When Your Over-50 Body Says, “Whoa, Baby, I’ve Had Enough!”

I hope you’ll sign up for my free, 60-minute Body Vitality workshop! The link is below and in what follows I explain what I do and why it is important for you.

Just yesterday, I attended a Women Belong “Introductions” event and met the most fascinating woman, who told me about her business and then she wanted to know what I did. 

I explained that I was an online body coach for women over 50. These women had worked hard all their lives, but now, at the time when they were supposed to do all those things they put off, their bodies had decided to stage a rebellion. 

Now there are frozen shoulders, neck pain, low back pain, feet and knees not good, and on top of that stiffness in the morning, unstoppable weight gain, fatigue, and worry, worry, worry. 

I call such women “exhausted achievers,” and I know this type well because I, too, am a recovering exhausted achiever. 

She said, “Yup, that’s me. I did and still do everything. I plow through projects — never getting up until it’s done,  or until the pain is unbearable. I just keep going and going and suffer the consequences later.” 

Leaning in, towards our mutual zoom screen, she asked me, “So what do you do? How can I fix this? You know the expression, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’ve totally had enough!” 

I explained that most of us succeeded in life simply because we were exhausted achievers. That strategy did an amazing job of moving the needle on whatever home or work project we tackled — that is, until it didn’t. 

We kept going and did what was necessary to keep ourselves healthy and energized: yoga, gyms, physical therapies, shots, pills, massages, and so on. 

What none of us realized was that all this time — for decades and decades — an invisible reservoir of stress was building up in our bodies. What we often incorrectly describe as aging is preventable. It’s not aging; it is the buildup of stress in our bodies. 

Our exhausted achiever brains demanded, “Keep going!” And we did. Our brains kept pushing an override button that put our bodies in the back seat. 

“Life gets lifey,”  as we say. The stress builds and life throws in some inevitable trauma for good measure. 

My “introductions” partner listened carefully, nodding, and then agreed, “That’s me and many of my friends as well. I see them going through the same thing. The injuries are piling up and the weight is too, and the worry just keeps on building, and they just keep adding on another gym class and going after it harder. And, I can see that none of this helps.” 

“So what do you do?” she asked me.

I explained, I teach breathwork, self-massage, and movement — all of which is aimed at letting go of the stress we have held onto for decades and decades. I first learned this for myself and I have been working with women for almost 20 years through my Body Vitality Method.

For instance, if you have a frozen shoulder you can go to a physical therapist to improve your mobility. But if you are still holding onto stress in your shoulder, the problems will return.

“That totally makes sense,” my partner offered. “In fact,” she went on, “I have begun to realize that most of the pain I feel in my body comes from stress, but I had no idea what to do about it.”

I shared with her and now I’m sharing with you, that I have developed a free, hour-long workshop so that you can feel for yourself, in your own body, how my Body Vitality Method and its breathwork, self-massage, and movement can shift your habitual relationship with your body. 

So here’s your invite:  I’d love for you to experience what I teach in this 60-minute workshop designed to bring vitality back to your over-50 body. 

• *We’ll start with a guided movement and self-massage practice to alleviate pain and relax your body.
• *Then, we’ll gather for a stress-reduction workshop where you’ll learn breathing techniques for letting go of stress.
• *You’ll discover the Body Vitality Method, and the 3 types of muscles you need to engage to feel your best during the second half of your life.

Here’s the link to sign up:   https://www.fierceover50.com/the-body-vitality-workshop

This free workshop is on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 4pm PT. Can’t make it live? Don’t worry, I’ll send a recording to all registered participants. (If you have questions, please email me at annmerle@annmerle.com.) 

I hope to see you there! Let’s bring our bodies back, so that we can live our lives fully! 

Content provided by Women Belong member AnnMerle Feldman