In today's wellness culture, everything is about efficiency combining workouts, stacking habits, and optimizing every minute of the day. Strength training blended with yoga. Meditation layered into movement. Rest squeezed in wherever possible.

But what if that constant blending is part of the problem?

In this solo episode of the Peaceful Power Podcast, I share why I choose to keep my strength training and yoga practices separate and why that choice feels deeply supportive, especially for women navigating midlife, burnout, postpartum recovery, or perimenopause.

This conversation is an invitation to step away from biohacking culture and return to integrity-based practices where strength is allowed to be strength, and stillness is allowed to be still.

Listen + Connect

🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Peaceful Power Podcast wherever you stream podcasts.

If this episode resonated, I'd love for you to:

• Share it with a friend who feels overwhelmed by modern wellness culture

• Leave a review to help more women find this work

• Explore working with me through 1:1 personal training, yoga, or Ayurvedic postpartum doula support

Where to connect with Andrea

• Website
• Instagram
• 5 Day Stillness Challenge

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

In this episode of the Peaceful Power Podcast, Andrea sits down with Jennifer Raye, author of Wisdom of the Earth, Wisdom of the Body, to explore how seasonal living, somatic awareness, and Chinese Medicine help us reconnect with the body's innate wisdom.

They discuss how living in alignment with natural rhythms supports emotional regulation, nervous system health, and midlife transitions — especially for women navigating perimenopause and burnout.

This conversation invites you to slow down, listen inward, and remember what the body already knows.

In This Episode:

• What inspired Wisdom of the Earth, Wisdom of the Body

• Living seasonally as a practical, embodied practice

• Seasonal rhythms through the lens of Chinese Medicine

• Somatic movement vs. exercise and internal vs. external cues

• Supporting perimenopause and midlife transitions through seasonal wisdom

• How to soften productivity culture and stop forcing year-round

• Simple ways to begin living seasonally without overwhelm

Resources:

• Wisdom of the Earth, Wisdom of the Body by Jennifer Raye

• Connect with Jennifer Raye: (links)

Connect with Jennifer

https://jenniferraye.com/ Purchase her book Where to connect with Andrea Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

In this episode, Andrea reflects on a tiredness she's sensing in the collective one that sits deep in the body, the nervous system, and the heart. Rather than rushing to fix, reframe, or push through it, this conversation is an invitation to pause and remember: the basics are enough right now.

This is a gentle reminder that we don't need more optimization, more effort, or more self-improvement to be okay. Sometimes what truly supports us—especially in seasons of stress, uncertainty, or transition is returning to the simplest practices that help us stay.

Andrea weaves together reflections from teaching yoga, living through the current moment, and supporting women navigating burnout and midlife transitions. This episode is especially for anyone feeling overwhelmed, worn down, or quietly holding a lot.

In this episode, we explore:

• The "tiredness in the air" and how it shows up in the body

• Why slowing down is not avoidance, but wisdom

• What it means to stay with what's here instead of rushing past it

• Simple ways to support your nervous system when energy is low

• A reminder that rest, breath, and presence are powerful medicine

You don't need to do more to be worthy of care. You don't need to push to be resilient. You are allowed to stay with the basics and let that be enough.

Where to connect with Andrea Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea Freebies Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge Paid Workshop Perimenopause Power Hour: https://andreaclaassen.com/perimenopause-power-hour Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

In this episode, we're joined by Shivani Gupta, an Ayurvedic practitioner and expert in fusing Eastern wisdom with Western science to help the body return to balance. With a Master's in Ayurvedic Sciences and a PhD focused on turmeric, Dr. Shivani shares how inflammation sits at the root of many modern health challenges and how simple, daily rituals can powerfully reduce it. This conversation bridges ancient Ayurvedic principles with modern research, offering grounded, accessible practices you can begin using right away.

We explore how ritual living doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming, but instead can be woven into everyday life to support energy, clarity, and long-term vitality. Dr. Shivani also shares her passion for teaching at-home remedies that ease pain, reduce brain fog, and help you feel more at home in your body. Her work through Fusionary Formulas is rooted in the belief that vibrant health is not only possible it's practical.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why inflammation is a key driver behind fatigue, pain, and chronic imbalance
• How Ayurvedic rituals can be both scientific and soulful
• Simple daily practices to support digestion, energy, and nervous system health
• The powerful role of turmeric and other Ayurvedic tools in reducing inflammation naturally
• How small, consistent rituals create lasting transformation over time

This episode is an invitation to slow down, reconnect with your body's innate intelligence, and embrace Ayurveda as a living, breathing practice not just a philosophy, but a way of life.

