Ask any yogi their opinion about having mirrors in a yoga studio, and you’ll probably get an earful one way or another. I am personally against mirrors in yoga studios, and I’ll tell you why.
Yoga, for me, is all about being in my body – celebrating what it can do, exploring the edge between effort and ease, returning again and again to my breath – the steady place inside me no matter what’s going on anywhere else. Yoga is experiential, not mental. The effort is turned inward, even though my body is performing the postures. It is a body and breath connection. The mind is the thing to control in yoga. The minute you put a mirror on the yoga wall, your attention is no longer inward. You are looking outside yourself at a reflection. You’re analyzing your body. You’re comparing it to the bodies next to you. You’re tweaking your posture to look like the other postures you see, instead of feeling the alignment of your spine. You’re not even thinking about your breath – wait, are you sucking in your stomach to make it look flatter? Are you even breathing?
Mirrors are wack.
Enter the yoga photo shoot
When I started this blog I knew I was going to have a yoga photo shoot in my future.ย The whole point of taking photos of myself practicing yoga is to normalize the image of a fat body practicing yoga. This is a visual that we don’t see unless we seek it out. Maybe we’ve seen one or two other fat women at the yoga studio (if we’ve even dared to go there). There are round-bodiedย women and men online practicing and teaching yoga (Anna,ย Meera,ย Abby,ย Megan,ย Sally, andย Michaelย to name a few)ย but you won’t see them in a yoga magazine or an athletic wear advertisement, and for the most part, you won’t see pictures of people who look like us on a yoga studio’s website.
The point of taking these photos, of teaching my classes, of being fat and not shrinking or hiding in the yoga world is to make other large-bodied women feel more comfortable in their own skin, to get them to a yoga studio or onto their own mat so they can realize the benefits of yoga – physically, mentally, and emotionally.
So imagine the copious inner-eye rolling and berating of myself that occurred when I started previewing pictures during the shoot and absolutely hating what I saw. I didn’t “look right” in these photos. By which I mean I don’t look like a photo of a thin person practicing yoga. My legs don’t look straight because they curve in places that thin legs don’t. When I twist, things bunch up, flesh runs into other flesh. Gravity is inevitable in certain poses. I was wearing form-fitting clothing (and pants, which are stupid and I never wear unless working out). Flesh juts out here or there, and I have never seen a body like this in a pose like this – so to me it doesn’t “look right.”ย Even though my husband was taking the pictures, and he is a terrific photographer and one of my body’s biggest fans, I hated what I saw.
Well this felt familiar. Kind of like looking in a mirror while practicing yoga. Foiled!ย The more of my pictures I looked at, the worse I started to feel about myself. The playback loop of thoughts in my head went like this:
- Take pictures to make other women feel okay about practicing yoga.
- But don’t feel okay about taking photosย myself because I don’t “look right” in the photos.
- I don’t “look right” in the photos because I don’t ever see photos of fat women practicing yoga. I only see thin bodies.
- This is why we need pics of fat women practicing yoga, I should take some more.
- But I don’t look right in them so I feel bad. (Rinse and repeat.)
Talk about messing with my head. It starts to get a little meta after a while. It also reminds me of why I really couldn’t see myself practicing week after week in a studio with mirrors. I know in my body what the correct alignment in my body in trikonasana feels like – but when I see myself in this pose from outside my body it looks “wrong”.
After a while, I got sick of thinking about all this, decided that I was either committed to sharing my yoga with the world or I wasn’t. Once I made the decision to get over myself already, we got some really great shots and I stopped being such a jerk about the whole process. Which made it more fun for the photographer too.
So, what?
So I learned that even though I am putting myself out there as someone who is making peace with her body, that it’s not an all or nothing battle. Some days are better than others. Even as I accept the body I bring to the mat instead of the one I think I should have or the one on the cover of Yoga Journal who can do ardha chandrasana without standing near a wall (someday!), sometimes I’m just gonna have one of those icky body image days. I learned that the work of visibility, of normalizing bodies like mine by showing them moving, exercising, practicing yoga, dressing well, eating, and having relationships is still important. Because if the message hasn’t sunk in for me yet, then there are others who feel the same way I do.ย We’re not alone. You’re not alone.
What do you think?
Do the pictures matter?ย Tell me in the comments.
I love it! I can’t tell you how much this post (and this site!) resonates with me. I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for 15 years. And the off times–as you might imagine–tend to occur whenever my body-image and/or self-esteem is suffering from a “I’m too fat” spell. Yoga is most often presented as a thin person’s practice. I love that you are changing that! I might even get up the courage to become a teacher myself!
Emily! Love your site (nice to meet a fellow designer & yogi too). I definitely understand what you mean about “I’m too fat” leading to a slacking off in self care, yoga, whatever. I’ve noticed that pattern in my life too. And regarding yoga teacher training… man, it’s hard work and really difficult to look at yourself that closely sometimes, but it will change your life! At least it has mine!
