LIZA DOES YOGA
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There's No Shame in Modifications

2/18/2020

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See that picture? That's me, doing a side plank. With my knee down.

I'm modifying the pose for where my body was that particular day -- which, in this case, was not adequately warmed up because I was having pictures taken and not doing a full practice. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Yoga is meant to be adapted to your body, not the other way around. Which is why you should never be ashamed of making modifications. Nor should you be of using props, taking a break in child's pose, or stopping altogether. 

No two bodies are the same; I'd like to think we all know that, but too often we compare ourselves to those around us. I'm guilty of this too, especially during YTT when I was in a room with a dozen other dedicated yogis, most of whom could go deeper into poses than I could or endure a more vigorous practice. It's hard NOT to look around and feel like you're not doing yoga "right" simply because you're doing it differently.

Our bodies also aren't the same every day. I may have done a modified side plank on the day that picture was taken, and then the next time I practiced I may have been able to hold a full side plank, or none at all. There are so many factors that contribute to how much energy, flexibility, strength, or stamina we have at a given time that we just have to go with it. Work to where you are at the exact moment you are practicing, not where you were yesterday or where you hope to be tomorrow. Listen to yourself, and modify as needed.

I'm going to let you know something: there is no right or wrong way to do yoga. As long as you aren't hurting yourself, do whatever works best for your body. 
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YOU’RE NOT “BETTERING YOURSELF”

10/16/2019

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I hear this all the time — that it’s great to see people of all sizes exercising because they’re bettering themselves. And while yoga is so much more than a physical pursuit, it often gets lumped into this.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: that notion is garbage.

Physical activity, yoga included, can improve things about your health and life. But the concept of “bettering yourself” takes on a moralizing tone, which is unacceptable.

Exercise in nonmoral. It does not make you a better or worse person. To paraphrase Ragen Chastain, running a marathon and watching a Netflix marathon are morally equal activities.

We live in a neoliberal society where healthism is rampant, and being in “good health” (which is different for everyone, and not always even attainable) is seen as a moral imperative. This means we (general we) have created a hierarchy for behaviors. Anything that can contribute to health, like exercising or eating certain foods, is assigned moral superiority over other activities. A person’s needs, abilities, and desires don’t matter here, what is important is performing health for everyone around you.

But guess what — you don’t owe fitness or health to anyone. You aren’t better or worse based on whether you do yoga and eat salads or watch TV and eat cookies.

​What makes you a better or worse person is how you treat those around you. If you’re kind to other people, the environment, children, animals, and so forth, you’re a good person. If you aren’t, that is what to work on to better yourself, not how many hours you spend at the gym.
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Plus-Size Yogis to Follow on Instagram

9/18/2019

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There are a ton of yoga Instagram accounts out there, but so few meet my needs.

I'm not inspired by people who look nothing like me. And there are so many accounts by thin yogis. Far fewer are from those who are fat and happy, who do yoga for the way it makes them feel and who are not trying to lose weight.

Fortunately for me, more and more plus sized yogis have been emerging. I even started my own yoga-specific Instagram to get in on the action. I did it for the same reason I decided to become a teacher -- the yoga world needs people who look like me.

Those two things tie together in a somewhat unfortunate way. I know already that I'm going to have to prove myself twice as hard as a yoga teacher or trainee. The fitness and wellness worlds are not exactly accommodating of fat people. So in some ways posting my yoga adventures is an attempt to legitimize myself, even though I completely resent that I have to do that. But it's also fun, and keeps me connected to a world I'm trying to learn more about.

I definitely prefer to see people with body types like mine doing yoga. And thankfully there are many of them out there now, showing their stuff and inspiring others. Some -- like Jessamyn Stanley and Valerie Sagun -- are better known and have written books on the subject. But others aren't famous, and are just cool curvy people doing their thing.

​It doesn't matter how well-known someone is, if they are promoting a fat-positive yoga experience, then I want to see it. Below are just a handful of the accounts I like to look at for inspiration, but if you know of more, please leave a comment and let me know who I should be following.

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Friends, I am really proud of this one! I have a student who isn't able to come to the ground, and also has trouble standing for very long. So that puts a big limit on a lot of the things we want to do. So I was thinking about how to bring the floor up to them, and came up with this setup! We have four chairs on a sticky mat to make the base, and then those chairs are padded with multiple mats and blankets. Another chair for the head and neck with a bolster and blanket. Two more chairs completed the rest of the 'floor', and could be pulled in and out to accommodate either a foot placed down for pelvic stability, or the chair could be pulled out so the leg could dangle and stretch the front of the body. . A huge thanks to @prairieyoga for having all the props for us a use and experiment, and an even bigger thanks to my student to be willing to try things out with me! We had an amazing session, getting into muscles that we couldn't get into seated. . If you feel like you have significant limitations and you need an understanding and inventive teacher, I am available for private lessons! Or, if you just want to try a private lesson to ask questions, learn how to work on certain muscles or movements - the time can be yours. Feel free to contact me to set something up. Meet you on the modified mat! <3 #yoga #plussizeyoga #modifiedyoga #yogaprops #yogaforall #yogaforeveryone #thisiswhatayogabodylookslike #yogaforyou #bodypositiveyoga #yogaforpainrelief #yogaforchronicpain #yogaforarthritis #yogabody #yogaforpain #fatyoga #bigyoga #curvyyoga #yogamodifications

