The things yogi Jessamyn says on her Instagram feed about larger bodies in the yoga world resonate with me, particularly as a larger-bodied woman of color. I don’t always think of these things on a conscious level, but as I have gotten larger I am less likely to believe in my body’s ability to move fluidly and gracefully. Her words bring me back up to reality.

Larger-bodied people are just as capable of moving freely as a smaller-bodied person, and I believe that it is SO important to see a larger-bodied person completing postures and moving freely with confidence.

If you are a larger bodied woman and would like encouragement in your quest to be active at your size, Jessamyn’s Instagram account is a must-follow.

When I began practicing Yoga, I noticed that many instructors could be accidentally discriminatory against students with diverse body types. I created this series to encourage everyone to be comfortable in their own skin! In my EveryBody Yoga series on @codyapp I go through 4 instructional videos and 4 flow classes, and we’ll touch on everything from shoulder and hip opening to balance and core engagement. Larger-bodied people are just as capable of moving freely as a smaller-bodied person, and I believe that it is SO important to see a larger-bodied person completing postures and moving freely with confidence. Follow the link in my bio to watch a free preview! Also, I am very excited to teach the #mynameisnola Back to Basics workshop tonight w/ @nolatrees at @durhamyoga at 7:30pm- it’ll be an intimate late night yoga session with opportunities to work on a lot of the poses that are ass kickers despite the frequency with which they come up in vinyasa yoga- downdog, chaturanga, plank pose, etc. If you’re in the area, come by and breathe with us! Check out jessamynstanley.com/tour for more info!

A photo posted by Jessamyn (@mynameisjessamyn) on Oct 16, 2015 at 8:56am PDT