Guest contributor Nicole DiGrazia shares how messaging from the fitness and fad diet industries contributed to her eating disorder and how she learned to allow love in to help her heal and live an addiction-free life.

Guest contributor Morganne Skinner shares how her innocent drive to be a great athlete turned into years of living with anorexia, bulimia, and orthorexia. With the support of her husband and her resolve for happiness and freedom, Morganne shares how she is working hard every day to break eating disorder rules and find enjoyment in her life.

Jenny Weinar, LCSW, shares how yoga helped her come home to her body after decades of disordered eating, distorted body image, and compulsive exercising. Read how Jenny is now living her yoga practice on and off the mat.

Happy 2019! Without fail, the focus on working out and changing our bodies intensifies in the beginning months of the New Year, with marketers convincing us we need to lose weight, join a gym, and eat less. The repetition of these messages can cause us to question if we “fit” in and flare up body image concerns. Can you relate? If so, I promise you aren’t alone. In this blog post, I share an excerpt from my book, Body Mindful Yoga, on the combat language of fitness culture and offer new, more affirming language to embrace movement in your life.

“I continued to move my body in this new, strange way. I felt parts of me engage, physically and emotionally, that I had never engaged before. I started to breathe more in this new way; a way that seemed to soothe my heightened senses and provide moments of peace and silence in my over-stimulated mind.” Read guest contributor Allyson Pesta’s powerfully honest story of eating disorder recovery and how yoga, despite her initial reluctance, taught her she is enough.

Guest contributor Samantha Brior shares how a weight loss goal inspired by “The Biggest Loser” quickly turned into a life-threatening eating disorder. Her story is one of great hope, as she reminds others through her words and example that recovery—no matter how hard and scary at times—is possible.