What Happens When a Yogi Starts to Lift Weights

It was not so long ago that I walked into a gym for the first time. After having been a yoga practitioner for 30 years and teacher for nearly 20 years, I wasn’t the “gym-going” type. But my husband had joined a local gym for the first time in many years and encouraged me to join him one day. He showed me the basics of lifting weights and using the machines and my interest was piqued. Soon enough, I was going to the gym more than my husband and loving every minute of it. I did the machines but what I loved most was lifting dumbbells and running on the treadmill with my headphones blaring. I went into another world and came out with results- flesh started to curve into muscles I’d never had. I felt stronger, more confident, and more energetic. I thought yoga had made me strong, but…no way. This was a whole different kind of strong.

I soon decided I wanted to become a Personal Trainer. I was 47 years old and I didn’t even really know what a Personal Trainer did exactly- but I knew it was what I was supposed to do next in my life! I signed up for a certification training though one of the most prestigious academies (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and set out to learn. It was a lot of information, and a lot of studying. I found myself a Personal Trainer to work with as I studied and I can’t imagine NOT having done that. My mind was flooded with all of the information and so many questions about the techniques. I was humbled (and even embarrassed at times) by my personal weaknesses. I saw how Yoga, in all it’s beauty, had not- in all my years as a yoga student or teacher- addressed why, for example, our gluteus muscles (our butts!) are so important in our overall structural health! Or why hip hinging (instead of incremental spine rolling) to bring the torso up or down is an absolute must for back health! I never understood how properly trained muscles truly hold correct posture in place! I had so many “Ah-Ha” moments at times that it felt my head would explode.

I absorbed and learned and passed my certification! I began to teach right away, but I still continued to educate myself. I learned how to use a Kettlebell, and how to incorporate bits of cutting edge workouts, like HIIT, Yoga Sculpt and Yoga Conditioning into my programs for others. (All currently taught outside due to Covid.) I still study almost everyday so that I can learn SOMETHING new about why and how Resistance Training works so well to keep us not only strong, but young, alive, balanced and energetic.

I work out because it makes me feel full of life force and in charge of my life! It feels amazing inside my body and mind- to move further than I thought I could. It feels like Freedom. And…I will always love Yoga. After all, Yoga is simply part of who I am, after all the years I’ve practiced and taught. And I use yoga in all the workouts and programs I teach because it melds and interweaves so beautifully with Resistance Training! Where one leaves off, the other fills in. That is what happens when a yogi starts to lift weights. A beautiful balance.