Five Body Wisdom
Five Body Wisdom is designed to emphasize the deep connection between our five bodies—physical, energy, mental, wisdom, and bliss—and how they work together to promote a life of balance and fulfillment. Inspired by and for women over 55, this podcast delves into the specific challenges and opportunities of this transitional life stage, offering inspiration, guidance, and practical wisdom.
Each episode weaves together personal stories, insightful interviews, and practical techniques to empower listeners to embrace their true selves. The show is hosted by Delia Quigley, an experienced yogi, meditator, intuitive artist, and author with over 40 years of experience in helping women find clarity and purpose in their daily lives. Her compassionate approach and deep understanding of life’s interconnected aspects position her as a trusted voice in navigating change with grace and authenticity.
Listeners of Five Body Wisdom will gain valuable tools to restore balance in their lives, enhance self-awareness, and reignite their sense of purpose. Delia shares her personal journey and expertise, offering techniques for nurturing the body, calming the mind, connecting with intuition, and embracing spiritual growth. The show also features interviews with everyday women who have discovered their inner strength and wisdom, inspiring listeners to do the same.
By tuning in, you’ll join a supportive community of women dedicated to living with intention and joy. Whether you seek practical advice, soulful stories, or a spark of inspiration, Five Body Wisdom provides a roadmap for thriving in the second half of life.
Five Body Wisdom
Resilience: When You Thought You Couldn't But You Did
Resilience is more than just bouncing back—it's the quiet, fierce strength of the human spirit that helps us adapt, grow, and thrive through life's most challenging moments.
• Defining resilience as the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity and emerge stronger
• The physical and emotional toll of caregiving, as shared through Janet's story of caring for her Vietnam veteran brother
• Finding sustainability in challenging circumstances, illustrated by Doris who found hope watching chickadees survive harsh Maine winters
• Veronica's powerful journey of resilience through childhood trauma, loss, and career transition
• How resistance actually builds resilience through the sacred cycle of becoming
• Resilience manifests differently across our five bodies—physical, mental, energetic, intuitive and spiritual
• The power of tools like therapy, yoga, support systems, and creative expression in nurturing resilience
Visit mindfulmandala.com to learn more about Delia's Mindful Mandala cards, created as a tool to help shift from darkness to light in challenging situations.
Welcome. I'm Delia Quigley, join me. It's resilience, not resistance. Ah well, resistance helps build resilience, and you know I've got plenty of both. Welcome to Fiveody Wisdom interviews with ourselves.
Speaker 2:In today's episode, we're stepping into the quiet, fierce, beautiful territory of the human spirit, where women find strength even when they feel that they have none. Okay, delia, so what exactly is resilience, you know? For those who had to look up the word or want to look up the word, or ask chat GPT, well, resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity. It's about bouncing back from difficult experiences and not just returning to the way things were, but thriving and growing stronger. These are the moments that change us, moments when the weight feels too much, when the road ahead seems impossible and yet something inside, quiet or wild, says go ahead, try anyway. That something is resilience. Ah, okay, a natural human rite of passage. All right, how about an example? Well, the resilience of old age, for one.
Speaker 2:Recently I was visiting friends and much of our conversation was about surviving the invectitudes of an aging body. Mind. Now, yes, the five human bodies are challenged, sometimes beyond their limits, you know, perhaps it's a woman's story about caregiving a loved one, or the grief-stricken mother who lost her son to addiction? Or simply going to a job interview after multiple rejections a seemingly small yet profoundly resilient act. Or how about the woman who left a toxic relationship, ended generational trauma? Or the one who said no for the first time? That's resilience. All right, delia. So how does resilience affect a human's five bodies? All right well, when we think resilience, we often picture grit and endurance and strength. But resilience is more than survival. It touches every layer of who we are. It shapes our bodies, our minds, our energy, our knowing and even our connection to the sacred.
Speaker 3:Caregiving is a journey of love, sacrifice and unanswered questions. For me, it's also been a journey of deep healing. I have had many opportunities in my life. My twin brother, jimmy, changed my life dramatically when I retired. This is my caregiving story, a deeply personal story of responsibility, resilience and the struggles of loving someone through illness and addiction.
Speaker 3:As a Vietnam vet, jimmy fought lung cancer and a heart attack. He was receiving care from the Tampa VA when he was evicted from his home. This was a sudden shift in my life becoming his primary caregiver, navigating his medical needs and stepping into a role I did not expect. I had no idea the time involved in setting appointments, taking him to the VA, checking his medications, giving him his medications and the myriad of tests for prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain nodules, t-fracture and recently, from a fall, possibly a rib.
