How I Escaped From the Toxic and Ugly Life I Was Living In

What's far more important, and you all know this when you get older, is feeling good, looking good. We know now we've passed the little hump, and we are going gray. We are getting wrinkles, and we're like, oh, okay, so those beautiful years. Aging is a different kind of beauty, but it is beautiful. But it's not for the standard norm of society and fashion and all of that. It doesn't exist out there. Aging is a whole other chapter of your life and a whole different way. You need to take care of yourself. Foreign. Hey, badass. Welcome to Keeping It Real, the podcast where we ditch the nonsense, say it like it is, and redefine what it means to feel good in your body and your life. I'm Misty Tripoli, creator of the Groove Method, and I'm here to help you move, dance, and live authentically and unapologetically. So if you're ready to break free from the societal expectations, embrace your truth and your own unique Groove, you are in the right place. So let's keep it real, let's keep it wild, and let's keep it moving. I was 45 years old when I realized I better fucking make peace with my body or I'm in big trouble. And you may be out there knowing exactly what I mean, which is it's never good enough. You're always on a diet, always trying to change what you're seeing in the mirror is not okay. It makes you depressed. It makes you feel bad about yourself. It makes you feel insecure. Yeah, if that's you, I feel you, I totally get it. I was bulimic for 16 years, nearly almost killed myself by throwing up because I just had to change this body. It wasn't good enough. And it all boiled down to being worthy of love. That's what's so crazy about this, is that we, as women, it is not our fault. We are not stupid, but it is not our fault. But it is wired into our DNA to be beautiful. And that beauty equals love, unconsciously, is this subconscious thing that happens in our culture. And it's not our fault, because for how many millennia we've been here, who fucking knows? But the woman that, according to their cultural norms was the most beautiful got the best man. And what that meant was safety, security. Your children were going to be protected. So we started to equate our worthiness of love by our beauty. The standardized, normalized beauty norms of whatever's happening in society and culture at that moment, right now, it is fucking terrifying. What we have defined as beautiful, it's not even real anymore. Like what? Like every culture has their things from, you know, in Africa, where they would wear the rings and stretch their necks, and in China, where they would bind their feet and make them small. The woman with the smallest feet, that was the most beautiful, that was the most delicate. So we have to understand that we've been doing this unconsciously for millennia. And we hold ourselves to very unrealistic beauty standards that are insane. And if we don't measure up to that, then we judge ourselves and we criticize ourselves. And then what that does is it disconnects us from our body. I realized at 45 years old that I was at absolute war with my body. From bulimia to having liposuction to over indulging, over exercising. Like, I would exercise myself to death just to try to mold myself. I never reached it. I never obtained it. But it was this endless pursuit of something I was trying to be that wasn't even for me, that whatever society deemed. But I was completely unconscious in that moment. I forgive. Like, I totally get it. I was in the system. I believed the bullshit. I paid attention to magazines and I, you know, was into, like, the rumors of movie stars, and that seemed like such a glamorous, oh, my God life that we all dream of kind of a thing. And I was lost in it, too. I thought that those lives were important. Fucking more important than mine. That's another story, though. When I wrote my own fucking magazine about me. You can do it, Oprah. So can fucking I. It doesn't need to be published, but you should live your life like you're fucking Oprah. Write your own magazine. Be the star of the show. Okay, I'm getting off track, but that is another topic we will talk about. About. You need to fucking give yourself permission to shine like a fucking supernova. Okay? So we have been conditioned that our value is somehow connected to our beauty. And so what that does to us, psychologically, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, soulfully, it is so draining and so hard. Like, for me, it was my whole life. It's my whole life. My whole day revolved around how many calories I was taking in, how I was going to get rid of it, how I was going to exercise. I had to make money. So part of that was my job. In a job that I was working for someone else. Good at my job, love my job. But it wasn't the Misty Show. It was a job that was my whole life. And it was like a hamster wheel that just. You gotta know, you're just on this wheel. And you're like, how do I get off of this wheel? How did I even get on this fucking wheel? Now I'm aware that I'm on this fucking wheel. I thought this was what I was supposed to want. No. And what this does ultimately and why I tie it back to dance is because for a lot of us, it's the reason why we don't dance. We're not comfortable in our bodies. We feel awkward, we feel. It's. There's a disconnect and there's. What I've found is a fear of the connection, you know, because our bodies, we're ashamed of our bodies. And it can even go into, like, you know, traumas and sexual abuse. And, like, there can be so many things that create this severance, this disconnect from the body. And even to a point where you don't wanna be in your body. You're like, what? And that's what I'm saying. I didn't realize Till I was 45 years old that it was like, holy shit. I can't say that. But the reality is, it was when I woke up, which was