by Lucinda Staniland Bodies are strange things. They are our home—our only means of experiencing and connecting with the world—and yet many of us are profoundly disconnected and cut off from the lived experience of the body. Add to that our collective obsession with the superficial experience of the body, and the relationship becomes even more confusing and complex. We wanted to know how the yoga community are responding to this challenge, so we asked a group of NZ and Australian yoga … [Read more...]
Our yoga practice can have powerful effects on how we view ourselves and our bodies. And so can the way that mainstream media represents yoga. How does your yoga practice influence your body image?
Am I Endorsing Obesity by Telling Bigger- Bodied Yogis to Love Themselves?
By guest author Nityda Bhakti "I am so interested in trying yoga- I just need to wait until I lose this last fifteen pounds." "Yoga? Me?! Do you see my size? I could never lift myself off the ground like that!" I’ve heard comments like these for the past decade that I’ve been teaching. I’ve made it my mission to make friends, family, acquaintances, even strangers for that matter, see that you don’t have to be a certain weight, body-type, gender, age or race to begin a yoga practice. I’ve … [Read more...]
The Real Stories Behind The Top 4 Yoga Myths
By Lucinda Staniland The internet is full to bursting with articles debunking the ‘Top Yoga Myths’. They tell us that contrary to poplar belief, Yoga is not a religion, that it’s not just for skinny, rich, flexible young women, and that it really is good exercise, as well as a holistic spiritual experience. Opinion is divided in these articles as to whether yoga really does or doesn’t give you great abs and fantastic orgasms. But, in general all these articles paint the same picture. Don’t … [Read more...]
The 6 Best Yoga Video Parodies You’ll Ever Watch
By guest author Lucinda Staniland You’d think an afternoon spent on Youtube watching Yoga video parodies would make for a good time. But it didn't. In fact, it was draining. And my quest to find ‘The Ten Best Yoga Video Parodies’ quickly became ‘The Ten Best Yoga Video Parodies (That Don’t Suck)’ and finally left me quietly fuming on ‘Why Funny Yoga Videos Actually Aren't Funny At All’. As I trawled through the Internet's bountiful supply of Yoga spoofs and parodies, I began to finding them … [Read more...]
The Release of Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery + Loving Your Body
By guest author Melanie Klein, Yoga and Body Image Coalition. Anna Guest–Jelley, founder of Curvy Yoga and the co-editor of Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery + Loving Your Body, and I both struggled with a distorted body image, our perception of ourselves, from early childhood on. In the process, we tried countless diets and experimented with a variety of fitness trends – all of which left us feeling shame, guilt and punishment for the bodies we lived in. Our … [Read more...]
The Yoga Body Myth & My Late-30s Body
By Roseanne Harvey, It's All Yoga Baby Recently I was having brunch with my granny and she said; “You’ve gained weight. With all the yoga that you do, you should be skinny!” There’s nothing like being fat-shamed by your grandmother. But she was echoing a common misperception about the “yoga body,” something that has been presented by the dominant culture, a way of understanding the effects that yoga has upon a woman’s body. Reflections On A Changing Body Of course, my 84-year-old granny didn’t … [Read more...]
Yoga Is For You (Even If You Don’t Think It Is)
In celebration of the launch of The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga, I’ve invited some friends and colleagues to write articles relating to the theme of the book’s subtitle: Because yoga is for every body. One of the most inspiring memoirs on yoga that I've read is by Matthew Sanford called Waking. I'm not going to tell you about it because I don't want to spoil Nadine's article down below, but I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy. It inspired one of the chapters in my book and has … [Read more...]
Five Ways Yoga Improved My Body Image
By guest author Anna Guest-Jelley, Curvy Yoga When I began practicing yoga in the late '90s, it didn’t occur to me that yoga would have any impact on my body image. In fact, I wouldn’t have wanted that at the time because I was spending my days bouncing between diets, waiting for the day I’d finally have the perfect body I’d always wanted. Who needs a positive body image when they have the body of their dreams, right? Ha! What I got instead, much to my initial chagrin and later delight, was … [Read more...]
Are We Drowning Under a Deluge of Perfect Yoga Images?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat As many of you know, Wanderlust is coming to New Zealand and Australia next year - first with one-day city-based events, and then in 2015 with the whole four day festival she-bang. I'm one yoga teacher who's been selected as a Wanderlust Wayfarer. Wayfarers are a network of teachers who spread the word about Wanderlust to their local communities. As part of my role, I had to send in my bio and a photo of me. Should be easy right? I'm all over the … [Read more...]
All the Curvy Ladies do Practice Yoga
By guest author Anna Guest-Jelley, Curvy Yoga When I first started practicing yoga, I never, ever, ever saw another bigger-bodied person like me. Never. Most days, I thought I was the only one. But I secretly dreamed of finding others -- people who also longed for a yoga practice where no one said Lay your belly on your thighs Because, hello, if I move a centimeter, I'm already there. Wave your hands in the air Now, I know I'm mixing song references here, but I hope you'll forgive me. Because … [Read more...]