Y’all.

That isn’t true!

First of all, I don’t love my body all the time. And second, I don’t think the way “body love” is typically construed in these conversations is much like what I, or many people, experience at all.

Lived Experience

When this comes up, I do my best to quickly let people know that I’m very far from singing the praises of my body while running through a field of wildflowers 99.99% of the time. Most of the time, I’m just going about my day, not really thinking that much about my body beyond noticing its needs.

But can we just stop right there for a second?

Because noticing your needs and “just living your life” is huge! And, it’s definitely a form of body love! It’s just the more everyday version of it — body neutrality.

Body Neutrality

If you’re not familiar with the idea of body neutrality, it helps me to think about a continuum between body hate and body love. As with any continuum, the extreme ends are a small part while the middle is big and encompasses a wide range of experiences. This is where body neutrality lives — in our everyday experiences.

It’s getting dressed in the morning with less commentary from the negative peanut gallery in your head. It’s doing your work and not wondering what your coworker is thinking about how your body looks while you do. It’s moving your body how you want and eating how you want with less second-guessing and doubting about if you’re doing it “right.”

From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. It’s simpler than I would have thought possible or acceptable. And it’s also totally life-changing.

Love your body. Live your life.

What I love about body neutrality is how true to life it is. We think body love is going to be this big thing, a milestone everyone will be able to recognize (especially ourselves), a ticker tape parade. But it actually is something that gets woven into your life, often without you even noticing until something presents itself for contrast, like how you would have felt when Susan from Accounting brought up dieting in the past and how you feel now. Or how you would have responded in the past when you put on something that no longer works for your body versus how you respond to it now.

Body neutrality isn’t a stop along the way to body love.

It’s what body love looks like in everyday life.

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Introduce Yourself and Set Boundaries: This sounds dramatic, but it’s pretty simple. Meet the teacher and introduce yourself. Let her know that you may be modifying the practice  to accommodate your body. That’s plenty of information– you don’t need to be more specific if you don’t want to. This is your chance to let the teacher know in a friendly way that you know what you need to do to take care of yourself. If you prefer not to be touched (I always prefer not to be assisted or adjusted by a yoga teacher that doesn’t know me or my body, and with whom I have not yet established trust), then just let them know that you prefer not to receive any adjustments if that’s something that is offered in that class.

Be Confident!  When you walk into class, you’ve got that whole “I’m in a new place” vibe to work with. You may be the person in class who looks different, or who doesn’t have the same type of yoga outfit as the other students. Maybe it feels like you’re the new kid in the class and you don’t fit in. Before you have a major high school anxiety attack, take a deep breath and remember that you are there to take care of yourself. Your yoga mat is your refuge (even if it’s a rental), and you can take your practice with you wherever you go. If it’s not awkward, you might introduce yourself to someone and ask a question or two about the class. Or close your eyes and meditate. Or do a little Savasana. Or do whatever you want, because you’re awesome and your yoga looks like what it looks like for you!

Grab Your Props. Take a look around and grab any props you know you like.  I always take a blanket and two blocks, if available– the blanket is great to support under the hips for seated poses if that helps your body. Blocks will bring the floor closer to you when needed. If you know you like a bolster under the knees during Savasana, grab one, or double up your blankets if there aren’t bolsters available. Oh, and a blanket folded over two blocks works pretty well if props are limited!

Move at Your Own Speed. This can be a tough one. It may be that your body does not want to move as quickly as the class tempo does. If you can get a feel for patterns in the sequence, you may be able to omit steps so that you can land in some of the same poses at the same time. For example, if the class is powering through chaturanga, up-dog, down-dog, you can skip right to down dog to be ready for the next standing pose. Or, omit down dog and wait in table (hands-and-knees) for the next transition. If you’re feeling like you just can’t keep up, take a resting pose and breathe for a while– the tempo of class may change, and you’ll be able to participate more then.

Modify Where Needed, But Keep An Open Mind. Hopefully you have some ideas about what works well in your body by this point in your yoga practice. If down dog doesn’t work for your shoulders, chill out in a hands-and-knees position. Maybe a traditional “chaturanga/up-dog/down-dog” vinyasa doesn’t work for you. You can sub out whatever movement works for you: cat and cow, knees-down chaturanga, locust pose, or spend some time in forearm plank. There may be some poses your body doesn’t do (that’s pretty typical). If the teacher doesn’t offer an alternative or modification, you are free to do something that feels right to you instead. For example, if Bird of Paradise is offered and it’s just not working, then do tree pose instead, or another pose that was taught earlier that feels appropriate to you.

