Aging Fiercely Podcast

AM Costanzo
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to the Aging Fiercely Podcast! 💋 Who says life over 40 means slowing down? We’re here to flip the script on aging! Forget the scale and the “summer body” obsession—it’s about building strength, changing the narrative, and experiencing more wild adventures! Midlife isn't a crisis - it's a comeback! 👊 amcostanzo.substack.com

  1. 5d ago

    Overthinking and Overfunctioning? Retrain Your Brain and Settle Your Nervous System | Cameron Allen

    What if the brain fog, the overwhelm, and that feeling of "I don't even know who I am anymore" aren't proof that something is wrong with you or that you need fixing? In this episode, I sit down with Cameron Allen, founder of Neuro Progeny, to talk about what's happening in the nervous system when we feel overwhelmed and anxious, and why that dysregulation can intensify during perimenopause and menopause. Cameron's path started with his brother, who struggled with depression after a series of head injuries. When a neurotherapy program brought him back, Cameron spent the next 22 years testing brain-based interventions and built XRegulation, an at-home program that uses virtual reality and heart rate variability biofeedback to help regulate the nervous system. It's designed to reconnect your mind and your body, because when we tune into how our bodies feel, we gain so much more awareness of our thoughts, behaviors, and patterns. We talk about why the nervous system's bigger job is conserving energy by predicting what happens next, how shifting estrogen, oxytocin, and GABA can leave women feeling disconnected from themselves, and why the vagus nerve offers another way back to that connection. What your nervous system wants is flexibility, the ability to bounce back from an emotional moment without it lingering in your body for days. He calls it state fluidity. In this conversation: The moment Cameron's brother came back, and why it became Cameron's life's workWhy your nervous system runs on prediction, and what happens when it gets it wrongHow the hormonal cycle gives women access to different brain states, and what shifts in perimenopauseWhat heart rate variability isWhy an argument can linger in your body for daysA simple way to feel oxytocin in your body right nowWhy feeling slightly frustrated is part of how the brain learnsHow "I'll slow down when..." turns into a busy identityAsking "How do I want to feel today?" before you get out of bedFinding your three true self words and making decisions from themHow the five-week XRegulation program works, from the home headset to weekly coaching with CameronWhy every state you've lived through is an asset as you ageConnect with Cameron Allen: Website: neuroprogeny.com Instagram: @neuro_cameron Book a free 30-minute consultation with Cameron through the website. Connect with AM: Website: amcostanzo.com YouTube: amcostanzowellness Substack: Aging Fiercely Instagram: aging.fiercely

  2. Sep 22

    Unresolved Trauma: How It Affects Our Behavior, and How Safety Opens the Door to Healing

    What do you do when what you've always done stops working, and you catch yourself saying, "I don't know who I am anymore"? In this episode, I sit down with Ramona Kossowan, Canada's first certified Gentle Trauma Release practitioner, certified women's empowerment coach, and fitness trainer, to talk about how unresolved trauma affects our behavior in midlife, often without us realizing it, and how safety opens the door to healing.  Ramona's answer is that for most of us, the nervous system is driving our behavior, beliefs, relationships, and sense of worth through adaptations we formed in response to trauma. She defines trauma as distress without resolve, and it isn't only the big events. It can be a slow erosion of your sense of self. Because we may not connect what we're feeling to trauma at all, she starts with our symptoms and when they began, often around a period like a falling out with a child or parent, or years of caring for an elderly relative. From there, her work starts with safety, the foundation that opens the door to healing.  Subtle nervous system exercises give the body the message that it's safe, and that’s when the body shows what it's ready to release. As the distress comes down, a memory loses its intensity and the way we see things begins to shift on its own. Ramona notes this is a complementary method, not a replacement for medical treatment. We also get into the identities we take on to survive, why she looks at shame before she talks about food, and her advice for anyone who wants to age fiercely: don't accept limits that were pushed on you.  We discuss: Why so many women reach a breaking point in midlifeTrauma is defined as distress without resolveWhy we may not realize our patterns are trauma-basedWhy safety comes before releaseHow nervous system exercises workThe identities we take on to survive: mother energy and daughter energyWhy fitness comes later, and movement that feels joyfulAdvice for aging fiercely: don't accept limits that were pushed on youConnect with Ramona Kossowan:  Website: ramonakcoaching.com  Gentle Trauma Release: gentletraumacoach.com Facebook: Ramona K Coaching Instagram: @ramonakcoaching LinkedIn: Ramona Kossowan YouTube: Ramona K Coaching Free Resource: Is it Trauma? Explore the often overlooked symptoms of trauma: Gentle Trauma Assessment Free Resource: When food feels chaotic, who's running the show? Find your Food Archetype: Food Archetype Opt-in Connect with AM:  Website: amcostanzo.com YouTube: amcostanzowellness Substack: Aging Fiercely Instagram: aging.fiercely

