Midlife Empowerment: Inspiring Journeys of Resilence, Renewal and Wellness

WEBVTT

00:00:05.068 --> 00:00:05.830
I want to help women.

00:00:06.350 --> 00:00:15.109
stop chasing skinny and let's chase strong, we get to put the oxygen mask on ourself first, first and foremost, it's about self-love, it's about self-care.

00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:36.368
And that's my health journey into, just like it's my mind, body, soul, my physical health, my mental health in every aspect there is Thanks to this one doctor who finally woke me up and said take charge, empowered me to take charge of my mental health and now I'm just loving life.

00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:39.957
I was at a place where it wasn't serving me.

00:00:39.957 --> 00:00:42.420
It wasn't feeding my soul any longer.

00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:44.923
I had gone on my own self-discovery journey.

00:00:45.003 --> 00:00:54.210
That was my rock bottom to think that this societal narrative took me so far down that I denied an invitation of a lifetime.

00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:58.453
And that's when I was like you can stay defeated or get up and figure it out.

00:00:58.673 --> 00:00:59.453
I've lost some weight.

00:00:59.453 --> 00:01:00.594
But then I fell off the wagon.

00:01:00.594 --> 00:01:04.376
You know I'm not falling off this wagon because this is not a wagon.

00:01:04.376 --> 00:01:05.197
This is my life.

00:01:05.218 --> 00:01:05.817
It's been quite the wagon.

00:01:05.817 --> 00:01:07.638
You know I'm not falling off this wagon because this is not a wagon.

00:01:07.638 --> 00:01:08.459
This is my life.

00:01:08.459 --> 00:01:16.555
It's been quite the journey, I'm still on it and the big thing that hits me with winning the pageant is I won at this weight.

00:01:16.575 --> 00:01:17.718
I didn't have to be skinny to win.

00:01:17.718 --> 00:01:27.951
It is inspiring to listen to someone else's story, because I'm sure for those of you listeners that are out there, you'll hear something to say ah yeah, that was me or that's my girlfriend.

00:01:27.951 --> 00:01:32.371
One thing I know is that everybody embarks on some kind of a journey.

00:01:32.371 --> 00:01:50.915
Hi, I'm Glynnis Woods Mullins and I love to help women to vibe, to be more vibrant, intuitive, beautiful and empowered in their life.

00:01:50.915 --> 00:01:52.600
So come on, let's vibe.

00:01:52.600 --> 00:02:23.181
As some of you might know, I celebrated my 67th birthday, or, as I like to say these days, my three years from 70, in June.

00:02:23.181 --> 00:02:24.544
For some reason, it was really a weepy birthday.

00:02:24.544 --> 00:02:25.806
I didn't want to do anything, I was feeling all pathetic.

00:02:25.806 --> 00:02:27.068
It was like a perfect storm of oh, poor me.

00:02:27.068 --> 00:02:34.127
And I started thinking about the fact because I've worked with hundreds of women in the last 17 years that I've been doing this.

00:02:34.127 --> 00:02:46.411
And one thing I know is that everybody embarks on some kind of a journey, but very rarely do we think about it, or sometimes we get into this thing of thinking that we're the only one feeling this way.

00:02:46.411 --> 00:03:00.191
I mean, we know that we have menopause and all this other stuff going on, but the isolation that we feel, the loneliness that we feel sometimes, the lack of ability to talk to our girlfriends about it or anybody else that does happen.

00:03:00.191 --> 00:03:03.342
Well, I just want to blow all of that to hell in a handbasket.

00:03:03.342 --> 00:03:04.223
Let's talk about it.

00:03:04.223 --> 00:03:08.187
So I have invited women who I respect and admire.

00:03:08.187 --> 00:03:16.256
Some of these women I have worked with, some have been on my podcast, some belong to my group of almost 24,000 women on Facebook.

00:03:16.256 --> 00:03:35.245
All of them are awesome anywhere from mental health issues to physical health issues, to grief recovery, to fighting ageism, to breaking free of fear, to maintaining their energy with vitality and to approaching wellness from a holistic perspective.

00:03:35.245 --> 00:03:37.490
They all have their story to tell.

00:03:37.490 --> 00:03:44.843
So, first of all, I want to welcome all of you and thank you so much for being on this special edition of the Vibe Living Podcast.

00:03:44.843 --> 00:03:53.527
It's wonderful seeing all your beautiful faces, and another thing that I was struck with was I look at the diversity, and that is what I thrive on.

00:03:53.527 --> 00:04:17.108
It was something that I didn't necessarily set out to do when I started this program, but that's what seemed to be attracted to my message was all kinds of women from all different lives, and that is what I really think we all need to be doing is getting to know each other's journey, but also realizing that there is more things that are alike than there are different.

00:04:17.108 --> 00:04:42.490
How we got there might be different, how we encode the world might be different, but the kinds of things that we are going through or have gone through are very similar, and it is inspiring to listen to someone else's story, because I'm sure for those of you listeners that are out there, you'll hear something to say ah yeah, that was me, or that's my girlfriend, or that could be my next door neighbor in another year.

00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:47.514
I mean, hopefully you'll get something from this conversation that is going to definitely bless you.

00:04:47.514 --> 00:04:48.858
So let's get started.

00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:55.793
I have a couple of questions for my esteemed panel here, and the first question is what is your wellness story?

00:04:55.793 --> 00:04:57.286
And I'm going to start with Pam.

00:04:57.286 --> 00:05:01.543
Pam, go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your wellness story.

00:05:02.204 --> 00:05:03.687
Thank you for having me on this.

00:05:03.687 --> 00:05:06.271
It's so exciting to be here with these amazing beautiful women.

00:05:06.271 --> 00:05:07.975
My name is Pam Sherman.

00:05:07.975 --> 00:05:12.947
I'm a 56-year-old, seven, just turned 57, a year old health and wellness coach.

00:05:12.947 --> 00:05:16.880
I have been involved in fitness and nutrition really all my life.

00:05:17.482 --> 00:05:18.384
I started as a young girl.

00:05:18.384 --> 00:05:20.550
Running and movement always made me happy.

00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.810
I was never the best or the fastest, but it just.

00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:29.690
I grew up in a very emotionally abusive household and my brothers turned to alcohol and I was lucky enough to turn to running.

00:05:29.690 --> 00:05:43.504
So for me, exercise has saved my life and I became a group exercise instructor, probably when I was 28, because I was born with motivation dripping out of my pores and it's so easy for me to teach classes and to inspire other women.

00:05:43.504 --> 00:05:48.194
So for me, my journey has been helping other women move, eat better.

00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:53.252
And lately, the last seven years, I had a very traumatic thing happen to me.

00:05:53.252 --> 00:05:59.153
I got hit by a car while I was running and my strong body protected me.

00:05:59.153 --> 00:06:01.285
I only had mouth trauma.

00:06:01.285 --> 00:06:02.348
I didn't break any bones.

00:06:02.348 --> 00:06:05.088
I was very minor in what could have happened.

00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:12.403
But my whole life 80s, 90s the media has been terrible to us women, telling us to be skinny, deprive, eat less.

00:06:12.403 --> 00:06:17.673
All the things that one accident helped me change my mind too.

00:06:17.673 --> 00:06:21.232
I want to help women stop chasing skinny and let's chase strong.

00:06:21.232 --> 00:06:24.004
My strong body protected me when I needed it most.

00:06:24.004 --> 00:06:27.487
As we get older, you'll see people in the.

00:06:27.487 --> 00:06:32.487
You know, older people in the grocery store are very thin and hunched over because they don't have any strong muscles to protect their bones.

00:06:32.487 --> 00:06:33.591
So I really want to impart.

00:06:33.591 --> 00:06:37.235
We need to eat for longevity, we need to work out for longevity.

00:06:37.235 --> 00:06:40.524
You know, when I was 40, I wanted to crush you in group exercise.

00:06:40.524 --> 00:06:44.411
Now I want you to work out so you feel great when you're 70, 80, 90.

00:06:44.411 --> 00:06:47.269
I want you to eat so you feel great when you're 70, 80, 90.

00:06:47.269 --> 00:06:51.524
So my whole approach to fitness and life has really changed since that one accident.

00:06:52.605 --> 00:06:54.029
Wow, that's an amazing story.

00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:55.440
Thank you so much for sharing that story.

00:06:55.440 --> 00:07:00.581
We're going to get back to you in a minute, but I wanted to ask Marie, what is your wellness story?

00:07:02.144 --> 00:07:07.341
Well, thank you for asking and I am so honored to be amongst these beautiful, beautiful women.

00:07:07.341 --> 00:07:09.949
And, yes, happy belated birthday as well, linus.

00:07:09.949 --> 00:07:17.331
As far as my wellness journey, so I want to say that I've been asleep for such a long time.

00:07:17.331 --> 00:07:28.601
I've recently retired as a registered nurse last year, 30 years of nursing and finally the stars aligned and it was time for me to let the ball and chain go.

00:07:28.601 --> 00:07:29.564
So here I am.

00:07:29.564 --> 00:07:32.389
It's been a journey and it's still.

