So what if your belly isn’t as flat as it used to be, or if your thighs touch when you walk? (I heard the best comeback for fat-shaming critics on an episode of “Politics for Bitches” with Louisa Omielon – please note it is a little risqué so skip ahead to the next bit if you’re at all offended by crude language. After being criticised for not having a thigh gap she said “mate, if you were this close to my p***y you’d want to touch yourself too” ???????? Genius ????). Anyway….
Health and fitness are vitally important in life, and we should include them in our ambitions, but we shouldn’t confuse them with meaningless ideals of extreme weight-loss and skinniness – and none of our goals should be impossible for us to achieve. I’d suggest that if the size of your body is something you really want to change, you should first ensure that your specific aims are actually:
Achievable
Balanced
Healthy
If they are, one approach could be to try to give yourself short-term goals. Focusing on your ultimate long-term goal can increase the pressure on you, often so severely that you find yourself abandoning the ambition, leaving yourself with feelings of failure and self-loathing. Break it down into a series of steps and tackle them one at a time. If those steps still feel overwhelming or unattainable, we can break each one down even further – so you’ll have your long-term goal, and several medium-term smaller goals, but focus initially on the relatively easily attainable short-term goals. Give yourself the credit you deserve for each goal you reach, and don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t get there. Remember, you can’t fail if you don’t stop trying.
If you feel that you need some guidance or support we can help. We have a six-week programme that draws on yoga philosophy to tackle our underlying beliefs about food and body-image, and introduces you to yoga poses which may be helpful – those directly targeting weight-loss, but mostly muscle toning, energy building, and self-acceptance.
Or if you’d like to learn how to be more accepting of yourself just as you are, our iRest sessions are perfect for delving into your emotions, understanding your underlying beliefs, and developing the internal resources you need to become resilient, and quieting your inner critic. Send an email, Facebook message, or fill out our contact form for more information.
And if you have any doubts in your ability to do yoga if you’re bigger than a UK size 8 (which the vast majority of us are), and especially if you’ve been told by a yoga teacher that people in larger bodies can’t do yoga ‘properly’, take a look online – teachers and trainers such as Dianne Bondy and Amber Karnes are among those leading the revolution to prove otherwise. Come and join us!
Thanks for reading ????
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