In this podcast episode, you will have the opportunity to learn from Conni Ponturo, a renowned expert in the field of pain-free living. After the age of 50, many individuals face challenges related to physical discomfort and restricted movement. Conni Ponturo, a leading authority in this domain, offers insights into how you can reduce pain and regain a sense of joy in your movement and everyday life.

Key Takeaways:

1. **Holistic Approach:** Conni Ponturo emphasizes the importance of approaching well-being holistically. She believes in creating a harmonious connection between mindset, emotions, and the body. Discover how your mental and emotional state can impact your physical well-being.

2. **Transformational Movement:** Conni is widely respected for her unique approach to Transformational Movement. Explore her innovative methods and techniques for improving your mobility, flexibility, and overall physical health.

3. **Age-Related Challenges:** Conni discusses the specific challenges that individuals over 50 might face, such as joint pain, stiffness, and reduced energy. Learn practical strategies to address these issues and lead a more active and pain-free life.

4. **Mindset Shift:** Discover how a positive mindset can play a pivotal role in reducing pain and enhancing your joy of movement. Conni provides insights into how you can change your mindset to overcome physical limitations.

5. **Actionable Tips:** Throughout the episode, Conni shares actionable tips and exercises that you can incorporate into your daily routine. These will help you experience improved mobility and reduced pain, ultimately allowing you to move with joy.

By the end of this podcast episode, you’ll have a deeper understanding of Conni Ponturo’s holistic approach to pain-free living and the transformative power of movement. You’ll be inspired to take steps towards a more harmonious connection between your mindset, emotions, and body, leading to a happier and more active life after the age of 50.

Watch on YouTube – Premieres November 9th, 7 AM ET

Listen on Spotify

Melanie McSally
Welcome to another episode of WyzeCast™, the show that elevates the voices, shines the light, showcases the gifts of our heart-centered guests, and amplifies the positive differences they are making in the world.

Living a pain-free, ageless life is only possible when we understand the power of creating a harmonious connection with our mindset, emotions, and physical bodies. That is why I am so excited to bring today’s guest to you. She is a leading authority in the field of pain-free living, which includes the power of creating a harmonious connection of mindset, emotions, and body; she is respected for her unique approach to transformational movement that merges Pilates, meditation, and mindset. She teaches her clients how to flourish at every stage and age of their lives. Her latest hot new release and best-selling book. Listen, watch what you say your body is listening is an easy-to-do technique that allows you to connect with your body in deep and lasting ways. My name is Melanie McSally, and I am your host for today’s episode. Without further adieu, I would like to welcome the beautiful, the amazing, the always joyful Conni Punturo. Conni comes to us from California in the USA.

Conni Ponturo
Melanie, it is so wonderful to talk with you again. I love having conversation; we love to have fun; we love to have joy. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s really not movement as a punishment. It’s movement. Because we feel so great in our bodies, we want to move them. They were meant to be moved. And when we do, we feel much better in our lives.

Melanie McSally
Thanks, Conni. So why do we experience so much pain in our bodies as we age?

Conni Ponturo
So that’s so interesting. People ask me that all the time. There are two parts to this. The first part is, that pain is a gift. Because that’s the only way our body talks to us that we listen to. When we’re feeling good, we’re like, Yay, I’m feeling good, and we go off. But when we have pain, that’s when we call the massage therapist, call the doctor, get acupuncture, go to the chiropractor, talk to your movement professional, and say what can I do about this? So pain is really doing its job, and that’s to have you deal with whatever issue is at hand. The other part of this is that as we get older, we tend not to become movers; we tend to sit a lot of the day. So when you were in your twenties, someone would call you at midnight, you might have jumped up and gone out, but in your forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies, when someone’s calling you, you’re not jumping up as quickly, and it’s so you’re not doing those movements. Are you active in your day? Are you getting up from your desk for five minutes every hour? Are you doing certain activities? Are you rotating your body? Are you extending and flexing your body? Are you doing these things? That’s really what’s going to make a huge difference. It’s the movement. It’s everything and listening to the pain that makes us able to function and feel good as we get older.

Melanie McSally
I love the reframing of pain because knowledge is power. As an athlete, we have to learn how to translate the information coming to our brain from the various parts of our body. Is this pain telling me I’m at threshold? AKA, I’ve reached my highest potential at this time. Is it telling me I have more to give? Or is it warning me that I’m about to go overboard or even that I’ve already overdone it and I need to stop before I cause lasting damage? So, as I’ve gotten older, I’d say it takes more effort and more willpower to go about my day, and my body creaks and cracks more than it used to. And I’m stiffer. Before I met you, Conni, I might have said, I’m sure it’s only gonna get worse. But I know you have ways to change that. Right? Can you tell our listeners?

