The “perks” of not having the so called “yoga body”
I would like to start these lines by saying that yoga is my refuge. It’s part of my drive even when I’m not practicing or procastinating on the idea of going in to the mat to face those fears and insecurities that goes through my head. Sometimes, those feelings feel like a monsoon, sometimes they’re just a light breeze, but there are days when you face the other and you might see your own fears in them reflecting straight back at you.
It comes down to this. The other day while I was not doing something very yogi or ayurvedic, just having some beers with friends and I found myself talking about one of my favorite topics, hearing that somebody is starting to do yoga. Maybe is because I’ve been in the yoga environment for a while, and every time I know about somebody saying they’re beginning to try I get all hype and go like “Yeah! I’ve been practicing for 6 years and it’s been incredible” and I mean it, it has. But here comes the punch line, my counterpart in this conversation expressed that while she is enjoying it, her main motivation is to lose weight (for the sake of timeline, this was said before I went all “I love yoga mode”). Before I realized this happened she gave me the phrase for which these lines are carrying the title above “Sorry, but you don’t look like someone who has been practicing yoga for six years, my friend has been doing yoga and she looks so fit...”
My immediate reaction in that moment was to have a full case of brain freeze, a friend sited next to me, heard the comment, she snapped and tried to be supportive by saying “Oh no, you didn’t ”I didn’t know whether to laugh or go full rage. I have to admit that I’m a very short temper kind of person, which is one of the main reasons while I keep on jumping in to that mat and try to let go of my stubbornness, my pride and enrich myself with patience, content, and mindfulness.
Yoga is my happy place and it brings me joy every single time. But at that moment I had no idea how to react; I have to admit that I was angry, confused and outraged. I wanted to go full extreme feminist and shove down through her face that she has been predisposed and manipulated by media regarding all this BS about body image and what a yoga body should look like or not. Then, between overcoming the brain freeze and bringing light in to my anger, I decided to go with an open mind and a thoughtful heart by saying “Yoga is not about your body, is the communion you do in order to overcome —without violence and in control— the obstacles located in your mind, to transcend the sphere of your physical limitations, and bring your body and spirit in to one. When it comes to your body type, it doesn’t matter if you’re skinny, curvy, fat, tall or short, in the end is completely irrelevant. Don’t let anybody undermine you about practicing yoga just because for their standards you don’t look the part. ”
I have to admit, that it did affected me despite this beautiful campaigns (E.g. #sizedoesntmatter on instagram) headed by this gorgeous, courageous, fearless women whose bodies and abilities defies the paradigms about fitness and healthy lifestyle as it has been presented everywhere through mass media all around the world, including the yoga community. Those examples show the important task we all must take as yoga practitioners which is to bring awareness about the amplitude of yoga, as a practice for everybody, and the challenges we are all able to overcome in our own terms.
It also made me to think about how many people starts yoga classes primarily for weight loss and I get it, but once you really embrace it is just about the journey and then you realize that losing weight it just an accessory result. I’m not going to deny it, despite being 5.6 tall and packing 154 pounds (I just did that people, I’ve revealed my weight to the internet world) I feel stronger, full of life and completely awake, I can go in to asanas that I never thought I would be able to accomplish when I began yoga practice. Of course I’ve lost a lot of weight and that’s awesome, but even if I hadn’t I would not change the sense of awareness and peacefulness that yoga has brought in to my life. For that, I’m thankful every day.
There are many challenges to overcome in the future. Being overweight it’s just a particle of the things that I’ve to deal within my head on daily basis, but with time I’ve learned to embrace my limitations, understand them and patiently work on them. Because that’s life, it will always bring you something new to face, a new adventure, obstacles, closed and open doors.
For what is worth I believe that there is no such a thing as a “yoga body type.” There is your body, your practice and what you learn from it in the end. I admit my weaknesses and soft spots, also the ups and downs regarding the consistency of my practice but I’m working on them. I’m on my way and I dance at the beat of my own drum and all of you out there should dance through your yoga practice with your own rhythm too.