I was totally nodding my head along as I read. The same thing totally happened to me when I had some yoga pics taken — especially that thing about thinking they don’t “look right.” Kudos to you for putting them out there, though. It is always so inspiring to see bodies of all shapes and sizes practicing what is, as you say, something that connects mind/body. You’ll have to send one of these over for the Curvy Yogis gallery! xo
Anna, thanks for all the support! You have been a source of such inspiration to me!
I might be beatnig a dead horse, but thank you for posting this!
they matter, for all the right reasons. what really resonated with me (being of similar mind, outlook and body type) in this post was what you said about knowing what the right alignment felt like, but it not looking right from the outside. for someone newer to yoga, and who seems to have a lifetime subscription to the “start-and-stop-and-start-again” school of fitness, i often get hung up in the dissonance of how i feel versus how i look. with yoga, i don’t know how it’s supposed to feel yet, and this is perhaps because i haven’t found the right classes or teachers yet, and all i know are the “bads”: how it doesn’t look like others, how i can’t hold the pose as long, how i get tired quickly, how i can’t fit into yoga clothes, etc. so, to have a guide (even someone i’ve never met and lives only in my computer screen, so to speak) who can go before me and speak the truth about what it feels like on the inside, then i have much more to cling to–the inner things that matter most–instead of only what i see.
so, the pictures really DO matter, if only to renew my hope and perseverance to keep going off of my inner trajectory of health, not the misleading pictures. thanks!
Sara –
You said, ” i donโt know how itโs supposed to feel yet… all i know are the โbadsโ: how it doesnโt look like others, how i canโt hold the pose as long, how i get tired quickly, how i canโt fit into yoga clothes, etc.”
Wow, what a powerful message for me as a new teacher! To remember to talk about sensations, and what alignment feels like, not just what it looks like. Thank you for that! And for the positive feedback ๐
what a great post!! Amazing back-bend! Doing one of those is a goal of mine! And I agree with the comment above about your pictures being great for all the rest of us who don’t look like the thin people doing this- can’t hold the pose as long, ect. I think this is such a great blog! I am glad you got over your issues with what it LOOKS like to post it- because I think you look amazing!
Thank you Rachel! ๐
Deadly accurate answer. You’ve hit the buyslele!
holy toledo the stories I could tell you about yoga photo shoots. I’ve done three with professional photogs and only one made me feel midly ok. Even the pics from that one raised some serious issues for me. Then i’ve had to turn around and laugh b/c it seems all so silly โฆ yoga isn’t about how you look on the outside, it’s about touching base with what’s inside. thanks for this great post!! btw, you look beautiful!!
yoga isnโt about how you look on the outside, itโs about touching base with whatโs inside
Exactly! ๐
I love this post. I had never considered it before today, but I hate how all exercise photos show people who are already at peak fitness! It doesn’t make sense – people of all sizes and shapes work out!
Thank you for leading the way and having your picture taken even if it may feel uncomfortable. We need to see it. I am always the largest person at yoga. I don’t care, I am going to keep going because everyone, no matter their size, deserves to be there.
I appreciate your comment, Sarah! And way to put yourself out there by showing up ๐
For the record, I think your photos are beautiful!
I’m pretty comfortable with my body but I have been resistant to yoga photos for the same reasons you express.
Also, I’ve been doing yoga for about 10 years now, and I still don’t get that excited about mastering advanced poses. There’s a YT acquaintance of mine who was always bragging about how crazy her home practice is or doing dozens of dropbacks in some advanced workshop and I couldn’t be less impressed. But then I do feel pressure when I see other teachers promo material that I should show off my yoga stunts.
I happen to have a crazy bendy spine. Backbending is easy for me. But is it misleading to my students to put myself in some crazy bind? That seems to say, “Hey you can so do this, too!” …but if they have some squared-off vertebrae or other limitations… it’s just not possible.
How do you take a photo of how a pose *feels*? I’m not really sure. I do really like the closeup of your hand, though, because it does totally communicate the energy radiating through your fingertips!
Obviously, this post stirred up a lot for me too!
Thank you for all your support! I love the idea of taking a picture of how a pose “feels” – I’m gonna be thinking on that!
Amber,
I love what you are doing and I feel your pain. First off, mirrors in yoga are not a good idea. As you very eloquently stated, they take students away from how they should feel in a pose and try to put their bodies into what they ‘think’ the pose should look like. Second, long ago my husband told me that my average body was a plus for business. With an average body I could show that yoga was accessible to average people. I have lately started to have personal problem with this concept though. I have been teaching 20 – 28 hours of yoga a week for a while now and the more yoga I do, the more I ‘look like a yoga teacher’. Taking care of my body between classes and working out with all the classes I teach, not including my personal practice, I have found my way into a size smaller jeans than my husband has ever seen me in, even before our 3 year old was born. The pride I carried about being an average looking person teaching yoga is giving way to the pride I now carry about how deep my practice has evolved, both physically and spiritually. I love what you are doing Amber, but remember that yoga may change you. So take the pictures now while you have the body to encourage others that are hesitant to try yoga for physical insecurity reasons. You may not have it for too long.
