Episode #30
When Your Body Forces You to Slow Down
What if your body isn't betraying you? What if it's trying to communicate? In this episode of Heart + Head Work, Rocky Donati and Tessa Arneson step away from their usual conversations around business and real estate to talk about something underneath nearly everything they do: wellness, intuition, and learning how to listen to your own body. Both Rocky and Tessa have experienced seasons when injury, illness, burnout, anxiety, pain, or other physical symptoms forced them to change the way they related to their bodies. In this conversation, Rocky shares that she has recently received a diagnosis of cervical dystonia after developing an unexplained head tremor—putting her once again at the beginning of navigating doctors, treatments, information, uncertainty, and the question: What does my body actually need? Together, they explore what it means to become an active participant in your own healing. Not by rejecting doctors. Not by assuming intuition has every answer. And not by pretending every physical problem can be solved by simply “listening harder.” Instead, they talk about gathering expertise, building a team, considering different approaches, and then learning to bring all of that information back to the person who actually has to live inside the body being treated: you. They also dig into a pattern they've witnessed again and again among high-performing women: pushing, achieving, saying yes, overriding exhaustion, and continuing until eventually the body gets louder. What happens when, instead of treating your body like the thing preventing you from living your life, you begin treating it like a partner? Maybe healing isn't always about fighting harder. Maybe sometimes it's about slowing down, gathering information, experimenting, surrendering—and rebuilding a language with yourself that you were taught to ignore. In this episode: - Why Maven talks so much about wellness - Rocky's recent cervical dystonia diagnosis - Navigating conflicting medical and wellness advice - Intuition as part of—not a replacement for—your healthcare team - Tessa's experience with chronic back pain - The connection between high performance and burnout - What happens when we continually override our bodies - Relearning your body's “native language” - Why healing looks different for every person - Becoming the person in the driver's seat of your care - Why sometimes the answer is less, not more - Surrendering instead of constantly trying to fix - Turning your body from an adversary into a friend - Trusting your no—and your yes For anyone currently in the confusing middle of an injury, illness, burnout, or something you haven't quite figured out yet, this conversation is an invitation to stay close to yourself. Gather the information. Build your team. Ask questions. Try things. And through all of it, keep listening. Connect with us! Join the conversation in our private network on BFF https://links.geneva.com/invite/af6ecd07-9070-43b7-9629-7aaa166aa131 Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/maven.community ✨ And if this episode moved you, sharing it with a friend helps more women find us. More at → mavenslc.com