Speaker 3:The emotional weight of being responsible keeps me up at night. I've had long sleepless nights wondering if I was doing everything correctly. Did I give his meds correctly? Did the doctors take too long before treatment? The complexity of caring for someone with a history of alcoholism and smoking brings out all my codependencies. Luckily, I have a life partner who helps me on so many levels, both physically and mentally. Caregiving became more than just helping my brother because it became a way to heal from childhood trauma. It makes me feel so good that I'm no longer a powerless child but a wise woman in my 70s the unexpected emotional journey of reconnecting with my past and finding closures in ways I hadn't imagined by helping my brother. Caregiving isn't just about keeping someone alive. It's about learning what it means to truly care care even when no one is watching.
Speaker 2:That was Janet Bassett speaking her truth of her experience. You know, resilience is the banner every woman wears stamped across her chest. We adapt to the tragedies, the horror of war, the loss of a child, the brutality and humiliation of rape, to the loss of friends and mates. We adapt and with each assault life sends us we grow more resilient. We are able to see, to understand another woman's pain. And this resilience must not be mistaken for resignation. No, the resilience of women is something special, a strength only women understand. Can men be resilient? Yes, of course, but their resilience comes with entitlement, while a woman's comes from struggle to survive in a man's world.
Speaker 4:I was about 24 years old. I had finished my first career. I had been the ballet dancer in Germany and had done all the performing and had a totally broken body and had ended up getting married and going to the Middle East where I had to confront my identity of if I'm not the ballet dancer, then who am I? I had this opportunity to study with Bill Williams at the Soma Institute for the fascial work that was developed originally by Ida Wolf. That program was another completely mind-blowing somatic reorganization. My body changed very radically. As my physical body transformed itself, my perceptions changed, given that our perceptions come forth from the way the body is experiencing itself within gravity and in the world. So I was at a sensory maximum. I could not take in any more information and I was totally to the point of needing an escape. Just to go integrate all of this, I had an opportunity to travel with a friend to Maine and live in a little community. This was just like a perfect thing to be able to integrate all of this.
Speaker 4:There were a few people on this little street and one was this woman that lived across the street and she had been there for who knows how many years at least 10 years, because we knew that she had been living there by herself after her husband had passed away and she was a year-round resident there. What we found out was that this cottage, as with most of the cottages on this little street, they were built as summer cottages. In the fall, the water got turned off and everyone left, and the woman across the street was named Doris. She was there all year, and so my friend and I said well, you know, why don't we just stay through the winter? We can handle it. The difference was the cottage we were in was in no way insulated. It had no running water. It did have power and we had a little propane stove and a pot-bellied stove that we fed with wood.
Speaker 4:The winter proceeds and it turned into, you know, a typical Maine winter where the temperatures were actually at 40 degrees below zero. We were able to survive by feeding that pot-bellied stove 24-7. Our whole existence became just survival, just taking care of ourselves and the water. We had to walk down to the bottom of the hill to fill buckets with water from a hand pump and then carry them back to use for drinking, for bathing, for the toilets, for everything. And here's the deal. I have never in my life been healthier than I was. That winter my mind slowed down. My whole being was able to just be present. The old chop wood carry water. I got to actually experience that. It's something that I still carry with me.
Speaker 4:But that's not the real story. The real story is about Doris across the street. This is the story about how we find our way in the world, how we sustain ourselves. One day, when I was talking with her collecting the cat, I asked her. I said Doris, you know you've been here a long time, how do you find that sustenance? And she looked at me and she said you know my husband.
Speaker 4:After he died, I didn't think that I could go on. I had no other place to go. I had no children and I had no family. I was just about ready to give up. And it was in the middle of a winter, one of these winters. Every morning I would take out some bird seed and I would place it outside for the chickadees. And every morning I would go back inside and I would watch these little creatures come and find this seed and find what they need in the midst of this harsh, brutal winter, and they would sustain themselves. And she said. That's when I realized if a chickadee can do this, I can do it. That's the story, right there, of how it is we find sustenance, how it is we find the ability to go on by receiving the nurturance and the sustainability that is always there for us us All.
Speaker 2:Right, delia, it's story time. What do you have for us today? Actually, I'm going to let someone else tell her story, but instead I'm going to give an introduction to it. So the year was 2000, and Veronica was a student of mine in yoga at the Stillpoint Schoolhouse and I was holding a women's retreat at Genesis Farm. Usually I held it in November. It was my first one and Veronica was one of the participants.