Namaste
How interesting! Thanks for the feedback. That is a *lot* of classes! I am just starting with one – that even seems overwhelming at this point, haha. ๐
Amber this is all so true! I found that when I triee Bikram yoga I founf the heat hard to deal with but I could NOT handle the mirrors. I’m not especially big, but nothing like the ‘yoga picture girls’. Thanks for sharing your perspective with us.
Yeah, the heat and the mirrors! Whew!
I love the photos! Please share more! It means a lot to see a body a lot like mine in yoga poses. I go to a gym in a beach community in Southern California, I am easily twice the weight of every other woman in the room. I am fortunate that the instructors take me seriously and don’t single me out or ignore me, but it can be hard to figure out if I’m “doing it right” when my body looks so different.
The mirrors don’t bother me, I found them useful to learn what a flat back really felt like, and to check in to see if my back arm really is where I think it is.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! Keep showing up on the mat ๐
I totally agree that mirrors are wack! Having recently switched from classes to home practice, I was surprised to realize how much time I had been spending in class peeking at the mirrors out of the corner of my eye. No matter the size of the yogi, I think most of us visually compare ourselves to those around us all the time. If it’s not, “Wow, I have a lot of cellulite that shows on my thighs during down dog,” then it’s, “Damn, that other girl does a better ardha chandrasana than I do…maybe I should just push it a little farther even though it hurts.” Being distracted by that stuff kinda defeats the purpose of doing yoga. I have been finding it much easier to feel strong, centered, and beautiful staring at an actual tree out my window during tree pose than I ever did looking at my reflection in the mirror.
Love this and the image of a tree outside while you are tree-ing ๐
PS. You definitely “look right” in the photos to me!!
I am starved for pictures of bodies like mine doing yoga. So yes, the pictures absolutely do matter, and thank you so much for working through the “stuff” (which stuff I totally get) and going through with it.
I am an on-again-off-again yoga practitioner, for about 10 years now. I am pretty much always the largest person in the room; for a period of time, when I was somewhat fitter and in a more ‘on-again’ mode I was practicing Ashtanga regularly and I was always and by quite a lot the largest person in the room. I have always had great teachers who, although they didn’t look like me, were quite good about providing modifications without judgment or question. And the best way for me to learn how to adjust a pose is always through the right words from the teacher; and often an actual adjustment. That’s when I’ll get the ‘oh, ahhhh, yes, that’s it”.
Mirrors, sigh. Not so much. My formerly favourite yoga studio went through a management change and, amongst other changes I didn’t love, installed mirrors along the walls in every studio. Aside from making the only unobstructed wall in the room now unfriendly for wall-supported stuff, it made me unhappy – while I recognize that there may be some practical benefit in some poses to seeing the pose, that benefit is outweighed by the self-criticism and judgment that I have to then work past to just feel the pose. Also, for many poses, if you’re twisting yourself to see yourself in the mirror, you’re probably actually distorting something about the pose anyway. So just learn how to feel it and correct it within the body.
Thanks so much for the post and blog. I have recently discovered you, and the Curvy Yoga site, and it is really inspiring me.
Thanks for the wonderful feedback, and your insights. Sounds like we’ve had a lot of similar experiences ๐
I have just found this site and I feel so inspired!!! I have been doing yoga for about 12 months now and I am living in a big body!!! ๐ I often feel a fraud as though I shouldnt be doing yoga due to my size but I really enjoy it and feel better for doing it. Now I have found this site I feel like I have been given permisssion to throw myself into the postures without worrying that I dont look like all the other people. Also its nice to know that if I cant actually get into some of the postures exactly the same way as a thin person then that’s ok too.
Thank you so so much xxxxxxx
Joanne, I’m so glad you visited! DO YOUR YOGA! ๐
Beautiful and inspiring. I found you via pinterest. I love what you’re doing, and am grateful for your voice, your spirit, your body, and your willingness to show us photos that are challenging for you to show. It matters so much!
Pam, thanks for the heartfelt comment! It made my day!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I’m a large woman and I suffer from fibromyalgia. Yoga is one of the few exercises, along with swimming and light walking, that I can do without causing my body to be in tremendous pain. And, if fact, yoga has actually helped ease my pain. Sometimes I get discouraged because of the reasons you listed. I don’t look right, the flesh and the curves and the gravity… It was so lovely and encouraging to see a woman with a body like mine in photos, rejoicing in her body and showing it off. Thank you for allowing your inner voice to shut the hell up. You truly inspired me!!
Holly, thanks for sharing your story. Don’t let body weirdness get in the way of you taking care of you, with yoga or whatever else works! Keep on being awesome. ๐
I started doing yoga at a chain gym with mirrors on all the walls, so finding a studio with no mirrors was a revelation! I have a lovely teacher who frequently makes jokes about “yoga stars” on magazine covers and encourages us to shift around in a pose to find what feels right for our own bodies. So much about yoga is listening, not looking!
