Strength Training in Midlife, and the Inner Work Beside It

Strength training in midlife is opening a new consideration for me, one that began with a sentence from my personal trainer.

“You have incredible legs,” my personal trainer said to me the other day.

Strength training in midlife changed how I see my legs

Now, that comes from a very strong woman. She is a firefighter who has been weight training for years. She is so beautifully strong and brave. We have only had one session together thus far, and I am already so inspired by her.

When she said that, everything in me radiated such gratitude.

I shared with her that growing up, I really hated my legs because they were not thin. They were so muscular. They have always been muscular.

Now, in my midlife, I recognize that my strong legs give me the ability and the opportunity to continue strengthening my lower body. I could continue to walk and support myself. I could go on an epic journey.

She said, “100 percent,” and then she asked what brought me to these sessions. What is motivating me right now?

Why one on one support helps me get into the world

I shared with her that, as an introvert who runs my own business, I could be alone in a room all day. Or maybe not alone, because I now have puppies as well. You get the gist.

Quite often, when there is an activity out in the world that could genuinely benefit me, I need an external support system to help motivate me to get there.

I have tried so many online classes and different things like that. I have tried going to classes in person. What really helps me is one on one support. From there, having a group of people who witness the journey and its ups and downs is so helpful.

I am really looking forward to working with her and, if the timing works, going to the group classes as well.

When I consider what motivates me, quite often it is another woman, a dear sister or a client or someone in my community who inspires me.

I have a dear friend who was a former client of mine. While we were working together, she made transformational choices for herself. She moved to a different state, to an area where she knew she was supposed to land, one that would rejuvenate her and change her life. She also said yes to an opportunity that transformed her career in bountiful ways.

When she arrived at her new home, she joined a woman owned gym and began strength training. I watched her transform, not only physically. Her mindset shifted. She returned to herself and to her spiritual practice, and she began projects she had been dreaming about for a while, including writing a book.

The relationship between physical and inner strength

I am really curious about this journey of inner and external strength.

What would it look like to work with another woman who is already so strong and who holds the wisdom to help me become physically stronger? What might happen as I build up my center and my upper body, and find myself able to carry larger weights and larger visions forward?

I have seen how internal work transforms external realities. I have also seen how physical changes can support internal changes.

For the past year, I have been doing a great deal of internal work. Through therapy and spiritual practice, I have been working on my inner self.

Now I am curious about what it looks like to merge the external with the internal. I am strength training and working with a personal trainer. I get to connect with her and share what is happening inside me while she looks at structural changes and strength.

What coaching and community can hold

To me, that is what a coach and a group program looks like. You get to work with someone who can see the structure and help you find the pathways between what is happening internally and what is changing around you.

The space can hold mindset, energetics, strategy, and action. It can look at what is happening in the industry while also holding what is happening privately, at home.

That is what the women in midlife who come to me are desiring too. We are in a season of utmost chaos and change. It is beautiful chaos and beautiful change, and I have seen how supportive transformation can be when it is held within a community.

Perhaps this is the breadcrumb I am following now. I am curious about what becomes possible when the inner work I have been tending is joined by physical strength and the support of another woman.

I wrote more about the sacred work of receiving and offering support in How to Hold Space as a Coach.

Where to go next

If you are curious about the medicine you naturally carry into every room, the Magic and Medicine Quiz is a beautiful next breadcrumb.

If personal support inside a group program is the breadcrumb you are following, LUSH Business Academy is open.

xoxo,
Sora