I’ve been answering this question a bit lately.  And honestly, there are a couple reasons I’ve called my classes Big Beautiful Yoga.

One reason is to appeal to big people.  Women in particular.  You see, there is this really nasty notion that fat and fit can’t live in the same body.  That people with a large amount of fat on their bodies are automatically unhealthy, lazy or sick, eat too much, move too little, blah blah blah BLARGH.

Not true.

Fat people can do Yoga.  Fat people can LOVE Yoga.

I live in a different body than you live in.  So I need to practice Yoga a little differently than you do.  I might need to bend my knees in Standing Forward Bend, or tuck my tummy up in order to come into the pose fully.  Some folks might need to take a strap over the top of their chest in order to come into the pose without suffocating themselves.  True story.  Boobs can be deadly!

In Big Beautiful Yoga, it’s my job to help make a safe place for you to experiment in different poses and practices.  If you have a lot, a little, or less fat on the body you’re living in today, I want to help you find your way into poses safely and effectively.

I don’t care what your body looks like.  I care what it feels like.  Fat, not fat, or any other label that goes on your body doesn’t matter to me.  I want to see your sweet smiling face show up and be willing to be surprised about what you can do.

Reason #2.

90 minutes is a good long class.  It’s big.  It’s beautiful.  It’s Yoga.

You don’t have to be intimidated by the length of the class.  That 90 minutes includes centering, breathing, relaxation,  and all sorts of practices that you can incorporate into your daily life.  We aren’t doing hard physical poses the whole time.  We find balance.  The word asana means ‘position of comfort and ease’.  So we find the balance between effort and ease in each class.

I spent such a long time telling myself I didn’t like Yoga.  I told myself that I wasn’t flexible enough, skinny enough, athletic enough, strong enough, and any other silly notenough you hear people use to talk themselves out of an experience with Yoga.

We’re bullshitting ourselves when we do that.  Judith Laseter put it best when she said “Yoga isn’t about touching your toes.  It’s about what you learn on the way down.” You may never touch your toes, but you will learn so many things about yourself.

Yoga is about being you, right here, right now.  Expanding into your present self. Paying attention to what the body says, what the mind says, and what the spirit says.  Being you, because you are awesome! Believe it!

 

 

Interested in a BBY class? Check out class times here!

 

 (update: this class is now called Joyful Yoga. But it’s still got all the same body positive goodness!)