“So much about yoga is listening, not looking!”
I love that!! ๐
I love your blog and I was hoping to find more photos (or I haven’t looked hard enough). I’ve been searching and searching for pictures of women, not the size of tooth picks, doing yoga. Thank you! You affirm that I can get to the level of the back bend and who’s I can combat my self image issues and limitations I put on myself because I’m over weight. I think you look beautiful and my thoughts were ” that’s an amazing pose”. You’re inspirational and thank you for your courage.
I’m crying as I read this post. I’ve been doing yoga in studios without mirrors and really feeling the poses and the alignment in my body. No mirrors allows me to “stay on my mat” and not get caught up in what other people are doing. I’ve also enjoyed doing some yoga events that raise money for good organizations while doing public yoga. These events always have a photographer and the first time I saw a photo of myself at the event I sobbed. Even now, I’m online waiting to see the newest batch of photos, worried about what photos I’ll end up in & how I’ll look because I was the largest person there. I get so discouraged I never want to do yoga again even though it’s done so much for my life. I discovered your blog yesterday & I love looking at your photos. PHOTOS DO MATTER! I need to see other people with bodies my size doing the yoga that I love. Thank you for doing this!
Stephanie,
I’m so glad the post resonated with you. Keep doing YOUR yoga and stay away from those mirrors ๐
<3
The pictures matter SO MUCH. I’m curvy too, solid muscle, big arms and a significant ass. I also don’t look like the girls in the yoga mags, and that fact re-flared my eating disorder back in my twenties when I trained to teach. I thought I had to look like that to be a good yoga teacher.
It’s also why it took me so long to make a yoga DVD. I thought I was too big to do it. I know. Lunacy.
No. I have to look like me. You have to look like you. You are beautiful, your body is amazing and balanced and strong, and I love seeing photos of it! SO much more inclusive.
I love this site… for the first time I feel like I can actually do yoga despite my size! You are beautiful inside and out and the pictures really help because I can see myself doing them. When I see pictures of thin people doing yoga I immediately think, “Oh, I can’t do that, my fat will just get in the way.” You are also the first person I’ve read that actually understands the boob issue! The first asana I ever tried was down dog and my boobs hit me right in the face!
Hell ya they matter! YOU matter! We all matter and that’s the gift REAL of yoga, not a “perfect” body:)
Jai!
Julie
LOVE the post, Amber! Three cheers for all the juicy women rockin’ their yoga!!!
I just have to speak up for mirrors, too. I have practiced with them and without them for about 20 years now, and I love it either way. It is so awesome to use the mirror as a tool to check alignment, to connect with yourself beyond checking to see if you ‘look okay’, and to synch with the movements of the class. I would go so far as to say it has deepened my practice significantly. So has practicing with no mirror. I guess what I am saying is that it is what you make of it, much like anything else.
What I made of your post is that you are humble, funny, and sincere in your quest for peace. Hope to meet you along the path someday. ๐
Hi Amber, I just stumbled on your website and have really enjoyed it.
I’m about 30 pounds heavier than I should be, and I realize that’s really not a lot, but I’m also 58 and just started yoga 3 months ago. never did this kind of stretching and twisting before. Most of the women my yoga classes are either young and lithe or else older, slim but doing yoga for decades. I find your modifications helpful to put in my yoga ‘toolbelt’, and will likely use a few of them myself because my joints are not young and super flexible, plus I’m a little bottom heavy. ๐
How I found your site: I was looking at Google images of “pigeon pose” and your photo really stood out among a thousand photos of slender yoginis. I thought to myself “well hey that’s a bit different!” and came to your blog and I really enjoyed watching your videos and getting tips that will help me too.
I also want to mention that the photos and videos of you doing yoga only seemed unusual to me for about 30 seconds after leaving ‘google image’, after which I saw simply a young woman with cute dimples doing yoga. ;D You look terrific, keep it up, not only bigger curvy women but also older women can benefit from your yoga tips!- helpful to anyone who needs to modify some of the yoga poses for themselves. Thanks!
I have never felt comfortable in my own skin. I have always been very tall (5’7″ at age 10, 6′-something as an adult), been uncoordinated, the butt of jokes and insensitive, hurtful remarks, etc. After age 35 I began gaining weight when my metabolism began to change with age. I began taking yoga in July of 2012 seeking to regain flexibility and develop strength in a safer way than vigorous aerobics (as per doctor’s orders due to a knee injury). The first two or three sessions, I welled up and fought back tears. I felt so inadequate. Now I am free to be who I am! I’m not in competition with the 30-somethings (I’m in my late 50’s) who have been taking yoga for years and can twist up like a pretzel…I am simply ME, being the best ‘me’ I can. Thank you for your spin on not looking right in photos, I’ve never liked taking photos for many of the same reasons. Keep on pushing forward and encouraging others to do the same.
