In her final blog of our 12-month series, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of systemic exclusion and the power imbalance in healthcare systems impact how people seek help for eating disorders, and how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery. 

In her latest blog post, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of individuals who do not fit in the “skinny, white, affluent, girl” (SWAG) stereotype impacts if and how they seek help for eating disorders. Educating on the yoga practice of Satya, Niya identifies how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery and guide individuals to reconnect with aspects of their identity and cultural practices to support their recovery.

In this month’s blog series, Niya Bajaj explores how yoga therapy can support a more inclusive eating disorder recovery for people wishing to incorporate their cultural foods and ancestral food practices, which they may perceive as unhealthy or undesirable due to diet culture messaging.

In this month’s blog series on yoga therapy and inclusive eating disorder recovery, Niya Bajaj investigates the impact of systemic exclusion on eating disorder recovery. She educates about how we can apply the niyama of tapas (TAH-pahs) to make systems more inclusive. Niya offers practical suggestions for how researchers, care providers, and individuals seeking care can practice tapas to build systems that are more inclusive.

In her latest blog post, Niya Bajaj highlights how the experience of intersectionality--or multiple social identities--impacts eating disorders and recovery outcomes. She explores how the yoga concept of svādhyāya (self-study) guides us to deepen our awareness of what influences our identity and body image. Niya also explains how researchers and care providers can apply svādhyāya to help address eating disorders in a truly inclusive way by including systemically excluded populations in the eating disorder community.

Sharing about my experience at #NEDAcon Philadelphia and how I plan to live and spread the call to action for inclusion of all body sizes, races, abilities, genders, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, ages, and other behavioral and mental health conditions in the eating disorder recovery community.