I love being a yoga therapist. It's an absolute privilege to hold space for individuals and share the practices, philosophies, and tools of yoga to support them in the shifts and changes they wish to make in their lives. Many thanks to Sofia Health for inviting me to share about the benefits of yoga therapy for eating disorder recovery in this interview.

While standing at the Ferris Wheel, watching my family enjoy the ride, I am overcome with memories of how painfully difficult family vacations were when I was deep in the eating disorder. But the moment is also filled with a sense of freedom, as I acknowledge what progress feels like years later. For anyone dreading vacations and social events, I hope this blog feels helpful and supportive.

How do we keep moving toward accepting ourselves on hard days, when the pull of the eating disorder is strong, and the need to numb is overwhelming? This is a question I had to answer for myself and learned two keys: permission to have my emotions and small acts of self-kindness. Both have had a positive impact on my recovery, and I hope you find a gem here that resonates with you.

In our struggle to feel, be, and do “enough,” we often measure our self-worth by external sources like social media, to-do lists, or the scale. I get it — that was part of my eating disorder journey too, which I open up about in this blog. I also share what helped me to claim my “enoughness.” If you are exhausted from the constant effort to do and be “enough,” this blog offers some concrete ideas to help you release dependence on external factors that sabotage your self-worth.

I’ll never forget the moment my daughter needed me while I was in the middle of a body image meltdown. While comforting her, I realized the divide between these ways of being—chaotically body checking and comforting my child—was incongruent, too off the mark of who I wanted to be for my daughters—and for myself. That is the moment when I started to reconcile who I was in the mirror and who I already was for the people I love. Give a read to learn how peace with the mirror is possible.

Thanks to the dedication and support of all of our readers and guest contributors, the Yoga for Eating Disorders Blog has been ranked #5 out of the top 20 blogs about eating disorders by FeedSpot!

Guest contributor Haley Schiek shares how yoga philosophy and the physical practice influenced her journey towards recovery and health. Haley not only talks about the positive ways yoga has helped her but is also honest about the negative aspects, too, and the challenges it caused in her recovery. Haley's story will leave you feeling less alone and inspire hope for recovery and health.

I can remember feeling trapped in a tug-of-war between the eating disorder and recovery. While it may have "looked" like I was "doing" recovery, I was not all in---until one day my dietitian called me out on it and it was time for me to learn how to truly face my fears. If you feel trapped in this tug-of-war, I invite you to read this post and know you aren't alone, and that recovery is possible.

Guest contributor Jenifer Dillow shares her story of eating disorder recovery. From the secrets that kept her sick, to the self-forgiveness that set her free to live her fullest potential, Jenifer inspires others on their recovery journeys to trust that “freedom is there for the taking.”