Last week was not an easy week. It was a week when politics seeped into everything, every conversation, every thought, and even into my yoga. It was a hard week. I couldn’t stay detached. Or calm. Or centred. I let myself feel it all too personally. It was a hard week to be a woman. It was a hard week to be a feminist.
Fortunately, I experienced one bright moment, a moment that renewed my hope. I had the privilege of teaching yoga to a group of 10 – 14 year old girls. Girls who meet each week for a program at the library, to talk about being girls, to support each other, and to find their voices through art and writing. We did a short practice together, moving together, breathing together. And, we talked about body image, body acceptance, and the image the media gives us about yoga. We talked about why I am not who they thought of when they heard someone was coming to teach yoga. I told them not to waste their time worrying about what others think of how they look. I told them they are beautiful. I read them Anna Guest-Jelley’s Curvy Yoga Matifesto. It made me really emotional to share it with them, to talk so openly about accepting my body. It made me wonder what my life would have looked like if someone had had that conversation with me at that age. Nobody had that conversation with me. There was no hint of acceptance, only shame. Today, I received a lovely card from them. It made my day. I am so grateful to be able to share yoga with girls and women of all ages. We are strong and we will prevail.
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