At the same time, this is an opportunity to try something different and perhaps explore a different style of practice. Ideally, this teacher has a specific sequence that’s designed to create an experience for the class. My recommendation is to make the class accessible for yourself, but to do what you can to participate.

From time to time, everyone (even a yoga teacher) has the experience of not having something available to them that others seem to do easily. It’s not for nothing that Teddy Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Every one of us has our own practice. We can’t know anything about the other students, their bodies, their lives, or their experiences with yoga. If you get caught up in comparison or judgment, notice that it’s happened, and practice the internal skills of yoga: feel your body, notice your breath. Return to the embodied experience of your yoga practice. In this way, we become more aware of our habitual internal narratives and repetitive mental patterns, and grow more skillful at working with them.

Whatever your experience in the class, at the end, you’ll know yourself and your body better than you did before. If you find that the experience was really not right for you, I like to imagine myself writing a review. What were the highlights? What did you not enjoy as much? Was there anything unique or different about the practice space, or the community? What will you look for next time?

I hope you enjoy your yoga travels and find joy in the experience!

—Laura Wenger is an E-RYT500 with over 4,000 hours of teaching experience. She is a Functional Range Conditioning movement specialist, a certified Curvy Yoga teacher and a community partner with the Yoga and Body Image Coalition. As a trauma-informed teacher, she is dedicated to creating a safe environment for self-acceptance, nurturing and education. Laura encourages individual exploration and mindful inquiry through functional movement and traditional asana. She teaches students to reconnect to their own embodied experience, empowering them to find individual alignment that honors and respects each unique body.

Laura is a dedicated student of movement and meditation, committed to continuing education and critical thinking about modern postural yoga practice. Her primary asana teachers are Jason Crandell and Anna Guest-Jelley. As a student of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, she brings the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to the mat, creating a culture of acceptance, vibrant compassion, and increased self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-love. You can check out Laura’s blog at www.laurasana.com.

The post How to Make Any Yoga Class More Accessible appeared first on Curvy Yoga.

The first thing I noticed (of course) was that everyone there looked different than I did… and not just because they seemed to have Yoga Outfits. The (mostly women) in the room were clearly preparing themselves for a Serious Workout. The next 60 minutes or so inched by in a blur of slow-motion torture, as I attempted to save face by making my body do things I’d never before thought possible. That’s because they weren’t really possible for me, but the teacher offered no alternatives. When savasana came around, I had no idea what had just happened (or why we were now just laying there), but I was really confident I’d never subject myself to yoga again.

It took a little while, but… I did come back. In fact, I have never gone more than a year or two, in the 20 years since, without feeling the tug to go to a yoga class. It never made sense to me, though: How could I be so drawn to something that so consistently felt unwelcoming?Why didn’t there seem to be any spaces with people like me doing yoga?

That’s when I found Curvy Yoga, and almost immediately I knew that I had to become a yoga teacher. If I was feeling out of place in yoga classes, yet kept going,I knew there had to be others for whom yoga was, at the very least, an interesting (but impossible-seeming) idea.

In the two years I’ve been teaching yoga, I’ve come to understand something that author Richard Bach once said: “We teach best what we most need to learn.” My yoga class is the class I desperatelywanted to find when I was still figuring out what yoga held for me.To be honest, my yoga class is the class I still desperatelytry to find as a yoga student. I teach what I crave. (I’m still looking for it.)

Living Your Yoga

This realization has spilled far, far off my mat, though; it’s come to inform just about everything I do in relation to other people. Whether it’s with my stepkids, the students I teach at my community college, or what I put into my social media feed, I can almost always step back and see how the messages I share with others are in service of this impulse.I ‘teach’ (whether it’s formalized instruction or not) those things I wish someone had taught (or was teaching) me.

I talk to my stepkids about how to listen to the hunger cues their bodies are sending, how to trust those, rather than looking outside themselves for guidance (even to their biological parents, who tend to favor rules like, ‘One dessert a day!’ or “We eat veggies with every meal!”). As a young person, I needed someone to tell me that I didn’t need to hide what I was eating, that they wouldn’t think less of me for what choices I made.

I teach political science classes where, as a conflict-averse lover of harmony, I emphasize that intelligent people can disagree for good reasons and–get this!– NOT call each other the new Hitler. As a college student, I needed someone to tell me that being a political junkie didn’t require becoming a dismissive jerk to everyone who didn’t see the world exactly as I did.I suspect I would’ve been a better friend and colleague had someone let me in on that apparently well-kept secret sooner.

I share nuggets in my social media feed about the need for empathy, compassion, and meaningful connection.As an attentive citizen, I’m pretty confident those are the things I need more of to navigate these, um, interestingpolitical times.

