Most of us struggle with body image on some level. Depending on a lot of factors yoga can be instrumental in helping us learn to love and accept our bodies–or trigger us. Today’s guest, Nicole Bell, has experienced both sides first hand.
Nicole’s spiral into Anorexia coincided with her intense love of Bikram yoga. As she tells it, the classes were more like punishment than a refuge for her. Years later she found herself in a yoga studio again, only this time she has a very different mind set. “Even after all the restricting and after bullying myself and my body for so many years, I’m finally starting to listen,” she says. “I don’t need to do the full bind all the time or all of the Chaturangas. I’m not trying to prove myself to anybody. I’m trying to make myself feel good. That’s it.”
Her story is a powerful reminder that we are all struggling in one way or another. As she points out in this episode, finding a practice that raises your awareness of how you speak to yourself and encourages you to be kinder is one way to come through it stronger, wiser, and more capable.
RECOMMENDED AND RELATED LINKS
Nicole Bell’s Instagram: @wootzbell
More info about National Eating Disorder Awareness Month
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga by Benjamin Lorr
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