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After a few months away, Shannon returns to the mic — not because it was scheduled, but because something was pulling her back. In this heartfelt solo episode, Shannon reflects on her intentional pause from recording, social media, and the constant intake of information, and shares what that stillness has revealed.

This episode was inspired by Shannon's final deep dive breathwork class at her Pennsylvania wellness center before her family's upcoming move to Florida. What unfolded in that room — the vulnerability, the connection, and one powerful theme — felt too important not to share.

That theme? Permission.

So many of us are waiting for someone to walk through the door and tell us it's okay — to slow down, to set boundaries, to pursue what lights us up, to prioritize ourselves. In this episode, Shannon explores why that permission was never theirs to give in the first place, and how simply naming that pattern can be the first step toward reclaiming your own authority over your life.

In this episode, Shannon shares:

• Why she stepped back from the podcast and social media at the start of 2026 — and what that stillness gave her
• What conscious connected breathwork does and why it creates space for deep inner exploration
• How the theme of permission emerged in her final breathwork class
• Why we outsource permission to people who may never actually give it to us
• The powerful question to ask yourself: Whose permission am I waiting for?
• What's next for the Motion of Gratitude podcast in this new season

Reflection question for you: What have you been waiting for permission to do — and what would change if you simply gave it to yourself?

Connect with Shannon: 🌐 www.themotionofgratitude.com 📲 @TheMotionofGratitude

There's more to life than going through the motions.

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What if the symptoms you've been managing are actually signals your body has been trying to send you for years?

In this episode, Shannon sits down with functional health practitioner Amanda Soukoulis — a former collegiate dancer, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader finalist, and self-described health detective — who went from the peak of her physical performance to watching her health collapse almost overnight. What followed was a years-long journey through dismissal, confusion, and eventually, a complete transformation in how she understood the body.

Amanda now works with high-performing individuals across the country — from MLB players to lawyers to grandmothers re-entering the workforce — helping them uncover the root cause of what's happening beneath the surface, rather than just managing what's showing up on top.

This conversation weaves together functional medicine, nervous system awareness, peptide therapy, gut health, and the surprisingly simple things that make the biggest difference. Shannon and Amanda also find common ground in breathwork, the power of a morning routine, and what it actually means to heal — not just optimize.

If you've ever felt dismissed by conventional medicine, stuck on the health hamster wheel, or like you're doing everything right and still not feeling like yourself — this one is for you.

**Connect with Amanda Soukoulis:**
- Website: amandasoukoulis.com
- Instagram: @amandaSoukoulis
- LinkedIn, TikTok & YouTube: search Amanda Soukoulis

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What if you didn’t have to “hit rock bottom” to decide alcohol isn’t serving you anymore?

In this episode of The Motion of Gratitude Podcast, Shannon sits down with Abby Calabrese (aka Alcohol Free Abby) for an honest, real-life conversation about what it actually looks like to shift out of drinking culture—without judgment, preaching, or perfection.

Abby shares her story of how alcohol was woven into everything: college, NYC work culture, marriage, motherhood, suburb life… until the anxiety, shame spirals, and “this isn’t who I want to be” moments became too loud to ignore. From blackouts that were normalized by culture to a defining Halloween night that planted a seed, Abby takes us behind the scenes of what led her to stop drinking on 11/11/23—and what happened next.

Together, Shannon and Abby talk about:

• Why so many women feel stuck in the “wine = relief / wine = fun” loop
• The surprising physical detox symptoms Abby experienced—even without “daily” drinking
• The social pressure and awkwardness of not drinking (and why it can make other people uncomfortable)
• How to navigate questions like “Are you pregnant?” and “Why aren’t you drinking?”
• Why “Dry January” doesn’t create true change if you isolate instead of integrate
• How alcohol impacts your nervous system baseline—and why anxiety can feel like “just who you are”
• The biggest unexpected gift of not drinking: mornings, peace, presence, and real ease
• Simple tools that help when you’re in autopilot (including Abby’s morning pages + slowing down)

This conversation is for you if you’ve been curious about exploring an alcohol-free season, feel like alcohol isn’t “a problem” but also isn’t helping, or you want to feel more present in your life without losing your sense of fun.

Connect with Abby

• Instagram: @alcoholfreeabby
• Podcast: Alcohol Free Rebellion (video available on Spotify)

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• Follow us on social media @TheMotionofGratitude for more content related to holistic well-being.