You don’t have to stand in front of a room of students to teach. We’re all teaching one another things, every day, even if it’s just what behaviors we cannot tolerate or when we cross the line from mildly hungry to full-on hangry. What lessons are you teaching others that you wish someone had taught you sooner?What lessons do you still wish someone would teach you? Could you teach those to someone you love?

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Liz Norell is a yoga teacher, life coach, podcaster, and college professor who values genuine connection and service above all else. She helps women root down into their true callings, then gather the courage to leap to answer those callings.

The post We teach what we crave appeared first on Curvy Yoga.

When my favorite teacher at the Y shared details about the retreat she was co-hosting, I took the plunge and registered. It was just a long weekend, within driving distance, and I read specific mention of coffee time.

Spoiler alert: one of the best decisions of my life. And now: count me in for ALL the retreats.

So what about you? Are you ready for retreat life? Last year, I started planning my first with a dear friend and fellow teacher, and fielded a lot of the same questions from students:

      Can I handle a whole (weekend/week or more) of yoga? Sounds advanced. Every retreat’s structure is different, for the vast majority I’ve experienced, yoga practice on the mat is an offering once or up to a few times a day, perhaps anchoring the community gathered, but does not cover up the agenda. The rigor of the practice, too, will vary, but a good retreat leader can give you an idea of what kinds of classes will be offered. Perhaps this will be a place to try a new style of class that doesn’t fit into your weekly schedule back home. Maybe you’ll spend up to a few hours a day on the mat, in a mix of practices, but with plenty of free time, too. When you’re investing vacation time for a retreat, you certainly want options for other activities and maybe sightseeing, if you’re retreating somewhere new.

      Speaking of time away, that sounds awfully…quiet. And are they going to collect my phone and laptop at the door? I have experienced an incredible silent retreat at a local convent, where I was encouraged to turn off all outside distractions and even enter into a day-long “vocal rest.” But like other offerings, the chance to unplug is usually optional, so long as your keeping in touch with the outside world isn’t a distraction for other retreatants. Some retreats are specifically geared towards writers and others who’ll need and want to put in some work while away, and offer a unique environment for creativity and developing craft in community with like-minded retreatants.

          Let’s talk food. And do I have to bring a sleeping bag? I’m too old for that whole summer camp experience. Most retreat center kitchens can accommodate a variety of allergies and other dietary needs. A few centers I’ve visited feature cuisine particular to the location or mindset of the center: using fresh produce grown on site, or following a vegetarian lifestyle. It can be a great chance to try something new for a short time, but most will also offer you modifications or a place to store your own food, if needed. I’ve been invited to try “greeting the day with breath instead of caffeine,” but also choose only those retreats who’ll provide my coffee fix on the other side of morning meditation. As for sleeping arrangements, ask about any concerns. Most centers have options for solo rooms, and many are furnished with all you need to rest comfortably.

            Who else will be there? Should I bring a buddy? If you and a friend want to enjoy sharing the experience, by all means: make this a great getaway together. But there’s something to be said, too, for the bravery of going solo. When I’ve signed up alone, I’ve had the freedom to make small talk with strangers when I wanted, but also felt no pressure to be “on.” I had the chance to experience the depth of time alone with my thoughts — something I didn’t have much of at home. Through their enrollment recruiting, good retreat leaders will work to cultivate a group of participants who’ll benefit from each other’s presence.

You may have heard yogis talk about “living your yoga,” and retreats are a terrific way to try on that concept. In a place set apart from the daily grind of work and family obligations, a retreat is where you not only enjoy some of the yoga practice you love back home, but also where you can listen to your body, mind, and spirit’s needs. Set all of that in a location where enjoy visiting, and you’ve got yourself the best kind of vacation.

On that very first retreat I took one November, I carved out a new annual tradition: finding a hammock with a view and opening my journal, scribbling and praying for a word of intention for the new year ahead. Years later, after the end of a relationship and a layoff from a job I’d loved, I chose a yoga retreat again as the safe place to rest — this time at an off-the-grid retreat center on the Baja peninsula. Late one night that week, I wandered down to the beach, sat under the stars, and gave thanks for feeling the most whole I had in months. Between fresh fruit juice on the way to morning yoga, Mexican cooking class, laughing poolside with new friends, and an incredible massage at the in-house spa, I remembered what it was like to really feast on the day with my senses, instead of just surviving my stressful life. When I wasn’t sure I could experience real joy again, retreat time gave me a place to reset, and a taste of something I could learn to cultivate in small ways every day back home.

