A couple of months ago, I decided to have my very first professional yoga photos taken. It’s become such a huge part of my business and my life (while I don’t consider myself advanced), that it felt like the right time. The Yoga and Body Image Coalition shared a couple of them in support of their t-shirt and tank sales, and I had also been asked back in January to write a very personal point-of-view essay for a well-known yoga publication. YBIC has been AWESOME, but I never heard back from the magazine.

So, I’m sharing these with you now, and asking you one thing: If someone shares their deepest, darkest secrets with you and is brave enough to tell his/her story, acknowledge how incredible that is. That’s what Body Boop is all about. Through sharing, we all grow stronger.

I can’t even begin to explain how weird and scary a yoga photoshoot is. You see people bending and headstand-ing all over the fucking place on Instagram, but nobody tells you WHAT LOOKS GOOD in pictures. Like, there’s not a filter to remove my rolls from my side so I guess I’m just going to have to deal with it?

ALSO WHO SMILES WHEN THEY’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DIFFICULT, SWEATY YOGA CLASS. Please tell me.

When I first looked at these photos, I felt FAT and ASHAMED and UNACCOMPLISHED. And I still have those moments. But over time, I’ve become PROUD of myself for doing this and STRONG that I’ve gotten myself back into yoga in just a short six months. And if a magazine doesn’t think my story is flashy enough or my photos are yogi enough, then I’m gonna go do my thing anyways. CUZ INSTAGRAM IS NOT REAL LIFE Y’ALL. I can’t do a headstand but god look how good I look.

I mean this is reality.

¯_(?)_/¯

Thank you to John Nunu Zomot for these amazing photos and to Bottom Line Yoga for the use of the studio. xoxo

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