Bio Dr. Shivani is an Ayurvedic practitioner and expert in fusing Eastern and Western practices that help our bodies achieve equilibrium. She completed her Master's in Ayurvedic Sciences and her PhD on Turmeric. Inflammation is a root cause for many health issues in our lives and we have the power to overcome it. Her passion is teaching at-home remedies to reduce inflammation naturally will help you enjoy more energy, less brain fog, less pain, and ultimately achieve vibrant health! She is also the founder of Fusionary Formulas, an Ayurvedic company that helps people with inflammation and pain. Connect with Shivani www.ShivaniGupta.com www.FusionaryFormulas.com https://www.facebook.com/TheShivaniGupta https://www.instagram.com/dr.shivanigupta/ https://www.youtube.com/@dr.shivanigupta Free 7-Day Inflammation Detox Challenge https://www.7dayinflammationdetox.com/optin1641313075014 Save on some of my favorite Fusionary Formulas! Use this link and the code andrea15 to save 15% off your order!

My favorite items:

Turmeric Gold (Great for anti-inflammatory and immune boosting)

Menopause Support Tea - Great for the hormones and tastes good! Also good to drink in perimenopause

Sweet Dream Gummies- If you wake up in the middle of the night take one to help fall back asleep. Or take 2 before you go to sleep!

Unwind Tea- Instead of unwinding with a glass of wine. Try this delicious tea instead.

Where to connect with Andrea

• Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea
• Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c
• 8 Week Perimenopause Reset https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program
• 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

What happens when choice feels harder than being told what to do?

In this reflective solo episode, Andrea Claassen yoga teacher of 19 years shares a moment from a recent yoga class that opened a deeper conversation about autonomy, embodiment, and why so many of us feel uneasy when invited to listen to our own bodies.

A student's comment about "too much jargon" revealed something more profound: a discomfort with choice itself. Andrea explores how modern yoga, fitness, and wellness often prioritize compliance over self-trust—and why that approach stops working, especially in perimenopause and midlife.

This episode is for women who are tired of rigid rules, one-size-fits-all programs, and constantly outsourcing their inner knowing. It's an invitation to slow down, tune in, and reclaim yoga as a practice of discernment not obedience.

Connect with me:

Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c 8 Week Perimenopause Reset https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Rachel Murphy, a marketing strategist who helps spiritual entrepreneurs and healers craft magnetic messaging rooted in their personal story and values. Rachel shares soulful, practical tips for stepping away from cookie-cutter marketing and instead leaning into what makes you and your journey uniquely powerful. Drawing on her experience blending corporate strategy with holistic intuition, she highlights why your own story is your greatest asset in creating marketing that feels good and actually converts.

In this conversation you'll learn:

• Why storytelling is the backbone of authentic marketing — and how to start telling yours with confidence. therootedstrategy.com
• Strategies for soulful content creation that speaks directly to your ideal clients without forcing or hustling. Facebook
• How to align your marketing with your values so your business feels like service, not sales.

Whether you're a healer, coach, or heart-centered creator, this episode invites you to trust your voice, show up with honesty, and let your story lead your growth.

Connect with Rachel

Instagram-www.instagram.com/rooted.strategy therootedstrategy.com Rachel's newsletter: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6320fc3a461ab140427b8b95 Where to connect with Andrea

• Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea
• Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c
• 8 Week Perimenopause Workout Program https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program
• Free 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

In this episode, we explore:

• How perimenopause changes stress tolerance, recovery, and energy

• Why workouts that once felt empowering may now feel depleting

• The myth that "more discipline" fixes hormonal and nervous system shifts

• Why strength training is still essential in perimenopause—but needs to be done differently

• How yoga, pranayama, and stillness support the nervous system during hormonal transition

• What Ayurveda teaches us about listening to the body instead of overriding it

• Why rhythm, awareness, and attunement matter more than intensity in midlife

Where to connect with Andrea Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea Free Trial Week of Perimenopause workouts: https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program

Perimenopause Power Hour Workshop (Virtual)

Date: January 17th- 9am CST

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

Wise Woman Energy: Listening Differently at the Threshold of a New Year

As the year comes to a close, many women find themselves standing in a quiet in-between tired, reflective, and sensing that the old ways of pushing and powering through no longer work. In this episode, Andrea invites you into the liminal space between what has been and what's emerging, naming burnout not as a failure, but as a wise, body-based message. This conversation speaks directly to women in perimenopause who are "doing all the right things" yet still feel off, exhausted, or disconnected from their bodies.