Amber, this post (and the others) are so beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for taking these pictures! Though I am not overweight, I am not fit. SO out of shape. It is very helpful to me to see strong beautiful women doing yoga in poses I can only dream of. I think your body is beautiful, and even as a skinny girl, I am so sick of the way society portrays women, and the quest for perfection. Being healthy, and happy in your skin is all that matters. Thanks again!
Jackie
Girl! You are awesome, I see you got a mean yoga practice. I will be reading your blog. Inspiring!
girl! you look great!!!! thank you for this!
Wow…well said. I personally agree with everything you said. So many yogis in photos have practiced, and posed in the asana until it looks good in the photo. Whats up with that? Thank you for posting this article… it is so so true. Peace.
Your article was insightful and inspiring! I never thought about the mirror thing before you made it clear how it might affect us. I find myself doing everything you mention in your article from looking at myself, tweaking my pose, maybe not breathing, dunno, but I am only 1-year into yoga at this point and am so proud of my progress. I lost 40 pounds in that year and I guess, I am highly self conscious of what it looks like now. I think, is that me in the mirror looking all thin and trim. Yes, it is! But as you mention, I am not focusing inward on breath, mind, effort/ease. Instead its another form of the “stinkin-thinkin”. So, anyways, Thanks for helping me think about it from a new perspective. J
I am a “skinny yoga teacher” and I LOVE this post. You are brave and beautiful. I think you wrote a powerful article that will help others understand yoga and themselves better. When I first started to practice yoga almost 7 years ago I was heavier and hated myself. Yoga has taught me to love myself and the other great side effect was that I became the yoga women I did look up to. No matter where you are in your practice you are practicing (not trying to perfect) and that is what matters. Namaste.
I love this and I’m going to share with my friends on Facebook. I have what most of society considers to be a slim body but I suffer from concerns of how round my belly and large my booty is. I went to a yoga class that had mirrors and I was doing exactly what you mentioned above, sucked in my belly, tried to tuck my backside in & I certainly wasn’t breathing. All this after practicing yoga for more than 10 years at the time. Shame on me. I won’t go to a class with mirrors again because I totally sabotaged myself while I was there. I lost the whole point of my practice. I love what you are saying here and I’m sharing to help you normalize the image of a yogini. Kudos to you!!!
Well done Amber! The pics you posted are wonderful and perfect! I know the feeling of thinking you don’t look right, but you do! For students that are not familiar with using a mirror, it is intimidating, I agree. Yoga is an inward journey however, taken slowly and guiding students to become comfortable with their image is valid as well…. Thank you so much for sharing and encouraging so many others with your testimony. Blessings…
I absolutely love your post. You have hit the nail on the head. For me practicing yoga is all about how it makes me feel on the inside. The days I don’t feel good about myself or my outer body are the days I have missed practicing yoga. The funny thing is that my physical body has not changed the one day I miss yoga but what it does for my mind and spiritual well being is tremendous. Bravo to you for being a strong and thoughtful woman. That is what makes beauty.
AWESOME post that I think resonates with large and thin women alike. There is another site that I see on my Facebook page where all the bloggers are life coaches and yoga teachers, etc, and ALL of them are magazine hot. It’s really disheartening. I mean, good for them that they look so magnificent, but I feel like that seventeen year old girl back in the 80’s looking at magazines of women who I would never, ever look anything like. It’s a total turn-off because it almost seems unreal, just like those magazines that warped my mind and self-perception all those years ago. And trust me, I’m a vegan, have quit caffeine, sugar, gluten. I drink water with lemon all day, and I still look like me, and everyday I try to tell myself that that’s just fine. Good for you. It’s nice to see someone willing to just put it out there! Namaste
I think it doesn’t matter how you look. Like you say its about the mind body connection & being in the moment. Its about how you feel. I have similar issues in that I love yoga but cant touch my toes. Every person has a little voice inside them that says how they should look or be when doing yoga or any other sport. Its that voice that we must overcome in order to achieve our personal goals. Nobody else matters.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting pictures of yourself doing these poses. When I first looked at these pictures, I said to myself “Wow, that’s beautiful – her form is incredible. What a strong and graceful body.” Then I thought, “She’s about the same size/shape as me… Maybe I don’t look so bad doing yoga, after all!” I know that at some point, “this woman who is the same size as me looks graceful and strong doing yoga” will translate into “I look strong and graceful doing yoga, too!”… so again, thank you!
I’ve felt this way for a long time but never was able to verbalize it as eloquently as you just did. I started having to go to yoga class without contacts in and make sure not to wear my glasses just so I wouldn’t be comparing myself to the others in my class. Although my teacher was AMAZING at making me feel like I was doing just as well as the other (even more advanced) students in the class, I would become so distracted by how awesome that girl’s plow pose looked or how low lunges looked so much different when she did it. So, thank you for posting this. You’re inspiring!!!
