Photo fun and body image

CW: body image.

I love our yoga bods, the colourful characters who make our logo and dominate the visuals on this website. They show that we want yoga to be for every body. They do not imply that any particular gender, race, shape, strength or age is more likely to be successful at yoga. This is also apparent on social media where, if you follow our Instagram feed, you may have noticed that we share posts which celebrate a diverse presentation of yoga. This diversity is shown in bodies, practices, reflections and intentions. I’ll write a separate post specifically about online content creators soon, highlighting some of the people who I love to follow because they expand my own understanding of how yoga can be for every body. Many of these people critically engage with yoga as a holistic, eight-limbed practice, rather than presenting it as ‘my body making a shape’ and then ‘my body making another shape.’ Indeed, Instagram followers may have clocked that we don’t often share posts of people (generally thin white women) in so-called peak poses. Bluntly put, if an account constantly shows one individual in showy expressions of crow or dancer or headstand, its ethos is probably different to that of Yoga For Every Body. And yes, if someone keeps cropping up on my feed with posts like that, I unfollow them.

But.

There’s no denying that successful marketing allows potential clients to see who they are engaging with, and statistically my most successful posts all include photos of me. Early in 2020, I had vague intentions of doing a professional photo shoot that encapsulated my style of teaching: lots of props, lots of variations, lots of comfort. Obviously COVID made that impossible, and then I found myself putting it off further: until I had a good list of images to photograph, until I’d got rid of my tan lines and insect bites, until I’d improved my form in particular poses. Let’s be honest, I was putting if off until I LOOKED MORE LIKE ‘A YOGA TEACHER.’ Which is daft, but also reveals a lot about both the yoga industry and my relationship with it. Gradually I started to realize that I was choosing not to engage with the picture-of-me people not just because I believe that ‘your yoga shouldn’t be about what your teacher looks like in a pose’, but because they make me feel crap about myself.

Then I took part in a workshop with Donna Noble. She spoke about the need for us all to help change this problematic presentation of yoga, which was inspiring and terrifying.

The next day, I was hanging out with my family. I’d left home with wet hair and no makeup, wearing ‘old’ yoga clothes suitable for a day relaxing outdoors, and no real plan of taking photos. But the weather, location, and a need to occupy the nephews provided a good opportunity to start tackling my terror. I’ve shared some of the photos below, and will keep using them in relevant blogs and social media posts. The nephews played with directing and taking photos, and advised me on how to play with yoga. Most of the poses were their suggestions, although I then often requested that they photograph multiple variations on a pose. 

Standing poses

These standing poses were great for playing with shadows. Doesn’t the tree pose (left) look fabulous as a shadow? Really grounded and strong. But when I look at my body in that photo, I tend to focus on how my leg is ‘low’. I don’t worry about this when I’m doing tree pose, but looking at the photos really got my imposter syndrome going. Ditto the eagle pose (middle), where my shadow somehow looks much more aligned than my rather tilted body. Which makes me wonder how important the look of the body is, if the pose looks great when perceived independently of bone and muscle. These poses tested my balance on the grass - and the wide legged forward fold (right) required much more core focus than I normally notice when practising indoors.

Harry Potter poses

The little nephew has enjoyed Cosmic Kids yoga during lockdown, particularly the Harry Potter series, and was therefore keen for me to do cobra pose (two variations here, and I’m determined to celebrate the feeling of the second, deeper bend without worrying about how my neck looks short!). This was followed by a request for badger pose, which he had to explain to me. I’m not sure I’ve ever SEEN a badger in that position (third photo along), but try it and you can’t help but smile! He also suggested screaming toe, which I suspect he likes because it sounds so vicious.

Look, no blocks

And the last pics for this blog post are of two poses that reminded me why I love blocks. Gosh, it was challenging doing half bow (left) and downward dog (right) on grass, without blocks! My hands were working so hard to help with balance and I really felt every muscle working. Again, it is easy to focus on the ‘negatives’ about these pictures, but I was moving, and challenging myself, and engaging with my body and with people I love - so I hope those positives far outweigh any concern that some people might have about shoulder and hip placement. Ditto the photographer’s fingers over the lens. Which I suppose is one reason to hire an actual photographer…

There are plenty of people who speak with far more experience and understanding about these issues. Please engage with their work if you want to learn more about how diverse yoga can be, and how the images that we choose to present can be both helpful and harmful. But I do want to leave you with one thought. A good experience of a yoga pose does not necessarily make a good photo. And looking like a good photo does not ensure that one has a good experience in a pose. Don’t try to look like a photo. Aim to look, and feel, like yourself.

Photos by G and E.