I think most of you are aware of the Operation Beautiful project.  Well today’s the day that the Operation Beautiful book gets published. Caitlin, health blogger, OB founder and now published author (yay!) has asked the blogosphere in general for their take on body image.  So here’s mine.  It’s based on a post I wrote earlier in the year on image and yoga (what else).

Incidentally, American Readers, Caitlin is on the Today Show at 10am EST on Thursday 5th August!

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The Image of Yoga

I do read Yoga Journal and it’s UK equivalent Yoga & Health (I even write for the latter one), I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cover shot that isn’t of very slim, Caucasian women bending their “perfect” bodies into gymnastic postures. Sometimes it’s enough to make anyone give up. What about the tattoed, crooked backed women who will never get their head on their foot in Pigeon Pose (and yes YJ I’m willing to pose for a cover shot if you’re reading)? What about all the beautifully curvacious yoginis out there? What about the graceful older yogini? What about the non-Caucasian? What, even, about the men?

We need images that inspire us to keep practicing despite, or even because of, our individual limitations – which, incidentally, we do all have. Images that remind us that this practice that we have right now is yoga, that we are not waiting to practice yoga until we can attain a posture akin to a Yoga Journal cover shot. Asana is only one of the eight limbs of yoga – a precursor if you will to the practices of pranayama and meditation and bliss itself.

With this in mind then, we can begin to realise that we do not have to be a certain build, or be of a certain flexibility to practice yoga. It doesn’t matter if we can’t perform every asana “perfectly”.   Desikachar says that yoga is “to attain what was previously unattainable”. That “unattainable” is different for everybody.

Your yoga is beautiful right now, just as it is!

How’s your yoga, on or off the mat today?

Well dear readers it is the last Tuesday of March and believe it or not a month since I started the Spring into Yoga Challenge. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

What have I learned? Well, firstly that whilst Janu Sirsasana and Bhada Konasana may never be my favourite poses, the thought of them is far worse than the pose itself, especially now I have learned to let go! Secondly that me and Dhanurasana are never going to be friends, but more importantly I’ve learned that it’s OK to not be friends with certain postures. I’m not suggesting giving up. I’m not suggesting saying to yourself “oh I’ll never do this” and never try again, but eventually every yogi(ni) is going to find a posture that is really hard, or that they may never be able to do without modification. And that is what’s OK. To accept and love our bodies exactly as they are right now!

With that in mind, and inspired by this post over at Sal’s Already Pretty Blog, I give you five things that are awesome about my body. Yes, I may have health issues and back issues and a dodgy hip but I also have an amazing body that lives every single day.

I would love it if you would join me with your list of five, either in the comments or as a post on your own blog with a link for us all in the comments.

1. My body has core muscles of steel. Seriously. I can hold Navasana for sooo long without shaking!
2. My body has a cute ass. I know this isn’t a reason to do yoga, but the yoga butt is a nice side effect!
3. My body cycles me miles and miles every week, I can feel myself get stronger every single day and I’m starting to not miss having a car because of this.
4. My body may not be able to do handstands anymore but it has a lot of fun trying!
5. My body houses my brain which is smart, silly and geeky in equal measures.

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The Suburban Yogini is taking a Spring Break – I’ll be back for “things i love thursday” and then normal service will resume after the weekend. Don’t miss me too much dear readers

One of the very few downsides of living in Cambridge is there is a severe lack of independent cafes that do a good Sunday Brunch, so this weekend we had to make do with Giraffe.

One of the many upsides is the beautifully laid back yoga atsmosphere.

Back in London, there was a tendency in some of the studios, to judge. To judge on the “perfection” of your asana, the austerity of your life, even the price of your yoga bag, the more expensive the better. It’s enough to eat into anyone’s self esteem and is one of the reasons why it took me so long to get around to training to teach yoga – I just didn’t think I was “good enough”.

Of course now, as I said in an email conversation with EcoYogini yesterday, it breaks my heart that beautiful, talented and amazing women are thinking twice about training to teach because they are not “good enough”.

The yoga media don’t help much either as Brenda P pointed out in this post. Much as I love Yoga Journal and it’s UK equivalent Yoga & Health (hell I’ve even written for the latter one), I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cover shot that isn’t of very slim, Caucasian women bending their “perfect” bodies into gymnastic postures. Sometimes it’s enough to make anyone give up. What about the tattoed, crooked backed women who will never get their head on their foot in Pigeon Pose (and yes YJ I’m willing to pose for a cover shot if you’re reading)? What about all the beautifully curvacious yoginis out there? What about the graceful older yogini? What about the non-Caucasian? What, even, about the men?

We need images that inspire us to keep practicing despite, or even because of, our individual limitations – which, incidentally, we do all have. Images that remind us that this practice that we have right now is yoga, that we are not waiting to practice yoga until we can attain a posture akin to a Yoga Journal cover shot. As The Everything Yoga Blog wrote in this post, asana is only one of the eight limbs of yoga – a precursor if you will to the practices of pranayama and meditation.

With this in mind then, we can begin to realise that we do not have to be a certain build, or be of a certain flexibility to become teachers. It doesn’t matter if we can’t perform every asana “perfectly”. As teachers we are enablers, helping our students work to their own abilities, helping them along their journeys, whatever their journeys may be. From personal experience I have found that my students secretly like my crooked back and dodgy hip, it gives them a sense of perspective!

Desikachar says that yoga is “to attain what was previously unattainable”. That “unattainable” is different for everybody, and it’s time that difference was represented more in the yoga world.

In Cambridge you can turn up to a yoga class in your pajamas (I have a friend who regularly does) and nobody bats an eyelid. Let Cambridge lead the way – I’m a lucky girl to live here.