Thank you for this! I have felt out of place for years in the yoga studio. Though I am comfortable and experienced, I still felt like I shouldn’t be in with all the thin people. On top of that, I couldn’t do certain poses the way the instructor would show us because I had rolls of fat in the way. Thanks for letting me know that I’m not wrong!
Thank you so much for this. It’s so challenging to practice non-judgement, be a compassionate witness for myself, even as I guide others toward that place. Thank you for reminding me that my body shape has nothing to do with the good I can do for others, and for myself. Namaste.
This post is amazing. Your pictures are amazing. What you are doing is amazing! I personally like having a mirror when I practice because I like to check my alignment, but yoga is all about personal preference, being and loving yourself and that’s what you’re doing. You go girl! Sat Nam
The studio I practice in has mirrors on one side. I don’t like to place my mat there because if I look into the mirror, I lose my balance every time, lol!
As a yoga teacher, I always encourage newer students to use the mirror as one of MANY tools to help them understand the pose. The mirror is just that, a tool. It can be used to destroy and it can be used to build. The mirror has no ulterior motive. It is not evil. When I see newer students doing a pose over and over incorrectly, the mirror can help the body and the mind line up. Are the hips level? My body says yes, but the mirror says no, my body and my perception of my body has been wrong many times, the mirror has never lied to me. Once a student really does understand the message that the body is sending, then the mirror is used just as a quick check in before going back into the body for additional feedback.
As far as larger women not looking the same as smaller women, part of being a good teacher is understanding the mechanics of the human body and how size and shape affect movement. An observant and compassionate teacher can help you “see” your body more accurately so you can “feel” the body sensations that come with each pose.
I think your pictures are beautiful. As a heavier yogi myself I have always used a mirror and have started to reshape my own idea of what each pose “should” look like. I have had several health issues over the last two years and have gained a lot of weight. I still trust the mirror more than I trust my own perception. Like any good pilot, I check my instruments to make sure I am not flying up side down or going off course.
I think if a more experienced yogi that has been working with a solid teacher wants to cover the mirror, that is great, but for newer people I say we need as many points of view as possible. We need the teacher, the feeling in our own body and we need a neutral source of information to put it all together.
I hope more people begin to love the body they are in as much as you do. I hope that for myself as well. I enjoyed your blog and will continue to be inspired by your kindness to yourself and to others. Remember that the first thing we can change about ourselves is our mind.
Beth
I do not have the words to express how deeply inspiring you are.
This is the first place I have ever found that makes it okay to just be yourself, no matter what your size, and attempt to make yourself better, not necessarily smaller. Thank you for sharing the pictures and the alternatives for us curvy girls. I think I’m going to go ball my eyes out in absolute joy.
I have just read your post and I think I have finally ‘got’ yoga – after your reference to the mirror and being at one with oneself….something that I had not really thought about. It’s going to be an interesting journey as I am just embarking on a course of yoga – had a few lessons years ago and have done a bit of pilates. Need to get flexible after various problems (I am not flexible at all – 6 ft and straight back!) and your photos have inspired me. Just hope I am as bendy as you by the time I finish! x
Thank you so much for all the great tips and modifications. I found your site looking for modifications to sun salutations, particularly down dog, and have learned so, so much more. Your realistic and positive voice is what I needed to be encouraged to keep at it. My sister is a skinny strong Baptiste style instructor. I get very frustrated because it often feels like yoga just isn’t going to work for me. It’s either way too hard or it’s geared for elderly people and way too easy. Your modifications have really helped me find ways to make a pose without it feeling like torture or like I’m a yoga lost-cause. I hope you will continue with the great modification tips and video/pictures. They have made all the difference.
I just want to tell you that your photos are almost making me cry. I am petrified to try yoga. Petrified. I have not gone yet, because every time I look at a web site for a studio to determine whether I might fit in, there’s approximately 0% body fat shown in the images. Now, I’m 5’8″ and 145 lbs., so by most standards I’m not a large woman, but by my family’s standards, I AM. Compared to them, I am a giant in height, thick, curvaceous, and “built like my ‘other’ grandmother.” So I can’t bring myself to walk into a room where I feel like everyone’s going to look like my mother and my sister and the word ‘waif’ could be tossed around, because those are the images that yoga studios share. We need more photos like yours to make me feel like there might be a yoga-home for me out there somewhere, somewhere I will be surrounded by REAL people, with curves and different heights, perhaps even some people with a few unused muscles and imperfect technique. I need someone like you to teach me, someone who understands that mirrors suck!
Hello Sarah! I just want to encourage you to take that first step into a yoga class. I am 6’1″ and at present somewhere over 200lbs (I stopped checking long ago, lol). You can probably guess that I am in that same ‘misfit’ category as you. Some of it is based on real issues such as fitting into seats on the bus and taking photos with the under 5’6″ crowd; but most of what we go through is mental. An inferiority complex built up over time. My first two sessions in yoga class I cried on the way home. I felt intimidated by the 20 and 30-somethings (I’m in my 50’s) and a horrible feeling that life had somehow passed me by. My goal the first month was to figure out how to arrange these long legs so I could get down on the floor! I encourage you to go! Believe me, you will see that no one really is looking at you critically; everyone (like I was and still am) is focused on their own personal challenges. As I advanced I came to realize that I had become somewhat proficient for me and new students were actually checking me as a role model! Learning the poses of yoga takes time. It’s different for each person because no two people have the same physical configuration. Once you make that first step, things will become easier.
