doula were developed and broadened. In addition to working with patients in various stages of their life journeys, she was responsible for training the volunteer staff, nurses and other hospice and medical professionals to bring more understanding, humanity and compassion into their work with the dying. She spoke regularly with groups, such as the Alzheimer’s Project, about the role of the doula at end-of-life, and the space that can be held to bring about ‘a good death’. She believes strongly in the ability to demystify and assuage the fear that surrounds death in our culture and to foster safe passage for the dying, as well as to aid the families and loved ones through grief and bereavement.

As a visual artist and storyteller, Karen acquired a multitude of skills throughout her career that unlocked a deep passion for the healing power of visual and auditory perception on human consciousness. She integrated these strengths and resources into tools to bring aid and comfort for those imminently facing their mortality. Working with somatic and sensory awareness, Karen utilizes visual, sound and meditation therapy, personalized guided imagery, and commemoration of the sacred in the form of ritual, legacy and memory work, in order to bring comfort - physically, emotionally, spiritually to celebrate and commemorate the life of the individual. In addition to her ongoing private practice, Karen is currently directing a feature film about living American artist Michelle Stuart, whose work also engages with the elemental and ineffable nature of existence.

RESOURCES:

Edgar Allan Poe

Erik Erikson

Exit strategy for dying (Karen’s monthly newsletter)

Omega Home Network

All...

CONTENT HEADS UP:  This episode contains discussions of death, dying, end-of-life care, and sensitive topics related to mortality, including chosen suicide and medicalization of death and illness. Listener discretion is advised, especially for individuals who may find these topics distressing or triggering. Please prioritize your emotional well-being while engaging with this content. 

SYNOPSIS:

What does good acting and dying have in common? In this episode, Ali discusses all things death, dying, and living as bodies with Karen Bellone, Certified End-of-Life Doula and Death Educator. They focus on the interconnectedness of life and death, the significance of conscious living, and the complexities of end-of-life care. Karen shares her experiences working with dying individuals, highlighting the challenges of the dying process, including issues related to dementia and Alzheimer's. They discuss the importance of compassionate and holistic approaches to end-of-life care, emphasizing the need for conscious decision-making aligned with personal values to achieve a good death without regrets. Throughout the conversation, they reflect on the essence of embodiment and the importance of being present in the moment, trusting the intelligence of the body to embrace a richer life and ultimately a better death.  

ALI & KAREN EXPLORATION POINTS:

-  The concept of a 'good death,' this discussion emphasizes the significance of conscious decision-making and holistic approaches to end-of-life care, challenging societal norms and perceptions surrounding death.

-  The complexities, ethical considerations and medicalization surrounding end-of-life decisions, highlighting the need for open dialogue and support for individuals facing such choices.

-  The role of a Death Doula, illuminating the profound support and guidance provided by these compassionate professionals in assisting individuals and families through the dying process, fostering a sense of empowerment and comfort.

-  How our physical and emotional bodies communicate and play integral roles in the dying process, highlighting the importance of listening to and honoring the body's wisdom. 

-  Insights into embracing conscious living, pursuing meaningful experiences, and aligning actions with personal values to cultivate a sense of fulfillment and purpose.

-  Sensory experiences shape our perception of life and death, emphasizing the significance of sensory elements in the dying process and fostering connections with loved ones.

To be an angel to the podcast, click here: 

To read more about the podcast, click here: 

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Ali's Website
BODY MAPPING VIDEO LIBRARY

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information

Transgenerational Healing Films

MORE KAREN BELLONE:

Film Website: 

Website: The Seventh Sense 

BIO:

Founder, Doula, Educator: Karen Bellone, MFA, is a Certified End-of-Life Doula and Death Educator. She is the founder of The Seventh Sense in NY’s Hudson Valley, where she is an integral part of a worldwide community that is reigniting the wisdom of death within our modern lives. She is also founder of Exit Strategy for Dying, a monthly Death, Arts and Culture Readers supporting a resource hub to educate and refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation. Prior to embracing her passion for end-of-life work, Karen has had a long career as an award-winning filmmaker and internationally collected photographer. She received a BFA in Film Production from New York University, and did graduate work with the world-renowned Actors Studio, through their inaugural program at the New School for Social Research.

After training and becoming certified with INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association), Karenworked with an innovative hospice in Los Angeles where her skills as a death doula were developed and broadened. In addition to working with patients in various stages of their life journeys, she was responsible for training the volunteer staff, nurses and other hospice and medical professionals to bring more understanding, humanity and compassion into their work with the dying. She spoke regularly with groups, such as the Alzheimer’s Project, about the role of the doula at end-of-life, and the space that can be held to bring about ‘a good death’. She believes strongly in the ability to demystify and assuage the fear that surrounds death in our culture and to foster safe passage for the dying, as well as to aid the families and loved ones through grief and bereavement.

As a visual artist and storyteller, Karen acquired a multitude of skills throughout her career that unlocked a deep passion for the healing power of visual and auditory perception on human consciousness. She integrated these strengths and resources into tools to bring aid and comfort for those imminently facing their mortality. Working with somatic and sensory awareness, Karen utilizes visual, sound and meditation therapy, personalized guided imagery, and commemoration of the sacred in the form of ritual, legacy and memory work, in order to bring comfort - physically, emotionally, spiritually to celebrate and commemorate the life of the individual. In addition to her ongoing private practice, Karen is currently directing a feature film about living American artist Michelle Stuart, whose work also engages with the elemental and ineffable nature of existence.