00:07:32.389 --> 00:07:35.083
I'm still in process, continuing to evolve.

00:07:35.083 --> 00:07:43.668
I'm what you would call a health, wellness and radiance coach and have recently developed corporate wellness in addition to the personal coaching.

00:07:44.108 --> 00:07:56.245
So my story began when, on December 17, 2017, I got a phone call from my youngest sister and she said to me she said big sister and she said ate.

00:07:56.245 --> 00:08:00.274
Ate means big sister in my native language, tagalog.

00:08:00.274 --> 00:08:05.774
She said, sister, our father is occupying a bed in the emergency room.

00:08:05.774 --> 00:08:10.245
He just had a massive stroke, massive, massive stroke.

00:08:10.245 --> 00:08:16.586
So he was fully paralyzed on the left side, so he was affected on the right and therefore everything on the left side was affected.

00:08:16.586 --> 00:08:30.636
And as a nurse, of course, I dove in deep and took my dad after his hospital stay 30 days, took him home and did the best I can to rehabilitate him to the best that I possibly could.

00:08:30.636 --> 00:08:48.205
And what I didn't realize at the time was this Even though, prior to my dad's stroke, I've had my mom, who had several tumors removed and more recently, three years prior to my dad's stroke, she had a tumor removed in her brain.

00:08:49.006 --> 00:08:55.006
We have a family history of diabetes type two, from which people have lost limbs, have become blind.

00:08:55.006 --> 00:09:05.385
Hypertension runs in the family, gout, lupus, all kinds of autoimmune diseases but it took my dad's stroke so that I can come up with this genius idea.

00:09:05.385 --> 00:09:08.328
Oh, my gosh, I believe this is what I meant to become.

00:09:08.328 --> 00:09:27.154
I meant to become a health and wellness and radiance coach, taking women who are high performers, knowing that they have this huge purpose, that they want to make this huge impact in the world and truly wake them up to know that, hey, we get to put the oxygen mask on ourself first.

00:09:27.154 --> 00:09:36.447
First and foremost, it's about self-love, it's about self-care, so that we can become better leaders of ourselves, right, so we can lead others to do the same thing.

00:09:36.447 --> 00:09:40.169
So that's been my journey in a nutshell, and it's ongoing.

00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:52.465
The transformation continues you know that's interesting because so many people have aha moments when they start caring for parents and loved ones, because after a while you begin to see yourself in them.

00:09:52.465 --> 00:09:55.871
So I'm so glad that you're on that kind of journey, sandra.

00:09:55.871 --> 00:09:57.360
It's great to have you here.

00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.365
I would love for you to share your wellness story.

00:10:01.567 --> 00:10:03.129
Well, it's hi.

00:10:03.129 --> 00:10:04.410
Thank you for having me.

00:10:04.410 --> 00:10:07.335
Well, my wellness journey it goes.

00:10:07.335 --> 00:10:10.183
I mean, it goes way back as a child.

00:10:10.183 --> 00:10:20.173
I suffered with asthma, been in and out of the hospital most of my childhood and just kind of learning different types of ways to deal with that, naturally.

00:10:20.173 --> 00:10:27.514
But I think the big aha moment or I know, know, the aha moment is pretty much turning 50.

00:10:27.514 --> 00:10:31.309
And at the same time the pandemic started.

00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:36.029
And just a quick background you know I work in the beauty and spa industry.

00:10:36.029 --> 00:10:45.467
I had a spa, so I'm a service provider, right, and I'm providing service and I'm giving and giving and giving and the world is still happening.

00:10:45.467 --> 00:10:56.083
I'm working a full time job, I'm getting remarried, getting a divorce, I'm now in a home where I had a child for years.

00:10:56.083 --> 00:11:00.052
She's off to college and she's off on her, then going on on her own.

00:11:00.052 --> 00:11:05.770
So it's just like life is happening and I'm servicing people, not giving to me.

00:11:05.770 --> 00:11:07.961
And here's the big 50.

00:11:07.961 --> 00:11:10.265
And, yes, I, of course it's a big deal.

00:11:10.326 --> 00:11:17.888
I celebrated that, but then the pandemic hit and the world shut down and there's other instances.

00:11:17.888 --> 00:11:25.408
You got to deal with people being sick, family members, people dying, so and so and so forth, and I myself.

00:11:25.408 --> 00:11:28.253
I got very ill, but I'm like wait a minute.

00:11:28.253 --> 00:11:38.506
I haven't been anywhere, but back and forth, back and forth to find out, hey, you're going through menopause, like what do you mean?

00:11:38.506 --> 00:11:44.381
You know, and before I'm a health coach and so on and so forth, but it just, I don't know, it just snuck up on me.

00:11:44.381 --> 00:11:50.393
It's like wait a minute, I'm 50, meaning time to have fun to me, but not even thinking about menopause.

00:11:50.393 --> 00:12:03.847
So then I said, okay, I'm not taking care of myself and that adds to my menopause symptoms and issues, and I mean mentally, physically, everything involves.

00:12:03.888 --> 00:12:06.974
So I took a deep dive into what's going on with me.

00:12:06.974 --> 00:12:10.427
How can I help others, again still trying to give to others.

00:12:10.427 --> 00:12:15.287
How can I give to others, how can I help others and what can I do for me?

00:12:15.287 --> 00:12:26.881
So on my health journey I've learned like it's everything it's dealing with others, it's relationship, it's my mental health, it's how I deal with my business, it's so many things.

00:12:26.881 --> 00:12:30.710
So it's mind, body, soul and I just took a deep dive into.

00:12:30.710 --> 00:12:34.926
Kind of in a weird way, I became more selfish.

00:12:34.926 --> 00:12:35.687
I learned to.

00:12:35.687 --> 00:12:48.225
You know I'm practicing self-care and doing self-care and others, but you know what Self-care is selfish and I'm going to be more selfish and that's my little motto for the next 50 years.

00:12:48.225 --> 00:12:53.729
I'm going to dance more, I'm going to have more fun more, have better experiences.

00:12:53.729 --> 00:12:56.912
And that's my health journey into just like.

00:12:56.912 --> 00:13:03.676
It's my mind, body, soul, my physical health, my mental health, in every aspect there is.

00:13:03.676 --> 00:13:05.636
I'm on a great health journey.

00:13:05.636 --> 00:13:06.658
I'm loving every minute.

00:13:07.442 --> 00:13:08.283
I love that story.

00:13:08.283 --> 00:13:09.688
Thank you so much for sharing that.

00:13:09.688 --> 00:13:24.585
It's amazing how the timing happens, because you know what, even though we're going through our bodies are going through what they're going through, life still goes on and keeps happening and we're expected to still perform and do stuff, even though inside we feel like we're falling apart.

00:13:24.585 --> 00:13:27.770
So I get what you're saying, Maureen.

00:13:27.770 --> 00:13:28.532
You're sitting there.

00:13:28.532 --> 00:13:30.014
You got such wonderful energy.

00:13:30.014 --> 00:13:33.764
I would love for you to share your story.

00:13:34.647 --> 00:13:35.087
All right.

00:13:35.087 --> 00:13:36.471
Well, hi everyone.

00:13:36.471 --> 00:13:38.541
My name is Maureen Agresta.

00:13:38.541 --> 00:13:55.496
I am 61 years old, a little more than a year from retiring from my job for a giant insurance corporation we won't name which one and I am ready to start the next chapter.

00:13:55.496 --> 00:14:03.032
Just had my very first modeling shoot last week, so that's what I'm going to be doing when I retire.

00:14:03.032 --> 00:14:04.313
I'm so excited.

00:14:04.313 --> 00:14:08.162
That's what I'm going to be doing when I retire.

00:14:08.162 --> 00:14:08.602
I'm so excited.

00:14:08.663 --> 00:14:10.065
None of this happened unless I was mentally healthy.

00:14:10.065 --> 00:14:15.053
I have struggled with depression and anxiety all of my adult life.

00:14:15.053 --> 00:14:21.753
I had a mother who was the poster child for what not to do when you're depressed.

00:14:21.753 --> 00:14:25.587
She isolated and I mean to be fair.

00:14:25.587 --> 00:14:28.884
She came up through the depression, world War II.

00:14:28.884 --> 00:14:35.485
It was a different generation and mental health was something that was not talked about, was shameful.

00:14:35.485 --> 00:14:50.251
So I spent years going from doctor to doctor figuring I've got to find the right combination of drugs to make me function, and finally I met a doctor who said I can give you medicine.

00:14:50.251 --> 00:14:52.407
That's the salt in the water, dear.

00:14:52.407 --> 00:14:55.928
And she gave me a list.

00:14:56.640 --> 00:14:57.604
Do you exercise?

00:14:57.604 --> 00:14:59.530
Well, I have a treadmill.

00:14:59.530 --> 00:15:01.663
No, I want you walking outside every day.

00:15:01.663 --> 00:15:03.227
Do you meditate?

00:15:03.227 --> 00:15:03.989
Start?

00:15:03.989 --> 00:15:05.292
What about yoga?

00:15:05.292 --> 00:15:06.153
Oh, I have DVDs.