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In this episode of The Motion of Gratitude Podcast, Shannon sits down with spiritual teacher, author, and nonprofit founder Caverly Morgan for a conversation about what it really looks like to live a practice—inside a monastery, inside a school system, and inside everyday life.

Caverly shares her unexpected path into meditation (and eight years of Zen monastic training), how practice became something she could filter her entire life through, and why leaving the monastery was both liberating and deeply challenging. From there, we move into the origin story of Peace in Schools—and how a single invitation from a teacher led to a credited mindfulness course inside public high schools, long before mindfulness in schools was widely understood.

This conversation is honest, practical, and full of hope—especially for parents, educators, and anyone feeling stretched beyond capacity who knows it’s time for new tools.

In This Episode, We Explore

• Caverly’s path from first retreat to eight years of Zen training
• Leaving the monastery and bringing practice into everyday life
• How Peace in Schools began—and why teens are so receptive to these tools
• What’s shifted in schools pre- and post-COVID (more openness and more barriers)
• The idea of “okayness” and starting practice from love, not self-improvement
• Working with autopilot through “yes” and “thank you”
• Caverly’s book The Heart of Who We Are and her upcoming community practice collective

Resources + Links

• Peace in Schools (education partnerships + training institute): peaceinschools.org
• Caverly Morgan (retreats, workshops, online offerings): caverlymorgan.org
• Book: The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together
• Upcoming: Practice collective moving through the book in community (starting around February—see Caverly’s website for details)

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In this deeply resonant episode of The Motion of Gratitude Podcast, Shannon sits down with Florence Shaffer, founder of Start Becoming and a leader in human flourishing, to explore what it truly means to move beyond survival and into a life of alignment, presence, and sustainable performance.

Florence shares her personal journey from global executive leadership to guiding individuals and organizations through profound inner recalibration — including the pivotal moment of a stage four cancer diagnosis that became a catalyst for radical listening, surrender, and transformation.

Together, Shannon and Florence unpack nervous system regulation, emotional awareness, spiritual alignment beyond religion, and why many high performers fear “losing their edge” when they slow down — only to discover that clarity, creativity, and true performance actually expand.

This conversation is an invitation to pause, listen inward, and remember that flourishing is not something we chase — it’s something we return to.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• The difference between surviving, striving, and flourishing
• Why nervous system regulation is foundational for sustainable performance
• The fear high performers have around slowing down — and why it’s misplaced
• How chronic stress and misalignment show up in the body
• The role of emotions as signals, not weaknesses
• Moving from hyper-independence to healthy interdependence
• Why presence and alignment create better decisions, relationships, and outcomes
• Florence’s powerful story of healing, surrender, and recalibration
• Integration: how to carry transformation back into real life
• Simple, accessible tools for returning to baseline when life feels overwhelming

Notable Moments & Themes:

• “You don’t have to give up success to be at peace.”
• The nervous system of the leader as the nervous system of the family or organization
• Why optimization alone isn’t enough — and what integration offers instead
• The body’s wisdom and its role in healing and course correction
• Gratitude as one of the fastest ways to shift state and perspective

Connect with Florence:

🌐 Website: https://www.startbecoming.co

💬 Free Discovery Call available via the website
🔗 LinkedIn: Search Florence Shaffer

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• Subscribe to our podcast to stay updated on future episodes.
• Follow us on social media @TheMotionofGratitude for more content related to holistic well-being.

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In this episode, Shannon sits down with Dr. Jordan Graeme for a raw and relatable conversation about navigating life’s “messy middle” — the in-between season where old chapters close before the new ones fully arrive.

Jordan shares her deeply personal journey: rebuilding after an abusive marriage in her twenties, facing fertility challenges, becoming a mom, losing her hair to alopecia, and most recently, being laid off from her hospital career of 10 years. Together, Shannon and Jordan talk about what it feels like to lose your identity, question your path, and find your footing again in a world that often expects you to keep it all together.

This episode is not about fixing the hard seasons — it’s about honoring them, finding support, and making space for the whispers that show up when life finally quiets down.

In this episode, they explore:

• The emotional impact of losing a long-standing career
• Identity, worthiness, and redefining success
• How burnout, pace, and survival mode block creativity
• Why slowing down helps reveal what you’re truly called to do
• Navigating fertility struggles and postpartum alopecia
• Reclaiming confidence and womanhood after losing hair
• The power of community and letting yourself be seen
• Jordan’s early steps into writing her first book
• Simple practices that help bring safety, clarity, and presence back into the body

About Today’s Guest:
Dr. Jordan Graeme is a chiropractor and integrative medicine practitioner based in Portland, Oregon. She’s also a mother, farm owner, and a woman walking through a powerful season of reinvention. Jordan is currently writing a book about her journey and the tools that helped her rebuild through multiple messy middles.