Speaker 2:I brought along a few coloring books of mandalas, along with some crayons and colored pencils and pens, and I put them on the coffee table there and bread and roses in the living room, and I told the women that in between different sessions they were just relaxing to choose a design, a mandala design, and color it. And so over the course of the weekend that's what they did, and come Sunday, just before we were going to do our closing circle, we gathered again in the living room of Bread and Roses and Veronica asked me if I would read her mandala. And well, I'd never done that before and I was a little taken aback but I thought, hey, why not, let's see? Let's see what arises from that. So she handed me her colored image of the mandala and I looked at it and I wasn't sure what would come forward for me. But then, as I gazed at it longer, I saw an amazing pattern begin to emerge.
Speaker 2:Here was a woman who had suffered greatly. I could see it in how the outer rim of the mandala was in deep dark colors blacks and dark browns. And yet as it went closer into the center of the mandala, the colors changed. They got lighter, they got brighter, they became more celebration, more beautiful, more joyful. And I said to her what I saw was I saw that in her past there was this great suffering, but that somehow and over time, she had found a peace, that she had found joy and happiness. So I reached out to her 25 years later and asked if she'd be willing to tell her story and to speak of the resilience that came from those early experiences and how they played out in her life. Here we are. Here's Veronica Ruckwitz.
Speaker 5:When Delia asked me to share my story about resilience, part of me panicked but also felt a sense of relief. So I want to share something really personal with you. My hope is that by sharing my story someone out there, maybe you will feel a little less alone, a little more seen and a little more empowered to keep going. So let's start from the beginning, or at least for me, when everything changed. I was seven and a half years old when I lost both of my parents. My father murdered my mother and just like that, seven of us were orphaned. I don't think there's any way to fully explain what that kind of loss does to a child. I was terrified. Life became about survival moving from place to place, navigating unsafe environments, never really knowing where I belonged. I developed major abandonment issues. I became a people pleaser. I stayed quiet when I wanted to scream. I put others first, not because I was selfless, but because it felt safer. Throughout my life I experienced moments that shook me to the core being humiliated, excluded and, worst of all, not being believed. When I spoke up about being sexually assaulted, to be told that it was my fault. That still stings. And then, not long after that, I lost my closest biological sibling in a car accident and that loss. It gutted me, but it also lit a fire inside me. That was the moment I realized that no one is coming to save me, that I have to fight for myself. But here's the thing I was never truly alone. Even in the darkest times, I always felt a presence, a guiding light, call it God, call it spirit, whatever it was. It was there, I talked to it in my quiet moments and it gave me strength when I had none. I remember two specific times in my childhood when I had asked for help, real help. I asked my guardians to let me talk to a therapist or a social worker. I didn't know exactly what I needed, but something inside me did. That voice saved me. Therapy saved me, and later in life, yoga became my saving grace. I'm incredibly grateful that I chose a partner who is loving, forgiving and willing to do the work when our relationship needs it the most. That kind of partnership is everything, and I'm so grateful.
Speaker 5:Recently, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I left a 30-year career. It was something I loved, something that provided financial stability, but the industry was shifting and my body, especially in the thick of menopause was screaming at me to slow down. So I listened. I left. I enrolled in a coaching program to become a certified health and life coach. I was terrified. I doubted myself. Daily, my brain felt foggy. I worried I was too old, too behind, too, not enough. But the truth it was exactly what I needed for my growth, for my healing and for rediscovering my purpose.
Speaker 5:Helping others has always been my calling and through coaching I found that when I help others, I help myself too. Financially, the transition has been slow, but I've learned to trust that when I do the work and also rest when I need to, things will align. I've always believed that Life isn't fair. I know that deeply. But I also know this Gratitude, yoga, a strong support system and the courage to ask for help these are the things that keep me going.
Speaker 5:So to the women listening you are strong Even when you don't feel it, even when life knocks the wind out of you. You are magnificent. Find your people, reach out, ask for help, celebrate the small wins and know that with every step forward, no matter how small, it's a victory. And before I go, I want to give a special shout out to Delia. She came into my life in the early 2000s as my yoga teacher. She helped me live a more holistic life through food and movements. So, delia, thank you. Thank you for being a lightbearer and a teacher to so many women, myself included, and thank you for holding space for my story.
Speaker 2:All right. So, delia, what exactly was your intention with this podcast about resilience? Well, I want people to know they have something inherent within them that, when they recognize it with awareness, it can help them to overcome all the difficulties, the trauma, the tragedies that occur in life. You know, we are an amazing organic species that can adapt and evolve. We have all the tools to do so, and yet we choose to step back and live in ignorance so often and not explore our full potential.
