If you had told pre-kids me that one day I would willingly combine strength training and yoga into the same workout, I probably would have blinked at you slowly.
Not because I was against it, but because I liked my compartments. Strength training had its place. Yoga had its place. Spin class had its place. Everything neat. Organized. Scheduled.
Then motherhood happened.
Suddenly I was eyeballs deep in diapers, living on broken sleep, and fairly certain I had not completed a single uninterrupted thought in days. My movement routine? It didn't stand a chance.
I was still going for walks. Lots of walks. Pushing a stroller counts for something, especially when you are also gripping a leash attached to a husky mix named Chloe who believed every blade of grass was a breaking news. She pulled like she thought the next pee-marked tree might disappear if she didn't reach it immediately. Circulation to my hands was optional. The stroller nearly tipped once. No babies or animals were harmed, thankfully.
But the pulling (me, not Chloe), the squatting, the hinging, the movements that actually make you feel capable in your body, those pieces quietly disappeared.
And I could feel it. Not in a dramatic way. Just in that subtle, "Why does getting up off the floor feel heavier than it used to?" kind of way.
So I started experimenting.
When Yoga and Strength Collided in My Living Room
I began blending yoga and strength training together. Not in a sleek, beautifully programmed, Instagram-worthy way. It was messy. Toys underfoot. Pauses mid-flow. Sometimes I would forget what I was doing halfway through and just stand there holding a dumbbell like I was contemplating life.
But slowly, something started to click.
Instead of separating mobility and strength, I was layering them. Instead of stretching and then strengthening later, I was integrating both. And it felt practical. Like movement that actually matched the life I was living.
The Conversation That Changed My Classes
One day before class, I was chatting with my students and mentioned what I had been doing at home, blending yoga and strength together. They were curious.
So the following week, I built a class around it.
We squatted in a goddess stance and pressed overhead. We hinged in something that looked a lot like pyramid pose, but added a row. We turned warrior three into a single leg deadlift. We twisted without relying on levers, using muscle instead of momentum.
And they loved it.
That class eventually became what is now known as Yoga for Mobility and Strength.
Why Traditional Yoga Alone Isn't Always Enough
This is not a knock on traditional yoga.
But the way we live now is very different than it was even a few generations ago. We sit more. We repeat the same patterns. We carry stress in our shoulders and tension in our hips.
Functional movement patterns like squatting, pulling, carrying, and hinging do not show up consistently in most traditional yoga classes. When someone says, "I just want to move and feel better in my life," those patterns matter.
Yoga is powerful. It just works even better when we stop asking it to do everything on its own.
Blending light weights into yoga allows us to train strength, mobility, balance, and coordination at the same time. Not in a chaotic way. In a thoughtful one.
What Yoga with Weights Actually Looks Like
If the phrase "yoga with weights" makes you picture bootcamp energy and sweat flying everywhere, let's soften that image.
The weights are light. The movements are controlled. The breath still matters.
We move through squat patterns, single leg balance, pulling and pushing, twisting with control, and walking or carrying patterns, all layered into yoga shapes you already recognize.
The result?
Strength that carries over into real life. Mobility that does not disappear 20 minutes after class ends. And a practice that supports modern bodies living modern lives.
Watch the Full Practice Here
Below you'll find the full Yoga with Weights practice where I walk you through these patterns step by step.
Take it at your own pace. Choose a light weight, or no weight at all if you're just getting started.
The goal is not intensity.
The goal is support.
If you would like to experience this in a live setting, you can join me for Yoga for Mobility and Strength either in person or online. New students can drop in for just $10 including HST.
Because movement feels even better when it supports your real life.