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Katie S. Hall is a yoga teacher, writer, and nonprofit fundraising professional. Her life mission statement: to create experiences that help people to know they are celebrated and significant. Katie loves to welcome those who think yoga is simply not for them, whether for physical or other reasons. Along with her dear friend and fellow Curvy Yoga teacher, Liz Norell, Katie is hosting HARBOR: THE INSPIRED RETREAT, March 7-10, on Harbor Island in South Carolina. A few spots remain www.katieshall.com/harbor

The post When are you ready for your first yoga retreat? appeared first on Curvy Yoga.

These sensitive populations often get huge benefits from yoga, but many yoga instructors don’t think they have the skill set or the confidence to teach in a non-traditional environment. Hopefully this post gives you a little idea of what to expect, and maybe encourages you to consider teaching in one of these environments, because it is really rewarding and really fun!

How I started teaching in a rehabilitation center

In August 2017, I had just completed yoga teacher training. Some friends and I decided to rent out some space in a community center to practice teaching yoga to friends and family while we looked for jobs.

The first day, a friend and I arrived a few minutes early to prep, and the group that rented the space before us was still there. One of the women (who turned out to be the founder of the organization) saw our yoga mats and struck up a conversation. We talked about how we had just completed yoga teacher training. Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, “Wow! That is too funny. My yoga instructor just put in her two weeks’ notice and I’m looking for another one. Would either of you be interested in teaching women in recovery from substance abuse?” The friend I was with said no, but I agreed to get coffee with her a few days later.

The realities of teaching in a non-traditional environment

Teaching in a jail, halfway house, or recovery center is a pretty different experience than most studio or community classes. Some reasons are:

1. Many of these facilities do not have the resources to purchase yoga equipment. I’m lucky to have a studio with mats, blocks, and straps, but sometimes you need to supply your own mats.

2. Space can be difficult. Sometimes these organizations do not have a huge space to practice in, so you might be crammed in a front hallway or makeshift room or something. You may not know where you’re going to be teaching until you show up to class. Sometimes, my organization has unexpected meetings and I get moved at the last minute to a smaller space (that’s the story of how I learned to teach chair yoga).

3. Students often come in late due to group, medical, or counseling sessions running over.

4. Depending on the organization, there may be very strict rules about your relationship with students. It is your job to be aware of those rules. You likely signed a contract about it.

5. Sometimes, students might be bringing their children to class if they can’t find adequate childcare.

What are my students like?

1. They are diverse. They have a wide variety of ability levels. They come from a huge range of income levels, sexual & gender identities, and ethnic backgrounds. Some students are excited about yoga, and others genuinely don’t want to be there. Many have had quite difficult lives.

2. They don’t have a ton of yoga experience. Most of the women I teach have never done yoga before, and if they have, it’s usually because they did it when they were in jail or another recovery facility.

3. Their physical ability and energy levels are all over the map, and injuries are common. A lot of my students are actively experiencing symptoms of withdrawal, so sometimes they have to leave to be sick or they just need to lay down and take a nap. I’ve also had three or four students in the last year that have recently been hit by cars, and they want to come to yoga as part of their physical therapy. The best way to deal with a large variety of injuries and abilities, I’ve found, is to have one-on-one time with students where you can get a little more understanding of their physical condition and offer lots and lots and lots of different options for each posture (while encouraging students to listen to their bodies).

Is this kind of teaching for everyone?

If you are a generally empathetic person and can get along with all different types of people, you might enjoy teaching in a jail or halfway house. You also have to be adaptable (which comes with practice). You can prep and do sequencing, but you’ll most likely have to change it depending on how the class goes and the energy in the room.

Getting a Curvy Yoga certification was so helpful in offering accessible sequencing for many of my students. If you feel ill-prepared to teach a sensitive population, invest in trainings! A trauma-sensitive training paired with a Curvy Yoga certification can work wonders.

I hope that this post at least informed and hopefully inspired you to check out different opportunities in your area working with underserved groups! It really is rewarding, fun, and a fantastic way to grow as an instructor. I love to connect with other passionate instructors, so if you’re in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and/or you want to contact me, please feel free to be in touch at astivland (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks for reading!

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Allison Stivland is a yoga instructor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to her 230-hour yoga instruction certification, she is certified in curvy yoga and has completed seminars in trauma-sensitive yoga and yin yoga. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in psychology and public health and has a particular interest in using yoga to restore and encourage her students’ positive relationships with their bodies. She is a strong advocate for inclusion within the yoga community and works to create a classroom environment where people of all backgrounds and identities feel welcome. She has been teaching in a Minneapolis center for recovery from substance abuse since September 2017.

