In-Bodied
Welcome to In-Bodied with Tracy Kerkhoff, the podcast for women in their 40s who are done shrinking, done people-pleasing, and so ready to reclaim their glow.
If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and thought “Who even is she?” … this is your space. We’re talking perimenopause hormones (and all the messy feels that come with them), mom-life meltdowns, marriages that need more spark, and yes sex, self-worth, and finding yourself again in the middle of it all.
This isn’t about chasing your 20s. It’s about owning your 40s stronger, wiser, sexier, and more in-bodied than ever.
Expect raw, real talk with zero filters. Some days it’ll feel like a pep talk from your life coach, and some days like a wine-night vent session with your girlfriends. Either way, you’ll leave remembering this: your spark isn’t gone it’s just waiting for you to claim it back.
In-Bodied
Ep5 Emotional Weight, Hormonal Chaos and The Body Hidden Trauma
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In this episode, Tracy pulls back the curtain on something most women aren’t told: the weight you’re carrying isn’t just physical it’s emotional, cellular, and spiritual. We dive into how unresolved trauma and stress get stored in the body, especially during perimenopause, and how it shows up as fatigue, anxiety, inflammation, stubborn belly weight, hair loss, and more.
You’ll learn:
• How biology + suppressed emotions collide in midlife.
• The specific parts of the body where we “hold” anger, grief, fear, and shame.
• A powerful somatic practice to help you release tension and reconnect with your body.
• Why shedding emotional weight = shedding physical weight + reclaiming hormonal balance.
👉 This is a must-listen if you’ve been feeling stuck, reactive, or like a shadow of yourself.
💜 Ready to shed what’s weighing you down? Join Tracy’s Reclaim Your Glow 12-week program. Book your free call at www.thefitmomproject.com (http://www.thefitmomproject.com/).
Additional Show Notes:
•Menopausal transition = increased vulnerability for anxiety/depression; vasomotor symptoms & poor sleep strongly linked to mood symptoms. Mechanisms include estrogen fluctuation effects on serotonin and GABA.
•Large real-world cohort: symptomatic transition associated with higher risk of depression (HR≈2.1), anxiety (HR≈1.6), sleep disorders (HR≈1.5).
•Allopregnanolone (a progesterone metabolite) positively modulates GABA-A; reduced neurosteroids have been associated with anxiety/depression phenotypes.
•ACEs linked with worse menopausal symptoms later in life.
•Somatic approaches show emerging evidence for trauma symptom reduction (e.g., Somatic Experiencing RCT/prospective work).
•Body maps of emotion research (where emotions are felt in the body) supports the “felt-sense” approach you guide.