By Emma Sheens
What is the ‘Yoga & Body Image Coalition’?
The ‘YBI Coalition’ is a group of yoga teachers, practitioners, teachers, professionals, educators, activists, writers, artists, non-profit organisations and advocates that share a common vision – “to develop, promote and support yoga that is accessible, body-positive and reflects the full range of human diversity”.
The YBI Coalition are “committed to creating safe spaces for bodies of all types, devoid of body shaming, while offering a comprehensive body image education for yoga teachers, community and media outlets”
The YBI Coalition believes:
- That everyone is worthy of love!
- That negative self-talk and body shaming needs to be eliminated.
- In the “love of our bodies”!
- That healthy body relationships can be promoted through regular yoga practice.
- In the power of yoga to transform individuals holistically!
- That yoga practice should be empowering and accessible to everyone!
- That body-positivity is a conscious action that requires lived practice.
- In the possibility of a more compassionate and just world!
- That potentially damaging images and messages need to be replaced with new and informed messages promoting body-positivity, inclusiveness and diversity.
Why are BodyMatters partnering with the YBI Coalition?
We believe yoga can be extremely beneficial for eating disorder recovery. Eating and body image issues can serve to bring about a disconnection from our body. Yoga, on the other hand, fosters body connection and awareness and enables individuals to nurture, respect, accept and love their bodies.
Yoga has been proven to be effective in reducing eating disordered symptoms. A study by Carei, Fyfe-Johnson, Breuner and Brown (2010) demonstrated that those who engaged in one-on-one yoga for one hour per week experienced greater decreases in eating disordered symptoms. Furthermore, those same individual’s experienced a significant decrease in their fixation with food immediately following yoga sessions (Carei et al., 2010). This suggests that the practice of yoga may serve as an effective addition to an individual’s recovery treatment plan.
BodyMatters views health as an ongoing, holistic process. Health involves emotional, physical, psychological, intellectual and social aspects. We believe that engagement in a healthy lifestyle enables your weight to settle in the healthiest place for you. The practice of yoga is a great addition to a balanced, healthy lifestyle, helping to improve overall well-being and quality of life through fostering a sense of connection between the mind and body.
References
Carei, T. R., Fyfe-Johnson, A. L., Breuner, C. C., & Brown, M. A. (2010). Randomized controlled clinical trial of yoga in the treatment of eating disorders. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(4), 346-351.
