Talking to Brooke Burke on a Monday morning is like having that fantastic feeling on January 1 that anything and everything is possible. The mom of four, television host, cancer survivor, entrepreneur, fitness educator, philanthropist, podcaster and women’s health advocate has been thriving in Hollywood for decades. And to say she makes it a full-time job to motivate others in the health and wellness space only scratches the surface. Besides Brooke Burke Body (BB Body), an app designed to support working out from the comfort of your own home, Burke is also passionate about her longevity retreats, openly discussing menopause and making small changes with big impact.
You have a big retreat in Arizona next week. You’re constantly connecting with your community virtually, but how is the in-person connection different?
We’ve been doing live retreats and in-person events for the last few years. It really is my favorite type of work. The one next week is a longevity retreat that’s built on mind, body and energy. Everything from fitness, wellness, yoga, mindfulness, meditation, spirituality, self-discovery. These types of retreats are an opportunity for people to get away, carve out time for themselves, check out of their world, check back in with themselves, reset, reimagine and rediscover.
It’s so many things we need that we often forget—especially as women. We’re so often at the bottom of our to-do list. Maybe we have lost our sense of self, or we’re looking for a deeper purpose in life. They really are exploratory opportunities to unpack all of those things. I love this work so much.
You can tell. It seems like it is beyond a full-time job for you. Is it still emotional for you when you are meeting people in person for the first time and doing this kind of ‘heavy’ work?
Great question. It is every time. I feel like we all leave better than we arrived. I learn so much from other women. My stories become their stories. Their stories become part of my story. It’s incredible what happens when women can be in a space of freedom, a space without judgment. I take that very seriously when I’m doing these retreats. We’re really exploring all the different layers of being women. There are also some men, but it’s predominantly women. It’s time to just discover…to remember, to reimagine, set goals, create daily rituals, create new patterns. Every retreat changes me in such a beautiful way.
I do a handful of them in a place called CIVANA in Carefree, Arizona [the next one will be held October 24], which is also where Scott and I built our second home. I’ve created a Blue Zone here in Arizona, where we live. I’m slightly obsessed with the concept that Dan Buettner has created. There’s a book and a documentary—Blue Zones are getting a lot of attention right now.
I feel like everybody has an opportunity to create a Blue Zone experience where they live, regardless of economy and geography. It’s really about purpose, mobility, how we’re meeting our body, how we’re fueling our bodies, things we’re bringing into our home, how we’re creating energy, shifting energy.
It is getting a lot of buzz.
It’s a powerful concept. And I believe that we can create that anywhere and everywhere. We do a lot of workshops in the longevity space. The retreat is amazing, and so is the spa, which is one of the top 10 in the country. It’s amazing.
Then, I also pivot a little bit and bring people into my home, which is really nice because I have a desert yoga studio. We do nutrition workshops, we do breath work, we hike the Sonora Desert Mountains. The desert is really special. And Arizona sunsets are epic!
We also have “day treats,” which is much easier to carve out time for outside of life and work. I wish every woman had an opportunity to do this. It’s not something I knew about when I was a younger woman. It really does change you. It drops you into a deeper place of creativity, purpose and insight. You set new goals, you connect with like-minded women, you make lifelong friendships. It’s so important. I think every woman deserves the time in her life to just explore and to go for a deep dive into self-discovery.
What is the one piece of advice you have for anyone who just wants to make a change or just wants to start? It can be daunting to make the step to be healthier and do all these things.
It’s true. The excuses that I hear the most are time and confidence. I feel that it’s most important for women to believe that they’re worthy. Self-care equals self-love. They go hand in hand. It’s not a rite of passage. People think that self-care is going to come easy. It really is a daily practice. We spend a lot of time creating that space to put ourselves on top of a to-do list and to believe that we’re worthy because we deserve this time. We deserve this type of work, and we deserve the opportunity to create a deeper relationship with our own selves. I think in that space, we can become better mothers, stronger businesswomen, better partners.