Conni Ponturo
So as to the first part, yes, of course, we can change that by moving our bodies. So, park further away. Don’t take the spot right next to the store; park further away. All of a sudden, now you have those extra steps. So they say that ten thousand is not necessarily the amount of steps you need. But let’s say you try to get over your average. So, just walk around with an Apple watch or a Fitbit or whatever, and you’ll see that you usually do about three to four thousand steps. So now we want to double that. And that means going for a walk at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, getting up and moving, taking the stairs. Don’t make it so easy for yourself. Carry your groceries. Think of the world as your gym as opposed to just doing the easiest thing. Make a few trips; don’t put five bags on your arm to go into the house; take one bag and come on back. Take another and come on back. Make yourself a mover; walk from one end of your house to the other. Take the stairs, as I said, and go up and down the stairs a couple of times. So you want to see, how much movement can I have in my day that’s really going to make a big difference in my life?

Melanie McSally
Yes, I mean, I can totally feel the difference between the days I don’t move versus the days I do. And I can definitely see the difference between my folks and the other people in their community. I mean, my parents are in their 70s and 80s, and they’re very active; both of them golf, and my mom goes for walks around the neighborhood. As a result, they’re young for their age. So, you talk about movement and breath work but I know you also believe in mindset and meditation. How does mindset play a role in our health? Why do our words matter?

Conni Ponturo
Our words are so important. Think about it. Oh, my balance is terrible. I’m not good. I’m too old. I’m too stupid. I don’t know computers. I’m too fat. I can’t do that. I’ve never been able to do that. I have two left feet. I’m awkward. I hate technology. I don’t know how to work the clicker for the TV. Someone else does that for me. And so these stories perpetuate our lack and inability to do something. We want to really create a space of learning. You know, kids learn all the time, and then we become adults, but when we’re expected to know everything. And there’s no way you can know everything. So, allow yourself to be a learner. Allow yourself to change those words. That’s really why I wrote the book, Listen, Watch What You Say Your Body Is Listening, because so many of my clients asked me the same questions over and over again. So now, as I start to change the language I use, and now I say things like, Oh, I’m becoming better at technology every day. I really enjoy doing new things. I love a challenge. I’m making myself healthier every day. I eat healthy foods. I get to go to work. I get to go to the gym. I get to be with my kids and my grandkids instead of I have to go to work. I mean, doesn’t that sound so heavy? Instead, say I get to do these things. That change of the word is so, so powerful that I think it’s really going to switch the way you feel about your life.

Melanie McSally
Absolutely. Attacking life with curiosity allows you to see the wonder of life, the beauty of what is possible. We think because we’re older, we know everything, that things have to be a certain way. But that’s only a belief system. You get what you focus on most, so focus on how much your life sucks, and it will always suck but focus on the beauty and the joy of life, and you will be blessed with the wonder and surprises life has to offer. Okay, so building on the mind, how do you relate what’s going on in your mind or in our minds with our bodies?

Conni Ponturo
So mindfulness, meditation, and breath work are so important, as important as movement. I call it the three M’s – mindset, movement, and meditation. I have added breathwork because breathwork and meditation, to me, go hand-in-hand because it makes you think outside of the box and ask you to think of yourself as a whole human. So I tell my clients to think of a wheel with themselves right in the middle; you’re the spokes in the middle of that wheel. Now, we want to remember, it’s not equal, it’s never going to be equal, there’s no real balance in life. Certain things take over other things, but we want you to have certain qualities. So, we want you to become a mover. We want you to wake up or have some time during the day where you have quiet, where you are just sitting with yourself, breathing. Perhaps hearing beautiful music. You can do a mantra. I like to do breathwork. These bring you back into the center of who you are and what’s really important to you. We get so lost in everything because the world is busy. We’ve got a lot coming at us and that’s why we lift our shoulders, because we’re always in protection mode. This is in our DNA. When we drop our shoulders, we create a little space.

Melanie McSally
I love how you connect all the dots: how we’re feeling in our body impacts our thoughts, and what we’re thinking impacts how we feel in our body. I know for me, the difference between responding versus reacting is all about taking a breath and grounding myself before taking that action. And that action can be the difference between perpetuating negative or challenging energy or transmuting that energy into something peaceful and compassionate. When I think about the value of grounding, I think about being present. When you hear the words, be present, what does that mean to you?

Conni Ponturo
being present to me, those words mean that I’m really here. I have clients come in for classes or on Zoom, and they’re rushing or running late, and then they’re like, I’m here. You can just see their minds, running with a billion different things going on.