  3. Sep 15

    How Somatic Movement Heals What Words Can't with Allison Pagano

    Why don't affirmations work, even when you say them every day? In this episode, I sit down with Allison Pagano, founder of Embodied Dance®, to talk about what happens when you finally let your body back into the conversation — and it comes down to somatic movement. Allison's own path into somatic movement started in her twenties, when she was in what she describes as a depressed, shut-down state and struggling with an eating disorder. A class with an indigenous teacher during a study-abroad year in Australia introduced her to chakras and energy work for the first time, and it cracked open a question she's been chasing ever since: what is my body actually trying to tell me? We get into how to tell a limiting belief apart from your body's genuine no, why affirmations don't work when there's an unresolved belief underneath, and how she uses movement as medicine to help people release what's stuck. She also talks about her own body of work, informed by what she calls the Collard Method, which links specific areas of the body to specific emotional patterns. And she doesn't shy away from the bigger point underneath all of it: why disconnection from your body makes you easier to control, and how reclaiming that connection is its own kind of power. In this conversation: How an eating disorder in her twenties led her to found Embodied DanceHow to tell a limiting belief apart from your body's genuine "no"Why affirmations don't work when your body doesn't believe themWhy certain body areas hold certain emotional patternsWhy disconnection from your body makes you easier to controlWhat a somatic movement session actually looks likeWhy she works with small groups of five or six people, by designWho the "quiet rebels" are that she mentors into leadershipHer one piece of advice for a woman looking to age fiercely Connect with Allison Pagano:  FREE TRAINING: The Body as Oracle: Awakening the Teacher Within — a free live class on Oct. 23, 2026  for the "quiet rebels" ready to step into their next chapter. embodied-dance.com/body-as-oracle (check website for accurate start time - she’s in Sydney Australia.) Website: embodied-dance.com  Instagram: @embodied.dance Connect with AM:  Website: amcostanzo.com  YouTube: amcostanzowellness  Substack: Aging Fiercely  Instagram: aging.fiercely

  4. Sep 3

    This 17-Second Practice Allows You to Feel How Ridiculously Good Life Can Be

    Have you ever tried to feel truly happy, truly abundant, truly at peace for just 17 seconds straight — and had your brain shut it down after four? In this episode, recorded live on one of my walk/runs - as part of a 30-day commitment to show up and share whatever's on my mind -I get into a practice I've heard about for years but never actually tried: the 17 second rule. It comes from Abraham Hicks by way of my own coach, Cathy Heller, and the idea is deceptively simple — get into the emotion you want to feel, fully, for a full 17 seconds, and you start shifting your momentum and what you attract. It sounds easy. It is not that easy. I talk through what happens when I try it, why our brains fight so hard against letting us feel good before "the problems are solved," and why stepping into that feeling on purpose is what it means to “step into your power.” Connect with AM: Website: amcostanzo.com YouTube: amcostanzowellness Instagram: aging.fiercely

  5. Aug 25

    The Superhero Inside: Somatic Coaching, Self-Love & Finding Your Power with Noreen Noble