I would like to start these lines by saying that yoga is my refuge. It’s part of my drive even when I’m not practicing or procastinating on the idea of going in to the mat to face those fears and insecurities that goes through my head. Sometimes, those feelings feel like a monsoon, sometimes they’re just a light breeze, but there are days when you face the other and you might see your own fears in them reflecting straight back at you.
It comes down to this. The other day while I was not doing something very yogi or ayurvedic, just having some beers with friends and I found myself talking about one of my favorite topics, hearing that somebody is starting to do yoga. Maybe is because I’ve been in the yoga environment for a while, and every time I know about somebody saying they’re beginning to try I get all hype and go like “Yeah! I’ve been practicing for 6 years and it’s been incredible” and I mean it, it has. But here comes the punch line, my counterpart in this conversation expressed that while she is enjoying it, her main motivation is to lose weight (for the sake of timeline, this was said before I went all “I love yoga mode”). Before I realized this happened she gave me the phrase for which these lines are carrying the title above “Sorry, but you don’t look like someone who has been practicing yoga for six years, my friend has been doing yoga and she looks so fit...”
My immediate reaction in that moment was to have a full case of brain freeze, a friend sited next to me, heard the comment, she snapped and tried to be supportive by saying “Oh no, you didn’t ”I didn’t know whether to laugh or go full rage. I have to admit that I’m a very short temper kind of person, which is one of the main reasons while I keep on jumping in to that mat and try to let go of my stubbornness, my pride and enrich myself with patience, content, and mindfulness.
Yoga is my happy place and it brings me joy every single time. But at that moment I had no idea how to react; I have to admit that I was angry, confused and outraged. I wanted to go full extreme feminist and shove down through her face that she has been predisposed and manipulated by media regarding all this BS about body image and what a yoga body should look like or not. Then, between overcoming the brain freeze and bringing light in to my anger, I decided to go with an open mind and a thoughtful heart by saying “Yoga is not about your body, is the communion you do in order to overcome —without violence and in control— the obstacles located in your mind, to transcend the sphere of your physical limitations, and bring your body and spirit in to one. When it comes to your body type, it doesn’t matter if you’re skinny, curvy, fat, tall or short, in the end is completely irrelevant. Don’t let anybody undermine you about practicing yoga just because for their standards you don’t look the part. ”
I have to admit, that it did affected me despite this beautiful campaigns (E.g. #sizedoesntmatter on instagram) headed by this gorgeous, courageous, fearless women whose bodies and abilities defies the paradigms about fitness and healthy lifestyle as it has been presented everywhere through mass media all around the world, including the yoga community. Those examples show the important task we all must take as yoga practitioners which is to bring awareness about the amplitude of yoga, as a practice for everybody, and the challenges we are all able to overcome in our own terms.
It also made me to think about how many people starts yoga classes primarily for weight loss and I get it, but once you really embrace it is just about the journey and then you realize that losing weight it just an accessory result. I’m not going to deny it, despite being 5.6 tall and packing 154 pounds (I just did that people, I’ve revealed my weight to the internet world) I feel stronger, full of life and completely awake, I can go in to asanas that I never thought I would be able to accomplish when I began yoga practice. Of course I’ve lost a lot of weight and that’s awesome, but even if I hadn’t I would not change the sense of awareness and peacefulness that yoga has brought in to my life. For that, I’m thankful every day.
There are many challenges to overcome in the future. Being overweight it’s just a particle of the things that I’ve to deal within my head on daily basis, but with time I’ve learned to embrace my limitations, understand them and patiently work on them. Because that’s life, it will always bring you something new to face, a new adventure, obstacles, closed and open doors.
For what is worth I believe that there is no such a thing as a “yoga body type.” There is your body, your practice and what you learn from it in the end. I admit my weaknesses and soft spots, also the ups and downs regarding the consistency of my practice but I’m working on them. I’m on my way and I dance at the beat of my own drum and all of you out there should dance through your yoga practice with your own rhythm too.
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