A “Yoga Body” Does Not Exist

I remember my friend saying “I’m too fat to do yoga” after asking her to join one of my classes. When she saw the puzzled look on my face, she went on to explain that only skinny people do yoga. This saddened me.

unfortunately my friend is not the only one that thinks this way, and one can’t blame her. If you were to Google search yoga, you will be confronted with images of thin, mostly caucasian, women bending and flexing in ways that seem impossible. Yoga, a practice accessible to everyone, has been narrowed done to a few people. The benefits brought by the practice is missed by many because the media has told them they do not fit the mould of the “yoga body”.

Well there is no yoga body. There is no ideal weight, gender or race. Yoga is for anyone, and I would recommend it for everyone. Here are a few yogi’s you can follow who break all stereotypes that the media has set:

1. Derrick “DJ” Townsel (@dade2shelby)

When Stomp The Yard is one of your favorite movies but all you know is yoga… #RastaYogi #Yoga #Melanin #OnlyTheAvatar #JahBless

A photo posted by DJ Townsel #RastaYogi (@dade2shelby) on

 

2. Kristen Deandrade

Confessions of a little yogi with a big heart: For years, I tore myself down after a yoga class. My poses didn’t look as beautiful as everyone else’s. My balance sucked. The lack of inversions in my practice made me less of a yogi. I could go on. 100% FALSE. It was only when I stopped defining my practice, as one that belonged to a woman with dwarfism who had also had more surgeries than she could count on two hands, that I found a sense of pride in my practice. When we define something, we are instilling limitations; putting it in a box, giving it a label. What I hated most about societies perception about me, I was instilling in my practice. Your practice isn’t meant to be defined. It’s meant to be your biggest teacher – whatever that looks like. The fact that so many different people can come together in one room, practice and each take something valuable away into their day – THAT is Beautiful. My excitement is building for the day that I begin teaching that on the mat. #yogaeverydamnday #littleyogibigheart #biglittleyogi #littlelegsbigheart #thisismyyoga #bodypositive #onlylove #thisiswhatayogilookslike #anjaneyasana #dwarfismawareness #madeforyoga #mfystories

A photo posted by Kristen DeAndrade (@littlelegsbigheart) on

 

3. Jessamyn Stanley

 

4. Yulady Saluti

 

5. Sophia Wright Emigh

 

Don’t believe what the media tells you. There is no such thing as a yoga body, there only exists a willing person who wishes to learn.

VP