    In this episode of Aging Fiercely, I sit down with Noreen Noble, a certified somatic integrated life coach and debut author of The Superhero Inside: Find Your Power, Own Your Story, Change Your World. We dive into somatic coaching and why healing the mind isn't enough on its own — your body holds wisdom and memory that logic alone can't reach. Noreen shares how a cancer diagnosis led her from mindset coaching into somatic work, and why self-love (not selfishness) is the foundation everything else is built on. She also walks us through the research behind her book — she studied 150+ superhero origin stories and found nine patterns that mirror how real people discover their own power. Key Takeaways 1. Somatic coaching bridges the gap mindset work leaves behind. Managing your thoughts is powerful, but most of us operate from a "belief loop" formed in childhood — interpreting the present through old protective lenses. Somatic coaching adds the missing piece: noticing what's happening in your body as real information, not something to fix. 2. Self-love isn't selfish — it's the foundation for everything else. The quality of your life will never exceed the quality of the relationship you have with yourself. Trying to control everyone and everything around you is often a sign you haven't yet made peace with what's happening inside you. 3. Your body remembers what your mind tries to move past. Noreen shares the science and stories behind why trauma, memory, and emotion live throughout the whole body — not just the brain. Breathwork is her go-to first step for helping clients settle their nervous system and start listening. 4. Your "superpower" often comes from what once felt like a wound. After researching the origin stories of over 150 superheroes, Noreen found nine recurring patterns — and realized they mirror how real people develop their gifts: through difference, hardship, training, or transformation. The things that made you feel like you didn't fit in may be exactly where your power lives. Connect with Noreen Free Resource with promo code "PODCAST": Overthinking to Inner Knowing: A 5-day journey designed to help you quiet the mental noise, reconnect with your intuition, and strengthen your ability to trust yourself. noreennoble.com/trustyourself Website: Noreen Noble Instagram: Noreen Noble Book: The Superhero Inside: Find Your Power, Own Your Story, Change Your World Connect with AM Free Workshop Sign up for AM's FREE monthly workshop, Working on Becoming—Live on Substack the first Tuesday of every month: https://www.amcostanzo.com/free-goal-setting-workshop Instagram: aging.fiercely Substack: amcostanzo.substack.com YouTube: amcostanzowellness Website: amcostanzo.com Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast if you found this episode valuable. It helps other people discover the show, and it only takes 30 seconds!! ♥️

  6. Aug 11

    Our Secret to 40 Years of Friendship: Hold the Drama, Grudges, and Comparison Please

    What does it take to keep the same friend group together for over forty years? In this episode, I'm doing something a little different: I'm on a girls' trip with my three nearest and dearest friends, Jill, Amy, and Deb, the "core four" since fourth grade, and we're talking about what it actually takes to maintain a friendship this long. We got honest about where we all are right now: one of us divorced with no kids, one married with kids and empty nesting, me still knee-deep in carpools and school schedules, and one going through a divorce in real time while the rest of us show up for her. We talked about why we made an annual girls' weekend non-negotiable, how the sandwich generation squeeze of aging parents has made these weekends even more important, and why our friendship has stayed so drama-free and non-transactional. Plus a story about the time our middle school principal literally pulled us out of class to work through a fight, and how playing sports together as teenagers built the teamwork that's carried us through decades. In this conversation: How a friend group that started in fourth grade has lasted over forty yearsWhy we made an annual girls' weekend a non-negotiableNavigating divorce, empty nesting, and the sandwich generation togetherThe difference between a transactional friendship and the real thingThe middle school lesson from our principal that shaped how we handle conflictHow being teammates on a state championship volleyball team built lifelong teamworkOur best advice for other women on aging fiercely Connect with AM: Website: amcostanzo.com YouTube: amcostanzowellness Substack: Aging Fiercely Instagram: aging.fiercely

  7. Jul 21

    A Man's Perspective on Aging Fiercely (And Why Flow State is Harder for Women to Find)