Speaker 6:How does resilience show up for me at this point of my life? I love this question. So, according to the American Psychological Association, resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. What I would say is that, yes, definitely my life experiences have been challenging, but I've always remembered a quote by Maya Angelou that said I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it. That was a very poignant thought that resonated with me throughout my childhood. It was difficult I'm not going to pretend it was anything but that especially being born into a country where my skin color by itself was going to attract negative attention. But what I can say is that there was a feeling within me that I just knew everything was going to be okay and everything was going to be great. So, for me, resilience at this point in my life, I know that life happens for me and not to me.
Speaker 6:I don't know who made up that quote, but it's a stoicism, philosophy, and it's the ability to change and adapt, and my childhood was the grooming ground for me being able to do all of that throughout life. There's no way that I would have traveled the continents that I traveled with a backpack and a dream, with no financial support, on my own, navigating the oceans and the seas, meeting people. Anybody else would crumble in that. I mean, really, I must be crazy. I never thought about it, I just had a vision, I had a dream. So my internal ability to adapt and come up with ideas has never failed me and continues to be like the phoenix rising from the ashes. I have the ability to maintain an incredibly positive spirit even in the face of adversity. There's nothing that stops me. I get an idea, I go for it. So for me, resilience is I'm like a dandelion, which is the flower of resilience, and I have the ability to thrive in the most inhospitable places and I always find the brilliance and the wonder. I'm just inspired, inspired by life.
Speaker 2:We just heard from Cole DeBrow, world traveler and fabulous astrologer, once again contributing graciously to Five Body Wisdom interviews with ourselves. So, delia, let's go back to what you said in your introduction as to how resistance builds resilience. Oh yeah, and that I have plenty of both. Well, resistance is often your first response to discomfort, whether it's change, loss, uncertainty. Loss uncertainty, instead of avoiding or numbing it, when you engage with what challenges you, you step into a place of growth and, naturally, resistance leads to struggle and suffering. Now, these aren't signs of failure, but they are indicators that you're stretching beyond all your old limits. Struggle can define you, struggle can refine you, while suffering reveals where you're still holding on, still learning, still transforming. You know, this is just the nature of being a human. From that place of extreme discomfort, resilience is born. True resilience isn't about becoming harder or more armored. It's about becoming more open, adaptable, more wise. Each time you endure, you emerge stronger, not in spite of the struggle, but because of it. Well, okay, delia. So in summation, resistance births struggle, struggle breeds resilience. This is the sacred cycle of becoming Exactly exactly, and I'd like, in this moment, those of you listening to pause and reflect on your relationship with resilience. Give yourself the gift of this moment to recognize the strength that has brought you this far, and even greater strength that will carry you forward. Bring your awareness to your breath. You don't need to fix anything. A simple inhale with awareness will do fine. You don't need to force anything. Allow the exhale to lengthen, gently releasing tension. Just notice that you are here, present, in your body, in your mind, breathing, capable and resilient. Continue to take a few cleansing breaths, get comfortable in your body, clear your mind of thoughts and just sit with your feelings. Oftentimes, without even realizing it, you carry the weight of your days in your five bodies, in your breath, in your posture, in your thoughts. But right now, right now, in this moment, I invite you just to pause, breathe and reflect. So, delia, any final words for your listeners here today? Yes, I do.
Speaker 2:I want them to know that I created the mindful mandala cards as a labor of love. I knew that, rather than get weighed down by the dark emotions, the struggle, the suffering we just talked about, the resistance that leads to our building resilience that using the cards can shift, shift you from that despair to a lighter joy, can shift you from the doubt to having faith in yourself and in your future, from the darkness that we suffer mentally to light, letting in the light into your mind, into your body. The mindful mandala cards were created as a tool to be used for any situation, by anyone, for whatever reason. They provide you an immediate action to shift a negative situation in a positive direction. I know I've been there and I've counseled countless individuals to move through their dark emotions and into a space of peace, love and joy.
Speaker 2:All right, so, delia, would you like to tell the listeners where they can find those Mindful Mandala cards? Yes, yes, of course, on my website, mindfulmandalacom. Check it out, let me know what you think. And I wanted to thank my guests, janet Bassett, marcia Ward, veronica Rockowitz and Koldip Rao for taking the time to interview themselves and share it for all our highest good. And share it for all our highest good. I'm Delia Quigley. You've been listening to Five Body Wisdom interviews with ourselves and that resilience that you have, it's always with you. Just remember, no matter what today brings. Thanks for listening, until next time.
