I'm back. Three months off, one enormous project, and a lot of learning about why movement is so much more than exercise.

This episode is about the magic I felt the first time I did Pilates in an attic with a reformer and a friend who was training to teach it — the clouds parting, the gremlins going quiet, something transcendental happening in my body that I couldn't explain but couldn't stop chasing.

Now I can explain it. And I want to.

We cover: why getting intellectual about movement actually makes you worse at it (and what to do instead). How stretching your fascia reduces inflammation in the body. The foam rolling study that proved attentive movement works as well as antidepressants for filtering out the negative. A crash course in Polyvagal Theory — the three modes of your nervous system and how to become its operator rather than its victim. Why Pilates breathing is regulating your nervous system whether you know it or not.

And yes — I introduce my first ever online Pilates course, Strength You Can Trust. Foundational classical Pilates infused with neuroscience and biomechanics. Open now. Use code WELLY15 for 15% off.

Next episode: the science of manifestation, money mindset, and a wild weekend in Milan.

See you there. 🥾

📚 References:
— Robert Schleip: Thinking Practitioner Podcast, ep. 144
— Deb Dana: On Being Podcast — Become an Active Operator of Your Nervous System
— Strength You Can Trust: lightwellpilates.com/strength — code WELLY15 for 15% off

— Twenty One Pilots, Stressed Out: https://youtu.be/pXRviuL6vMY?si=KNSm3TgKxXH1Yy8d

We have unfinished business, you and I.

Continuing from A Vision of the Future Part 1 — where we discovered the necessary steps to solving a life crisis (quarter, third, half, three-quarter) — I realise there's one step I keep skipping. The root of it. The thing underneath everything else:

We need to heal our trauma. But how?

In this episode I journey to London to find myself — and find my body revolting instead. We learn about the ingredients of a healthy personal narrative, and why doing this well sets the course for your entire future. We talk about jealousy, how to use it as a compass rather than a curse, and the maps — several of them — that show us the way.

Your story is your destiny.

Join me. Boots on. It's gonna be muddy. 🥾

📚 References:— Dr K / Dr Alok Kanojia: Diary of a CEO — 'The Brain Rot Dr'— The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron— The Element, Ken Robinson— The Luck Factor, Richard Wiseman— New Scientist: 'How to Think About the Human Mind'— Healthy Minds Project / Cortland Dahl: healthyminds.org— My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante

Stay tuned for the next episode: personality, habits, and how they connect to identity. Plus — Dr Tara Swart and manifestation. Things are getting interesting.

And if you are interested in my Pilates course (Building Strength You Can Trust), here is the link to learn more and join the waiting list. I'd love to have you!

xJ

I had a moment, just before my surgery, when the doctor told me I'd need four to six weeks in bed.

And I thought — oh thank the Lord.

I'm Jennifer Palmer. Screenwriter, actor, Pilates teacher, mother of two. And for a long time — a person who had completely ground herself into the ground and called it fine.

This podcast is about the year I spent figuring that out. The neuroscience, the ancient philosophy, the psychopomps who showed up exactly when I needed them. The moment I stormed into my husband's study shaking and said — things cannot go back to the way they were.

They didn't.

Come walk with me. I promise laughter, heaping scoops of curious revelation, and at least one episode about sleep that will change your life.

Get your boots on. Easy does it. Let's put some welly into it. 🥾