Creative Writing and Somatic Movement to Calm the Nervous System

Riding the King Tide of Chaos

2026 jumped off the racing blocks, and life is coming in HOT like a King Tide – surging forward with great force and NO concern for what lies in its path. Everywhere I look events are setting our collective nerves on fire making it MORE DIFFICULT and also MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER to carefully tend our nervous systems. As we ride this King Tide of Chaos, I am introducing a series combining creative writing and somatic movement exercises to calm the nervous system. To encourage creativity and flow, read on and try my movement appetizer with a writing entree.

You Can’t Hold Back Water

A King Tide is the ultimate high tide, occurring during new or full moons when the Earth, Moon, and Sun align. San Diego saw a King Tide January 2-3 thus kicking off the intensity one would expect when the Earth is closest to the Sun. Major aggressions are ramping up on the international stage, while continued and new tragedies are occurring in the USA – most recently the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent. How can we walk this path and find a shred of peace? How do we lead our children and ourselves through this explosive morass? A friend once said to me, “You can’t hold back water,” so what CAN we do when things not within our control are spinning out of control? 

We have:

• NO control over tides, floods, fires, winds, or earthquakes.

• NO control over tides, floods, fires, winds, or earthquakes
• SOME control in the form of activism and extreme acts of love and community caring to birth change
• DEFINITIVE control over ourselves and the ripple effect we have on those around us. We have control of our reactions, responses, minor and major choices in perspective, intentions, where we are sourcing (and gifting) our energy, the health and well-being of our community networks (family systems, friends, neighbors, etc.)

Time to ask, “what can I do myself?”

To be honest, millions of things.  In this post, the exercises will help heal and reveal stones along the path of discovering what can be done. Ultimately, the goal is to release tension and tap into creativity that can conjure clarity, congruity, action, understanding, and joy.

Beginning with a Movement Appetizer – movement to shake it lose, let it go, and start fresh. Read on, share with a friend, and prepare to create… (If you have a classroom or a household, (or just yourself) who need a reboot / creative jolt, I hope the posts are helpful, healing, activating, and smile-inducing. 

These can be done by yourself or adapted to fit whatever group you may be leading. Suggested times are listed, but rules are meant to be broken – so have fun making your own rules, you salty rebel!

The Appetizer to calm the nervous system: Shake – Breathe – Release

SHAKE, BREATHE, RELEASE: 5-10 breaths (about 1-5 minutes)

1. Stand up if you can or sit in a chair if you need to
2. Take deep breaths in and out and bounce up and down, lifting up slightly onto toes and dropping your weight into your heels – the rhythm is active and should be about 3 bounces a second.  
3. Continue slow inhales and exhales as you bounce, shake out your body using the bouncing and gravity to help. Shake your hands and arms, feel your whole body standing yet loose.  Feel your shoulders relaxing as you bounce. This should be comfortable – it should never cause pain or discomfort!
4. Imagine sparkling light energy breathing in through your skin, through every cell of your body, igniting every cell. As you breathe out, imagine you are shaking out anything old and unneeded – imagine it falling out and off of you like water shaking off your skin and hair.
5. Stop bouncing, stand in stillness
6. Take a moment – How do you feel?
7. Now take a seat and move onto the writing entree – The Brain Dump

The Entree: Writing to calm the nervous system

BRAIN DUMP (5-15 MINUTES):

1. DUMP IT! I mean it. DUMP out your brain and all its beautiful, chaotic, crazy onto the page.  
2. Stream of consciousness writing for 5-15 minutes – set a timer and GO! You can write the same word for 5 minutes straight – just DON’T STOP WRITING.
3. I take 15 minutes: I write and brain dump about a problem I’m having, an emotional issue, manic joy, or just nonsense.

Uncensored.

Unfiltered.

Unedited.

** JUST KEEP WRITING – Once I wrote a single word over and over, covering one whole page (the word had four letters and started with the letter “F”). At the end of the page, my mind triggered into something real and profound for the final minute of writing. The process works.

(This is from the “Pages” exercise of The Artist’s Way. Give it a try.)

WHAT I FIND…

THE APPETIZER MOVEMENT:  Bouncing, shaking, and breathing followed by stillness resets something. I feel energetic and fresh after 5-10 breath cycles. I feel lighter and ready to write, speak, think.

THE WRITING ENTREE:  My mind runs like an F1 race – thoughts scream fast. Stream of consciousness writing does two things with usually a magical result. First, as I attempt to write all my thoughts, my thoughts are forced to slow down. Second, the act of just writing what is running through my mind relaxes my mind in a way where new connections are able to be made. Usually what happens is this: the gift becomes clear toward the end of the minutes as the mind, without pressure, begins to sort out the bigger picture, to tie up the loose threads, and ultimately bring fresh meaning and understanding to the forefront.  Like magic, a bigger truth or understanding appears birthed from what initially seemed to be nonsense.

Stay tuned for more somatic movement and creative writing ideas. Feel free to share this post with anyone you think might enjoy it. Check out other posts at www.susanfrazee.com/blog. Interested in Martin Snell and his Worm Hotel – click here.

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