    A man's perspective on aging fiercely — that's what you get in this one, recorded straight from the car on a family road trip through Colorado. I put my husband Tim on the spot and asked him what aging fiercely means to him. We talk about ditching the "slow fade" mindset, why he thinks he's in a constant state of flow (and why I can never get there myself), and the three things he's noticed that nearly every successful person he's studied has in common. It's a slightly bumpy-road conversation about staying young in mindset, taking risks later in life, and why the version of aging fiercely looks so different depending on who's living it. Key Takeaways1. The mental load is a flow-state killer. Tim describes being able to drop into deep, uninterrupted focus for hours — three hours can go by "in five minutes." I push back on that a little, because as a woman carrying the invisible mental load of pickups, groceries, and dinner plans, true flow state feels a lot harder to reach. This is a look at how mental load in midlife shows up differently for men and women, even within the same household. 2. Aging fiercely means rejecting the slow fade. Tim talks about watching people in their seventies and eighties still ripping down the ski mountain and thinking, "that's what I want." Instead of coasting into retirement mode, aging fiercely as a mindset means staying curious, staying active, and refusing to let age dictate what you're capable of. 3. Self-trust is built through self-care, not perfection. Whether it's Tim's observation that almost everyone he's seen interviewed about making their first million also prioritizes their fitness, or my own take that showing up for yourself is what builds self-trust in midlife — the throughline is the same: taking care of yourself isn't vanity, it's the foundation for everything else. Connect with TimTim has a podcast called the MedTech Founders Club on Apple. He is the founder of Vuelab and he is the brains behind the innovative sales enablement tool, Nuvue. (He also thinks he looks like Brad Pitt.)    Connect with AMWebsite: amcostanzo.com   YouTube: amcostanzowellness  Substack: Aging Fiercely  Instagram: aging.fiercely Join the Six-Week Glow Up Experience! Ready for your Glow Up? ✨ I'm running a Six-Week Glow Up Experience — six weeks, six Zoom calls (three with me, three with experts straight from this podcast's guest list). We're talking daily movement, nutrition and macros, and personal development, all pointed at your goals. By the end, you won't be the same woman who started — that's kind of the whole point. Want in? DM me on Instagram at @aging.fiercely and I'll get you on the waitlist to learn more!

  8. Jul 16

    The Importance of Fitting in Fitness | From Journalism to Fitness Studio Owner, Laura Kovall

    Today I sit down with Laura Kovall, owner of The Fit Co in Pleasantville, fellow fitness professional, and someone who has spent her whole life proving that you don't need a perfect schedule to stay consistent - you just need to fit it in. Fitness wasn’t Laura's first career but it kept finding her anyway. She talks about what it took to leave a career in journalism, her philosophy about fitting in fitness — short classes, and meeting people exactly where their real life is instead of where a perfect training plan says it should be — and how consistency is the key to aging fiercely! We also get into listening to your body, knowing the difference between a dull ache you can work through and a sharp pain that means stop, and why a tight muscle sometimes needs strengthening instead of stretching. In this conversation we talk about: How Laura went from journalism to NYPD analyst to owner of a fitness studioWhy classes at The Fit Co are intentionally short, and how that supports consistencyThe difference between a tight muscle and a weak one, and why stretching isn't always the answerWhat's actually going on with knee pain, and why sit-to-stand exercises can help more than squatsHow lower estrogen, not just "getting older," drives a lot of joint pain in midlifeWhy she pulled out of marathon training this year and the importance of listening to your bodyWhy carbs are not the enemy, and why "eating well" doesn't mean eating too littleHer one-word answer for women who want to age fiercely: consistency Connect with Laura Kovall:  Website: The Fit Co  Instagram: @thefitco_by_laura  Studio: The Fit Co,96 Wheeler Ave, Pleasantville, NY (in-person classes and live stream) Connect with AM:  Website: amcostanzo.com  YouTube: amcostanzowellness  Substack: Aging Fiercely  Instagram: aging.fiercely

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5
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About

Welcome to the Aging Fiercely Podcast! 💋 Who says life over 40 means slowing down? We’re here to flip the script on aging! Forget the scale and the “summer body” obsession—it’s about building strength, changing the narrative, and experiencing more wild adventures! Midlife isn't a crisis - it's a comeback! 👊 amcostanzo.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    AM Costanzo
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    137
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 AM Costanzo
  • Show Website
    Aging Fiercely Podcast