00:15:06.153 --> 00:15:07.807
No, join a yoga class.

00:15:07.807 --> 00:15:09.506
What are you doing for your social life?

00:15:09.506 --> 00:15:20.892
I mean, you know it was over the top, but she made her point that you can't just go from doctor to doctor and rely on them to make you mentally well.

00:15:20.892 --> 00:15:22.466
You have to do it too.

00:15:22.466 --> 00:15:34.913
So I started exercising every day, I stay social, I have a book club, I have a standing date with one of my best friends, I meditate and practice mindfulness.

00:15:34.913 --> 00:15:45.688
Self-care I am still working on because I was raised Catholic, so self-care is a tough one because we were taught do not indulge yourself.

00:15:45.688 --> 00:15:48.548
So I'm still working on that one.

00:15:48.548 --> 00:16:10.297
But thanks to this one doctor who finally woke me up and said take charge, empowered me to take charge of my mental health and now I'm just loving life and I can't believe I'm feeling this way after years of just depression, anxiety, low self-esteem.

00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:12.701
I hear you, sister.

00:16:12.701 --> 00:16:13.864
I was there.

00:16:13.864 --> 00:16:24.755
I got into this business because I suffered from anxiety and I discovered the mind, body, spirit, world and when it came time to return, I decided I wasn't going to go back to the thing that helped get me there.

00:16:24.755 --> 00:16:26.941
So, 17 years later, here I am.

00:16:26.941 --> 00:16:31.097
I'm surviving and actually I'm about 98% anxiety-free.

00:16:31.097 --> 00:16:33.806
Thank you, maureen, for sharing that wonderful story.

00:16:35.216 --> 00:16:36.182
And happy birthday.

00:16:36.595 --> 00:16:39.201
Oh, thank you, Patrice.

00:16:39.201 --> 00:16:43.416
Hello my sister Happy birthday, thank you.

00:16:43.416 --> 00:16:44.961
Thank you, what's your story?

00:16:45.864 --> 00:16:47.376
Oh my gosh, you know.

00:16:47.376 --> 00:16:51.075
Similarly, I was in a very stressful industry.

00:16:51.075 --> 00:17:00.726
I worked in the finance sector for a little over 20, well, almost 26 years, and depression, anxiety, insomnia, all the things.

00:17:00.726 --> 00:17:07.375
My father started to have some really bad symptoms from his type 2 diabetes.

00:17:07.375 --> 00:17:18.523
He ended up in kidney failure, congestive heart, copd, so it was all of these things and so I was working full time in a very stressful industry.

00:17:19.125 --> 00:17:26.863
I do have three sisters, but you know, when you're in a family everyone kind of has a role, and I was always the caretaker.

00:17:26.863 --> 00:17:31.582
So I started going to doctor's appointments with my dad and I became that person.

00:17:31.582 --> 00:17:33.162
I became his medical advocate.

00:17:33.162 --> 00:17:45.135
My dad got to a point where he couldn't drive anymore, so we did the things we needed to for my dad and in the meantime, my mother, who always appeared to be healthy as a horse, she got sick.

00:17:45.135 --> 00:17:49.326
She got sick and put in the hospital in February and she was gone by April.

00:17:49.326 --> 00:17:51.098
So it was very sudden.

00:17:51.098 --> 00:17:52.443
This all happened last year.

00:17:52.443 --> 00:17:57.999
So I lost my mom a year ago, in April, and I lost my dad December the 22nd.

00:17:57.999 --> 00:18:03.027
So in that period of time, you know, it was both of my parents.

00:18:03.027 --> 00:18:05.537
We, you know, brought them home on hospice care.

00:18:05.537 --> 00:18:11.896
I would move into the house and I would be that hospice caretaker for them until their passing.

00:18:12.458 --> 00:18:13.780
I wasn't by myself Again.

00:18:13.780 --> 00:18:19.541
You know I had sisters and we were in and out, but the decisions were Patrice, what are we going to do?

00:18:19.541 --> 00:18:21.406
Patrice, how do we handle this?

00:18:21.406 --> 00:18:24.599
You know having to have the end of life discussion with your parents.

00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:32.886
You know all of those things on top of still trying to maintain, you know, my marriage and my job and my work performance and all of those things.

00:18:32.886 --> 00:18:37.031
And my mother used to always tell me you've got to find something else to do.

00:18:37.031 --> 00:18:38.075
That job is going to kill.

00:18:38.075 --> 00:18:44.323
You Been in the hospital a couple of times thinking I was having a heart attack, with, you know, chest pains and shortness of breath.

00:18:44.323 --> 00:18:45.224
It was panic attacks.

00:18:45.224 --> 00:18:58.777
And so when my mother passed, I just kind of stopped and kind of thought about some of the conversations we had and I knew I loved what I did for the years that I did it.

00:18:58.777 --> 00:19:05.648
But I also knew that I was at a place where it wasn't serving me, it wasn't feeding my soul any longer.

00:19:06.255 --> 00:19:18.906
I had gone on my own self-discovery journey that I'd started several years before we got into what was going on with my parents and I just stopped and I took a couple months and I prayed and you know, and I discerned and I have a life coach.

00:19:18.906 --> 00:19:24.980
So talk to that life coach, talk to my therapist, a strong believer everyone needs a therapist and a life coach.

00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:28.063
To this day, I believe that and that's what I tell my clients as well.

00:19:28.063 --> 00:19:31.144
And I stepped into whole life coaching.

00:19:31.144 --> 00:19:55.641
So, you know, I work in, I work with my clients on self-love and self-care and financial wellness, spiritual wellness and just kind of a whole body approach, because what I have discovered through my coaching is that my clients need to learn to know and love who they are before we can really start to tackle some of the other things.

00:19:56.423 --> 00:20:00.819
And so, as I said, it's just a real holistic, whole body approach to what I do.

00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:03.444
I'm much better, I'm starting.

00:20:03.444 --> 00:20:08.183
I actually feel like I've got my feet up underneath me for the first time in a while.

00:20:08.183 --> 00:20:09.690
So I'm in a good place.

00:20:09.690 --> 00:20:11.999
And you know, my therapist goes how do you coach?

00:20:11.999 --> 00:20:24.349
And I said, because when I'm coaching it's not about me, I get a minute to unplug from me and feed into somebody else, and so I think that's helped me in that healing journey as well.

00:20:25.455 --> 00:20:25.757
Wow.

00:20:25.757 --> 00:20:28.265
Thank you, patrice, and I'm so sorry for the loss of your parents.

00:20:28.265 --> 00:20:29.957
I lost my mom.

00:20:29.957 --> 00:20:33.285
It's been over 30 years ago, but it's made sense.

00:20:33.285 --> 00:20:34.188
Many times I think about it.

00:20:34.188 --> 00:20:34.957
It's just like yesterday.

00:20:35.417 --> 00:20:36.401
You know, how that happened.

00:20:36.401 --> 00:20:37.865
There's no replacing that.

00:20:37.865 --> 00:20:40.517
And wow, to go from there to what you're doing now.

00:20:40.517 --> 00:20:43.881
You have much to give when you are speaking into people.

00:20:43.881 --> 00:20:44.902
I want to go to Jen.

00:20:44.902 --> 00:20:47.664
Jen and I have worked together before.

00:20:47.664 --> 00:20:48.705
She's such a lovely person.

00:20:48.705 --> 00:20:52.631
Jen, thank you so much for being willing to come on and share your wellness story.

00:20:59.115 --> 00:21:14.076
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me and I'm really enjoying and appreciating everyone's stories so much, and what I'm noticing is that we're all talking about becoming embodied, you know, getting into alignment mind, body and soul and our values and our emotions, and that is the work that I do.

00:21:14.076 --> 00:21:15.540
I teach about embodiment.

00:21:15.540 --> 00:21:20.278
I'm an embodiment coach and I teach about why it's important and how to live it.

00:21:20.278 --> 00:21:32.729
And I was someone who was out of alignment for a long time, starting at a young age, because I got caught up in this limiting belief around intelligence.

00:21:32.729 --> 00:21:57.455
You know, we're taught from such a young age around logical intelligence and teaching to the test and SAT scores and for whatever reason, I got really swept up in this narrative and I felt really, really small and really, really dumb right, and I created all kinds of language and it really kept me small.

00:21:57.455 --> 00:22:11.182
However, throughout the journey, I was so lucky Like you, pam, I found movement and it was dance for me, and dance and movement kept me connected and I didn't understand what was happening.

00:22:11.182 --> 00:22:12.076
I just knew.

00:22:12.076 --> 00:22:19.748
It felt really, really grounding and there were hints along the way around this kinesthetic, more emotional intelligence.

00:22:19.748 --> 00:22:28.942
Just no one had named it for me, so I kept thinking I didn't do well on my SATs, I didn't go to a great school, I must not be smart.

00:22:28.942 --> 00:22:42.000
So this narrative really kept me small and kept me away from everything that I could be until my mid-20s when I really hit rock bottom and I denied an invitation.

00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.103
This is unbelievable.

00:22:43.103 --> 00:22:48.858
With JFK Jr and his wife Caroline, I was invited to this very intimate dinner.

