Guest contributor Sarah Webb shares how living with scoliosis affected her body image, causing her to feel trapped in a broken body. Sarah describes the pain she endured as well as the hope that she felt after attending her first yoga class. For Sarah, yoga was the beginning of true healing, offering a path to feeling empowered and whole in her body.

How would giving yourself permission to see yourself as part of the whole rather than a collection of imperfect parts change your relationship with your body? Somewhere along my body image journey, this was a question I began asking myself daily. Surprisingly, with time and support, I felt a shift, a sense of wholeness versus a fragmented mess of imperfect body parts. If you struggle with body image, this blog offers some guidance on how to practice “seeing” yourself as a whole being.

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 this month’s blog series, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of stigma and silence around mental health concerns, including eating disorders, impact how people seek help and how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery.

Research has demonstrated a strong link between trauma exposure and other severe adverse experiences in both childhood and adulthood with eating disorders. In her latest blog, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of systemic exclusion and associated trauma impact how people seek help and how yoga therapy can support inclusive eating disorder recovery.

Guest contributor Bridget Clawson shares how, 5 years into her eating disorder recovery, she found herself in a cooking class to face a disconnect she feels with engaging with food, whether through grocery shopping or in the kitchen. Read her experience of making “imperfect” pancakes and how she is remaining open to facing challenges while acknowledging her ongoing progress.

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.

Guest contributor Lora McCandless struggled with an eating disorder for many years, often feeling alone and unseen. Here, Lora shares how hearing the words “Be Kind to Yourself” for the first time set her on a journey to learning how to practice self-kindness in her recovery and in her life today as a mother, wife, and human.

Guest contributor Isabelle Gillibrand shares how embracing an anti-diet mindset is a practice of the yoga concept of ahimsa, which means nonviolence or kindness. By including aspects of her own story as well as current research, Isabelle discusses components of the wellness industry that are harmful and seeks to help people live their yoga in all aspects of their lives, including in their relationship with their body, food, and health.