The post Teaching Yoga in Non-Traditional Settings appeared first on Curvy Yoga.

Mindfulness is definitely having its moment, and for good reason. We need mindfulness more than ever in our busy too fast lives.

But.

But, there is a case to be made for mindfulness’s friend Curiosity. Mindfulness is one of several qualities or attributes that Buddhists propose as helpful mindsets. Here’s why I think curiosity can be even more helpful than mindfulness.

Why Curiosity?

According to psychologists, adopting a mindset of curiosity can foster more inner peace, self-acceptance, kindness and better communication. How? The first is that curiosity can interrupt judgment of any kind, but most importantly, judgment of the self (particularly self criticism).

When we get curious, we aren’t too far off from how infants (of all species) interact with the world. They are both brave, excited and without expectation. I tell myself to think of curiosity as encountering the world like a kitten, scampering after something. Where will it go? What will it do? In that curiosity, I’m not quite seeking to put it into one category or another (whether it is bad or good) but to get more information.

How Curiosity Differs from Mindfulness

Curiosity isn’t the same thing as mindfulness. In fact, I’d argue that learning to adopt a mindset of curiosity first might help with the other great Buddhist attributes, like mindfulness, friendliness (metta), and others.

Mindfulness asks that you watch your actions. It asks that you notice where you are. The idea of mindfulness is that it brings you to a “present sense awareness.” Which, of course, is a fantastic approach. Except if every noticing is accompanied by criticism. Remember that when the Dali Lama was asked about how to improve low self-esteem he was a little perplexed.

So, keep mindfulness in the context of the culture that created it – one that doesn’t trade in the same deluge of negative mind chatter.

How This Plays Out in Life

Imagine the following two scenarios as mindful dialogue. As for the first scenario: I am sitting on my couch. I am feeling how soft my Costco stretchy pants are and my comfy tank from my friend Jen. I am feeling full from my silly dinner of hummus from Zoe’s Kitchen and guac from the back of the fridge. I am looking forward to going to bed in a few minutes, as I have a great day planned for tomorrow.

That would be a mindful experience of my present sense.

Here’s the more likely scenario: I am sitting on my couch (I should have run today, why I am always so lazy?). I am feeling how soft my Costco stretchy pants are (I should really get a better job and afford better clothes) and my comfy tank from my friend Jen (why did I forget to text her this afternoon? Why am I always forgetting things?). I am feeling full from my dinner of hummus from Zoe’s kitchen (should I have eaten out?) and gauc from the back of the fridge (I shouldn’t have had extra for dinner. I should have planned better). I am looking forward to going to bed in a few minutes.

That’s a little tiring no?

How This Plays Out in Yoga

And let’s bring that mindfulness into the yoga studio. Imagine one student practicing yoga in a body that society tells, or more properly yells, is not the right size or shape. That student practicing mindfulness is experiencing the criticism over and over. And, that student watching themselves is missing the opportunity to be embodied: to have an experience all of their own, of their body’s strength and softness.

Curiosity can help get around the imbedded judgment and get to that embodied experience.

Curiosity in yoga might be as simple as your teacher asking you to see how a pose feels, instead of asking you to take it to the limit or to find your edge. Curiosity may also be to ask you to experiment with two or three options for poses or props and then decide which of the two you prefer. In those moments of play you alone are experiencing the poses. You alone are feeling what works for your body.

I liken my morning yoga practice to a morning meeting. Just as a morning huddle might start with a check-in, my practice starts with experiencing what is tight, what is hot, what is loose and what needs attention. I sometimes decide when to finish my practice by doing a similar inquiry of each body part: did my feet get to move and stretch enough? Do they need anything else? Did my calves and shins get what they needed in practice? How about my quads and hamstrings? The abductors and adductors? How about my back and core…

For these reasons and more, curiosity is a cue I work to bring into all my Curvy Yoga classes.

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Maggie Juliano has been teaching yoga since 2008 and Curvy Yoga since 2015. She loves to bring her creativity into the classroom to find new ways for students to connect to themselves. She has taught yoga as part of prison and rehab programs. She is also an attorney and runs a communications business. She is owned by the two most photogenic cats on the East Coast. Connect with Maggie on her website or Instagram. Also, check out her book Body Compassion: An Instructor’s Training & Resource Manual on Yoga for Eating Disorders, and keep an eye out for her upcoming book of writing prompts, 52 Prompts to Connect.

The post How Curiosity Can Help Shift Self-Judgment appeared first on Curvy Yoga.