00:22:48.858 --> 00:22:58.636
Just there were four people him and his wife and me and my boyfriend at the time and I said no because I didn't think I was smart enough to sit across the table from JFK Jr.

00:22:58.636 --> 00:22:59.557
I mean, this is bananas.

00:22:59.557 --> 00:23:09.701
So that was my rock bottom to think that this societal narrative took me so far down that I denied an invitation of a lifetime.

00:23:09.701 --> 00:23:13.958
And that's when I was like you can stay defeated or get up and figure it out.

00:23:14.378 --> 00:23:29.148
So I did and I found the work of Howard Gardner which introduced me to the multiple forms of intelligence which no one had ever told me there was such a thing and there's a full body of work and he's got world-renowned works to look at and research.

00:23:29.148 --> 00:23:49.141
So I spent the next 10 years of my life digging into emotional intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence, linguistic intelligence, introspective I mean there's a whole range and I became incredibly empowered and began to become aligned, because movement really had helped me throughout.

00:23:49.141 --> 00:24:04.182
And so, between a lot of work and a huge healing journey, I found I created the power of gesture, which is an embodiment methodology that requires no dance training whatsoever and it's all about the hands.

00:24:04.182 --> 00:24:21.645
And this was birthed during the pandemic, when I found myself working with women from all over the globe, and because I like to have that connection, that emotional connection because that's where my strength is, alongside kinesthetic I didn't want them to leave the screen.

00:24:22.126 --> 00:24:30.665
So I created this movement methodology with our hands that allowed us to embody and embrace and unlock these limiting beliefs that hold us back.

00:24:30.665 --> 00:24:45.130
And so I trademarked this and I've been doing it and a lot of research behind it, and I'm writing a book now and it's a beautiful, beautiful methodology that's incredibly accessible and you don't need to know how to dance to do it.

00:24:45.130 --> 00:24:47.040
You don't even need to get off your chair.

00:24:47.040 --> 00:24:49.148
So it's been very healing.

00:24:49.148 --> 00:24:57.077
Movement absolutely healed my life and I wanted to find a way to give back, and this is a really beautiful way to do that.

00:24:57.077 --> 00:25:14.906
So that's the journey, and the last thing I'll say about it is what I've really realized for myself and the people that I work with that you can't really live empowered and fully expressed unless you're embodied, and all of these stories are really speaking to that message.

00:25:14.906 --> 00:25:24.208
We all want to come into alignment so that we can serve and heal, and so I'm just so proud to have this methodology that people can access really easily.

00:25:25.196 --> 00:25:25.961
I love that, jenna.

00:25:25.961 --> 00:25:36.402
It is absolutely beautiful what she does and how she helps women to learn to embody fully through movement, and it's just powerful.

00:25:36.402 --> 00:25:38.942
Darsana, it's wonderful to have you here.

00:25:38.942 --> 00:25:42.326
I would love to hear what is your story, what's your wellness story?

00:25:43.295 --> 00:25:44.842
Well, thank you very much for having me on.

00:25:44.842 --> 00:25:47.944
I'm in awe of my company here.

00:25:47.944 --> 00:25:50.304
So thank you again and happy birthday.

00:25:50.304 --> 00:26:17.634
My wellness story is a little bit similar to Marie when I said, when she talked about her family history, but I am a clarity and transformation coach and I work with women in their forts and over who are struggling with the mindset that they need to develop so that they can make the most out of two things where they are now and what their hopes and their desires are for their own future.

00:26:17.634 --> 00:26:21.701
So my wellness story started around.

00:26:22.523 --> 00:26:25.608
Well, the main part started about six months ago.

00:26:25.608 --> 00:26:37.108
So I was staring at 54 in a few weeks time, so in January, and my whole life I think I put this down to being the youngest of three.

00:26:37.108 --> 00:26:40.023
I didn't really need to do anything.

00:26:40.023 --> 00:26:40.958
I didn't need.

00:26:40.958 --> 00:26:42.303
I didn't have any responsibility.

00:26:42.303 --> 00:26:46.277
My, my eldest sister was super at everything.

00:26:46.277 --> 00:26:53.156
So I just kind of enjoyed being on the youngest child, not really having to have any responsibility.

00:26:53.156 --> 00:27:07.935
So I was overweight, I was feeling the effects of the age coming on and so, weirdly, like you say, 67, it's it's not a milestone birthday, but 54 is not a milestone birthday.

00:27:07.935 --> 00:27:28.744
But I felt something change and those changes came out of my aches and pains in my body, the fact that I hadn't been looking after myself, I hadn't been exercising, I hadn't been eating well, and I have spent most of my adult life gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight.

00:27:28.744 --> 00:27:32.756
But that's not the biggest part.

00:27:32.756 --> 00:27:35.778
That's like a byproduct of what I do now.

00:27:35.778 --> 00:27:43.626
So something clicked and I looked at my hereditary factors.

00:27:43.626 --> 00:27:55.837
My parents had both of them had a pretty tough couple of years, and I have a strong history of diabetes type two and a strong history of heart disease in my family.

00:27:55.837 --> 00:28:00.888
And so, where I had been the youngest, no responsibility.

00:28:00.888 --> 00:28:17.942
I'd been sticking my head in the sand for the last 53 years and all of a sudden it it it dawned on me that I'm over the peak and now I need to make sure that the rest is the best that I can make it.

00:28:17.942 --> 00:28:32.259
And if I continue doing what I'm doing, that is not going to be the case, because I can see, and I can see that the diabetes history and family history is huge and that's a lot of people in my family who suffer from it and I can see.

00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:35.440
I can see what it does.

00:28:35.962 --> 00:28:46.163
Yeah, and so I just thought, right, ok, years ago, a doctor said to me I was, I think, my 30s, you're going to get diabetes.

00:28:46.163 --> 00:28:49.682
It's coming to you, you know, you can't do anything about it, it's just, it is what it is.

00:28:49.682 --> 00:28:55.522
And I thought at the time head in the sand, carry on, eat what I want, do you know?

00:28:55.522 --> 00:29:00.117
And and suddenly I thought that's just not not good enough.

00:29:00.117 --> 00:29:02.020
It's not good enough.

00:29:02.020 --> 00:29:20.827
So, okay, if I am going to have get diabetes, then I'm going to do damn well sure that I can do everything I can to minimize its impact and to make sure that I don't look back and think, oh well, you could have done that, oh, you should have done this.

00:29:21.257 --> 00:29:25.698
So my mindset changed and all of a sudden I was taking responsibility for myself.

00:29:25.698 --> 00:29:39.067
So I started to eat well, and the big thing for me was I can't be on a diet because the yo-yo history that I have almost said that's not going to work.

00:29:39.067 --> 00:29:44.510
So I had to change the food that I enjoyed and that's that's it was, it was.

00:29:44.510 --> 00:29:47.021
It was that moment in my you know the mindset change.

00:29:47.021 --> 00:29:49.192
It said you know you, you know why you're doing this.

00:29:49.192 --> 00:29:54.954
Finally, you know why you're doing this, not just because you want to be thin or accepted or all those things.

00:29:54.954 --> 00:29:59.901
You're doing this because you're protecting your health and you're protecting your future you to you.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:11.458
So this is why I changed completely what I eat, but it was so liberating, bizarrely, to eat less and to eat fewer things.

00:30:11.458 --> 00:30:18.539
Actually, this was what was my wellness journey and I'm still on it and I will always be on it.

00:30:18.539 --> 00:30:21.827
I don't feel as though this is something that's going to.

00:30:21.827 --> 00:30:31.099
I used to say in the past oh, I've, I've fallen off the wagon, or I've, you know, I've been great for six months and I've lost some weight, but then I fell off the wagon.

00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:42.460
You know I'm not falling off this wagon because this is not a wagon, this is my life that's so interesting because I always say all the time it's about making those incremental lifestyle changes.

00:30:42.579 --> 00:30:52.115
it is a mindset piece and that's why I kind of wanted Victoria to come last, because Victoria's journey is really about mindset.

00:30:52.115 --> 00:30:56.324
Victoria, please share with us your wellness journey.

00:30:57.507 --> 00:31:01.784
I'm not even sure where to start, but it has been quite the journey and you've been a part of it.

00:31:01.784 --> 00:31:04.699
So thank you, and thank you to all the women here.

00:31:04.699 --> 00:31:11.125
They're amazing and I can't even believe I'm here to even speak among all these accomplished ladies.

00:31:11.125 --> 00:31:12.830
Let's see where do I start.

00:31:12.830 --> 00:31:18.444
My dad was Air Force and I grew up growing all over the place and as a shy, quiet person.

00:31:18.444 --> 00:31:19.827
That was very difficult for me.

00:31:19.827 --> 00:31:23.201
So I've had problems from the very beginning.

00:31:23.201 --> 00:31:28.662
And then in high school someone turned to me and said you know who's getting fat?

00:31:28.662 --> 00:31:30.586
You are Well.

00:31:30.586 --> 00:31:33.980
That just set me on this journey that is still ongoing.

