Every Body is a Yoga Body

by Tiina Veer, Founder of Yoga for Round Bodies™

There is a myth out there that one has to have a certain kind of body to do yoga. This is simply untrue. Yoga—if you’ll excuse the bad pun—is extremely flexible. It can be adapted for anyone. As the saying goes, “if you can breathe, you can do yoga.”

Some of us are less flexible, some of us are round, some of us have bodies that have been or are going through a lot, some of us are in older bodies, some of us just want to use yoga for simple movement and meditation, not as fitness classes or gymnastic practices. Our needs are often not accommodated in mainstream yoga.

It’s the same as with so many other things—it’s about finding the right teacher and the right space. While yoga can truly be for any body, mainstream yoga as it is practiced, offered and depicted is intimidating and marginalizing for many. And while more approachable, accessible yoga is gaining momentum, teachers trained to teach to more diverse needs are still fewer and further between, so if you feel like mainstream yoga spaces aren’t right for you, you may need to dig a little deeper and use the right keywords, but you might just find your perfect match!

Google “Yoga for Round Bodies” and your city name. I teach Yoga for Round Bodies classes in Toronto, Canada, and also train yoga instructors in Yoga for Round Bodies online. You can check out the “Find a Teacher”  page at my website to see if there happens to be a certified teacher near you!

You can also google “Curvy Yoga”—Anna Guest-Jelley of Curvy Yoga in Nashville, TN has been training teachers too, and you may be lucky enough to find a teacher closeby. You can also search for “plus size yoga,” “yoga for bigger bodies,” and even “yoga for every body” to see if you can find a body-positive class near you. If you can’t find something round-body specific, other teachers who tend to know more about pose modification are those who instruct classes like “Gentle Yoga,” “Restorative Yoga,” “Adapted (or Adaptive) Yoga,” or “Therapeutic Yoga” which you could search for in your area, too.

There are now also a number of online resources you’ll find when searching these keywords if you can’t find anything in your area or that fits your schedule.

Don’t let the myth of the “yoga body” hold you back from practicing. If mainstream yoga doesn’t appeal to you, take a little time and dig a little deeper. You may find the perfect teacher or resource for you and make yoga yours.

Tiina Veer