INSPO Fitness Journal August 2017

lycra, it’s very simple — just look away. I no
longer care. It’s my body and my business.
WHY WE NEED FAT YOGA
Those of us in bigger bodies are often
made to feel uncomfortable, visible or
incompetent in traditional yoga studios
and I wanted to offer a space where people
could feel comfortable.
It would be really great if people didn’t
call fat people exercising names or come
up and congratulate us (both really horrible
experiences), but they do.
I have been publicly humiliated,
shamed, told to ‘come back tomorrow
when the beginners’ class is on’ and just
not made to feel welcome in some studios.
The assumptions made about me, my
experience and my fitness have been
breathtaking. I knew other people were
struggling with this too and I wanted to
bring this beautiful practice into spaces
where that would never happen.
There are very few places where
bigger people can exercise with ease and
comfort in a class and with a teacher who
understands their body and can cater
to their needs, so that is why I started
this movement. We need the tools to
understand our bodies and how they are
different but just as capable, and teachers
who are welcoming and skilled to help us.
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF FAT YOGA
• All bodies can practise yoga
• All bodies deserve care
• All bodies deserve respect
• All bodies have value
• Fat Yoga will meet your body where you
are physically comfortable
• Fat Yoga is a Fat Positive practise
• Fat Yoga is a body positive practise (no
one body is better than another)
AND THE REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF THAT
YOU WERE TOO AFRAID TO ASK!
• You don’t need to know your asana from
your elbow, you can still enjoy yoga (even
if you just come for the nap at the end)
• Try not to beat yourself up if your body
doesn’t look or move the way you want it
to right now; you may surprise yourself
with a regular practise
• Come with what you have. It’s all you
need.
• No, you’re not too old. Or too inflexible!
• You don’t have to be a vegan to practise
yoga (I’m not! Some are!)
• Some yogis drink wine (if they want to — I
do!)
• You can wear what you want and there are
lots of places to buy amazing activewear
for curves if you would like to (there is a
list on my website)
• It’s OK to cry in the lying down parts. It
may not ever happen (don’t panic) but
sometimes when you get still and quiet,
the emotions come. It’s all good.
• Yoga is not a religion. Nope, no way, not
at all!
• If you want it to be, it can be spiritual
• What on earth does ‘namaste’ mean? It’s
just a greeting and a farewell with your
hands at your heart, but here is a lovely
translation:
Namaste..
I honor the place in you
in which the entire universe resides.
I honor the place in you which is of love,
of light, of truth and of peace.
When you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me.
We are one.
WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?
Anyone who would like to learn or
deepen their existing practise of yoga and
who doesn’t feel at home in a studio class or
doesn’t have one nearby.
Anyone who would like to understand
how to adapt classic postures for their body
Yoga teachers whose training didn’t
include teaching yoga for bigger bodies and
who would like to learn how to be more
inclusive in their teaching.
Extracted with permission from Fat
Yoga: Yoga for all Bodies by Sarah Harry,
published by New Holland, $35.00.
Available at all good bookstores on online
at: www.newhollandpublishers.com.
>WIN
Enter to win one of two copies of Fat
Yoga: Yoga for all Bodies by Sarah
Harry and challenge yourself to try
something new.
To enter, email your name, address
and contact details, with FAT YOGA in
the subject line, to win@inspomag.co.nz
or enter online at inspomag.co.nz
Entries close August 31 2017
INSPO – FITNESS JOURNAL AUGUST 2017
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