Back to the breath, taking a deep breath in. Settling yourself and really being here for the exercise, for the conversation, to be with another person, to be present. When we say that word a lot. I’ll say that word a lot, but to really be here is a big thing. I think when you’re really present with yourself, you know what your body needs. At least you can tune in. You can journal, you can ask questions of yourself, but it’s so important to say, can I take the time to tune into who I am I’m in this moment to know what do I need. Is this good for my body? Is this good for my brain? These are questions you need to ask that are going to help you. As you get older, your body always wants to do the right thing by you and to accomplish what you want it to accomplish. When you feed it healthy food, and when you do nourishing things, things that you love that excite you, when you move your body, when you breathe, and lean into whatever you need to if you’re in pain, if you deal with that. I think you really have a very beautiful life, a vibrant, joyful, beautiful life. And that’s really what I think we’re all searching for.

Melanie McSally
Absolutely Conni, beautifully said, the relationship itself is so important. You wouldn’t ignore the people you care about most in life and then expect those relationships to thrive. So why would you ignore ‘the being’ on the other side of the most lasting and, I would argue, important relationship of your life? You heard it here people: the key to living a joyful life and in harmony with yourself is to listen. Listen to what your body is saying, and cherish that relationship. I also love the theme throughout your wisdom that you’ve shared with us here today, Conni, which is that life is not meant to be a punishment. Your body is here to love and support you and be your best friend. So, when you build fun, joy, and laughter into every day, not only will it uplift you mentally and emotionally, but it will also uplift you physically. And you have a great way for people to bring joy into every day. I absolutely love the videos that you send me every day. You truly have the best videos. I love how you take videos everywhere. I mean, I’ve seen videos of you dancing in the mall, jumping into the pool with a watermelon, using a broom as a microphone. You make me smile every time I turn on a video. I have no idea what to expect when I open each one and I love it. Those two minute videos alone that come every single day to my phone are the joy of my day. But I know that’s not all you offer. Your app is stock full of types of movement, meditation, mindfulness, and breath work videos, some super short, some long and everything in between. I believe, if I’m not mistaken, your new course, that’s modeled after your best-selling, hot-new-release book is also in there, right?

Conni Ponturo
Yeah, there’s so much in the app. That’s what I love about it, from the free videos, to the classes that I have, to my masterclass, Listen, Watch What You Say Your Body Is Listening. You can buy the ten weeks and just do it yourself or you can join me, and we get together weekly in a group session. We do some exercises, we have conversations about what we’re ready to get rid of and what we want to bring into our lives, how we can get stronger, and the limitations. Then we’ll do some breathwork, some meditation, and we’ll dive deep, drop deep into the body, into our true nature, and allow ourselves to change and see our life, first of all, for the perfection that they are, even in chronic pain, even in a disease, even in things not working out quite right, how can we change that by changing our mindset and by changing how we look at the world? All of that is in the masterclass, and then when you come, join me, so it’s really fun. We get to work together. And I love Zoom for that, I really, really do. So there’s so much juicy stuff in the app. Come join me, come play, and, as always, come learn how can we make your body better? How can we have more fun? How can we elevate our life and just realize that we are what we’re looking for. The answers are not out there. We don’t have to be thinner, taller, richer, anything. We have to just accept and love who we are, and from that, everything grows, everything changes. It’s finding the joy in everyday moments that makes it really special and makes this a fantastic life to live. So I thank you so much. What a gift you are. I love the podcast. As always, let’s remember, life is a gift. Joy is the juice of life freshly squeezed. How are you going to drink it in? Thank you.

Melanie McSally 20:16
Okay, listeners, if you want to look as good as Conni does in your fifties and sixties and beyond, I highly suggest you download her app, log in, and start filling your day with joyful moments. There’s a ton of free content in there. And if you’re inspired, you can also sign up to take her course and add on group coaching, or she even offers private coaching.

Thank you, Conni. It has been such a joy and honor having your bubbly self here today, listening to your wisdom and experiencing your passion to bring more joy into people’s lives. Click here to access the Absolutely Grounded App on your desktop. iPhone users can click here to download the app to your phone and Android users can click here to download the app to your phone. Finally, check-out this getting started article for instructions on how to access Conni’s FREE content in the app.

I want to thank our listeners for tuning in. If you like what you’ve heard here today, please do like, share, and comment. We are trying to get WyzeTribe™ to be a hot new release. So if you feel inspired, if you feel moved, if you feel called, if we earned it, please do like, share, and comment. It is free for you to do so and really helps the podcast grow. And we really do love your engagement.

This was another episode of WyzeCast™, the show that elevates the voices, shines the light, showcases the gifts of our heart-centered guests, and amplifies the positive difference they’re making in the world.

If you want to learn more about WyzeCast™, you can visit our wyzecast.com. We dropped ten episodes every month on the 21st, so you can binge-watch or spread them out over the month. Whatever suits your mood and lifestyle.

Once again, my name is Melanie. It has been my pleasure being your host today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching, thank you for your engagement, and I invite you to come back and join me once again for our next episode of WyzeCast™.