I just stumbled upon this site……I’m often a late bloomer, but how inspiring. I have been been “dabbling” with yoga since the first of the year. I have a couple of books and I catch a couple of PBS yoga intruction progams on the weekends. I work 10 hour days live in a small town so even though we have yoga studios my work schedule often conflits so I’ve been working at home mostly. My dogs DO NOT understand mediatation and floor time is play time LOL! But this makes me feel so much better and gives me a new perspective because I don’t look like those girls in the books and my 55 year old , soft round body just won’t quite bend like that anymore. My philosophy is s a little yoga is better than none. I know on the days I only get 10 or 15 minutes in I stll feel better than the days I do none. To sweet Miss Sarah I know it still may be hard for you to accept but 5’8″ and 145 pounds isn’t large, that’s really pretty average. I’m sure you are an absolutely beautiful young woman, please don’t live you life with a poor body image because your mom and sisters are naturally tiny women, you are unique and of intrinsic, unlimited value just the way you are.
Hi Amber,
I LOVE your blog and your site. I too am a 200 hr certified yoga instructor as well as a clinical social worker. I help women, usually moms, to put their self-care first in order to have fulfilling relationships, daily lives and careers. I’m so impressed with you and your message- rock on!
Wow! Thank you Amber. I just happened across your site/blog and as 200+ gal who practices yoga! I was excited to read and flip through your site. This blog post was especially helpful, especially today. I have been diagnosed with an Eating Disorder and I’m finally coming to terms with what that means. I have days when I accept who. I am and move through life more satisfied and at peace with myself than ever before. Then I have days like today where my only thoughts are food filled and when I see my reflection any where in the house, I cringe. Thank you for your confidence and your support for those of us who don’t look thine the cover of YOGA magazine. Thank you for making it okay to be.
Thank you for being so open and honest with your life and experiences. They are truly inspiring.
I was having a shitter of a day and feeling so down about myself. Must be fate that I stumbled upon this wonderful site. Just reading all these amazing posts have given me the strength to keep on going.
I had my first yoga session a few years ago. When i was hitting the gym hard. I lost weight…looked great and felt amazing. Life happens and i lost my routine and drive for the gym.
Last year i found this yoga dvd called Simply Yoga. Great for beginners. I have been following this dvd for the past year. Doing it most mornings. I feel it starts my day off just right.
It is the one place i feel complete. I feel loved and i feel so proud when i have finished my morning session. It has helped me to look at the things i eat. I have adjusted my diet to eat more fruit and vegetables. I still eat cake. I will never give up cake. And i will never give up my yoga. The weight is still there. It bothers me still, but i try my utmost to fill my body and my mind with all things clean and healthy. Each day, a step closer to loving myself.
Keep up the wonderful work all of you do.
Loads of love and peace to all of you xx
I know this post is a few years old now but I feel compelled to say:
YES! The pictures matter! One of the reasons I feel as though I can’t go to a yoga class is because all I’ve ever seen is pictures/videos of ‘normal’ sized people doing yoga, and I know that’s what I’ll be seeing at the class. If I can see the pictures of a body like mine doing the poses, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable about my own practice. I’m sure that once I’ve spent some more time getting comfortable at practicing yoga in my own body and seeing others like me doing the same, I’ll have the confidence to go to a class anywhere and not be ashamed of the way my body looks in the poses!
Thank you for your wonderful blog, and sharing your practice with the world.
Amber! We don’t know one another but I want to tell you that I am very proud of you! I believe the picture of you are VERY IMPORTANT in order to help convince bigger women that yoga is possible for them, too. I’m 65, and overweight. I decided to try yoga in order to increase my flexibility and improve my durability. I received a lot of encouragement from the local instructors when I told them what I was doing at home – using beginner classes on the internet, sitting in child pose while meditating in order to get my knees to bend. I was so excited when I found your website! And I passed your addy to my friends! Blessings to you! Namaste!
Hi Amber,
I just want to mention again how much I love what you’re doing! I think it’s very important and much-needed information. I shared your website last night with this semester’s class (which I do every semester), and I read the poem you posted from “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. What I love about teaching at a Community College is that I get a really diverse group of students with all kinds of body types.
The pictures are lovely and necessary, and I think writing about how the path doesn’t have to be “all or nothing” is crucial. We all have those days. Society and models who have unhealthy eating habits have skewed what is a healthy body image for ALL of us. But putting your feelings out there, and making yourself raw and vulnerable to all of us is a lovely, lovely thing. It also helps to reinforce the whole concepts of Sthira and Sukha and how both experiences help all of us get just a little closer to reaching our bliss.
