Your Body Is Talking. Are You Listening?

Your Body Is Talking. Are You Listening?

Episode Description / Show Notes:

We live in a world that praises pushing through, hustling harder, and ignoring what our bodies are trying to tell us. But what if strength isn’t about doing more, it’s about slowing down long enough to listen?

In this week’s episode, Jama gets real about the moment she realized her body had been trying to get her attention for years. From overtraining and exhaustion to the emotional signals we tend to brush off, she shares what happens when we stop treating our bodies like they’re working against us and start partnering with them instead.

If you’ve been feeling off lately, tired, bloated, burned out, or just disconnected, this episode will help you tune back in. It’s not weakness to rest. It’s wisdom to pay attention.

In this episode, Jama talks about:

• How ignoring your body’s whispers leads to burnout and breakdown
• The connection between emotional stress and physical symptoms
• Why midlife and perimenopause are key times to start listening
• How to rebuild trust with your body after years of pushing through
• What true strength looks like when you stop fighting yourself

Timestamps:

 – Hook: When your body’s been screaming and you’re still saying “I’m fine”
– Why strength isn’t always about pushing harder
– Jama’s story: when her body finally said “enough”
– Emotional stress and physical symptoms
– How women in midlife lose connection with their bodies
 – What listening actually looks like
– Closing reflection: your body isn’t betraying you, it’s guiding you

Key Takeaways:

• Your body speaks through symptoms, fatigue, and intuition, so pay attention before it has to shout.
• True strength is knowing when to rest, not just when to push.
• Perimenopause and midlife shifts are invitations to reconnect, not signs of decline.
• The relationship you have with your body sets the tone for every other part of your life.
• Listening is the new discipline.

Closing Note:

You don’t have to “earn” rest. You just have to honor your body enough to hear it. When you start treating your body like a partner instead of a project, everything changes.

CTA:

If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who’s been pushing too hard. And connect with Jama on Instagram @JamaPantel
— she’d love to hear what your body’s been trying to tell you.

https://www.jamapantel.com

Chapters

• 0:00 From Push Through To Pain
• 0:36 Frozen Shoulder Wake Up Call
• 1:42 The Emotional Cost Of Overriding
• 2:00 Midlife Signals And No Answers
• 2:31 Partnering With Your Body
• 3:05 Symptoms As Messages
• 4:16 Choosing Rest And Next Steps

Transcript

Jama Pantel: 0:00

Have you ever pushed through exhaustion just telling yourself that you're tired? Then you realize your body's been screaming at you for months? Yeah, that's where I was most of this year. Hey y'all, it's your podcast bestie Jama again, and today we're talking about something I've learned the hard way. What happens when your body starts whispering and you ignore it until it's practically yelling at you. For so long I believed strength meant pushing through. Keep running, keep working, keep showing up, keep going, go, go, go. But lately I've had to redefine what strength really looks like. Because sometimes strength is actually slowing down long enough to listen. My body has been giving me indications of exhaustion or old age, whatever you want to call it, midlife for quite some time. For years actually now at this point. But a few years ago, I was training like I always did, juggling work, stress, family stuff, and one day I couldn't lift my arm over my head. I was diagnosed with frozen shoulder. At first I brushed it off. I thought, sure, I'll stretch it, I'll rest, I'll be fine, but it didn't go away. I spent a year dealing with the pain, and as a runner, not being able to take off a sports bra or crying every time I did was really, really hard. My body had had enough. I finally went to the doctor and got properly diagnosed after a year of dealing with the pain, and it still took a year of recovery after that. I dealt with it for two years. Fortunately, I was still able to run because that is my saving grace, but it hurt. And looking back now, it wasn't just physical, it was emotional. I'd ignored the signs, exhaustion, stress, anxiety. I thought it was strong because I kept pushing through. But in reality, I was disconnected. Our bodies always know before our minds catch up. The trouble is we don't slow down long enough to hear what they're saying. And if you've been following my podcast this year, you know I had an even bigger wake up call in April when I thought I was sick. And I have done test after test for the last, I don't know, we're in October end of October now, and still no answers. And I know what it is on my own, and it's middle age and exhaustion and everything just catching up. Stuff like this is hard for women like us, you know, the go-getters, the ones who are always doing everything to actually deal with. Your body is always communicating with you through fatigue, cravings, tension, bloating, or that constant low level ache that says something's just off. But most of us have been conditioned to override these signals. We live in a world that glorifies pushing through and labels rest as weakness. For women, especially at my age and in midlife, that disconnection becomes even louder. Hormonal shifts, stress, and life transitions can make it easy to think you're losing it when really your body's just trying to get your attention. Listening doesn't mean you're giving up, it means you're partnering with your body instead of fighting against it. And that's the realization I've had to take this year. And it's been quite a shift and quite interesting, and I'm still, of course, figuring it out as I go. So here's a question. When was the last time you truly checked in with yourself? Not mentally, but physically. Do you notice what your body needs? Or do you only notice when it breaks down like I did? I started asking myself that and honestly, it changed everything. I stopped seeing my body as something to control and started at seeing it as something to collaborate and work with, and that's what I've been working on this year. Now when I feel off, I don't immediately think, what's wrong with me anymore and call the doctor because I didn't get any answers from them. I ask myself, what is my body trying to tell me now? And I encourage you to do the same and know your body because nobody knows it as well as you do. So here's what I've learned. Your body doesn't just betray you. It is there to protect you. It's not holding you back, it's trying to guide you back to where you need to be. Your body knows. The headaches, the fatigue, the brain fog, the emotional dips, they're not failures, they're messages, and the sooner you learn that language, the stronger you'll become, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because strength isn't just how much you weigh or how much you can lift or how much you can accomplish in your professional world. It's how well you can listen to your body whispering when it says, hey, something's off. So if your body's been trying to tell you something lately, whether it's to slow down, breathe, or move on, or move differently, I hope this episode gives you the permission to listen before it has to shout at you. You don't have to earn your rest. You just have to honor your body enough to pay attention. As a fellow high achieving woman who's so used to showing up and putting herself out there, I have paused and reflected a lot this year. And this is reshaping what I want to do moving forward. And I'm still not quite exactly sure where that's gonna take me. Um, but I am listening and I am making adjustments, and it's paid off. Um, I'll get more into that later, but that's all I've got for now. Thanks for being here again. Y'all have a good one. Until next week. Bye.