When Your Wellness Routine Becomes Another Stressor

Everything you see, read, or hear these days will tell you: women in their midlife, perimenopause years need to strength train. It's basically the only thing the internet agrees on anymore.

And honestly? They're not wrong

So naturally, since I am mid-journey, I was set on following a whole month's calendar around it because we onboard new things in the new year.

A few weeks in, and my body said: Not like this.

The stiffness. The coat hanger pain creeping back. The body signal I've learned to trust: too much of even a good thing.

When "Empowerment" Becomes Another Should

Here's the thing about stress management: sometimes the stress is coming from inside the house (the one that houses your mind and spirit). I was so excited about feeling empowered through strength training that I completely bypassed what my nervous system was actually asking for.

Classic burnout prevention fail, honestly.

My dysautonomia doesn't care how noble my intentions are. It cares about variety, adaptation, and—here's the kicker—listening.

Consistency Doesn't Mean Repetition

This is where I see many of my coaching clients and friends get stuck—where I get stuck. Culturally, we've been trained that consistency means sameness. Show up. Check the box. Don't deviate. Prove you're committed.

But what if consistency is actually about showing up to the relationship with your body, not the specific practice?

Weight training one day. Yoga the next. Maybe boxing. Maybe rest. Maybe asking your body what it needs instead of telling it what it's getting.

The Daily Question That Changes Everything

So I'm returning to what I know works. Each day, I'm asking: "Hey body, what serves love today?"

Sometimes it's lifting heavy things. Sometimes it's letting everything be light.

This isn't just about exercise. It's about every choice—what to eat, how late to stay at my desk on the laptop, whether to say yes or no, how to spend the precious energy you have.

As a meditation teacher, I've watched this question transform how people approach everything from workplace mindfulness to their morning routine. It's simple. It's direct. And it suggests something radical: that your body's wisdom deserves to be consulted.

What This Looks Like in Real Life

Here's my actual personal practice this week. Not the classes I teach to serve others, but the movement I choose to serve myself:

Monday: Body said weights. Felt amazing. Tuesday: Body said I'm STIFF, I need more movement, so some flow yoga with a few pushups mixed in. Wednesday: Body said 10 minutes of core work and push ups will do.

No guilt. No "I should be doing more." Just relationship.

This is behavior change without the battle. This is how we actually reduce burnout—by stopping the war with ourselves. The war that's constantly fueled by biohacking culture telling us to optimize everything, track everything, hack everything—and hustle culture insisting that if we're not producing, we're slacking.

And here's the thing—no matter what my body chooses, I always start the same way: with a joint release practice. It's my bridge between scattered and centered, between going through the motions and moving with intention. Five minutes of grounding, intention setting, and joint release from the bottom up—whether I'm lifting weights, flowing through yoga, or just taking a walk.

It's not just stretching. In five minutes, you're:

• Lubricating joints (synovial fluid activation)

• Preventing injury (neuromuscular preparation)

• Opening mobility (progressive range of motion)

• Moving energy (chi/prana through fascia and meridians)

• Warming up the body (circulatory and enzymatic activation)

It's how my nervous system knows we're about to move with the body, not at it.

Want to try it? I just loaded this 5-minute Joint Release practice to the studio—it's free for everyone. This is what I do personally before any movement, and what I start all my live and recorded classes with. Five minutes that changes everything that follows.

Ready to build a practice that listens as much as it leads?

The Take 5 Membership gives you weekly guidance, nervous system tools, and a community that gets it. Or if you're navigating something specific—chronic stress, burnout, the feeling that you're doing all the "right" things but your body's still saying no—let's talk. One-on-one holistic health coaching and hypnosis sessions are where the real transformation happens.