From Exercise Physiology to Yoga Therapy

Oct 18

How science and tradition found common ground in my teaching

When you come to a Life Fit class, you might find a resistance band beside your yoga strap, hand weights near your blocks, or a chair waiting to support a standing pose. We might explore a familiar movement in an unfamiliar way, practice getting up with greater control, or finish purposeful muscular work with quiet, supported rest.

Behind these choices are two perspectives I bring to every class: my training in exercise physiology and my practice as a yoga therapist.

Both shape how I understand movement, plan a sequence, and respond to the people in the room. Together, they help me ask a question that has guided my teaching for years:

How can this practice support the life you want to live?

Two perspectives, a shared purpose

Exercise physiology has taught me to consider how the body responds and adapts to activity. What are we asking of the muscles, bones, heart, and lungs? Is the challenge appropriate? How might we progress it? What does research suggest, and how closely does that research apply to the person in front of me?

Yoga brings another set of questions. How are you experiencing the practice? Can you notice effort without becoming overwhelmed by it? What happens when you change your breath, your support, or your attention? What might steadiness, compassion, and self-study look like today?

Yoga’s traditions offer a rich framework for exploring our relationship with ourselves and the world. Scientific inquiry helps me evaluate particular health claims and refine the ways I teach. I value the conversation between them while respecting their different purposes.

That conversation becomes practical when we begin to move.

A standing pose can offer an opportunity to explore muscular endurance, balance, and joint positioning. It can also become a practice of attention: noticing the feet, adjusting unnecessary tension, and discovering how to remain present during effort.

The physical and personal experiences belong in the same room.

Planning for a group means seeing individuals

Every group class has a direction. We may be developing hip strength, exploring shoulder movement, improving balance, or learning how to move more comfortably between the floor and standing.

But a shared class goal does not mean everyone needs the same version of a movement.

One student may benefit from a chair for balance. Another may need greater resistance. Someone else may be returning after time away, managing fatigue, or learning to trust movement again.

I plan with those differences in mind. Props, pacing, exercise choices, and variations allow us to explore a common theme through different approaches. I also leave room to respond to what students tell me and what I observe that day.

This is one reason I value an ongoing teaching relationship. Over time, I learn more about your goals, preferences, and responses. You learn more about how to adapt the practice for yourself.

What private sessions bring into group practice

Private sessions give us time to explore details that a group setting cannot always accommodate.

We can talk about what matters to you: walking farther, feeling steadier on stairs, returning to an activity you enjoy, building strength, or finding a manageable practice during a stressful period. We can explore movement options, try different supports, and identify useful starting points.

When a student moves from private sessions into group classes, that understanding comes with us.

If we have already discovered a helpful chair variation or a comfortable way to position the shoulders, I can keep that knowledge in mind while planning the class. You arrive with familiar tools and a clearer sense of your choices.

For example, a class might share a goal of building lower-body strength. One student practices a supported squat, another works on controlled chair rises, and another adds resistance. The common purpose connects us; the options make the practice relevant.

Private sessions are one pathway into group practice, and students can also begin directly in a class. The additional time together simply allows for a more detailed foundation.

My role throughout is to offer yoga therapy and movement education within my training and scope of practice, respecting medical guidance and referring to other professionals when a need extends beyond that role.

Why strength has been part of every class this fall

This fall, every Life Fit class has included strength work, adapted to the group.

That emphasis reflects the importance of maintaining the capacity to do everyday things: carry groceries, climb steps, get out of a chair, enjoy a walk, recover balance, and participate in the activities that give life meaning.

Muscles need an appropriate challenge to become stronger. Depending on the person and the goal, that challenge might come from body weight, a resistance band, hand weights, or a supported exercise that makes the effort more accessible.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days each week, alongside aerobic activity. Older adults also benefit from activities that include balance training. A yoga class can contribute to that larger picture, although what it contributes depends on its content and intensity.[1]

“Core work” is part of this approach, too. I think of it in terms of coordinating the trunk with the arms and legs—developing support for reaching, carrying, stepping, and changing position. It is one part of a whole-body practice.

Strength, balance, mobility, power, and agility are related capacities, but each needs purposeful practice. That is why our movement explorations vary.

The benefits reach beyond the movement itself

Research gives us good reasons to include strengthening and regular physical activity in a broader approach to health.

Appropriately designed resistance and impact training can support bone health. In the LIFTMOR randomized trial, a closely supervised, high-intensity program improved bone mineral density and physical function in postmenopausal women with low bone mass.[2] The details matter: those findings do not mean every exercise, light weight, or yoga pose produces the same bone-building effect. They remind me to consider challenge, progression, and individual suitability.

Regular physical activity also supports metabolic health and is associated with benefits for sleep, anxiety symptoms, physical function, and quality of life.[1] Yoga research suggests potential benefits for stress management, sleep, balance, and mental and emotional wellbeing, although findings vary across practices and populations.[3]

These benefits come from patterns of practice over time. A class can be an important part of that pattern, alongside walking, other exercise, rest, nutrition, relationships, and appropriate health care.

There are also meaningful experiences that a laboratory measure may not fully capture: feeling capable, enjoying movement again, finding community, or making space for reflection. Yoga offers room to explore meaning and connection according to your own beliefs and values.

My intention is to make room for both measurable health and lived wellbeing.

Meeting ourselves “in the life of the world”

We practice within the circumstances of our lives.

We arrive with work responsibilities, caregiving, interrupted sleep, grief, joy, uncertainty, and the wider concerns of the world. Those circumstances influence our energy, attention, and capacity.

This is what I mean when I speak about meeting ourselves “in the life of the world.”

Some days, a useful practice includes a meaningful physical challenge. Other days, it calls for more support, fewer repetitions, or a gentler pace. Often, it includes both effort and recovery.

Learning to recognize what is appropriate today is part of the practice. So is recognizing that our needs can change.

Experience that continues to evolve

Years of teaching give me a foundation. Continued study helps me keep refining it.

When a fitness or yoga therapy trend gains attention, I ask what evidence supports it, who was studied, how the practice was delivered, and whether it serves my students. I also consider what remains uncertain and what lies within my professional scope.

Those questions shape my classes, private sessions, workshops, and retreats. They influence the props I choose, the progressions I offer, the explanations I give, and the time we leave for rest.

Whether we are exploring a foam roller, working with the Yoga Wall, practicing with resistance, or settling into stillness, my intention remains consistent: to offer thoughtful teaching that helps you understand your choices and develop a practice you can use.

I want what we discover together to support you beyond class—in your movement, your confidence, and your participation in the life of the world.

Further reading