YOGA AND MEDITATION

Yoga practices can help support eating disorder recovery, alongside the other work you may be doing with a therapist, dietitian, or other members on your team. Yoga practices can include a physical practice (yoga asana), meditation, breathwork (pranayama), or other tools grounded in yoga philosophy.

Yoga practices come from South Asian teachings and lineages, and it’s important to learn from and listen to South Asian teachers. I’ve included some further yoga resources/classes below.

How it Can Benefit

Yoga practices may help in some of the below ways, and you may find one style or element of yoga more beneficial than others.

Practice calming the nervous system
Allow the body and mind to find rest and relaxation
Learn mindfulness or grounding tools
Connect to the body or develop skills to listen to body cues
Learning how to be present with the body or present in the moment

TYPES OF PRACTICES OFFERED

There are many different styles of yoga, and there are 8 limbs to a yoga practice. The physical practice (asana) includes different yoga poses, and there are other elements like meditation, pranayama (breathwork), and more. We have a variety of live virtual classes, Youtube classes, meditations, breathwork practices, and private yoga classes.

Restorative Yoga

In restorative yoga, we use props to help the body rest in different positions for several minutes. It can help you learn how to rest, relax, and calm the nervous system. You can learn more about restorative yoga here. This class is mainly in seated, supine, or prone positions.

For class, we may use the following props:

Yoga mat or comfortable space. You don’t need a mat, but you will want a space you can comfortably practice. You may find it useful to adjust the lights down, or have comfy clothes on (socks, sweatshirts, etc.) to feel cozy in this practice.
2-3 yoga blankets or 2-3 bath towels
Yoga bolster or 1-2 firm pillows (bed pillows or couch pillows)
1-2 yoga blocks or 2 books

Gentle Yoga

Gentle yoga classes will include more movement throughout the body and a mixture of seated, supine, and some standing poses or movements. In this class, there may be some mobility or light strength elements, exploration in different positions, breathwork, rest (savasana or meditation) in a gentle way.

For class, we may use the following props:

Yoga mat or space where you won’t slip around (sticky socks on a surface may work too)
2 yoga blocks or books (like a textbook or cookbook)

Meditations + Breathwork

You can find 3-10+ minute meditation and breathwork practices to support healing your relationship with food or your body here as an audio podcast format.

Yoga & Meditation Practices

Side by Side Nutrition's Blog

How to Bring Gentleness into your Yoga Practice

If you’re working on healing your relationship with food or your body, yoga can be a powerful tool to support connecting with your body and breath and exploring a different form of movement. The Sanskrit terms sthira and sukha means steadiness and ease.

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Pre-Meal Breathwork Practice

Pranayama, or breathwork practices, can be powerful ways to help relax the nervous system and get present for a few moments. In pranayama practices, we focus on the breath. We may change the breath to lengthen the inhale or exhale, focus on where breath goes in the body, or focus the breath in other ways.

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Meditation for Food Guilt

In our diet culture world, it makes sense why you may feel guilty. We're bombarded with messages from family, friends, coworkers, and on social media about diets or wellness plans to follow, good/bad foods, or the best way to eat. It's so easy to get overwhelmed when you're hearing/seeing these messages, and I know how it may lead to feeling like you're not doing enough or eating 'right.'

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Restorative Yoga and Eating Disorder Recovery: An Intro

The restorative yoga practice was developed by B.K.S. Iyengar in India as a therapeutic style of yoga for injuries or illness. Restorative yoga uses props like bolsters, blankets, straps, and more to support the body in various positions, which are held for several minutes or longer.

Read more →