around 32, 33 years old, when I realized that you can't deny aging and that you're gonna wrinkle, you're gonna age. And that's part of the deal. Like, you just have to make peace with it. So it's another level of acceptance of yourself and being human. And most people don't dance because they feel awkward in their bodies. They feel uncomfortable. And dance is actually our most natural form of movement. It is the way that we're supposed to dance. You put music on with babies and they just move to the music. No one teaches them. It's not trained. It's an innate thing that we actually have inside of ourselves. Like, yeah, just put music on and see what happens to your body. Put music on that you love and just see what happens to your body. And if you don't judge it and stop it, where would it go? What would it do? And that's dancing. And that's fucking dancing. Like, you know, your way shouldn't look like anyone else's way. That's dancing. But I have found that when you are trying so hard to mold your body to be a certain way, and then it disappoints you, which inevitably it will, you know, you can have that perfect fucking rock hard body. You can work all that work. You can do all that shit. You. If that's what motivates you, fucking go for it. But that requires a lot of work. Like, oh, my God. I think about that and I'm just like, what it takes. And I used to be that person, but now it's about feeling good in my body and making sure that my body feels good all of the time. And what do I need to do to make sure my body's feeling good all the time. And yeah, pushing weight is a part of that because that's what keeps your bones strong and your muscles strong and all of this. But letting go of the obsession of that there's a certain shape that needs to be obtained, or that there's somehow an aesthetic value to it, yes, there's gonna be aesthetics to it. However, what's far more important, and you all know this when you get older, is feeling good, looking good. We know now we've passed the little hump and we are going gray. We are getting wrinkles and we're like, oh, okay. So those beautiful years. Aging is a different kind of beauty, but it is beautiful. But it's not for the standard norm of society and fashion and all of that. It doesn't exist out there. Aging is a whole other chapter of your life and a whole different way. You need to take care of yourself. And if you find yourself that, you know, you haven't yet reached that point where you're like, I finally need to make peace with my body. I need to make peace with my body. I don't want to be in pain. However many years you have left, you want to feel good in your body. And so a very powerful way to do that is to dance. And if you are afraid to dance, if you feel awkward, if you feel uncomfortable, if you feel like, I can't dance, if you feel like you've told yourself over and over, I can't follow choreography. I just, I'm not a dancer. You know, if that's you, perfect, now you are a dancer. All of that's bullshit. It's because you couldn't dance like someone else or you're uncomfortable in your body and you've been disconnected. So this is why I invite you to groove with me. All of what I'm doing online, everything that I'm doing is to help get people back into their bodies in a really fun, easy, non esoteric. Like, there's so many programs out there right now. You know, there's trance dance, you know, there's nia, and these are amazing programs. I have nothing against these. You've got all of this, like shamanic medicine, you've got all of this dance Therapy, there are so many things out there. And what I have found is that those things tend to be quite intimidating to the general population because it seems a little esoteric or airy fairy, let's just say. Or it's just like, okay, that looks a little weird, whatever that might be. And this is another reason why groove is so powerful. Because I created groove because I'm a badass fucking down to earth mofo. And I wanted to help people in a really cool, modern, fun way just by fucking shaking your ass, reconnecting to their bodies and how their bodies move and how good it feels to dance and how good it feels to be authentic and move and groove in your body. And that's what you're supposed to be doing. So today, let's just say find a dance floor or groove with me online, or just fucking go to YouTube and just put in body groove and a bunch of videos will show up and you can dance with me in your living room and I'll show you how easy and simple it is to get into your body and to stop being at war with your body. Because if you start moving your body your way, you start to feel good in your body. And for me, it developed a powerful trust with myself and that my way was the right way. And, oh, this is how my body feels, the music and, you know, fuck yeah, I got style, I got pizzazz. And it really made me connect with my authentic self and that I was able to exude out into the world and it changed my world. I created my own business. I built my own fucking off grid jungle oasis out in Mexico. Like when I just started to give myself permission to dance my own unique, authentic way without judgment, especially in my own mind or worried about what other people thought about it. So fucking give yourself permission and see what happens. Yeah. So go get grooved. Go fucking get grooved. Or find a class. Go to getgroup.com you can find a class on getgroup.com yeah. Fucking grooves. All right, fierce ones, that's a wrap for today. Thanks for keeping it real and grooving with me. If you're loving this vibe, be sure to subscribe, share and leave a review so that we can keep this movement alive. Remember, this journey is all about you. You, owning your own truth, trusting your instincts and living boldly. Stay true, stay wild, and most importantly, keep being unapologetically you. So until next time, let's keep it real.