Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery & Loving Your Body

by Melanie C. Klein, Anna Guest-Jelley

In this remarkable, first-of-its-kind book, twenty-five contributors--including musician Alanis Morissette, celebrity yoga instructor Seane Corn, and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sara Gottfried--discuss how yoga and body image intersect. Through inspiring personal stories you'll discover how yoga not only affects your physical health, but also how you feel about your body.

Offering unique perspectives on yoga and how it has shaped their lives, the writers provide tips for using yoga to find self-empowerment and improved body image. This anthology unites a diverse collection of voices that address topics across the spectrum of human experience, from culture and media to gender and sexuality. Yoga and Body Image will help you learn to connect with and love your beautiful body.

2015 IPPY Award Bonze Medal Winner in Inspirational/Spiritual

2014 ForeWord IndieFab Bronze Winner for Body, Mind & Spirit

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Memoir, Self Help, Essays, Fat, Anthologies

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2014

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip unless you are looking for an insecure pity party to join.

Yes, two of the excerpts were good and loving stories. Unfortunately most of the stories read as people who are extremely insecure and cannot overcome their issues with their own body image.

Too many of the stories read that the yoga community is telling everyone we have to be skinny, bubbly, blondes to be part of the yoga gang. This has not been my experience and i'm a curvy, introverted, red head. I wear all black to each class and don't have half the grace the rest of the class has (yet!), but i have never been made to feel like i don't belong by anyone... apart from my *own* insecurities.

I wish that the people writing these entries could take a step back and stop complaining about how they think they got a look or how there wasn't anyone else like them so it must mean they weren't welcome. Being different isn't something western culture has ever embraced, but for that to change we need to stop rising onto our soap boxes and screaming we want to be treated equally and instead start treating everyone else as we would like to be treated. We need to be the example for the change we want to see in the world and my friends, there are no soap boxes in my dreamland.

I would skip this book and instead recommend to find your "home", that studio / teacher that you resonate with. Coming from the goth who practices with a sea of blonde college girls and doesn't feel out of place... yoga is about bonding your mind and body, being present. The insecurities we bring to the mat don't disappear with a good practice, they disappear when we decide we are done comparing ourselves to anyone. When we decide to love ourselves.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really optimistic about this book, but alas, it comes off as trite and empty. The essays are, on the whole, poorly written, poorly edited, and sorely lacking any original insight. What could have been a profoundly empowering and educational book is vacuous and demeaning for those of us who truly find respite in yoga.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really spoke to me and made me reconsider how I teach my classes. Glad I read it!

[MLG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a beautiful and important book! Anna Guest-Jelley and Melanie Klein have assembled a really diverse, interesting, and illuminating set of essays that explore the connection between yoga and body image. I found myself nodding vigorously along to lots of passages, particularly those that critically dismantled the capitalist forces at work in the Western industry that has sprung up around yoga, as well as considered passages that reflected on how yoga can still help us connect to our bodies through and in spite of these forces. I appreciated that folks of varying gender expression, sexuality, race, class, and ability were represented. Such variety is really a powerful argument for the boundary-crossing transformative power of yoga, especially in Western cultures where materialism, harsh bodily punishment, and constant hustle/bustle and stress create pressure-cooker environments that sever the all-important bonds of mind-body connection. Across different planes of impact, we can convene over that loss of mind-body connection, and rejoice in the deep joy and bodily knowledge available through this special and peculiar practice.

My glowing accolades aside, a couple of essays rubbed me the wrong way. At least one annoyed me in the sense that I didn't feel it actually communicated anything, (one of my quibbles with lots of "yoga writing," a fluffy, new-agey way of communicating that resists actual transfer of meaning) but that, thankfully, is not overall indicative of the multi-textured and thoughtful writing in this book. In another, I sensed that the author had not yet come to terms honestly with some of the very body images issues they purported to dissect, and the piece had a kind of superficiality and lack of feeling that was off-putting. I don't mention these things to be disparaging of what I still feel is a thoroughly worthwhile book, and I specifically do not call the authors out by name, because I think their voices may have merit and speak to someone else more clearly. Rather, I think that in a book of 25 essays wherein a large cross-section of types were given voice, having only two that I find mediocre is pretty impressive. I think it speaks to the real *need* for this text that such quality is available, and it speaks to the competency of the editors that so many of the essays were heartfelt and clear.

I'll be keeping this one on my shelf to highlight, re-read, and share for years to come!

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was just an ok read. I guess my expectations were that it was going to be 25 personal essays about how yoga helped people feel better about their bodies and such. The first few essays were like that and I really enjoyed those ones but I felt like as the essays progressed it was more like the authors were talking about issues they had faced due to their body image perceptions and from media expectations and then there would be a little bit saying oh and I also do yoga.

One thing I did get from this book was that I seem to be quite lucky in that the yoga studio I go to isn't judgy and it really is a yoga studio for everyone. However the essays that complained about yoga studios being only for specific looking people seemed to be from people based in the US so it would have been interesting to get a more international perspective on what yoga studios are like.

Overall I thought there were a few really good essays in the beginning but I did feel that a lot of the essays towards the end were off track. I will say that reading this did get me excited for my own practice again.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don't even know how to express my gratitude that this book exists.

[Grettel Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha encantado esta recopilación de vivencias propias de los maestros más famosos de yoga y personajes importantes del mundo del bienestar, en las que hablan abiertamente de la exagerada tendencia a difundir " imágenes perfectas" que están muy alejadas de los preceptos del yoga y del bienestar físico y emocional mundial y como a ellos en alguno momento de su vida les llegó a afectar.

