Real Yoga
Body Image – The Battle for Self-Acceptance
Warming Up…
I have always been someone who battles with their self-image. As a child I was really tall, lanky, uncontrollably clumsy as I tried to navigate the use of my long limbs with difficulty! This is why my parents first took me to Gymnastics to try to help me gain strength and coordination. As I hit my teens I was an elite gymnast, which as a teenage girl can put you in rather a conflicting position with body image. When I was competing I longed to be smaller, thinner more toned like some of my competitors. Never viewing my own body even after 25+hrs a week in the gym as lean or strong as theirs. Outside of the gymnastics world I longed to be one of the popular kids, curvy, grown up, womanly and proud. I never felt comfortable in my body. I always felt stuck between two conflicted worlds of opposites to which I belonged to neither. As an adult especially since becoming a yoga teacher I found myself still constantly living in this battle of reviewing my physical state as a sign of general success. When I gained weight it was a failure a loss of control on my life and emotions, weight loss a win. (more…)