Your Body Is Talking. Are You Listening?

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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

Episode Transcript

Jama Pantel (00:00):
Have you ever pushed through exhaustion just
telling yourself that you'retired?
Then you realize your body'sbeen screaming at you for
months?
Yeah, that's where I was mostof this year.
Hey y'all, it's your podcastbestie Jama again, and today
we're talking about somethingI've learned the hard way.
What happens when your bodystarts whispering and you ignore

(00:21):
it until it's practicallyyelling at you.
For so long I believed strengthmeant pushing through.
Keep running, keep working,keep showing up, keep going, go,
go, go.
But lately I've had to redefinewhat strength really looks
like.
Because sometimes strength isactually slowing down long
enough to listen.
My body has been giving meindications of exhaustion or old

(00:45):
age, whatever you want to callit, midlife for quite some time.
For years actually now at thispoint.
But a few years ago, I wastraining like I always did,
juggling work, stress, familystuff, and one day I couldn't
lift my arm over my head.
I was diagnosed with frozenshoulder.
At first I brushed it off.

(01:06):
I thought, sure, I'll stretchit, I'll rest, I'll be fine, but
it didn't go away.
I spent a year dealing with thepain, and as a runner, not
being able to take off a sportsbra or crying every time I did
was really, really hard.
My body had had enough.
I finally went to the doctorand got properly diagnosed after
a year of dealing with thepain, and it still took a year

(01:28):
of recovery after that.
I dealt with it for two years.
Fortunately, I was still ableto run because that is my saving
grace, but it hurt.
And looking back now, it wasn'tjust physical, it was
emotional.
I'd ignored the signs,exhaustion, stress, anxiety.
I thought it was strong becauseI kept pushing through.

(01:49):
But in reality, I wasdisconnected.
Our bodies always know beforeour minds catch up.
The trouble is we don't slowdown long enough to hear what
they're saying.
And if you've been following mypodcast this year, you know I
had an even bigger wake up callin April when I thought I was
sick.
And I have done test after testfor the last, I don't know,

(02:11):
we're in October end of Octobernow, and still no answers.
And I know what it is on myown, and it's middle age and
exhaustion and everything justcatching up.
Stuff like this is hard forwomen like us, you know, the
go-getters, the ones who arealways doing everything to
actually deal with.
Your body is alwayscommunicating with you through

(02:34):
fatigue, cravings, tension,bloating, or that constant low
level ache that says something'sjust off.
But most of us have beenconditioned to override these
signals.
We live in a world thatglorifies pushing through and
labels rest as weakness.
For women, especially at my ageand in midlife, that
disconnection becomes evenlouder.

(02:56):
Hormonal shifts, stress, andlife transitions can make it
easy to think you're losing itwhen really your body's just
trying to get your attention.
Listening doesn't mean you'regiving up, it means you're
partnering with your bodyinstead of fighting against it.
And that's the realization I'vehad to take this year.
And it's been quite a shift andquite interesting, and I'm

(03:18):
still, of course, figuring itout as I go.
So here's a question.
When was the last time youtruly checked in with yourself?
Not mentally, but physically.
Do you notice what your bodyneeds?
Or do you only notice when itbreaks down like I did?
I started asking myself thatand honestly, it changed
everything.

(03:39):
I stopped seeing my body assomething to control and started
at seeing it as something tocollaborate and work with, and
that's what I've been working onthis year.
Now when I feel off, I don'timmediately think, what's wrong
with me anymore and call thedoctor because I didn't get any
answers from them.
I ask myself, what is my bodytrying to tell me now?

(04:00):
And I encourage you to do thesame and know your body because
nobody knows it as well as youdo.
So here's what I've learned.
Your body doesn't just betrayyou.
It is there to protect you.
It's not holding you back, it'strying to guide you back to
where you need to be.
Your body knows.
The headaches, the fatigue, thebrain fog, the emotional dips,

(04:23):
they're not failures, they'remessages, and the sooner you
learn that language, thestronger you'll become,
physically, mentally, andemotionally.
Because strength isn't just howmuch you weigh or how much you
can lift or how much you canaccomplish in your professional
world.
It's how well you can listen toyour body whispering when it

(04:43):
says, hey, something's off.
So if your body's been tryingto tell you something lately,
whether it's to slow down,breathe, or move on, or move
differently, I hope this episodegives you the permission to
listen before it has to shout atyou.
You don't have to earn yourrest.
You just have to honor yourbody enough to pay attention.

(05:04):
As a fellow high achievingwoman who's so used to showing
up and putting herself outthere, I have paused and
reflected a lot this year.
And this is reshaping what Iwant to do moving forward.
And I'm still not quite exactlysure where that's gonna take
me.
Um, but I am listening and I ammaking adjustments, and it's

(05:25):
paid off.
Um, I'll get more into thatlater, but that's all I've got
for now.
Thanks for being here again.
Y'all have a good one.
Until next week.
Bye.