When your day job is teaching American government to college students, it turns out yoga is an excellent complement to the tumult and challenge of interesting political times. And boy, are we ever living in such times!

I spend my days with students who live in largely rural parts of middle Tennessee. Many of them have never traveled more than 50 or 100 miles from where they grew up. It’s tough to convince them of the value in paying attention to the broader world, especially to political figures who appear to be more often corrupt and self-serving than genuinely invested in representing their communities.

More pressingly, though, for those of us who make a living by or a habit of paying attention to the world, it’s really hard to foster presence and equanimity when so much seems so wrong. How can yoga help in these times? Here are three things that work for me.

Notice how effort brings reward in your movement practice.

The other day, I realized that I felt lighter, more energetic, and calmer than I had in a few days. And then I realized that I’d done a yoga practice the night before for the first time in a week! Despite the image many have of yoga teachers as doing energetic practices daily, I struggle to incorporate more than five or ten minutes of yoga into most of my days, particularly as a college professor in the middle of a semester. That moment when I realized that I felt better because of concrete action taken the previous day was a lightning bolt moment for me.

It’s also an excellent mindset for approaching a noisy, challenging world. We sometimes feel we must fix all of the problems, all of the time—I don’t think it’s just me who feels that way, right? But yoga reminds us to stay in the present and focus on just one thing at a time. On the yoga mat, that one thing is how we’re feeling in our body.

This practice of focusing on one thing and making the most of what you have in that moment? These are great tools off the yoga mat as well. How can you focus on one thing, take concrete (and doable) action, and see an incremental change? Let that be your guiding focus.

Cultivate (or nurture) a gratitude practice.

When the world feels a bit too much, we often feel our thoughts scatter to the seven winds. A gratitude practice helps bring us back to the moment.

If you’re anything like me, the notion of firing up a ‘gratitude practice’ can easily morph into permission slip to go shopping; buy a special gratitude journal, maybe some new and colorful pens, and redecorate a gratitude zone at home. In fact, as I write this, nothing would make me happier than to pop over to Staples or Target right now to buy new gratitude supplies.

These are just ways to pretend we’re doing the work, though. It’s shortcutting our way to a sense of gratitude.

Here’s what my gratitude practice today looks like: When I start to feel overwhelmed, dispirited, or pessimistic, I look for something good around me. Maybe it’s just that I drive a car that I absolutely love. Or that nobody in my house has yet found the box of Tagalongs I squirreled away so I’d still have some at Christmastime. My gratitude list is not written, is not glamorous, and would not merit public sharing. Instead, it’s full of very simple, very small things that buttress my life in unobtrusive ways. Noticing these things, and saying a silent thank-you to the universe for sending them my way, is one of my favorite ways to bring yoga into my daily life.

Acknowledge what you cannot control, and let that shit go.

The most powerful thing that happened when I began doing yoga regularly, and especially when I went through Curvy Yoga teacher training, was the dramatic increase in my comfort with acknowledging the things I cannot (or prefer not to) do, and then letting that shit go.

I remember being in a training session with Anna and breaking into tears when I tried to force myself into a downward facing dog pose. I felt boiling anger and frustration bubble over at myself: “How can I be a yoga teacher if I hate down dog?” I implored her.

Her answer was simple but profound (and prophetic): I’m a yoga teacher who never, ever teaches down dog in her classes. It’s that simple. I let that pose go (for me).

The sovereignty that comes in embracing your yoga practice, both on and off the mat, allows us to place boundaries around our energy and focus. There was a time when I’d be in a weekend yoga workshop, and I’d feel like I had to do the aggressive flow practice that was the “break” from our discussion.

For me, letting that shit go looks like opting out of that practice. Instead, I began propping myself up into my favorite restorative pose and resting there while the rest of the class huffed and puffed through boat pose and crow. People would come up to me after class and ask if I was sick. I would just smile and say, “I’ve never felt better!”

If this isn’t a metaphor for living in interesting times, I don’t know what is. We have limited mental, emotional, and physical energy, and we must identify what things in the world deserve those precious resources. Sometimes, that’s paying attention to the world, yes. But we do not have the power to change everything. And, if we try to fix everything, we will ultimately only create more problems, more need, by exhausting ourselves.

Acknowledge what you can do, what feels like a worthy investment of your limited resources, and let the other stuff go.

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If you’d met Liz Norell as a child, you’d have never predicted she would end up where she is today. For starters, she did not grow up in a particularly political family, yet somehow felt a spark of interest in politics when she accidentally crossed paths with an RU-486 rally on her first (school-sponsored) trip to DC.