00:31:34.561 --> 00:31:47.729
And to be shy and fat and it was just too much and I carried that on for till about when I'm 62, at least four years ago, when COVID hit, I think, I said I have to make some kind of change.

00:31:47.729 --> 00:31:55.925
So my first act was mother and grandmother, and nine to five it was just me getting through life of raising my kids.

00:31:55.925 --> 00:32:00.075
So I finally said I've got to do something to get out of this.

00:32:00.075 --> 00:32:01.781
I'm missing so much in life.

00:32:01.781 --> 00:32:08.728
So right before COVID hit, I said I'm going to step out of this box which I'm very, very comfortable in.

00:32:08.728 --> 00:32:23.372
I signed up to be a yoga instructor, not because I wanted to teach, because I knew that I would be too shy to get up and teach a class, but I really was looking for that yoga body, and yoga taught me that I already had a yoga body.

00:32:23.372 --> 00:32:24.432
Everyone has a yoga body.

00:32:24.432 --> 00:32:33.799
I didn't get that slender build that I was looking for, which is why I started to do it, and that's okay.

00:32:33.799 --> 00:32:34.661
Well, that didn't work.

00:32:34.661 --> 00:32:35.800
Let me try something else.

00:32:35.800 --> 00:32:38.403
So I got a life coach.

00:32:38.403 --> 00:32:40.244
She was very instrumental.

00:32:40.244 --> 00:32:44.387
I went to therapy she helped, I saw you, you helped.

00:32:44.387 --> 00:32:59.471
I went to therapy she helped, I saw you, you helped.

00:32:59.471 --> 00:33:00.934
And I started doing modeling.

00:33:00.934 --> 00:33:02.897
I figured that would also help me get outside my box.

00:33:02.897 --> 00:33:04.662
And that's where I met you from Celebrate the Gray.

00:33:04.662 --> 00:33:06.424
I said, well, let's see what else I can do.

00:33:06.910 --> 00:33:12.961
And as I was looking for more modeling jobs, I came across the senior Miss Massachusetts pageant.

00:33:12.961 --> 00:33:13.824
So I went to the meeting.

00:33:13.824 --> 00:33:16.439
Everyone was so nice and they talked me into it and I walked out.

00:33:16.439 --> 00:33:18.096
I was thinking, oh my gosh, what have I done?

00:33:18.096 --> 00:33:20.277
I have to go on a stage.

00:33:20.277 --> 00:33:23.377
Well, I said, well, this will be really good for me.

00:33:23.377 --> 00:33:29.212
Well, I said, well, this will be really good for me.

00:33:29.212 --> 00:33:33.784
So I went to the pageant, I did a yoga routine and I think the headstand is probably what helped me.

00:33:33.784 --> 00:33:34.065
So I did that.

00:33:34.085 --> 00:33:37.013
And then I had picked out two people I thought would probably win.

00:33:37.013 --> 00:33:45.883
But when they called those two people as the first runner up and the second runner up, it started to dawn on me oh my God, they might call me.

00:33:45.883 --> 00:33:51.198
And sure enough, they called me as the winner.

00:33:51.198 --> 00:34:00.240
And I was like, oh my God, I'm not ready for this, because now I just wanted to prove to myself that I could get up there and do it.

00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:11.025
And I did and be careful, what you wish for, because now I am so far out of my comfort zone that I don't even know what's going to happen from here.

00:34:11.025 --> 00:34:12.414
It's been quite the journey.

00:34:12.414 --> 00:34:18.822
I'm still on it, and the big thing that hits me with winning the pageant is I won at this weight.

00:34:18.822 --> 00:34:25.416
I didn't have to be skinny to win, and that's just, you know, to win, and that's just you know.

00:34:25.436 --> 00:34:30.842
I just think, because I've worked with Victoria, she had hired me to help her with her social media strategy because she was.

00:34:30.842 --> 00:34:33.286
We both belong to the same agency, celebrate the Gray.

00:34:33.286 --> 00:34:42.679
When I found out that she had won this pageant, I couldn't believe it because I remember where she started and it's all again about a mindset.

00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:49.659
She had this desire just not to be in that box anymore, and I always knew that she can do it.

00:34:49.659 --> 00:34:59.117
She's absolutely a beautiful woman and I told her the only thing that's stopping you from doing what it is you want to do is what's going on between your two ears.

00:34:59.117 --> 00:35:01.657
And that's so true for all of us.

00:35:01.789 --> 00:35:05.063
And sometimes having someone speaking to your life can be helpful, because it's not necessarily that friend.

00:35:05.063 --> 00:35:05.347
They're talking to you, all of us.

00:35:05.347 --> 00:35:08.153
And sometimes you know having someone speaking to your life can be helpful because it's not necessarily that friend.

00:35:08.153 --> 00:35:10.039
You know they're talking to you all the time.

00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:15.362
Sometimes it could be a mere stranger, a coach, a therapist, your psychologist, a counselor.

00:35:15.362 --> 00:35:22.251
Somebody else is more of the outside of your life, looking in and seeing you in a way that you've never seen yourself.

00:35:22.251 --> 00:35:27.021
I would imagine that's true for all of us in terms of where we are on our journey.

00:35:27.021 --> 00:35:28.163
So I wanted to talk about that.

00:35:28.163 --> 00:35:33.862
I wanted to talk about how you've learned to embrace this stage of life and what inspires you.

00:35:33.862 --> 00:35:36.771
So, pam, what does inspire you?

00:35:36.771 --> 00:35:38.173
I mean, you're very inspirational.

00:35:38.173 --> 00:35:39.398
You have so much energy.

00:35:39.398 --> 00:35:40.481
I think you're gorgeous.

00:35:40.481 --> 00:35:42.653
I watch your videos on Instagram.

00:35:42.653 --> 00:35:43.615
You're so motivating.

00:35:43.615 --> 00:35:46.681
What inspires you and how have you learned to embrace midlife?

00:35:47.382 --> 00:35:47.744
Thank you.

00:35:47.744 --> 00:35:50.018
That's, you never know who's watching, right?

00:35:50.018 --> 00:35:50.773
You make these videos you're like.

00:35:50.773 --> 00:35:51.637
Does anybody ever watch?

00:35:51.637 --> 00:35:52.090
So thank?

00:35:52.130 --> 00:35:55.295
you for saying that it's a great stage of life.

00:35:55.295 --> 00:35:56.172
The kids are.

00:35:56.172 --> 00:35:58.199
I have one kid at home, but she's 24.

00:35:58.199 --> 00:35:58.931
It's a.

00:35:58.931 --> 00:36:00.398
My husband and I like to travel.

00:36:00.398 --> 00:36:08.521
So I'm inspired because I want to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can, because we want to travel.

00:36:08.521 --> 00:36:08.661
It's a.

00:36:08.661 --> 00:36:10.469
You know, we're done with the sports every weekend and the kid thing.

00:36:10.469 --> 00:36:13.219
So this stage is like empty nest or more freedom.

00:36:13.219 --> 00:36:17.721
And there are so many women my age who I feel like they give up.

00:36:17.721 --> 00:36:20.338
They're like I'm in my middle 50s, late 50s.

00:36:20.338 --> 00:36:21.934
I can't feel good.

00:36:21.934 --> 00:36:23.994
I have aches and pains.

00:36:23.994 --> 00:36:25.679
You know, I am stuck at this weight.

00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:33.815
Whatever their excuses are, I'm like no, you can do anything you want to do.

00:36:33.815 --> 00:36:35.902
Again, you're limiting yourself because you're telling yourself I can't.

00:36:35.902 --> 00:36:40.313
And as a coach, I'm always like let's focus on what you can do, let's not focus on the negative, let's focus on the positive.

00:36:40.313 --> 00:36:45.840
Every single client I've had, regardless of their age, has always said I hate my.

00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:48.385
And I'm like Nope, nope, nope, we're not talking about what you hate.

00:36:52.494 --> 00:36:53.036
What do you?

00:36:53.077 --> 00:36:54.280
love about yourself.

00:36:54.280 --> 00:36:55.063
Tell me three things you love.

00:36:55.063 --> 00:37:00.612
Much to what a lot of women said is it has to start with self love.

00:37:00.612 --> 00:37:07.704
And I had one woman tear up because she couldn't think of anything and I rattled off like five or six things Like you're an amazing mother and grandmother, you have great hair, you're consistent at the gym, like anything.

00:37:07.704 --> 00:37:09.170
But women are so negative.

00:37:09.170 --> 00:37:17.052
I want to turn that around and tell them you're amazing, you're beautiful, you're kind, you're strong, you take care of your parents, you take care of your kids, you take care of your neighbor, you take care of your pets, you take care of everybody.

00:37:17.052 --> 00:37:29.115
This is's time to put that oxygen mask on you first, because the sky is the limit.

00:37:29.115 --> 00:37:30.601
You can do anything at this age.

00:37:31.570 --> 00:37:32.992
Oh, thank you, and you're so right.

00:37:32.992 --> 00:37:44.876
I so agree with you, kay, because, as I've learned, that age is a number, but it also can be something that limits you, if you allow it, because of the expectations of what everybody thinks you should be doing.

