7 Yoga Experts Share Their #1 Tip for Building Strength
Strength Doesn't Feel the Same Anymore, And That’s Not a Bad Thing
At some point, for me, it was my 40s, the way I understood strength SHIFTED.
Not all at once.
More like a quiet reorientation.
Strength stopped being about how much I could lift, or how many chaturangas I could power through without rest. It became something subtler. More relational.
Did I have enough energy to move through my day without crashing halfway through it?
Did I feel capable inside my own body, not just during yoga practice, but while carrying groceries, getting up from the floor, navigating real life?
Could I stay consistent without feeling wiped out afterward?
This wasn’t about slowing down.
It was about telling the truth.
I still want to feel strong, reliably strong. I’ve just learned that the way I train has to make sense for the body I live in now, not the one I used to inhabit.
These days, strength looks less like pushing harder and more like designing conditions that last.
Strength that supports living life, and not just a workout.
This is where yoga enters the conversation AGAIN {not as a performance practice, but as a meaning-making one.}
Though, not just any yoga. I’m referring to;
Strength-based work that respects joints and recovery.
Restorative practices that treat stillness as essential, not optional.
Mindful movement that meets this season of life with intelligence rather than nostalgia.
What follows is a gathering of voices; seven women, all deeply experienced teachers in yoga field, who are quietly reshaping how we understand strength in midlife.
🙌 Not as something we chase. But as something we cultivate.
Before we begin, a gentle starting place…
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1. Why Strength Starts with Your Nervous System
Inspired by me, Natalia Rennie
🌐 nataliarennie.com
Before I ever taught strength-based yoga, I taught women how to feel safe in their bodies again.
Because strength doesn’t land in a system that’s braced.
If your nervous system is living in a constant state of low-grade stress, and in midlife, that’s often the baseline, no amount of consistency or “doing it right” will make strength stick.
Hormones shift.
Sleep becomes unpredictable.
Recovery takes longer than it used to.
You can feel wired and exhausted at the same time.
So the question becomes: How do we build strength without reinforcing the stress that’s already there?
🤗 We start smaller.
🤗 Slower.
🤗 With more respect.
Every time your breath softens, every time your shoulders release, every time you pause instead of push….
…that’s nervous system work.
And that is strength work.
Real strength doesn’t begin with effort. It begins with safety.
2. Stillness Is Not the Opposite of Strength
From Judith Hanson Lasater
🌐 restorativeyogateachers.com
Judith Hanson Lasater has been teaching yoga for over fifty years. Her work in restorative yoga has shaped generations of teachers and practitioners, and her message remains both simple and radical:
“Stillness isn’t the absence of effort. It’s the presence of awareness.”
We’ve been conditioned to treat rest as something we earn. Judith reframes it as something we practice.
In midlife, when fatigue is real and recovery is slower, this distinction matters.
Because strength without recovery is borrowed energy. And eventually, it runs out.
Restorative practice creates the conditions for repair, integration, and balance. Not as a retreat from strength, but as part of it.
3. Load the Body—Wisely
From Tiffany Cruikshank
🌐 yogamedicine.com
Tiffany Cruikshank bridges yoga and science with clarity and precision, and her approach to strength reflects that integration.
It's clear, practical, and refreshingly doable:
“Load your tissues, BUT load them wisely.”
Translation? Your body needs challenge to stay strong, especially as estrogen drops and bone density becomes more of a factor in your 40s and beyond.
But here’s the nuance she brings: load without intelligence is just strain.
Strength, in Tiffany’s work, isn’t about how much you can do. It’s about how you do it.
Challenging tissue in a way that your joints can trust.
Moving with enough precision that balance improves, stability deepens, and your body feels more reliable in everyday life.
Because this kind of strength isn’t for show.
It’s for carrying the groceries without tweaking your back.
For taking the stairs without thinking twice.
For lifting, twisting, and getting yourself up off the floor without that little moment of hesitation.
It’s not flashy or performative. It’s useful.
And in midlife, usefulness is a form of wisdom.
4. Slowness as a Strategy
From Annie Carpenter, 🌐 smartflowyoga.com
Annie Carpenter has a way of quietly dismantling the idea that discipline means pushing harder or tightening your grip.
In her work, discipline looks more like respect.
Respect for your breath when it shortens.
For your joints when they ask for clarity instead of force.
For the actual life you’re living outside the yoga room.
She invites a kind of slowness that isn’t a fallback plan. It’s intentional. Strategic, even.
Because fast doesn’t automatically mean strong. And being challenged doesn’t always mean your body is being supported.
In midlife, this distinction starts to matter more than we expect. Precision matters. Form matters. Paying attention matters.
With Annie’s approach, every pose becomes less of an order and more of a conversation.
One where your body gets a vote. And over time, that dialogue builds a steadier, more trustworthy kind of strength.
5. Strength Can Be Playful
From Kathryn Budig, 🌐 kathrynbudig.com
Kathryn Budig offers something many of us didn’t realize we were missing: permission.
Permission to stop taking strength so seriously.
Her work reminds us that strength doesn’t have to look intense to be real.
It doesn’t need to be rigid, hyper-focused, or performative to “count.”
Instead of asking you to perfect a shape, she invites you to explore how movement feels. Curiosity replaces correction. Play replaces pressure.
And something interesting happens when we stop trying to look strong and allow ourselves to actually feel.
The body often responds with more capacity, not less.
Joy becomes part of the practice. So does pleasure. So does ease.
Movement starts to feel less like a test and more like a relationship. One that can feel freeing. Familiar. Almost like coming home to yourself again.
6. Gentleness Builds Trust
From Elena Brower 🌐 elenabrower.com
Elena Brower’s work rests on a simple but powerful truth: gentleness isn’t weakness.
It’s relational.
“When you meet yourself with gentleness, you start to build trust. And trust changes everything.”
Because a body that feels safe is far more willing to show up. To try. To adapt. To grow stronger over time.
In midlife, this kind of strength feels different than what we were taught to chase earlier on.
It’s less about intensity and more about steadiness.
The ability to pause instead of push.
To listen instead of override.
To respond thoughtfully rather than react out of habit.
That kind of gentleness doesn’t make you softer in the ways we fear. It makes you more resilient in the ways that matter.
7. Strength Is Staying Present
From Sarah Powers 🌐 sarahpowersinsightyoga.com
Sarah Powers weaves yoga, mindfulness, and Buddhist psychology into a perspective on strength that feels both ancient and deeply relevant.
“Her message is simple, but not easy: real strength isn’t about holding tighter.”
It’s about staying.
Staying with sensation when it’s uncomfortable.
Staying with uncertainty when the body feels unfamiliar.
Staying present when it would be easier to check out or push past what you’re feeling.
And in midlife, there are plenty of moments that test this.
Energy dips without warning. Emotions rise unexpectedly, and the body doesn’t always behave the way it used to.
Sarah reminds us that presence itself is a practice. One we return to breath by breath.
Not perfectly.
Not gracefully.
Just honestly.
And that honesty has a stabilizing effect. It doesn’t shout. It steadies.
A Closing Thought
Midlife strength isn’t about reclaiming who you used to be.
It’s about co-creating a relationship with your body that can evolve as you do; one built on trust, intelligence, and respect.
If this reflection resonated, I share more conversations like this through my newsletter. Thoughtful, unfiltered explorations of yoga, aging, and what actually supports us over time.
YOU’RE WELCOME TO JOIN WHENEVER IT FEELS ALIGNED.