Connect with Jordan:
Instagram: @dr.jmgraeme
Website (in progress): drjmgraeme.com

If this episode speaks to you, share it with someone who might need the reminder that they’re not walking through their messy middle alone.

And as always — there is more to life than going through the motions. 💛

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In this episode of The Motion of Gratitude podcast, Shannon sits down with creativity coach, award-winning author, director, and speaker Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, founder of Medicine with Words.

Elizabeth’s life is anything but linear—from moving across the world with two suitcases, to directing films, writing children’s books, and becoming a professor. Through it all, she’s become fiercely devoted to one thing: the power of words to shape our inner world, our sense of safety, and the way we move through life.

Together, Shannon and Elizabeth explore how language can either confine us or set us free, how grief can completely rewire our foundation, and why finding your word (like Elizabeth’s word, “safe”) can become a compass for how you live, love, and create.

This is a heartfelt, thought-provoking conversation about intention, grief, creativity, and giving ourselves permission to live by our own inner algorithm—not the one the world hands us.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• The power of words
  • How the words we were told as children still live in our bodies
  • Why phrases like “be successful” are often empty until we define them
  • The difference between saying words and feeling them
• Finding your “word”
  • How Elizabeth helps people move beyond vague goals into one core word (like freedom or safe)
  • Why her word “safe” guides everything—from where she sits in a restaurant to which work she says yes to
• Gratitude as a felt experience
  • Moving from “I should be grateful” to truly embodying gratitude
  • Simple examples of deep gratitude, like noticing the privilege of opening a fridge full of food
• Creating your own “algorithm” for life
  • How to be intentional about what you consume, who you spend time with, and what you say yes to
  • Elizabeth’s morning ritual and how she “sets her algorithm” for the day so she can end it feeling how she intended
• Grief, love & a reshaped foundation
  • Elizabeth’s experience of losing her beloved dog Chai and how grief has ripped her heart open and expanded her capacity for empathy
  • Why grief isn’t a set of neat stages, but a tunnel that becomes part of who we are
  • How her understanding of feelings and words deepened through this loss
• Autism, identity & a permission slip to be yourself
  • Elizabeth’s recent autism diagnosis and the immense relief and clarity it brought
  • How it reframed the way she sees her sensitivity, her reactions, and the way she processes grief
  • Why naming something can feel like an exhale—and a powerful act of self-acceptance
• Living with intention (and letting purpose evolve)
  • How Elizabeth defines “success” and why she shifted from chasing an Academy Award to recognizing her daughter and her life as her living, breathing “award”
  • Her Pyramid of Purpose and how she uses it to check if her choices are aligned
  • The reminder that our purpose is allowed to change with each season of life

About Elizabeth Blake-Thomas

Elizabeth Blake-Thomas is a creativity coach, award-winning author, director, and speaker whose work lives at the intersection of art, purpose, and transformation. She is the founder of Medicine with Words, a body of work dedicated to helping people use language as a tool for healing, clarity, and intentional living.

Ori

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In this solo episode, Shannon Missimer shares the story of how The Motion of Gratitude is bringing emotional resilience, mindfulness, and breathwork practices into schools — helping both students and teachers reconnect, regulate, and thrive.

What started as a personal journey has grown into a movement now reaching classrooms across the country. Shannon shares the story of working with Principal Steve Torrez in Wisconsin, whose school became one of the first to implement The Motion of Gratitude Guidebooks — a four-week gratitude and mindfulness program for youth.

Through their work together, Shannon reveals what happens when students are given tools to pause, breathe, and connect — and how even one year of practice can shift an entire school culture.

This episode is an inside look at what it takes to build emotional resilience in schools — and why caring for the caregivers is the first step toward supporting the next generation.

In this episode, Shannon shares:

• How The Motion of Gratitude Guidebooks are helping youth develop emotional awareness and presence
• Why breathwork and gratitude are powerful tools for nervous system regulation
• What happened when one school integrated these practices for a full year
• How teachers and leaders can model emotional regulation for their communities
• The ripple effect of caring for the caregivers

Learn More:

• Explore The Motion of Gratitude Guidebooks → https://www.themotionofgratitude.com/students
  
  
• Learn about our school programs and educator initiatives
• Connect with Shannon → shannon@themofg.com
  | @themotionofgratitude
  
  

Quote from the Episode:

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