00:37:44.876 --> 00:37:52.704
I'm on a mission, and that is basically to get the word out, like you all are talking about, that it's never too late to pursue your dreams and your passions.

00:37:52.704 --> 00:37:57.422
So, patrice, what inspires you and keeps you motivated to keep doing just that?

00:37:58.150 --> 00:37:59.512
Oh, gosh so much.

00:37:59.512 --> 00:38:11.985
You know I'm a firm believer that when you can tap into your joy, that you really can continue to move forward in your journey.

00:38:11.985 --> 00:38:15.219
And joy and happiness are two different.

00:38:15.219 --> 00:38:17.612
Happiness is fleeting, like love, you know.

00:38:17.612 --> 00:38:19.398
You hope you find that lasting love.

00:38:19.398 --> 00:38:21.898
But you know I used to love chocolate pudding.

00:38:21.898 --> 00:38:23.911
I don't anymore, you know.

00:38:23.911 --> 00:38:31.215
So I've really learned how to tap into the things that bring me joy, what brings joy to my life?

00:38:31.215 --> 00:38:35.099
You know we talk a lot I've heard a lot of self-love, self-love.

00:38:35.791 --> 00:38:39.541
I am a proponent, huge proponent, of taking care of myself.

00:38:39.541 --> 00:38:43.371
As a matter of fact, when I talked to Linus the other day, I was on the beach.

00:38:43.371 --> 00:38:56.659
I live in Florida, live on the beautiful white sands and emerald green waters of the Gulf Coast, gulf of Mexico, and I'm at the beach at least two times a week.

00:38:56.659 --> 00:39:16.971
It gives me a chance to connect outdoors, it gives me a chance to get that natural vitamin D and I can take a book or I can just sit there and lay back and enjoy the sun, enjoy the sand, enjoy the surf, and it gives me time to just recharge.

00:39:16.971 --> 00:39:34.440
So, in keeping in touch with who I am, I really think that that's what helps me to continue to grow, you know, as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, as a coach, and it's where I can tap into the things that bring me real joy.

00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:45.925
And being in that space of gratitude and joy, I'm able to not just give more to me, but I'm able to give more to the people that are in my circle.

00:39:46.945 --> 00:39:47.827
Ah, I love that.

00:39:47.827 --> 00:39:49.447
I have to tell you, you do have a beach look.

00:39:49.447 --> 00:39:55.731
I love your hair, your bronze and stuff.

00:39:55.731 --> 00:40:02.318
I could, I could see all of that, and my daughter lives in Homestead right outside of Miami, and the last time I was there, which was last year, I went there for a couple of weeks and stayed for two months.

00:40:02.358 --> 00:40:03.884
So hey, I know what you're talking.

00:40:04.431 --> 00:40:07.161
a couple of weeks and stayed for two months.

00:40:07.161 --> 00:40:08.909
So hey, I know what you're talking about.

00:40:11.949 --> 00:40:12.269
I live where people vacation.

00:40:12.269 --> 00:40:18.943
So, marie, you've just got through making a major change in terms of retiring from nursing, and I understand a lot about what you do because I used to be in charge of nurse recruitment, so I have a very good understanding of what that's about.

00:40:18.943 --> 00:40:21.672
How are you embracing this stage of your life and what inspires you?

00:40:21.693 --> 00:40:23.235
I am loving this stage of life and what inspires you?

00:40:23.235 --> 00:40:28.382
I am loving this stage of life and you know I was thinking about that question.

00:40:28.382 --> 00:40:42.201
What inspires me and I'm looking at the diversity here and like you said in the beginning, lynn is how we're so diverse yet we're more similar than we think and after listening to everyone here, I mean that's just 100% true.

00:40:42.201 --> 00:40:47.961
So what inspires me is being amongst women like yourselves.

00:40:47.961 --> 00:40:55.561
We're on a similar mission and what I love most is now I have this vision.

00:40:55.561 --> 00:40:59.731
You know we're all queens with our tiaras, so thank you so much.

00:40:59.751 --> 00:41:13.300
Victoria for giving me that vision, that picture, for giving me that vision, that picture and the other external inspiration for me was it occurred in 2017, my very first paid coaching client.

00:41:13.300 --> 00:41:16.463
And this client amazing.

00:41:16.463 --> 00:41:17.382
She lived in France.

00:41:17.382 --> 00:41:22.806
She had 20 year in her belt as she was in the army.

00:41:22.806 --> 00:41:25.148
She was already a yoga instructor.

00:41:25.148 --> 00:41:48.130
She had all kinds of certifications, but when she first came to my life, or when I first came into her life, she was in a hood, she was in a very dark room and when I saw the transformation, when I saw what we can create and the impact that I saw after a few coaching sessions with her, I worked with her for about six months.

00:41:48.130 --> 00:41:50.076
She had created a Facebook group.

00:41:50.076 --> 00:41:56.255
This all happened during the start of COVID actually 2019, 2020, so near it.

00:41:56.255 --> 00:41:59.822
She created her Facebook group yoga classes.

00:41:59.822 --> 00:42:01.952
She even did one-on-ones during COVID.

00:42:01.952 --> 00:42:12.590
It's just amazing to see that caterpillar into the cocoon phase and eventually break out into that transformational, gorgeous butterfly that she already was on the inside.

00:42:12.590 --> 00:42:18.061
But it takes us, us women, as leaders, to bring it out of them.

00:42:18.702 --> 00:42:23.753
And what inspires me most internally is I know that there is a purpose from source, from.

00:42:23.753 --> 00:42:24.052
I call him God.

00:42:24.052 --> 00:42:24.432
My Jesus Christ is.

00:42:24.432 --> 00:42:25.494
I know that there is a purpose from source.

00:42:25.494 --> 00:42:26.273
I call him God, my Jesus Christ.

00:42:26.273 --> 00:42:38.043
There is that purpose that I've been given and if many of you have heard of the convergence which I think occurred in August, 16, 17, like in 1987, 86, or sometime then I think it was 1987.

00:42:38.043 --> 00:42:53.184
So for me it was like years, years later, when the alignment finally occurred, that, okay, this is what I get to do, and that was the reason why I literally resigned from my job, and I wasn't intending to, because my stars aligned, so to speak.

00:42:53.184 --> 00:43:08.740
And what inspires me truly is being able to throw that pebble on the pond and seeing the ripple effect and how changing one person's life and that one person touching that other person, and it spreads like a wave, and it's amazing.

00:43:08.740 --> 00:43:10.195
And that's what, that's what inspires me.

00:43:10.195 --> 00:43:13.179
But I have to say, victoria, thank you for that vision.

00:43:13.869 --> 00:43:15.175
Yes, absolutely.

00:43:15.175 --> 00:43:17.516
I love that.

00:43:17.516 --> 00:43:22.369
Yeah, there is something that is kind of affirming and confirming.

00:43:22.369 --> 00:43:31.097
If you are in a modality where you're helping others and you see the fruits of your labor, that is inspiring.

00:43:31.097 --> 00:43:49.266
Being with other women who are of like minds, who are on a journey of some kind, who haven't decided that the next certificate of achievement they're going to get is how many Netflix channels they can watch, or whatever they're going to get is how many Netflix channels they can watch, or whatever.

00:43:49.266 --> 00:43:50.650
Sorry, netflix, but anyway, you know what I mean.

00:43:50.650 --> 00:43:52.032
That's inspiring.

00:43:52.032 --> 00:43:53.657
So I understand what you're saying.

00:43:53.657 --> 00:43:54.980
Maureen, you know you're getting married.

00:43:54.980 --> 00:43:56.322
You said you're one year away.

00:43:56.322 --> 00:44:00.721
So how are you embracing this time and what's inspiring you to get to that one year away?

00:44:01.652 --> 00:44:05.099
from retirement 383 days to be exact.

00:44:05.099 --> 00:44:07.384
That goes into my journal every morning.

00:44:07.384 --> 00:44:13.583
When I make my journal entry, the first part is how many more days until retirement?

00:44:13.583 --> 00:44:15.813
I am one of eight children.

00:44:15.813 --> 00:44:19.402
I have five sisters and two brothers.

00:44:19.402 --> 00:44:22.391
My two older sisters aren't here anymore.

00:44:22.391 --> 00:44:27.103
I lost them both to stage four cancer in 20 and in 21.

00:44:29.670 --> 00:44:33.538
One of the last things my eldest sister, mary, said to me was don't wait.

00:44:33.538 --> 00:44:35.722
And what?

00:44:35.722 --> 00:44:40.851
My older sister, colleen, who was my person, who I miss every day.

00:44:40.851 --> 00:44:43.824
We were very close when she was diagnosed.

00:44:43.824 --> 00:44:46.090
She looked at me and said heed this.

00:44:46.090 --> 00:44:50.010
So I'm inspired to honor them.

00:44:50.010 --> 00:44:52.606
You know I'm excited.

00:44:52.606 --> 00:44:56.480
You know I got the survivor's guilt when I first turned 60.

00:44:56.480 --> 00:45:00.380
This is how old Colleen was and the oldest she ever got to be.