Together, we explore what Wise Woman Energy truly means: rhythm over hustle, strength with recovery, stillness as power, and devotion to the body instead of control. Andrea shares how perimenopause amplifies the cost of overgiving and overtraining, and why this season of life often brings grief alongside profound initiation as old strategies fall away. Through the lens of seasonal living and nervous system safety, this episode reframes rest, nourishment, and intuition as essential, not optional.

This episode also gently opens the door to what's possible in 2026 a year rooted in sustainability rather than self-sacrifice. Listeners are invited to imagine training with their hormones, resting without guilt, nourishing instead of restricting, and asking for support along the way. The episode closes with a simple reflective ritual and a soft invitation to explore deeper support through January offerings designed to help women listen differently and move forward with wisdom and care.

In this episode, you'll hear about: ✨ Why burnout is a body message, not a mindset problem ✨ How perimenopause changes the rules and why that's not a failure ✨ What Wise Woman Energy really looks like in daily life ✨ The grief and initiation that come when old strategies stop working ✨ Reimagining health, strength, and rest as we step into a new year

If your body is asking for a different way forward, this episode is an invitation to pause, listen, and remember the wisdom already within you.

Connect with Andrea

• Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea
• Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c
• Wise Woman Reset
• 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

What I'm Holding Dear as We Move Into December: Ritual, Promise & Intention

As we move into December, something ancient stirs.

The days shorten. The light thins. The nervous system if we let it begins to exhale.

December is not meant to be conquered.

This season asks for fewer resolutions and more reverence. Less striving, more remembering. And as I sit with what feels most essential right now both personally and in my work I keep returning to three quiet anchors:

Ritual. Promise. Intention.

Where to connect with Andrea

• Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea
• Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8
• 8 Week Perimenopause Reset https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program
• 5 Day Stillness Challenge https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

Andrea Claassen Bio Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause. Her mission is to help women learn how to slow down, tune in and connect to their inner wisdom. The three pillars she focuses on are movement, mindfulness & mother nature through an Ayurvedic lens. You can hear more from Andrea on her Peaceful Power Podcast where she aims to deliver actionable takeaways for you to live a more holistic lifestyle. Connect with Andrea on her website at www.andreaclaassen.com

Episode Overview

In this episode, Andrea is joined by Kristina Masyte for a grounded and thoughtful conversation on what it means to evolve through yoga. Together, they explore yoga as a living, breathing practice—one that matures alongside us through different seasons of life, identity shifts, and inner inquiry.

Kristina shares her perspective on honoring yoga beyond trends and performance, returning to its roots as a tool for self-study, nervous system regulation, and embodied wisdom. This conversation is especially resonant for practitioners and teachers who are feeling called to slow down, deepen, and relate to yoga in a more authentic, sustainable way.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• Yoga as an evolving practice rather than a fixed identity

• Moving beyond perfectionism, hustle culture, and aesthetic-driven yoga

• How life experience, aging, and self-inquiry shape our relationship to practice

• Honoring the nervous system and subtle body through mindful movement

• What it means to teach and practice yoga with integrity and presence

• Listening inward and allowing your practice to change with you

Why This Conversation Matters

Many women especially those in midlife or navigating transition, feel a quiet pull to relate to movement and spirituality differently than they once did. This episode offers permission to soften, adapt, and trust your inner compass rather than external expectations.

If you've ever felt disconnected from mainstream yoga culture or sensed there's more beneath the poses, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

Connect with Kristina Masyte

Website: www.yogakos.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/yogakos_

Where to Connect with Andrea

Website: https://andreaclaassen.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasonalandrea

Explore Andrea's Offerings: Perimenopause Support Quiz: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/681d3069f79fde0015c88d8c 8 Week Perimenopause Reset: https://andreaclaassen.com/8-week-perimenopause-program 5 Day Stillness Challenge: https://andreaclaassen.com/sacred-stillness-challenge

About Andrea Claassen

Andrea Claassen is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, and personal trainer who has been in the wellness space since 2007. She specializes in perimenopause and supports women in slowing down, tuning in, and reconnecting to their inner wisdom.

Andrea's work is rooted in three core pillars: movement, mindfulness, and Mother Nature—woven together through an Ayurvedic lens. Through her Peaceful Power Podcast, she shares actionable, heart-led tools to help women live more holistic, sustainable lives.

Learn more at www.andreaclaassen.com

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who's navigating her own evolution through yoga.