Some moments don’t start with pain. They start with pause.
You sit down for a quick rest and stay there. Hours pass. Then days. You tell yourself it’s temporary. That you’re just tired. But deep down, you feel like your body has slowly slipped out of reach.
This was the quiet drift that caught up with Erin Mitchell, 52, from Charleston, South Carolina. A former teacher, she’d always been active—until the joint aches began, and the couch started feeling safer than the sidewalk.
Erin’s First Step Back.
“I didn’t want to call it depression, but something wasn’t right,” Erin recalls.
“Even when I wasn’t in pain, I still didn’t want to move.”
She’d gained weight. Her knees were stiff every morning. And even standing up to get water felt like effort.
The turning point wasn’t dramatic. One evening, while scrolling through her phone, she found an old photo of herself walking along the beach—sun on her face, arms swinging freely.
“I didn’t want to call it depression, but something wasn’t right,” Erin recalls.
“Even when I wasn’t in pain, I still didn’t want to move.”
Her Gentle Reentry Into Movement
– Erin committed to walking 5 minutes in her hallway. No pressure. Just movement.
– Listening to her body, she started a joint supplement with turmeric and MSM.
– New shoes replaced her worn-out flats—cushioned sneakers that supported her steps.
– No longer apologizing for ‘slowing down,’ she allowed herself to move with grace.
Within two weeks, she walked to the corner. Then around the block. And one morning, she didn’t sit down right after breakfast—she went outside.
Stillness Isn’t Failure
You don’t have to start big. You just have to start honest. Movement after 50 isn’t about speed. It’s about reentering your body with care.
Erin didn’t sprint. She didn’t track her steps. She just moved. And that was enough to change everything.
Need help moving again – gently?
Updated regularly to reflect scientific advances in women’s joint care.