Struggles with body image and disordered eating are, unfortunately, a common experience for many people. And part of what comes with this struggle is a disconnection from your own body. When you don’t accept your body as it is, you tend to stop listening to it. You lose touch with the experience of being in your body, which ultimately disconnects you from yourself. But there are ways to restore and repair that connection. Yoga is one powerful way to develop a mind-body connection and start forming a healthy relationship with your body. Yoga has been found to improve body image, self-compassion, mindfulness, and emotion regulation. It has also been shown to decrease the desire for thinness. The physical practice of yoga can help you focus on how your body feels, rather than how it looks. This helps you connect with physical sensations and emotions in the present moment, tune into your hunger signals, and know when it’s time to rest.
The philosophy of yoga includes the yamas,* which can act as a guideline for how to treat your body with love and respect. The yamas reflect values that can give you a sense of integrity about how you live and how you care for yourself, which is essential for recovery:
- Ahimsa means non-violence and is about honoring your body’s needs (e.g., adequate nutrition, balanced exercise, etc.) and having compassion for yourself.
- Satya means truthfulness. It involves learning to use your voice and accepting help.
- Brachacharya means non-excess. It is a reminder to live your life with balance, as this is the key to recovery.
- Aparigraha means non-attachment, which involves letting go of being perfect and realizing that you are not defined by the shape of your body. Aparigraha invites you to accept your body for its unique beauty.
Being able to listen to your body and provide it with nourishment is an essential lesson from the yoga yamas and a foundational aspect of recovery from negative body image and eating disorders. Yoga provides a way to start connecting with your body, learning to listen to it, and treating it with love and respect. At Evergreen Therapy, we emphasize these values in our work—especially when it comes to body image issues and eating disorders—and we encourage our clients to explore yoga as a possible complement to talk therapy.