A post shared by Rachel Townsend (@plussizeyoga) on Jul 23, 2019 at 6:46pm PDT

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#walkabout #fatblackyogini #windsoryogini

A post shared by Dianne Bondy (@diannebondyyoga) on Aug 15, 2019 at 6:12am PDT

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Sometimes there’s less to say and more need for action and that’s okay. Message me for a guest pass and we can move and flow through some of the stuff we’re feeling lately. MONDAY 4:30/5:45/7pm WeFlowHard at @y7studio meatpacking TUESDAY 8:30pm Slow Burn at @y7studio upper east side WEDNESDAY 6pm yoga at @revfitnyc THURSDAY 12noon/6/7:15pm WeFlowHard at @y7studio upper east side FRIDAY 5:45pm Full-figured yoga at @harlemyoga SUNDAY 12:45/2pm Hip Hop Sunday at @y7studio Bryant park #yoga #yogaflow #dancerspose #natarajasana #candlelightyoga #hiphopyoga #beatsandflows #revolutionaryfitness #yogagirl #curvyyogateacher #fullfiguredyoga

A post shared by Angela Dawn (@angela_dawn_yoga) on Aug 5, 2019 at 10:47am PDT

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Cannot believe @bombsheller is closing â–¡! I just love everything about this company! Especially that they have been so great on having inclusive sizing true to size all the way up to 6X, and have let me be able to be creative with designs of my own to wear! Will truly miss them but I hope they are able to still do great things in the future! They stay open till May 19th taking orders with 20% off, so if you liked any of my 4 designs #triechinopsis #sweetstrifecta or #mermaid get them while they are hot! If you are still unsure of sizing, I wear a 2x with them and its snug but not too tight. All these sizes are true to size, so dont think you need to go all the way up just for it to fit! Thank you Jazzlyn, the COO, of Bombsheller for being a great person to work with, and hosting me for my book release! It truly ment so much to me! Now I gotta minimize my cart of 22 shells down to a reasonable number â–¡! (Swipe for photos of my legging designs.) . Photo by @samanthastudio

A post shared by Valerie Sagun (@biggalyoga) on Apr 26, 2019 at 1:38pm PDT

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MAYBE SOME OF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR… You want to move your body but you can’t figure out a way to do it that feels good You want to feel less pain in your body You’ve thought about trying yoga but figure it’s not for you because you think you’re too big, too old, too injured, or too disabled You can’t get up and down off the floor but you’d like to try yoga You feel stressed and would like a way to calm your mind and feel less anxiety You’d like to find a movement practice that supports the body you’re in now(not a crazy workout plan that you have to work up to) I’ve made it my life’s work to help folks just like you live better in the bodies they have today using the tools of yoga, mindfulness, and self-acceptance. And I want to invite you to join me on a path toward feeling better in your body, feeling less stressed, and moving your body in a way that feels nourishing, joyful, and free. I’ve put together a program for you: Chair Yoga with Amber Karnes. There are 15 video classes built just for folks like you who are ready to get started with yoga in a gentle, affirming way. Plus audio recordings to help you relax and reduce stress. To sign up: http://bit.ly/chairyogawithamber Links also in my bio!

A post shared by Amber Karnes (@amberkarnesofficial) on Apr 12, 2019 at 6:34pm PDT

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I regularly use props to support my practice. They allow me to ease into advanced postures and enable me to do more of the subtle work. #fatkidyogaclub #fatyoga #accessibleyoga #chairyoga #virabhadrasana3 #warrior3

A post shared by Marc Settembrino (@fatkidyogaclub) on Jul 24, 2019 at 3:06pm PDT

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This is my yoga body. This is my feeling joy and enjoying movement body. This is my worthy of respect body. This is my chronically ill, binge eating disorder, super fat, PCOS body. This body is strong and weak. It is soft and hard. It is able and sometimes not able. It is covered in battle scars and blemishes, and it is beautiful and deserving of love. This body is alive! It is breathing and moving and hugging and connecting with others. My birthday always brings up a lot of emotions for me, because I almost wasn't here... and I am so happy that I am. I got a lot of messages asking how I worked through body issues and became more confident. It just takes time and practice and reminding yourself that though you may not feel worthy in the moment, that you are and that you are wanted here. I don't know how you're feeling today, about life or about your body, but I hope you know you are worthy no matter what. You deserve to be here. You deserve to take up space, to enjoy life, to be in the world. #mycourageousheart #radicalbodylove #spoonie #edwarrior #projectheal #ybic #effyourbeautystandards #worthy #selfcare #selflove #fatliberation #fatandfree #fatwomenofcolor #thisiswhatayogilookslike #fatyoga #chronicallyfabulous #pcos

