Myth: Yoga is only for thin people

The body you’re in is the perfect body for yoga.

Yoga has been conflated with fitness and diet culture. And yet, yoga is a practice of liberation. It’s a practice of remembering who we are at our essence. Yoga is more than just a physical practice. Our physicality may shift as a result of our practice, this is true. But what can shift is our relationship to our sense of stability and of inner freedom. What can shift is our sense of being at home and peace with the wondrous miracle that is our body- no matter what the shape or size.

Through breath, movement, stillness, and awareness, we refine our relationship to this moment and our ability to stay with our center, our feelings, our inner truth. We begin to notice our patterns- mentally, physically, emotionally. More and more we find we are able to hear our inner teacher, the wise voice of our heart.

The size of our body doesn’t hinder this process.

Many yoga classes are geared toward getting a good workout and moving quickly. While this can be a draw for many people, not all bodies and minds respond to that approach. Often, slowing down can open up spaces to notice how we often race past our intuition, feelings, and inner consent. When we slow down a bit, we have time to feel into subtleties of our actions, thoughts and energy. We give ourselves the opportunity to choose how we engage.

Bigger bodies, like most bodies, can benefit from different variations to make certain postures more accessible. Props like bolsters, blocks, and chairs can make more room and bring more awareness to certain aspects of our physicality- for all shapes and sizes of yoga practitioners.