Ultimately, she earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas at Dallas … although not without a number of swerves along the way. She spends the academic year teaching government courses at Chattanooga State Community College and thoroughly loves her work.

Every yang needs its yin, though, and for Liz, that’s yoga. In 2016, she completed her 200-hour YTT with Curvy Yoga. She has since logged more than 500 hours of yoga teaching in Chattanooga, Sewanee, and Tracy City. Her classes are gentle, meditative, and designed to include those of all body types and flexibility levels. In the last year, she has brought her teaching into the water, leading gentle aqua yoga classes to those who never imagined they could do yoga.

She will complete her 300-hour YTT in 2019 at the Asheville Yoga Center, where she has focused her advanced studies on trauma-informed, restorative, and yin yoga classes. She lives in Monteagle, Tenn., with her partner, Doug, two stepchildren, and a feisty rescue mutt named Lexie. Connect with Liz on her website or Facebook.

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For about 12-18 months, I harboured a vision: taking Yoga off the mat and into mainstream politics. Recently, in October 2018, this vision became real – I lead an evening Reception in Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The title was “Yoga: Mental Health & Wellbeing.” It was a first for our Parliament, and I’m sure it will not be the last.

What was it about?

The purpose of the event was sharing with our politicians the benefit that yoga in all its many forms can have for all minds and bodies. Sharing the link between yoga and mental health. I wanted to enable the politicians that represent people across Scotland to be better informed about what Yoga is and how it can help us all. The evening included a breathing meditation, Chair Yoga interactive demonstration, healing sounds and key note speakers sharing their inspiring life journeys and the part Yoga has played.

Where did this come from?

Inclusivity is an important value to me, and completing my Curvy Yoga training in 2015 gave me another valuable tool in my ‘toolkit’ in being able to help make yoga accessible to more people. Equipped with my own “post two c-sections curvy body,” in 2017 I co-created a Yoga Charity calendar celebrating the diversity of yoga and teachers from across Scotland and helping to raise funds to support mental health work at the same time.

These inspiring images and mental health quotes spurred me on to want to share on a bigger, wider scale, and there the idea came to approach Parliament. The amazing calendar images also became part of the event – they were shown on plasma screens throughout the evening. During this journey SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health charity launched the Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport. It provides a way to help break down the barriers for people with mental health challenges to be able to access exercise. As a Yoga teacher and mental health advocate I am proud to be a Charter Signatory and SAMH’s support helped make this event possible.

Who was there?

Sponsored by my own Member of Scottish Parliament for my locality, we had the Scottish Minister for Mental Health open the event, followed by powerful, heartfelt personal stories from people who have experienced great benefit from having yoga in their lives and on their mental health.

These people included Agnes Houston, MBE & Churchill Fellow, sharing her incredible story of living with early onset Dementia and 13 years on finding her yoga practices of breathing and balance postures helping her through the effects of living with dementia such as hallucinations and respiratory difficulties.

John Arthur shared how from a challenging upbringing on a housing estate surrounded by drugs, alcohol and abuse, yoga has helped him through mental health difficulties to recovery and he is now a community activist sharing yoga with diverse groups such as veterans, people with PTSD, and the young in the care system and addiction recovery.

The SAMH charity are also the advisors to the Government on mental health policy and they talked about the Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport and how it is helping spread awareness and break down the barriers for people with mental health challenges access exercise. They are blown away and delighted to have seen so many Yoga instructors and organisations become signatories of the Charter, now making up the largest group and are helping make a difference.

What’s next…?

This event has established a good platform from which further awareness can be launched to share and celebrate the many benefits of yoga including supporting our mental health and awareness.

The event received good coverage ranging from radio interviews to newspaper and magazines covering the story. I’ve also been approached by a few members of Parliament and other sporting organisations to talk about ideas to share Yoga further, integrating it into activities supporting mental health.

The door is open… and for all of us as yoga practitioners to keep expanding on what we love doing most – sharing the benefits of yoga.

What did I learn?

I have realised when you work toward bringing about something that you feel strongly passionate about – it’s as if it creates a life of its own. I was amazed how seemingly big obstacles to this ‘thing’ actually happening kept being resolved as I moved forward. People and organisations came along at just the right time often when I was feeling uncertain. I take heart from this experience and love the path I am on and in which body positivity/Curvy Yoga continues to play an important part.

—

Lindsey Porter is an Akhanda Hatha and Curvy qualified yoga teacher based in Scotland. She is passionate about sharing the benefits yoga can bring to all minds and bodies. As well as 12 years+ teaching experience, Lindsey is a Tutor for the Yoga Scotland Foundation course, co-founder of a successful international yoga podcast series, listened to in over 70 countries, author of articles published in the Huffington Post, Yoga and OM Yoga magazines. She is a Mental Health Charter Signatory, active supporter and fundraiser for SAMH a Scottish Mental Health charity. Find Lindsey on her website, Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter & Instagram.

