Curando El Alma.
Care that listens to the body and its history
Body-based, relational work rooted in Naturopathic Medicine and Somatics located in Seattle WA
About Francis
My name is Mertaly Francisca Martinez, I go by Francis.
I’m a naturopathic doctor offering body-based, relational work rooted in somatics and nervous system awareness.
I’m also a first-generation Latina, and my lived experience informs how I understand care, power, and safety.
I work slowly and with care, paying attention to context and what feels present.
I work by following your lead and your pace.
I meet you where you are.
About Francis
My name is Mertaly Francisca Martinez, I go by Francis.
I’m a naturopathic doctor offering body-based, relational work rooted in somatics and nervous system awareness.
I’m also a first-generation Latina, and my lived experience informs how I understand care, power, and safety.
I work slowly and with care, paying attention to context and what feels present.
I work by following your lead and your pace.
I meet you where you are.
Care that listens to the whole system.
Naturopathic Medicine & Somatic work offered with a relational, body-based approach.
My background as a naturopathic doctor shapes how I work, I pay attention to the whole system.
That includes the body, emotions, relationships, and identity, with care for how chronic stress, colonization, and systems of oppression have shaped us.
I work at a pace that respects the body.I listen to what the body has been holding in order to survive.
Care that listens to the whole system.
Naturopathic Medicine & Somatic work offered with a relational, body-based approach.
My background as a naturopathic doctor shapes how I work, I pay attention to the whole system.
That includes the body, emotions, relationships, and identity, with care for how chronic stress, colonization, and systems of oppression have shaped us.
I work at a pace that respects the body.I listen to what the body has been holding in order to survive.
Who this work centers:
This work centers first-generation Latinas and adult children of immigrants, as well as people whose bodies have been shaped by trauma, systemic harm, and chronic stress.
Who This Work Centers
This work centers first-generation Latinas and adult children of immigrants, as well as people whose bodies have been shaped by trauma, systemic harm, and chronic stress.
Who This Work Centers
This work centers first-generation Latinas and adult children of immigrants, as well as people whose bodies have been shaped by trauma, systemic harm, and chronic stress.
Why Somatic Work Matters to Me
I’m committed to work that honors the body as it actually lives, shaped not only by personal experiences, but by social conditions we didn’t choose.
Many healing approaches focus on understanding the past, reframing thoughts, or developing strategies to cope. These approaches can be supportive and meaningful. And often, they stop short of naming how systems like colonization, oppression, ableism, and white body supremacy create ongoing stress and adaptation in the body.
Somatic work offers a different entry point.
Rather than asking what’s wrong or what needs to be fixed, this work understands survival responses as intelligent adaptations. It pays attention to how the nervous system has learned to protect, endure, stay vigilant, or push through especially in the context of chronic stress and systemic harm.
In our work together, we don’t rely on talking alone. We also listen to the body directly. We notice what’s happening in sensation, posture, breath, movement, and impulse. We explore questions like:
How does your body protect you? What does it do automatically? What happens when we slow down and listen?
Through somatic awareness and practice, we create space to work with these patterns not by forcing change, but by expanding choice. This can include moments of relief, rest, agency, joy, and the possibility of living with more alignment and less strain.
This work stays attentive to how colonization, oppression, ableism, white body supremacy, and other systems live in the body over time. We explore how these forces shape our nervous systems and how we might loosen their grip, even in small ways with care for what we carry and what we don’t pass forward.
For me, this is where healing and liberation meet: not in bypassing reality, but in supporting the body as we resist, organize, rest, and imagine what could be different.
Testimonials
Why Somatic Work Matters to Me
I’m committed to work that honors the body as it actually lives, shaped not only by personal experiences, but by social conditions we didn’t choose.
Many healing approaches focus on understanding the past, reframing thoughts, or developing strategies to cope. These approaches can be supportive and meaningful. And often, they stop short of naming how systems like colonization, oppression, ableism, and white body supremacy create ongoing stress and adaptation in the body.
Somatic work offers a different entry point.
Rather than asking what’s wrong or what needs to be fixed, this work understands survival responses as intelligent adaptations. It pays attention to how the nervous system has learned to protect, endure, stay vigilant, or push through especially in the context of chronic stress and systemic harm.
In our work together, we don’t rely on talking alone. We also listen to the body directly. We notice what’s happening in sensation, posture, breath, movement, and impulse. We explore questions like:
How does your body protect you? What does it do automatically? What happens when we slow down and listen?
Through somatic awareness and practice, we create space to work with these patterns not by forcing change, but by expanding choice. This can include moments of relief, rest, agency, joy, and the possibility of living with more alignment and less strain.
This work stays attentive to how colonization, oppression, ableism, white body supremacy, and other systems live in the body over time. We explore how these forces shape our nervous systems and how we might loosen their grip, even in small ways with care for what we carry and what we don’t pass forward.
For me, this is where healing and liberation meet: not in bypassing reality, but in supporting the body as we resist, organize, rest, and imagine what could be different.
Testimonials