Coincido. VOLVAMOS AL PRINCIPIO, a la esencia real del ser humano, lejos del idealismo de la imagen pseudo perfecta. Volvamos a la espiritualidad que se vive desde el centro del corazón y brilla cobijada en el Ser Supremo, cualquiera que sea tu Fe.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a broader continuing education opportunity; and the variety of stories the editors have compiled was so valuable to read. I especially appreciate the perspectives, which provided multiple points to which I want to return in reflection and further learning.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. A number of perspectives from people with different body image issues and how yoga helped them learn to accept themselves and become empowered, eventually empowering others by becoming yoga teachers.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The testimonies and stories about the power of embodiment (or the lack thereof) are important and heartfelt, but some of the editing made the book clunky at the start. The stories pinpoint larger societal issues related to norming of gender roles and body image.

[Rasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend for anyone who practices yoga. These are intensely personal stories that I found hugely thought provoking and inspiring.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the personal narratives were more compelling than others, but overall an interesting set of perspectives!

[sendann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I wanted to learn more about different experiences of yoga and teachers by students who are outside the standard. This was a great book to that end. As a reading experience, I found the editors to be a little too....present - long winded introduction, conclusion, and exhaustive introductions to each chapter. But once I realized that, I skipped those parts and focused on the personal stories. Worth a read, and if you suffer from body image issues, it might be super comforting. But I think it's important to remember that not everyone is miserable in their body, and not everyone who isn't obsessed with their appearance is perky and blond either. Also, what is so bad about being perky and blond and devoted to yoga? It's not like those folks are perfect, or feel perfect, either. I understand and feel sad that body obsession and depression is such a chronic problem in the lives of American people, women especially. But it's hard to read the same story the same way so many times and not be like, jeeze, we have way too much time on our hands. Might be time to go volunteer at an animal shelter and get out of ourselves and our own heads for a while.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a must read for anyone who has any type of body image struggle, which is all of us really. I gained a new insight into what body image is. It's not just weight: it's race, gender, sexuality, athletic ability, etc. Through this insight I was able to gain compassion and understanding into my own "issues" as well as what others may be struggling with too. If you've ever thought about doing yoga or if you practice everyday you will enjoy this book. I highly recommend this one!!!

Edit to reflect review after second reading: Was not as impressed with this book after rereading it. I'm not sure if it's the fact that my knowledge of body acceptance has evolved over the last few years or if at the time of my first reading I just enjoyed it more. Either way, I'm not so sure this is the positive body acceptance/yoga book it says it is.

[Malasana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yoga and Body Image is like reading a diary -- by 25 people. Authors Melanie Klein and Anna Guest-Jelley combine their own stories with other men and women in the yoga/health industry to deliver us a moving collection of essays. This book is a timely submission to our yoga bookshelves. As yoga increases in popularity so too has the media pressures and the images of "what yoga looks like."

A challenging, but rewarding read, this book will give you much to think about. I am still chewing on it. It has been harder than usual to put my thoughts and words together. Why? It's just a book isn't it? No...

Yoga and Body Image feels like going to therapy. continue reading on: http://www.yogashelf.com/book-review-...

[Janey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of these essays were excellent; however many of these authors had the same hangups when it comes to body image and I had a hard time relating to them. I did enjoy learning more about the yoga community as a whole through these essays because I personally feel a little disconnected from mine. I go to class and come home, never really getting to know other people who practice. I came away from this book feeling like I need to make a more concerted effort to embrace the other people I am in class with and gain from their practice to enhance my own.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fat yoga instructor who has battled the exclusivity of the westernized/commercialized yoga studio culture and loved this book. I am amazed at how far the US yoga world has come to shed some light on its injustices over the past few years - we still have a long way to go. As I read other reviewers finding this book pointless, I wonder if they see how excluded folks of color, size, lgbtq+, disabilities, low income, age, etc really are unwelcomed in a vast majority of yoga studios. I know we say yoga is for everyone, but what are we doing it make it really for everyone?

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thought provoking collection of essays about the trans- formative power of yoga to create peace with self and body. Most of the authors have had to work through barriers- Western ideas of beauty and physical perfection and competitiveness to find deep benefits for themselves. Yoga and Body image is surprisingly deep: questioning the roles we play, the image we project and the purpose of seeking yoga in our lives.

[wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i fully enjoyed this book. so many of the authors' narratives resonated so deeply with me.

i particularly appreciate the strong marriage of social justice work, through feminist practice, and yoga. this was the unifying theme of the stories and i am grateful for the courage to bring the two into one integral path. i can't imagine one not informing the other.

thank you, to all the authors who shared with open hearts.

[Sonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have used a better editor, but the topic is important on so many levels, especially since yoga in this country is portrayed as a workout for already-thin white women in the media and in retail. It is so much more than that, which is shown in these essays. I hope instructors especially are taking note.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much what you would expect with the exception of two of the male essays. The story of a F-T-M trans man who is HIV positive was particularly compelling. This book makes me want to become a yoga teacher :)

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

although not all personal accounts has the same level of vulnerability or deepth of writing overall I found this to be a very enjoyable read. I have already begun to adjust some of my teaching language to be more inclusive. I definitely think this book is a worthwhile read.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This extraordinary collection should be part of every yoga teacher training curriculum and read by every yoga practitioner. Yes - it's that important.

[Caridad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:
As my yoga practice became a prayer, my body became a temple. (Page 47)

[Rita Mahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. I loved hearing how people found yoga and what profound experiences they had with it.

[Aynur Aslanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Every exhale is an opportunity to forgive.'