RESOURCES:

Edgar Allan Poe

Erik Erikson

Exit strategy for dying (Karen’s monthly newsletter)

Omega Home Network

All the Little Deaths

Rabbi Leder's book, The Beauty of What Remains

Allen Ginsberg

Henry Firsco Weiss

The Rites of the Dying

Philip Shepherd

This one is for you, Pop: April 12, 1931 - April 15, 2015
With my deep love - AM

In this deeply intimate and thought-provoking episode, Ali sits down with somatic sex educator and healer Ariel Szabo to explore the intersection of sexuality, power, trauma, and transformation.

The conversation opens with a bold question: Why has human society been shaped by domination – and what does that have to do with our relationship to sexuality? From there, Ariel and Ali unpack how systems of control – historically rooted in conquest and oppression – extend into our bodies, our relationships, and especially our sexual lives.

Ariel shares her personal journey through early sexual trauma, sex work, and being trafficked, revealing how shame and vulnerability can be weaponized to maintain control. Yet, rather than remaining trapped in that paradigm, she describes a path of reclamation – one grounded in embodiment, agency, and the rediscovery of sexual energy as life force.

Together, they explore how shame functions both as a necessary human signal and a powerful tool of suppression, particularly around sexuality. They discuss how many people dissociate into “performative” sexuality – shaped by media and conditioning – leaving them disconnected, unsatisfied, and emotionally unfulfilled.

A central theme emerges: pleasure as a gateway to connection. When experienced consciously and embodied, pleasure becomes a pathway to self-awareness, intimacy, and even spiritual awakening. When disconnected, it becomes escapism – mirroring addictive patterns rather than nourishing the soul.

Ariel also introduces practical insights into working with sexual energy, including how to build capacity for sensation, move energy through the body, and shift from fear or overwhelm into grounded presence.

The episode culminates in a powerful reflection on healing and purpose. Ariel recounts her transition out of exploitation, a life-altering health crisis that catalyzed her spiritual awakening, and her eventual integration of sexuality, psychedelics, and embodiment into her current work.

Ultimately, this conversation is both a personal testimony and a cultural critique – arguing that sexual healing is not just individual, but collective. A more embodied, liberated relationship to sexuality, they suggest, could fundamentally reshape how we relate to power, connection, and each other.

To be an angel to the podcast, click here

To read more about the podcast, click here

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website:  www.alimezey.com
Body Mapping Video Library

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:

www.alimezey.com/personal-geometry-foundations

Transgenerational Healing Films: www.constellationarts.com
Constellation Work is a highly effective method to delve into healing transgenerational trauma, unburdening consequent generations from the influences of traumas which can be transmitted epigenetically.

MORE ARIEL SZABO:
Website: SacredMoonflower

Author, Substack: TheEroticFrontier

Women's Retreat in Peru - April, 2026

Ariel's beautiful article on Sex Magic

Ariel (and Rahi) on Clare Sente's Permission to be Enchanting podcast: "The Art of Extended Pleasure and Lovemaking for Couples"

ARIEL'S BIO:
Ariel Szabo is a writer, somatic sex educator, sexological bodyworker, and psychedelic medicine practitioner based in Los Angeles. Her work weaves sacred sexuality, nervous system repair, relational healing, and plant medicine traditions shaped by years of study with Indigenous wisdom keepers in Peru.

She works with individuals, couples, groups, and practitioners in deeply embodied spaces of transformation. Ariel writes on sexuality, power, and liberation through her body of work, The Erotic Frontier, devoted to shifting how society relates to sex, power, and healing, and positioning erotic awakening as a force for personal and collective transformation.

ALI NOTE: To clarify, sexual violence is not always sexual, and perhaps is infrequently about sex; however, it is always about power. I did not mean to imply otherwise.

RESOURCES, LINKS AND INSPIRATION:

Chimps and Bonobos - video
Mantak Chia

Philip and Allyson Shepherd
Cervical awakening: https://arielszabo.substack.com/p/my-cervix-taught-me-im-safer-seen
Ariels' partner, Rahi Chun

DEFINITIONS:

Dharma - The definition of Dharma is cosmic order or law. Dharma can best be explained as conduct that upholds universal natural laws, and when humankind follows these laws, it allows them to be happy and prevent suffering. It's a combination of morality and spiritual discipline that guides one in living one's life.

Heteronormative paradigm - refers to the Western social norm, or assumption, that the overwhelming majority of sexual relationships in society are heterosexual.

Vagus nerve -  is the longest in the body, containing both motor and sensory functions in afferent and efferent regards. The nerve travels widely throughout the body, affecting several organ systems and regions of the body, such as the tongue, pharynx, heart, and gastrointestinal system. Our first brilliant guest on the podcast, brilliant Integral Anatomist, Gil Hedley explains HERE

Hedonism - the pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence.

Objectification - being treating or being viewed by someone in a way that disregards their indiv...

SYNOPSIS:
In this guided body scan, listeners are invited to shift their awareness from the busy cognitive mind into the full, three-dimensional experience of the body-mind. Beginning in the head and slowly moving downward, the meditation uses the imagery of a glowing sphere of consciousness traveling through the throat, heart, solar plexus, belly, and pelvic floor. As attention illuminates each area, participants are encouraged to notice sensations, emotions, breath, and subtle impulses without judgment, allowing awareness itself to soften tension and deepen embodiment. The practice concludes by resting awareness at the base of the body and reflecting on how the experience has shifted one’s sense of awareness, presence, connection, inner calm - and love.

MORE ALI MEZEY:

Website:  https://www.alimezey.com
Instagram:  ali_body_brilliance

Personal Geometry® and the Magic of Mat Work Course information:

https://www.alimezey.com/personal-geometry-foundations

Transgenerational Healing Films: https://constellationarts.com/
If you have any questions, email Ali at: [email protected]