Why Strength and Stillness Belong in Different Practices
In today’s wellness culture, everything is about efficiency combining workouts, stacking habits, and optimizing every minute of the day. Strength training blended with yoga. Meditation layered into movement. Rest squeezed in wherever possible.
But what if that constant blending is part of the problem?
In this solo episode of the Peaceful Power Podcast, I share why I choose to keep my strength training and yoga practices separate — and why that choice feels deeply supportive, especially for women navigating midlife, burnout, postpartum recovery, or perimenopause.
This conversation is an invitation to step away from biohacking culture and return to integrity-based practices where strength is allowed to be strength, and stillness is allowed to be still.
In This Episode, We Explore:
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Why modern wellness culture prioritizes efficiency over embodiment
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The difference between strength training and yoga — and why both matter
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How daily life used to provide natural strength and stillness
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Why modern women must intentionally create space for quiet
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How strength training builds physical and emotional resilience
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What stillness practices like yin yoga, yoga nidra, meditation, and nature walks offer the nervous system
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Why resilience is not about pushing harder — but about discernment
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How strength and yoga practices should evolve with age and wisdom
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Questions to help you assess what your body and nervous system need right now
Why I Don’t Blend Strength Training and Yoga
While strength training can feel meditative and grounding, it serves a different purpose than yoga. Strength asks us to build capacity, tolerate physical challenge, and understand when to push and when to stop. Yoga and stillness practices ask us to soften, listen, and reconnect with our inner voice.
Blending the two often dilutes their power.
In this episode, I share why I don’t want my strength training to masquerade as yoga — or my yoga practice to mimic strength training. Each practice deserves integrity, clarity, and intention.
Strength, Stillness, and Resilience for Women
Resilience is a quality many women are being asked to embody right now — emotionally, physically, and mentally. Both strength training and yoga help build resilience, but in different ways.
Strength training teaches us how to sit with discomfort, develop confidence in our bodies, and build the capacity to meet life’s demands. Stillness practices teach us how to stay present with emotions, reduce nervous system overload, and reconnect with intuition.
Together — but practiced separately — they create a powerful foundation for sustainable wellness.
Let Your Practices Evolve With You
Just as your yoga practice changes over time, your strength routine should evolve as well. Wisdom-based movement honors your age, your season of life, and your current nervous system capacity.
Stagnation often comes not from lack of effort — but from refusing to let our practices change.
This episode invites you to reflect on where you may be forcing yourself into routines that no longer serve you — and how separating your practices might actually bring more clarity, strength, and peace.
Reflection Questions from This Episode:
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Where do you need to build strength in your life right now?
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Where is stillness missing or being rushed?
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What would it feel like to stop optimizing and start listening?
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How might your movement practices change if guided by wisdom instead of efficiency?
Listen + Connect
🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Peaceful Power Podcast wherever you stream podcasts.
If this episode resonated, I’d love for you to:
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Share it with a friend who feels overwhelmed by modern wellness culture
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Leave a review to help more women find this work
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Explore working with me through 1:1 personal training, yoga, or Ayurvedic postpartum doula support
Weekly Challenge
What do you need more of this week stillness or strength?
About the host
Andrea Claassen is a yoga teacher, strength coach, and Ayurvedic practitioner with nearly two decades of experience supporting women through stress, burnout, and the perimenopause transition. Her work blends strength training, yoga, seasonal rhythm, and Ayurveda to help women feel capable, calm, and connected in their bodies.
✨ If this resonates, you may enjoy my 5 Day Stillness Challenge or taking my Perimenopause Support Quiz both designed to help you slow down, tune in, and reconnect with your inner rhythm during this season.