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I began my journey with Curvy Yoga about three years ago. It has been a slow, twisting road, but the journey has been growth-filled. Originally, I thought of Curvy Yoga as something I could add to my teaching repertoire and something that would appeal to some of my students. Little did I know that I would grow to love this form of yoga and begin to love and accept my students and myself even more.

Opportunities for Growth

As a teacher of nine years with a background in hatha yoga, whose schooling comprised of a comparison study of yoga styles, I thought I had a good grasp on my students’ needs. I also thought I had an idea of what type of student Curvy Yoga would draw to my classes. I thought I was a deeply insightful and compassionate teacher who truly understood my students. In reality, I had A LOT to learn!

Perfectly Imperfect

It wasn’t until Curvy Yoga that I felt that I needed to get to know my students on a deeper level and learn more about their bodies because I was more concerned with their safety and their comfort during and after class. I felt a greater need to discuss difficult topics such as creating loving relationships with our bodies and the cultural constraints that society puts on women (and young girls). It forced me to look at myself and my beliefs about my own body.

You see, as a yoga teacher I had always felt great pressure to be thin and flexible and everything that society expects of a yoga teacher (and women in general). Everything that I am not. Curvy Yoga has taught me to accept my own imperfections (I call them perfectly imperfect) so that I can inspire others to do the same.

The Journey

That being said, this is a journey. I wake some days and don’t feel very inspiring. I wake some days and want to hide behind my own insecurities. It is a work in progress and that is a beautiful message to share with my students.

None of us wake one day and decide “I am going to love myself and never feel insecure.” I wish life worked that way, but it doesn’t. I have learned that we all share very similar insecurities, regardless of the package we come in.

Part of what I teach my students is that it is okay to have bad days and to feel bad; just get back up and try again. I use Tree pose as a metaphor for life. It’s not about standing still in the pose; it’s about wavering or falling, but making that crucial decision to get back up and try again and again and again. It’s about being okay with feeling insecure in one moment but making the decision to love yourself just where you are in that moment.

Through deeper communication and relation with my students I have gained so much as a teacher. I have closer connections with my students and this journey has made me a better teacher and a much better human. Thank you, Curvy Yoga, for this perfectly imperfect journey!

—

Suzanne Nicklas is a RN, IBCLC, E-RYT, RPYT, YACEP, Holistic Health Coach, Blogger and mother of five in the Charleston, SC, area. She is passionate about everything health and wellness. When she is not making essential oil blends, you can find her drinking coffee and enjoying life. Connect with her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy & blog.

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Lights off, the forest is still. All the old trees
lie on their side or still stand, vine entwined.
The wind picks up a scent: blue car, midnight,
open windows up and down hills
in the pulse of travel.

Do you hear how thunder is always on the in breath,
glimpse of great blue heron on the out breath?
Do you know how our arms sing like sunlight
through the hinge of an open door?

The wind picks up, expanding my chest.
Without moving, I let myself land deeper
on the bamboo floor, the cement foundation,
the dirt and rock, the underground rivers
that holds the shadow side of my legs and spine.
The field between shoulders cradles the breath.

On the line my mind threads,
the bird that I call my heart,
finally lands, so grateful to be home,
before rising into the tumble of other birds
and the thunder over the ridge of light.

—
Reprinted with permission from Following the Curve by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Sparatan Press, 2017

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ph.D., the 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate is the author of over two dozen books, including most recently Miriam’s Well, a novel; Everyday Magic; and the award-winning Chasing Weather: Tornadoes, Tempests, and Thunderous Skies in Word and Image with weather chaser Stephen Locke. She curates 150KansasPoems.Wordpress.com, out of which three anthologies have been published, including the recent Kansas Time + Place, co-edited with Roy Beckemeyer. She’s co-editor of Konza: A Bioregional Journal on Living in Place. Founder of Transformative Language Arts at Goddard College where she teaches, Mirriam-Goldberg leads writing workshops widely, and with singer Kelley Hunt, writing and singing retreats.

Caryn completed the Bhaktivana Yoga with Heart teaching training program with Gopi Sandal, and Anna Guest-Jelly’s certification in teaching Curvy Yoga. She regularly studies with Anne Underwood at the Yoga Center of Lawrence, and with the sky, trees, and prairies in her backyard. Find Caryn on her website, Twitter, and Instagram.

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