There are many misconceptions about yoga teachers, including that we are: super healthy, skinny, strong, flexible, vegan, injury free, and of course we have every yoga pose down, and find them easy and we’ve figured out the path to bliss. Those who know me eventually find out, and often seem surprised, that I have multiple health issues, because that’s not what you see on the outside. (And no, in case you’re wondering, yoga can’t ‘cure’ them, nor can essential oils, or a vegan/keto/paleo/nameyourfad diet.)

The reason why I wrote this blog about my selfies a few months ago is because I want no part in perpetuating the most prevalent images of yoga and yoga teachers in the mainstream social media outlets. The overall impression as I swipe and scroll, is that yoga is really for white, radiantly healthy, skinny, flexible, back bending, hand-standing women on a beach in a bikini, plus a few ripped shirtless men who can do death defying moves without breaking a sweat. What about the rest of us mere humans? Those of us who don’t walk on our hands, pick berries with our toes, fit into lululemon size 00 pants? These images can give a false sense of who yoga is for and what it’s really about. Those of us whose bodies don’t always cooperate or fall into these categories often feel disheartened. And yes, I include myself in this.  On the outside I know I can fall into a few of these stereotypes, but that’s where it ends. I am a yoga teacher who isn’t in perfect health, and wait for this: I don’t have all my s#!t together either.

At a recent visit to my naturopath, he was going over the supplements I’ve been taking, the way I’ve been eating, my habits around sleep, meditation, movement etc, and he said: wow, you’re really doing what you need to be doing! My reply was an irritated grumble.  I felt frustrated that even with all the ways I take care of myself and do “the right thing”, I still feel tired, I still feel pain, and my body still has an over active stress response. “Really?!” was my thought. Not one to let me wallow in a self-pitying moment, the good doctor had a fantastic response for me. He simply said: “You don’t know how bad you may feel if you weren’t doing these things.” Mic drop.  And there you have it, my friends. Maybe, just maybe, yoga and the lifestyle it helps me lead is what is holding these threads together and keeping me from surgery and worse! Now there’s some perspective!

Teaching yoga, or being a “yoga teacher” for me has nothing to do with having it all figured out, and everything to do with my willingness to vulnerably invite others to share in some pieces of what I am studying and learning in my own life. It’s about showing up as I am with all that may be ailing me, and letting others learn with me. It’s acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers, and my body and mind don’t always cooperate. This is why I know yoga is for everyone.

There are so many ways to find your yoga and figure out what it is in your life. Not just the different styles that you can practice in class, but the different limbs and aspects of yoga, including the principles set for us in the texts. Yoga is how I sustain a level of emotional, mental and physical health despite all that I have going on. Yoga allows me to breathe into my pains when they come and go. Yoga reminds me to check in with my body when I’m exhausted and trying to keep going. Yoga is me accepting what is, even as I keep working towards optimizing my health and wellness. Yoga is light and dark. Pain and freedom from. Yoga includes all the shadow bits and all the parts we may not love about ourselves. Yoga is union…within ourselves.  So go ahead. Show up messy. Show up aching. Show up tired. The key is to just show up. 

Photo credit: Thanks to Janet De Piccotto for capturing me in the moment