Seasonal Strength

Name: Andrea Claassen
Price range: $$

I want to tell you something that trainers don't usually say out loud: I just finished my own Seasonal Strength spring program, and I hated the last three weeks of it.

There. I said it.

The total body workouts in that final block. I dreaded them. I'd look at what was on the schedule and think — ugh. Not this again. Jump squats into renegade rows, cardio infused strength work — it was a lot. And I did not love it.

But here's why I'm telling you this. Because I think there's something really important in that story, and I don't want to gloss over it.

The real talk- doing your own program

I made a decision a while back to actually do my own programs. Not just write them do them. Because how can I ask you to show up for something I haven't shown up for myself?

And what I discovered is that doing my own programming taught me so much. I got to feel what you feel. The moves that are hard. The days where you just don't want to. The moments where you're staring at your workout and thinking is this really necessary?

Those jump squats into renegade rows? I programmed them because I needed them. I'm only getting to the tennis court once a week right now, so that cardio-infused strength work is filling a real gap for my body. Did I enjoy it? No. Did I need it? Yes.

And I think that's one of the most honest things I can share with you about fitness: you don't have to love every move. You don't have to feel motivated every day. You just have to keep showing up. The consistency is the magic not the enthusiasm.

The parallel doing hard things in yoga too

And here's the thing — this isn't just a fitness conversation. This is a life conversation. Because the same exact dynamic shows up on the yoga mat. On the meditation cushion. In the practice.

How many of you have had a moment where the idea of sitting down to meditate made you want to run out the door screaming? Where your to-do list felt so long and so loud that the thought of being still for even ten minutes felt almost offensive?

I know that feeling intimately. Some days — especially in the thick of solo parenting, with a full teaching schedule and a never-ending list of things that need my attention sitting down to meditate is the last thing I want to do.

But here's what I've learned. When I skip it? I feel it. I'm more rattled with my kids. I feel out of sorts throughout my day. My thoughts feel scattered and ungrounded. My conversations with other people feel off somehow like I'm operating from a place of static instead of clarity.

When I sit even when I don't want to I almost never regret it. I come out the other side calmer. More myself. And often I receive something from that stillness an insight, a realization, a quiet knowing that I wouldn't have found if I'd stayed busy.

The hard things teach us. That's the whole point.

The sadhana showing up for 40 days

I want to share something I'm in the middle of right now, because it feels really relevant to this conversation. I recently completed the classroom portion of my yoga nidra teacher training — a five month program — and I am now deep in my 40-day sadhana to complete it.

A sadhana, for those who aren't familiar, is a daily spiritual practice. You commit to showing up for something — every single day — for a set period of time. Forty days is significant in yogic tradition because it's long enough to actually shift a pattern, to build a new groove in the way you move through life.

And I'll be honest with you there are days in this sadhana where I am tired. Where I have a lot going on. Where the practice feels like one more thing on the list rather than a refuge from it.

But I show up anyway. Because that's what a sadhana is. It's not a practice you do when you feel like it. It's a practice you do because you said you would. Because the commitment itself is the teacher.

And what I've found is that consistency whether it's 40 days of yoga nidra, three days a week of strength training, or 20 minutes of meditation before the kids wake up — builds something. It builds trust. Trust in yourself. Trust that you can do hard things. Trust that the practice will hold you even on the days you're not sure you believe in it.

Tying it together

So here's what I want you to hear today, whether you're thinking about your workout routine, your meditation practice, or anything else you keep putting off because it feels hard or uncomfortable or like just too much:

You don't have to love it every day. You just have to do it.

Motivation is a visitor. It comes and goes. Consistency is the thing you build slowly, imperfectly, one showing-up at a time. And the practice whatever your practice is will meet you there. It always does.

The days you least want to show up are often the days you need it most. Not because you'll always have some profound breakthrough sometimes you'll just finish and think, okay, that happened. But because you'll have kept your word to yourself. And that matters more than we give it credit for.

The Invitation

So with all of that said — I'm opening up the Seasonal Strength Summer Edition, and I really want you in it if this resonated.

Quick workouts, 20 to 30 minutes, with a total body day, an upper body day, and a lower body day each week. Bonus Ayurveda and yoga sequence videos if you want them. Twelve weeks for $149 yes, the workouts roll into September, and that's actually a good thing. Summer doesn't have to be the season your routine falls apart. It can be the season you build something that carries you right into fall feeling strong.

And here's what I want you to know: I do this program with you. I know what week three feels like. I know when it gets hard. And I'll be right there.

The link is in the show notes. Come move with me this summer even on the days you'd rather not.

I'll see you next week. Take good care of yourself.