00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:09.864
And now I'm there and I'm older than my older sister ever got to be and I thought, well, I could, I need to honor them.

00:45:09.864 --> 00:45:21.708
And I found, when I came out the other end of being blindsided by 60, I found an abundance of gratitude.

00:45:21.708 --> 00:45:23.793
So that's what inspires me.

00:45:23.793 --> 00:45:38.570
It's just gratitude for what I have, what I've done, what I don't have to go through anymore, and that inspiring other people is what inspires me, helping them with their mental health.

00:45:38.570 --> 00:45:41.902
I check in on all my friends that are hiding away.

00:45:41.902 --> 00:45:45.708
It's just sense of community really.

00:45:46.829 --> 00:45:49.855
Yes, sense of community is so important.

00:45:49.855 --> 00:45:55.581
Yet, and still, when we get to the stage, sometimes we have a tendency to what I call self-select out, to isolate.

00:45:55.581 --> 00:45:57.103
I know I've done it myself.

00:45:57.103 --> 00:46:05.447
I just got to going to a stage of you know who should I call because I'm feeling this way, and I said, well, I don't want to call so-and-so because I know she's busy, and so I didn't call anyone.

00:46:05.447 --> 00:46:06.990
And I know better than that.

00:46:06.990 --> 00:46:09.402
I could see I was getting ready to go down that rabbit hole.

00:46:09.402 --> 00:46:10.284
I could see it.

00:46:10.284 --> 00:46:17.675
And so that's when I decided to find another way to celebrate the 67th year with all of you.

00:46:17.675 --> 00:46:20.318
Sandra, what's inspiring you?

00:46:20.318 --> 00:46:21.981
What's keeping you going so?

00:46:22.041 --> 00:46:30.222
much of what everyone has said, but it's just so many little things, because it's definitely a mindset, like I said before.

00:46:30.222 --> 00:46:34.952
It's like, okay, I'm 50 now, but how do I want that?

00:46:34.952 --> 00:46:47.693
I have to sit down and, you know, become more self-aware self-awareness, reflection, inflection, everything as a part of that, to say how do I want to live out the rest of my life?

00:46:47.693 --> 00:46:57.105
How, you know, and physically, looking at other people, people who have passed, how they're, what are they doing, how are they living?

00:46:57.105 --> 00:47:00.492
Am I going to be able to dance at 100?

00:47:00.492 --> 00:47:02.646
That's the question here.

00:47:02.646 --> 00:47:06.190
Can I dance and move and have fun at 100?

00:47:06.190 --> 00:47:07.786
And how can I get there?

00:47:07.786 --> 00:47:10.128
I have 50 more years to plan this.

00:47:12.181 --> 00:47:16.800
I'm inspired to be able, the joy of life.

00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:19.130
I love to enjoy little things.

00:47:19.130 --> 00:47:25.610
You know, literally stopping smelling flowers, the little walks, the little birds, every little thing inspired by life.

00:47:25.610 --> 00:47:29.867
I go out, I get grounded and you know I can't get it out of me.

00:47:29.867 --> 00:47:40.561
I have to help others because then, when I am working with, I work with a lot of women, you know, throughout my 30 years and you know with a lot of women.

00:47:40.561 --> 00:47:42.465
You know throughout my 30 years, and you know from fashion, I'm, from beauty, I'm from spa.

00:47:42.465 --> 00:47:48.601
I'm constantly helping others to feel beautiful or be inspired inside and out.

00:47:49.244 --> 00:47:51.512
But then, of course, how do I do it for me?

00:47:51.512 --> 00:47:54.442
But if I don't do it for me, how am I going to do it for others?

00:47:54.442 --> 00:47:56.045
How am I going to do it for my family?

00:47:56.045 --> 00:47:57.971
How am I going to do it for?

00:47:57.971 --> 00:48:05.681
You know, I have a daughter.

00:48:05.681 --> 00:48:07.186
That is like, okay, let me help her navigate this thing called life.

00:48:07.186 --> 00:48:08.592
I've become aware that it looks different for every single person.

00:48:08.592 --> 00:48:09.295
What does that joy look like?

00:48:09.295 --> 00:48:09.474
For me?

00:48:09.474 --> 00:48:18.070
And it's a simple thing is putting on a silly show and just laughing and laughing and just laughing and just really experiencing that.

00:48:18.070 --> 00:48:28.512
So I love to move, I love to laugh, I love to sit and have a funny conversation with a girlfriend or a family member.

00:48:28.512 --> 00:48:47.784
And these are the little things, not anything major that can say okay, or big, depending on how you look at it that it creates that joy within me, that little sense of happiness and you know I have lots of little happiness hacks, but those are the things and I'm inspired by that.

00:48:47.844 --> 00:48:48.367
I love that.

00:48:48.367 --> 00:48:50.132
You know it's kind of like a symbiotic thing.

00:48:50.132 --> 00:48:51.965
You know the thing that you do with the games, the wave.

00:48:51.965 --> 00:48:55.961
You know whatever that wave thing is that we go through, you know one touches, another touches, another touches the next thing.

00:48:55.961 --> 00:48:58.505
You know, you know one, one touches, another touches, another touches the next thing.

00:48:58.505 --> 00:49:06.996
You know you're exchanging these energies and that is so impactful, especially at this stage of life, because with that you have wisdom.

00:49:13.521 --> 00:49:18.047
Jen, how are you embracing the stage of life and general completely inspires me right now.

00:49:18.047 --> 00:49:29.902
You know, I did go through my journey and since becoming really embodied and grounded, which has been a long time now, I just feel more and more inspired and my work.

00:49:29.902 --> 00:49:36.585
What I love so much and this really keeps me going is, you know, at the heart of it, I'm an artist.

00:49:36.585 --> 00:49:37.864
I was a dancer forever.

00:49:37.864 --> 00:49:38.708
I'm an editor.

00:49:38.708 --> 00:49:42.822
At the heart of it, I'm an artist, I was a dancer forever.

00:49:42.822 --> 00:49:43.123
I'm an editor.

00:49:43.143 --> 00:49:47.273
I love to hold space for people to share their stories and then create stories from what has been expressed.

00:49:47.273 --> 00:50:02.043
So I've been able to blend the embodiment method, the method, the power of gesture, along with movement, with music and storytelling, and so I've created these beautiful pieces of art out of the stories of women's lives.

00:50:02.043 --> 00:50:08.226
These stories are like resilience and survival stories and they're really short, but they're pieces of art.

00:50:08.226 --> 00:50:09.610
They're like five minutes long.

00:50:09.610 --> 00:50:22.474
Each and every time I'm sitting with a story and I'm sitting with this two-hour conversation that I need to edit down to five minutes, and then I get to place music and add the movement and all the elements that I need to edit down to five minutes, and then I get to place music and add the movement and all the elements that I love.

00:50:23.394 --> 00:50:26.317
I am just on fire, you know, I have my wine.

00:50:26.317 --> 00:50:28.804
I feel like I'm celebrating someone's life.

00:50:28.804 --> 00:50:36.925
I'm creating a piece of art out of their struggle and their resiliency and, to me, I just get so lit up by that.

00:50:36.925 --> 00:50:37.605
I really do.

00:50:37.605 --> 00:50:44.512
Like all of us in the space, you know, we use our expertise and our passion to lift one another up and I just love it.

00:50:44.512 --> 00:50:47.635
That is really the thing I just feel so passionate about.

00:50:47.695 --> 00:51:07.907
So thanks for the question, I love it to see women from all different backgrounds, all sizes and everything else expressing their life and you know what they've been through through movement is so powerful and, jen, thank you for that beautiful work that you put into the world.

00:51:07.907 --> 00:51:11.398
Victoria, what's inspiring you?

00:51:11.398 --> 00:51:12.742
How are you embracing this moment?

00:51:12.742 --> 00:51:16.891
Because I mean, you are in a moment, girlfriend how are you embracing?

00:51:17.072 --> 00:51:17.132
it.

00:51:18.920 --> 00:51:25.130
Well, I find out tomorrow what my duties will be, so I'll ask you that question tomorrow to see how you feel about it.

00:51:25.130 --> 00:51:28.349
But I'm inspired to see what else I can do.

00:51:28.349 --> 00:51:42.905
I know that I've come a long way, but there's so so much more I can do and I'm really inspired to show my grandkids and my kids too, my grandkids and great-grands that you can do stuff, stuff, even at a later date.

00:51:42.905 --> 00:51:44.610
You know it's never too late.

00:51:44.610 --> 00:51:52.992
I have to go to nationals in September and not get to compete against all the other state winners, so that's going to be interesting.

00:51:52.992 --> 00:52:01.451
I didn't enter this one to win, I guess you you know you wouldn't be in it to win it, but I was in it to prove myself to myself I could do it.

00:52:02.090 --> 00:52:12.699
So inspiring, so inspiring, darshana how are you embracing this stage of your life and what's inspiring you?

00:52:12.699 --> 00:52:19.106
I'm inspired by the women that I work with and the people around me, because I was a teacher for a long time and I lost that.

00:52:19.106 --> 00:52:23.722
The buzz for teaching and something drew me to coaching.

