Guest contributor Natalie Gallant, MS, LCMHC, NCC, shares about how yoga benefits her mental health on and off the mat.

On a dark January evening, I found a yellow sticky note that I’d completely forgotten about in my coat pocket. On the front were three words: yoga, write, read. I needed this reminder to slow down and make space for these nourishing activities. Now I just had to believe I was deserving of taking the time to do them. Here I share some of the steps I took to build trust within myself that I was, in fact, deserving to make and take space for those people, places, and things that are important to me.

As a parent of a child in eating disorder recovery, guest contributor Stephanie Affinito, struggled to know how to support her daughter without conversations ending in crying. In this moving blog, Stephanie shares how turning to reading, writing, and yoga—three practices that have served her well on her own health journey with chronic illness—became safe spaces to cultivate the support she herself needed as a caregiver. For all the caregivers out there, fiercely loving your person/people through hardship, this one is for you.

Learning the yogic definition of contentment was an important turning point in my recovery because I could let go of the pressure to be happy all the time, or even to always like my body. Here I share how a most unexpected role model showed me I was free from measuring the success of my recovery by the depth of my happiness.

I experienced grief off and on during my recovery, especially in the beginning when I started to consistently make choices that aligned with recovery and not the eating disorder. I invite you to read about a pivotal moment in my journey, when I learned what it actually means to grieve the eating disorder, and why this emotion is a natural and important part of healing.

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 recently came across a story from the early days of my recovery after a relapse that occurred later in my life, when my children were little. Revisiting this emotional scene reinforced a message I often share with my yoga therapy clients: recovery is relearning how to participate in life, and this includes sharing meals with the people who matter to us. I invite you to read how my children taught me to participate in life and have fun with food again.

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.

There are many barriers that keep people from trying yoga. Some relate to health, physical challenges, and body image challenges. If you are new to yoga or looking to explore ways experience the practice, guest contributor Mary Higgs shares how Adaptive Chair Yoga not only breaks down barriers to yoga by making it more accessible, but it also focuses on the mind-body connection by encouraging practitioners to trust and listen to their bodies.