Being worthy and allowing yourself to carve out that time to book that vacation, to take that getaway…it honestly could be the most important vacation of your life because it changes you. You connect with other women. We’re all going through similar things. We have so much to learn from one another. I think that’s why I’m so passionate about doing this work. We also develop tools and really learn how to create patterns. I send everyone home with opportunities and a toolbox on how to do it.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like you are being more vocal about your own health journey as you get older. Maybe it’s a good side effect of social media. Do you feel even stronger now than you did 20 or so years ago?
I do. In my 50s, I made a commitment to be an advocate for women’s health. I started my fitness app to teach and guide people around the world on how to get into the best shape of their lives. BB Body started as a fitness app. Then, we dropped into intentional wellness. I’m a big believer in meditation, yoga, mindfulness and community, and that is a big part of our app. Now, we’re a campus for education. We do live-stream events and educational menopause panels and talk about the challenges of hormones.
I have a meeting every Monday with the community. It’s free. Most people don’t realize that, but it is free-free! We just upgraded our app and changed to a new platform, and I’m super excited about all of that. We’re inviting women to upgrade their lives and their wellness game. I do live streams now that are included in the app. Twice a week, you can join me for a live workout, which is amazing because it’s in real-time. It’s the same way I teach a class. For women who maybe can’t get to Arizona or can’t get to Malibu, we meet on a live stream.
We’re just lighting up these conversations with experts, MDs and longevity experts and having conversations that women are not having. They’re provocative, intimate, insightful. We’re learning, and I feel like that dialogue has to happen. It’s beyond fitness. It’s skin fitness, it’s spiritual beauty, it’s community. I’m so inspired because the more I do that, the more I learn about what I really want and what other people really want. I choreograph content for the community. It’s really meaningful to me.
What’s one thing you learned about yourself this past year—in regards to health, wellness, fitness, relaxation, spirituality?
I think it’s the mystery of menopause. How much we were not prepared, how much was not being discussed, how little our doctors are conversing with us in this decade of distress. What I’m really trying to do is to take the mystery out of it. Take the fear out of it. Take the insecurity out of it and really explore the positive parts of this decade of being a woman. It’s energy, it’s vanity, it’s inelasticity, it’s libido, it’s hormones, it’s body confidence.
I’m 53 right now, and everything is changing. I’m doing a deep dive into research and opening the conversation. We need to have it! It’s an amazing time to be a woman! What’s even more amazing is when you learn about these changes in your body, you come out the other side with tools and confidence and possibilities. I’m actually excited about menopause in the decade that follows because I think it’s a great time to be a woman. We just weren’t taught that.
Menopause can be sexy! No one is connecting those dots. I feel better in my skin today than ever before. But, to be honest, it has not been easy. These last few years of change have not been easy. I’m treating my body differently, meeting my body differently and fueling my body differently. I’m rolling through these changes with knowledge and confidence in the community. That is a game-changer.
You’re the epitome of energy, healthy living, fitness and everything else. Is there anything you ever do that’s a guilty pleasure?
Of course! I humanize everything. I feel good about the ugly. People want to relate to real life. We have to relate to real life! I’m disciplined, and I have boundaries, but I also give myself grace. Cheat day for me might be a margarita pizza and red wine. I really believe in creating a sustainable lifestyle.
I intermittent fast. My eating window is small, but I have flexibility. I love what I eat. I eat good. I’m a home chef. I never, ever, ever compromise pleasure. But I do understand the value of boundaries. I’m listening to my body. I think that would be the greatest advice that I could give to a woman is to drop in, tune in and start listening to your body. Be a detective of your own body because I could give you 10 things that are working for me that would not work for you and vice versa.
I’m really pushing the boundaries of encouraging everyone to be a detective. We have to ask questions, to start listening, pay attention to the signs, and lean into all these beautiful whispers from our own body. That’s how we have an intimate relationship with ourselves as women. In that relationship, we develop more compassion, strength, self-love, understanding and change.
Look, it’s messy. As soon as we figure everything out as a woman, by the way, we change it. I may be an expert at nothing, but understanding my own body, it’s like, we have to humanize it. I’m humble at this process. I’ll leave you with this: Mother Nature always wins.
Right. Isn’t that the truth?
She always wins!
