OM Yoga Magazine // Yoga Is For EVERY BODY!

11/13/2014

Disclosure: I am part of the OM Yoga Blogger Programme. I have been provided me with a free subscription to the magazine in exchange for writing a blog post for each month. All opinions and thoughts are my own. Links/Ads for OM Yoga are affiliated referral links. See my policy page HERE for more detail.

When this months OM Yoga Magazine came out, I just knew it was going to be a good read. This month features articles on Meditation, Yoga for Fitness and Yoga is for Every Body!

I wanted to focus my post on Yoga Is For Everybody for this month. I wish that this article would have been around back when I started losing weight. As most of you may well know by now if you've been reading my blog for a while, back in 2010, I weighed in at around 258 lbs.

I fell in love with Yoga long before I even started practising. I saw pictures of people in different Yoga Poses, I saw some perform in public and I followed Yoga Blogs. One thing in common with all those things was the fact that all of them were absolutely beautiful and THIN.

I never dared to practice Yoga as I always thought that it was for slimmer, beautiful people and that it wouldn't be possible for me to do the same as those who were slimmer than me.

I was SO wrong. Too bad I didn't figure it out right at the start. Yoga, is in fact, for everyone! I'm not just talking about weight here. Whatever your body 'hang-up' - too fat, too thin, too old, too young.. You can do Yoga. You don't have to be skinny, nubile, bendy, flexible or at a certain age to be able to get your yoga fix.

OM Yoga and other challenging industry leaders and media creators are trying to expand this vision.

Online Yoga Blog - Yoga Dork is pushing the idea and created t-shirts to promote the 'yoga body' message.

"This message is meant to be worn by any and all that wish to show the world that your body - whatever shape, size, colour or age - is a yoga body"

The Yoga Body Image Coalition is another social media inspired group that's committed to getting you to love the body you've got. Not to forget that there's a HUGE library of 'yoga for all bodies' pictures to look at for inspiration online.

We're all uniquely different and thankfully so. The world would be a very boring place if everyone was exactly the same.

Britt Melton is the cover girl for the November issue of OM Yoga Magazine. She had struggled with body image issues and was in recovery from Binge Eating Disorder. Yoga helped heal her and has shown her that she does not need to change her body, she just needs to care for it!

Claudia Brown. 42, told of her story in the OM Yoga Magazine about how she'd just turned 40, was always flirting with the idea of becoming a yoga teacher, but always thought she was 'too fat' and 'not flexible enough'. She took her future into her own hands and attended the OM Yoga Show to find out more about teacher training, She knew she was in the right place! She is now a qualified Yoga Instructor!

Anna Guest-Jelley is the founder and CEO of Curvy Yoga. A lifelong champion for women's empowerment and body acceptance who wants to encourage people of every size, shape, age and experience level and ability yo grab life by the curves - and never let go!

She also has a segment in the OM Yoga Magazine with a sequence and breakdown that is designed to support students of all shapes and sizes. I'd highly recommend you check it out!

OM Yoga Magazine also has a section in each magazine called 'Yoga Changed My Life' with stories from different people from all walks of life and how they have used Yoga to change their life. They're all very inspiring stories and I love reading all of them!

The point of this post is to reiterate that there really is no reason you cannot do yoga. If you've always been too nervous to try yoga, you think you're not good enough or think people will judge you.. just believe in yourself, be brave and just try it out! You really REALLY wont regret it!

I'm not saying you need to jump into the deep end and book a class, you can practice Yoga at home like me and get the amazing benefits that Yoga gives you!

I don't think I could re-iterate how much I enjoy and look forward to each magazine that comes out each month! There's so much packet into each issue that is valuable to all Yogis, both beginner and advanced!

If you're interested and you want to subscribe to the Om Yoga Magazine, you can subscribe HERE or click the ad below. Each magazine is £1.99 (bargain!) or you can get a 6 or 12 month subscription(£8.99/£16.99). The Magazine is also available to people in the US too, YAY!