We all know February is supposed to be about love. Partnership, parenting, intimacy, friendship… blah blah blah. And yes, I celebrate all of that with Matt, my family, and friends. But what has been bubbling up for me lately is a different kind of alignment, the kind that has nothing to do with flowers or date nights and everything to do with paying attention to how my body is actually responding to this season of life.
My body has changed dramatically over the last two years, and I find myself squarely in that middle stretch where what worked for the last twenty years no longer delivers the same return. The workouts that once gave me energy now leave me depleted, and the intensity that used to feel productive now feels slightly at odds with what I actually need. That realization forced me to step back and reassess what sustainable performance looks like in midlife, especially with shifting hormones and a full professional and family life.
Before kids, I was a workout hound. I trained hard, pushed intensity, and measured progress by output. After kids, that rhythm faded in ways I didn’t fully acknowledge until recently. So I asked Chat to act as my fitness coach and gave it a very specific brief: help me lose midsection fat, maintain steady energy throughout the day, and work with these hormonal shifts instead of fighting them. The answer for cardio was not what my twenty-something self would have chosen. It was Zone 2 rowing three times a week.
Zone 2 is not flashy, and it certainly does not feel heroic. It requires keeping my heart rate in a steady range, matching my breath to my stroke, and resisting the instinct to sprint simply because I can. In many ways, it is harder than high-intensity training because it demands discipline without drama and consistency without adrenaline.
And here is the part that surprised me. I love it!
Every time I finish on the rower, I find myself telling Matt how much I enjoy this strange, steady workout. My mind and body are cooperating instead of competing, and my energy feels more even across the day. Strength feels sustainable rather than extracted. What I thought would feel like restraint has begun to feel like alignment.
The more I sit with that, the more I've noticed it beyond fitness. Alignment has less to do with intensity and more to do with integration. It shows up when effort and environment are working together instead of pulling against each other, and when discipline feels grounded rather than forced. Once I recognized that feeling in my body, I began to see it everywhere.