00:52:23.722 --> 00:52:45.335
So when I started learning and putting myself in groups with other other women, other people who were so much more knowledgeable than I was, you know I was and I and still are I'm just so inspired by listening to everybody talk about their own passions, because in everybody's passion and everybody's stories there's so much to be learned.

00:52:45.335 --> 00:52:52.853
So I feel like, even at 54, I'm a sponge and I just absolutely adore learning.

00:52:52.853 --> 00:53:08.106
So the more I learn, the more inspired I am to learn, the more I work with women who, and the more inspired I am to learn, the more I work with women who.

00:53:08.126 --> 00:53:10.134
So where I've had this journey in the last six months a year, I'm sharing that with women now.

00:53:10.134 --> 00:53:11.519
So I want other women to feel like, yes, they have to accept.

00:53:11.519 --> 00:53:22.141
There's a level of acceptance in all of our lives, you know, accepting our hereditary history, our lives to this day, but to make the most of everything that's still to come.

00:53:22.141 --> 00:53:32.047
So that's where I'm finding my inspiration, because I have conversations with women and they say to me oh well, isn't that too late?

00:53:32.047 --> 00:53:34.952
Oh well, why would I do that now?

00:53:34.952 --> 00:53:38.835
And I say well, you know, just think about it, You're.

00:53:38.835 --> 00:53:41.041
You're not there yet, You're not finished yet.

00:53:41.041 --> 00:53:47.260
You have so much more of your story still to develop and cultivate and move into.

00:53:47.260 --> 00:53:48.784
So that inspires me.

00:53:48.784 --> 00:53:53.704
Every time I have a conversation with somebody, anything that they say, it just moves me forward.

00:53:54.666 --> 00:53:59.182
You know, that's interesting because I'm listening to all of you and I'm struck by several things.

00:53:59.182 --> 00:54:03.547
The first thing is that I was born for such a time as this.

00:54:03.547 --> 00:54:09.856
I know that I am operating in my gifting and that's what inspires me.

00:54:09.856 --> 00:54:14.601
I also know that God is not through with me.

00:54:14.601 --> 00:54:16.684
Yet I have a ways to go in terms of things that I want to do.

00:54:16.684 --> 00:54:33.822
To go in terms of things that I want to do, and it's just another confirmation that my inner GPS, my Holy Spirit, that inner voice, intuition, whatever you want to call it it's never wrong, especially if you act on it.

00:54:33.822 --> 00:54:35.628
To have all of you here like this and to listen to the things that you have shared.

00:54:35.628 --> 00:54:45.110
That's what inspires me to keep going, Because, I'm telling you, I wasn't like close to quitting last year, but I was definitely feeling sorry for myself, I was definitely in the ugly cry and all of that stuff.

00:54:45.110 --> 00:54:46.907
And now I just feel so much joy.

00:54:47.019 --> 00:54:52.893
And there was something that might have been Patrice, but other people mentioned it too about the joy and happiness thing, because I go for joy.

00:54:52.893 --> 00:54:54.679
Joy is lasting.

00:54:54.679 --> 00:54:58.860
You know, Paul said when he was in prison in the Bible it talks about this in Romans.

00:54:58.860 --> 00:54:59.302
He was in prison.

00:54:59.302 --> 00:55:00.461
In the Bible it talks about this in Romans.

00:55:00.461 --> 00:55:21.969
He was in prison and he said I have learned to be content in my current circumstances, and on my wall here is all kinds of affirmations and scriptures and things like that, and that one is one of the ones I look at all the time that, no matter what's going on around me, where is the joy, even if it's internally, that I can kind of like hold on to until this moment passes, Because this too shall pass.

00:55:21.969 --> 00:55:23.210
Nothing lasts forever.

00:55:23.210 --> 00:55:24.951
Nothing lasts forever.

00:55:24.951 --> 00:55:30.873
So, therefore, what is it that you can hold on to that can give you that inspiration and that joy?

00:55:30.913 --> 00:55:44.177
And about five years ago, I was on a walk and I believe it was yeah, it was one of my 60 birthdays, one of those, and I was saying, you know, I want to do something different with my brand, because at that time it was Wellness Woman 40.

00:55:44.177 --> 00:55:47.478
It feels like I need to go beyond that, maybe because I was already 20 years beyond 40.

00:55:47.478 --> 00:55:48.780
What else?

00:55:48.780 --> 00:56:04.347
I feel like I need to help women to like raise their energy, because I see so many people who are focusing on low energy things the economy, the politics let's not even go there All the other things that are going on that can lower your vibration.

00:56:04.347 --> 00:56:09.347
I want women to vibe and I said, oh, that's what I'm going to call it, vibe.

00:56:09.387 --> 00:56:14.228
And then I came up with this acronym Vibrance, Intuition, Beauty and Empowerment.

00:56:14.228 --> 00:56:23.514
That is something I feel that all women can be, but especially something that we should focus on as we get to this midlife thing, because many times society tells us the opposite of that.

00:56:23.514 --> 00:56:33.000
You know, you're lazy, you don't have any energy, You're not vibrant, your wisdom doesn't really mean anything because it's not relevant, your beauty is leaving because you got wrinkles.

00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:48.001
And how could you possibly feel empowered because your husband that's what society tells us possibly feel empowered because your husband that's what society tells us Sometimes, you know, not directly but almost intrinsically in the messages of their, in the media, advertisement and all this other kind of stuff.

00:56:48.342 --> 00:56:52.833
But I feel like the baby boomers are blowing that crap to hell.

00:56:52.833 --> 00:57:00.043
We are just not going away Because of all the different change and things that we have experienced in our life.

00:57:00.043 --> 00:57:04.628
We realize that all of this is transitory and there's something empowering about that.

00:57:04.628 --> 00:57:06.340
So why should we go away?

00:57:06.340 --> 00:57:14.028
So when you guys hear the word vibe and I'd like you to all un-mic, just say it out We'll take turns, but let's see what happens intuitively.

00:57:14.028 --> 00:57:15.465
What does that mean to you?

00:57:15.465 --> 00:57:22.534
What is it that you feel strong about when it comes to the whole idea of vibe Feeling alive?

00:57:24.139 --> 00:57:27.411
Speaking your truth, spreading your energy.

00:57:29.141 --> 00:57:35.474
There's a line from a movie that says get busy living or get busy dying.

00:57:35.474 --> 00:57:42.289
I always remember that that was one of Colleen's favorites, Darshana, you had said something Spreading the energy.

00:57:42.960 --> 00:57:43.722
Spreading the energy.

00:57:43.722 --> 00:57:45.248
And, patrice, again, what was yours?

00:57:45.248 --> 00:57:45.440
You?

00:57:45.460 --> 00:57:50.251
know I said I think the one thing that gets me through most things is it is what it is.

00:57:50.251 --> 00:57:56.672
There are things I can change, there are things I cannot, but the result of what it is.

00:57:56.672 --> 00:58:04.503
But the result of what it is is what it is.

00:58:04.503 --> 00:58:09.393
And when I got to a point that I could accept it is what it is and move forward to what my next was, that in itself was suffering for me.

00:58:09.393 --> 00:58:10.275
Wow.

00:58:13.063 --> 00:58:15.306
Sandra, victoria, I was.

00:58:15.306 --> 00:58:23.835
I just said high energy, positive, positive energy, and that's, that's a constant, even if you have to build it up yourself and go there.

00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:25.961
Victoria.

00:58:27.567 --> 00:58:29.050
Slow and steady wins the race.

00:58:30.826 --> 00:58:32.311
Oh, ladies, thank you so much.

00:58:32.311 --> 00:58:40.373
A couple of times during this whole thing, I was in tears, but because my cry is an ugly cry, I come all the way through, because my cry is an ugly cry.

00:58:40.373 --> 00:58:51.666
I didn't come all the way through, but those of you who are listening, these are the kinds of conversations we're going to be having in the Vibe Wellness Woman Network, so I encourage you to click on the link in the profile there or on the show page on the link bio.

00:58:51.666 --> 00:58:58.215
However, you're listening to this and go and check out the Vibe Wellness Woman Network.

00:58:58.215 --> 00:59:00.666
It's going to be awesome, and Jen said there are no ugly Network.

00:59:00.666 --> 00:59:02.018
It's going to be awesome and Jen said there are no ugly cries.

00:59:02.018 --> 00:59:03.144
It's been wonderful.

00:59:03.400 --> 00:59:19.579
It has really spoken into my life and it just lets me know that we have so much more to do and I'm looking forward to seeing all the things that you all are going to be doing and I would just absolutely love it if you, you know, come back again sometime and we'll check in and see how we are all vibing.

00:59:19.579 --> 00:59:23.820
Thanks everybody, have a fantastic day, don't forget to vibe everybody.

00:59:23.820 --> 00:59:45.902
Thanks for listening to the vibe living podcast and don't forget to subscribe, like and comment and share this podcast.

00:59:45.902 --> 00:59:48.927
Have a fantastic day and don't forget the vibe.

00:59:48.927 --> 00:59:49.869
Bye, bye, everybody.