How Yoga Taught Me To Love My Body

For the longest time, I saw yoga as this crazy, stretchy exercise that only super skinny people could do. When I was first starting out, I couldn't help but compare myself to every other person in the room. How were they doing that? Why was I struggling with something that seemed so basic? However, over the last few years, I have gradually come to love my yoga practice and the journey it has taken me on.

I learned that yoga isn't about comparing your practice to someone else's. Everyone is literally in a different place in their yoga practice, and one is not better than the other. So what if you can't hold dolphin pose for more than 20 seconds? You've just held a headstand for the first time. Or your hamstrings have stretched just enough that your down dog is much more flexible. Every yogi has their strength and weaknesses, and that's just a small fraction of what makes yoga so unique and inclusive. No matter your skill level or years of experience, there is always somewhere for you to grow.

Once I stopped comparing my yoga practice to other people's, it became a lot easier to love my body for the poses it was able to do. I've never been one of those super skinny, flexible yoga girls that you follow on Instagram. But that didn't matter anymore. Yoga doesn't have a weight limit. I found that I was able to do just as much as any other yogi in the class, regardless of my body type. It was then that I began to fall in love with my body, not for what it couldn't do, but for what it could do. Through both yoga and acro yoga, my wonderful body has done so much. It has held my feet over my head, balanced my hips on someone's toes, and held someone in the air.

Before long, I stopped beating myself up over not being able to do the cool poses, and instead, had patience with my body and began to love the things it can do. I may not be proud of the Domino's pizza I ate last week, but I am proud of how I held dolphin pose for five seconds longer than I normally do in my Wednesday afternoon yoga class. Even little accomplishments like that remind me that I am still learning and growing through yoga.

In seeking physical health through yoga, I also found a better state of mental health and self love. Yoga and acro yoga have become my escapes, my stress relievers. I have grown so much throughout my yoga journey, and I can't wait to keep growing in the perspectives I found in yoga and acro yoga.