Meet Josephine Cantona
Y4ED Community Member, Josephine Cantona
Meet our Y4ED featured community member, Josephine Cantona. Here Jo shares how the Y4ED community has provided her a space to express her fears and doubts and celebrate her wins. Read Jo's story:
"Yoga helped create the bridge between the therapy I was receiving as part of my treatment for anorexia and my recovery. Yoga helped me to embody the emotions I was talking about with my therapists, it gave me ways to cope with my eating disorder that were grounded in compassion rather than self-hate; it opened me up to the possibility of getting better.
As I got better and started living my life ‘normally’ again, I decided to train as a yoga teacher and have been teaching ever since. I always knew I wanted to share my story once I got better and contribute to others’ recoveries through my teaching. I contacted Jennifer to see how I could do that, she became my mentor and has been ever since. I have joined her mentorship circles and have worked with her 1:1 and over the years she, as well as the community, have helped me to find my voice as a Yoga teacher for eating disorders. It gave me confidence and refined my skills in trauma-informed Yoga as well as Yoga for eating disorders, but most of all, it has given me sense of belonging; a community with whom I can share the highs and lows of teaching, the doubts and insecurities I can encounter as someone trying to help other people.
The Y4ED community is filled with compassionate, caring beings who are always here to give a hand when they can. I am not able to attend every mentorship circle but every time I do I feel welcomed and supported and I always learn so much from my peers. Now I really believe the best learning experience one can get is through such a community, where we feel free to express our doubts and fears, are celebrated for our wins, and always encouraged to grow."