You’re really lovely. Someday when I’m back east again, I may just have to take a little side trip to meet you ๐
Love and Light,
Susan
Thank you for posting the yoga pictures! I have been kicking around the idea of beginning yoga, but the thought of stepping into a class with all those twig thin perfect bodies has stopped me time and again. As a “fluffy girl” (my husband’s nickname for my curves), I have joined and quit several gyms because of how I feel around all those “fit” people. You’ve inspired me to begin a home, and work my way into building up enough confidence to actually walk into a class at some point. ๐ Keep it up! You are helping more than you know.
Your blogs about body image could have been written by me. I was down to 160 pounds during my Army days back in the mid 1980s (I was 6′ tall and 160 was rake thin for me) and was hard on myself then. Unfortunately I’m now 50 and have made it up to 280 pounds and have hated myself because my weight won’t budge an inch no matter what I do. I’ve worn sweats all the time (I’m between jobs now), hidden in the house, starved myself and cried a lot. I’ve battled eating disorders for most of my adult life.
I’ve just recently taken up yoga after getting tired of pilates and wanted to do something different, and I’m so glad I did. What I think of each part of my body will take a while. I was shocked to find out that that’s how much self-loathing I’ve been carrying.
I now have to be concerned about diabetes, which runs very high in my family, but it ends up I’m in excellent health all around. My A1C is in the safe range, and even my teeth are good. This morning I cried and was depressed because my scale weight wouldn’t budge an inch; in fact I’d gained again.
I haven’t had weight issues. They’ve had me.
Thank you so much for everything you do. You’re real, not one of those size-nothing twigs with bellybuttons on parade that I’m so tired of. Keep up the good work.
But now I know I can put on my jeans and go out mall walking, although I’ll probably do it early next week when the Christmas crowds are gone.
Wow. I am so happy to find your blog. As a yoga teacher who is “plus sized” ((who is adding and subtracting?? I don’t know!)) I am so inspired to read all these articles about positive self body image.
I joined a fitness facebook group in which a friend asked me to post a video of how to do chaturanga correctly. I love chaturanga and it took me a year and half of coming down to my knees first to have the strength to flow through without coming to my knees so it’s a pose that marks improvement in my practice! But when I took the video my belly was protruding so much I couldn’t even watch it without feeling disgusted and sad – all the the negative self talk and all the stories of my childhood when I started my hateful relationship with my belly came up front and center in my mind. What the heck I’m SOO over this shame of my belly!!
I’m going to read your blog to support me through the process of owning my practice and my body. Thank you for the inspiration!!
Have you ever written a post about finding yoga pants that do not attempt to suffocate or completely destroy the belly? I have had a big issue with that.
Hi Amber
I discovered your blog last night and can i say thankyou from the bottom of my heart because you have shown me the light. As a devoted yogi for many years now i have put off my dreams of becoming a yoga teacher and helping others with similar Back issues to me but was waiting until, well, i looked the part. This goes against everything i believe and try to model to my teen daughter and reading your blog has inspired me to follow my Heart and do my 200 ytt this year. I could kiss u im so excited!!
Love and light xx
This is a really inlgntieelt way to answer the question.
Hi Amber, I am a new yoga teacher and I just found your blog. You are beautiful and your photos are so empowering. I am not plus sized but at age 49 I had plenty of other *reasons* why I *thought* I could/should not be a yoga teacher. I see all kinds of bodies in my classes and I want my classes to be accessible, inclusive and empowering for everyone. Your ddog post was very helpful. Thank for sharing your self doubts, your experience and your expertise. Namaste.
THANK YOU for the pictures!
I personally like having mirrors in the studio. I have spent decades living in denial about the body I have, and being quietly ashamed of how I look. It has taken 3 years of yoga and the “OMG, look how strong I am, I’m DOING IT!” moments to make me respect this body! I have given birth to 4 kids, for Pete’s Sake! I made humans! This body is something to be proud of, no matter what shape it comes in.
But, I was always a clumsy person who didn’t know where her body started and stopped… I have a really hard time knowing where my body is in space, because I have NEVER LOOKED! So, for me, having mirrors in the studio gives me a chance to look and check for alignment. I may only glance once or twice per class, and some classes I never look at all!
But, now, when I do look – it’s definitely of a “damn, my body is pretty amazing” kind of thought. No more body shame or self-hate from me. It took a long time to get here.
You may look at the pictures and see what’s “wrong,” but all I see is beautiful inspiration. Thank you for pushing past the negative feelings. Love this.
Amber, I started practicing yoga this year after six years of not practicing. I started seeking information for fat yogis; not for fat people who want to try yoga. I couldn’t believe it when I found your videos. Now I can (finally) relax in savasana. I’m very excited, to read and try everything. Your virabhadrasana III looks so good, and I’d like to see more photos like this. I need this. Thank you for doing this!