My Body Keeps The Score
Plus, all the news from the past week across the wellness world, including three new *whoa* studies, cool stuff with women in sport, activewear brand updates, and more...
A couple days ago, I caught up over coffee and a manicure with my childhood friend from Kansas City, Molly. The two of us played basketball together waaay back in the day, on our high school team. Molly was one of the most dazzling, shiny, MVP superstars, regularly winning local awards and scoring double digits in our games. (I played three guard, and was more of a defensive specialist.)
Over the years, my three kiddos and husband have heard me talk (ad nauseum) about my glory days of high school sports. So it was fun to introduce Molly, the living and breathing Star, who often makes cameos in my stories. Seeing her took me back in time…
Sophomore year was one of those epic, underdog basketball seasons that culminated with our team winning a State Championship: It’s a core memory seared into my brain and DNA forever and ever.
In fact, tenth grade was a really big year in sports for me. Right before that basketball run, my doubles partner, Amy, and I won the tennis State Championship in a nail biter three-set match. (I played on a severely sprained ankle, which rolls unexpectedly to this day. Still! I wouldn’t do it differently.)
Post-tournament, my dad, who’s an excellent tennis player and who was buoyed by the victory, encouraged me to let go of basketball in order to focus entirely on tennis. I get where he was coming from: My tennis potential was objectively bigger. (I also played soccer, and there was no question that would continue.)
But I was torn! Because even though I wasn’t The Best, playing basketball lit me up. I loved the game, the strategy, my friends on the team, the thrill of darting into the opposing team’s passing lane and stealing the ball. (Most of my points were scored off steals/layups.)
I vividly remember the varsity basketball coach, who we all affectionately nicknamed Spig, waiting outside the doorway of my history class one morning, a week or so before pre-season began. He’d heard that I was thinking of not playing basketball that winter. He was kind, and did not pressure me. He had just stepped up as head coach, and said that he had big plans for the team: I was meant to be part of them.
How was I feeling? Did I really want to go all-in on tennis? Did I want to give up basketball? It all felt very big and intense and confusing as a 15 year old, who has always given a lot (maybe too much) respect to authority figures: And now I was caught between two of them…my dad and the varsity coach.
“Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than fear, everything shifts.” —Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
My decision ultimately was informed by a technique that I still use at 45 years old: Over the next couple days, I found some alone time, cleared my head, and considered the options, noticing how my body felt physically in each scenario. Did my stomach hurt? Did my heart race? Did I feel hope? Excitement? Did I feel flat? Connecting with these sensations has helped me navigate many major decisions throughout my life.
Per the quote above, I can now see that I was using a protocol from the famous book, The Body Keeps The Score, which is about healing from trauma (not applicable in this case), as well as growth, curiosity and resilience.
Quick detour: This new Atlantic piece about how we’re outsourcing advice to paid professionals, often pros without any formal training degree—on everything from executive coaching to what color to paint the kitchen—rather than checking in with ourselves or our friends, made me smile. My “what does my body want?” hack is not a a perfect science, but it’s less expensive and has served me well.
The video above is from an IG Story I posted during Alumni Weekend in 2023 when I was visiting my family…I’m in the gym where we practiced and played home games.
My body knew the answer: I wanted to play basketball. It was one of the first times in my life that I dug deep, courageously found my voice, and firmly told my dad I’d made a decision that he wasn’t going to like. To his credit, he respected my choice.
I texted my dad this past weekend to (1) see how he remembered things, and (2) to make sure he was cool with me sharing this personal story that involved him here. He said: Don’t recall the specific conversation….it could have happened…and since you remember it, it probably did! Wild how this Big Formative Thing in my life is barely a blip in someone else’s, right?
Now that I have regaled you, too, with some memories from three decades ago, it’s time for my weekly wellness roundup. My narrative build-up was all going somewhere: This week, I was extra inspired by women in sport making noise: professional and in pop culture. These roundups are getting longer and more insidery-er…and are also taking more (fun!) effort each week. Which is why my Gold Star readers (aka: paid subscribers, love ya) get full access to my Monday posts, including all of the links and my hot takes Across The Wellness World, below. Whether you level-up or not, I am so glad you’re here. Here’s a quick teaser for one of the news / whispers / studies / trends / takeaways you’ll find in this weekly roundup…
In doing some light Google Scholar-ing this weekend, as one does, I came across a new study in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism that investigated how different protein supplements affect muscle protein synthesis in females after resistance exercise. The researchers compared 1.5 grams of essential amino acids (EAAs), as well as 15 and 20 grams of whey protein, on muscle protein synthesis (MPS) rates post-exercise. There were no significant differences among the three groups, suggesting that even a small dose of EAAs (1.5 grams) is as effective in stimulating MPS as larger amounts of whey protein. The study also explores MPS duration, post-exercise. (I’m psyched for more studies in this space, particularly on women. Check out my EAAs deep dive from a few weeks back. And this is my Kion aminos supplement go-to. I especially love the watermelon and mango flavors.)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Best Case Scenario to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.