A post shared by L A U R A E. B U R N S (@radicalbodylove) on Jul 1, 2019 at 3:59pm PDT

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WHY I, A FAT, DID YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

8/19/2019

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​I completed my 200-hour teacher training in July of this year. Also I’m fat, which is not incompatible with the first sentence despite what many might think.

As a fat person, there are a lot of fraught issues surrounding anything involving exercise. And while yoga is so much more than the physical asana, in the Western mindset, that is the most prominent part. This means any time I or another fat person engages in an activity that relates to fitness, there are all kinds of things that might come up — judgment and condescension from people around us, triggers to past traumas, self-consciousness, and so on — that make it even more difficult than it would be for a smaller person. So why in the world would I want to do that to myself?

There are several reasons, but it mainly boils down to this: I want there to be more people who look like me teaching yoga.
The studio I attended in New York — and where I did my YTT — is great, and I’ve never felt unwelcome for being fat, but the teachers and staff are all relatively small. Other students are more diverse in terms of size, so why shouldn’t we be learning from people who represent us?

I used to take classes at a plus-size focused space in New York, and it was wonderful. I had to stop because of the cost, but I loved being in a class full of fat students with a fat instructor. Since then, I’ve taken the first level of their teacher training.
But something annoys me — why should I (or anyone) have to seek out a specialty place that’s more expensive and in a less convenient location just to have a teacher that better understands my body type?

There are things about exercising while fat that you can’t teach to someone who hasn’t experienced it. So, no matter how accepting and understanding a thin instructor is, they will never fully grasp what doing yoga in my body is like. That leads to suggestions to rest during more complex poses when a simple modification would’ve sufficed.

Poses that might seem simple can become complicated in ways you won’t even think of unless you’ve been there. For example, I hate regular child’s pose. My belly gets in the way. This means I can’t lean as far forward and I won’t be comfortable and relaxed. Which kind of defeats the purpose of child’s pose.

Fortunately, that one has a fairly easy modification. I widen my legs to let my stomach hang through and I can go deeper and let go more. But I had to figure that one out myself. An instructor who has a belly like my own might think to mention mods like that to a class. Or to suggest mods for other poses.

I firmly believe that every body is a yoga body. There are modifications to work with different sizes, physical disabilities, and so forth. I decided to do teacher training because I want to make more people feel comfortable in classes who otherwise might not.
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YOGA IS FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO DO IT

8/14/2019

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See the title there? That's my yoga philosophy.

It shouldn't be complicated, but for many of us, it is. If you were to believe the mainstream yoga-related media content, yogis are all thin, white, young, able-bodied, naturally flexible, and so on. There's nothing wrong with being any or all of those things, of course, but more importantly, there's nothing wrong with NOT being those things.

I'm fat. I embrace that term as a neutral descriptor, because that's all it is. The same as you could say I'm a redhead, I have freckles, or I'm pale, you can say I'm fat. And because of that, many would want me to think I shouldn't be doing yoga. But that's not true.

I want to do yoga, so it's for me. It's also for you, if you want it to be.

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Hey ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #yoga #everybodyisayogabody #yogabody #yogaisforeverybody #fatyoga #fatyogi #plussizeyoga #plussizeyogi #bodypositiveyoga #bodyposyoga #yoganyc #yogisofinstagram #yogagram #plussizeyogisofig #mindbodysoulyoga #yogaforall #fitfatties #curvyyoga #curvyyogi #thisismyyogabody #healthateverysize #fatpositiveyoga #fatpositiveyogi #fatpositive #bodypositiveyogi #fatacceptance #sizeacceptance #headstand #thickandfit #curveappeal

A post shared by Liza (@lizadoesyoga) on May 30, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT


Maybe you've never been told you're OK as you are. If that's the case, I am so sorry the world has failed you, but I'm going to say it: you are OK exactly as you are.

You're not too fat to do yoga. Or too old, or too disabled, injured, inflexible, "out of shape" (I don't like that term), or anything else. Maybe you won't be able to do certain poses, or maybe you'll need modifications, or maybe your yoga will be entirely inside your mind, but it doesn't matter. You can do some form of yoga no matter what.

Now, I'm not going to be that person who tells you that if you have a chronic condition, yoga will cure it. Not at all. And not everyone has to be interested in yoga. That's perfectly alright. (Though I'm assuming if you're reading a yoga blog, you have at least a passing interest.) But if you want it, it's there for you.
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