Meeting with Valerie, also known on social media as @biggalyoga, on my last day in California before traveling back home for the summer, was a truly beautiful and resonate way to complete a full-circle moment created when I was first introduced to her body positive yoga on Instagram. When I first came across Valerie’s yoga practice, I was in complete and utter awe of how freely and fluidly she moved her body strongly in poses I never thought possible for larger bodies like mine (perhaps due to the fact that I had never really even seen/been exposed to bigger bodies practicing before this year). When we met on this quintessentially gorgeous Oakland day at Lake Merritt, I felt grateful to be in the presence of someone who had inspired me immensely and helped to re-ignite my own affinity for yoga…both on and off the mat!
[Related Article: 13 Body Positive Yogis]
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Originally, I had thought I would conduct an interview of sorts with Valerie, but I quickly realized that there was no better way for us to communicate than through resonate movement. For someone like myself who is extremely verbal and cerebrally-driven, tapping back into my whole body has become a daily practice of self-love, and I appreciate Valerie’s way of wearing her voice so eloquently through yoga in this way. In fact, Valarie created the hashtag campaign #selflovingyogis, which is a powerful statement that I choose to take part in. I would be remiss in not mentioning the fashion fact that we were both hardcore representing in our Wear Your Voice tees and matching Rainbeau Curves pants. So, although we did have time to talk, I found the deepest connection through moving and breathing together – sharing space on the mat while daring to take up space in the world. The following photographs are a result of that resonance, taken by Sada Reed, and range from powerful partner yoga, to Valerie’s solo skills, to declaring #FuckFatPhobia.
Being able to do yoga alongside this warrior womyn felt both fun and freeing, as well as healing. As part of my own self-loving yogi practice, I have allowed myself to release the fixation on “pose perfection,” as well as thoughts of skill level comparison, which may in the past have also blocked me from feeling free on the mat with Valerie, despite the resonance another big gal body provided! I loved the feeling of allowing myself to flow alongside a supportive body positive being who defies the pervading capitalistic features that American yogis represent: petite, white, privileged, and lulu-lemoned out!
After our little yoga session, I was happy to step aside and watch this goddess yogi in action. I felt honored to witness firsthand what thousands of followers only get to see behind the tiny squares of their screens – what all of my mirror neurons and synapses have been waiting to fully fire on – big gal yoga in action! With her stellar sequences, Valerie helps to wash away years of internalized fat phobic stereotypes that had built up so strongly in my brain, they created an invisible mental and physical block on such movements. You don’t have to take my word for it, though, check out some of Valerie’s moves below:
https://instagram.com/p/43g5-aumVZ/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/5oTRktOmdT/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/5ibz_eumTX/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/4DzahpOmXd/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/34SyKAOmZk/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/5vqB-DOmbx/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/3oW_HWumVy/?taken-by=biggalyoga
Here we are pausing to represent my ongoing #FuckFatPhobia campaign, acknowledging that yogis are activists who can swear for a good cause!
https://instagram.com/p/4dD8FFume3/?taken-by=biggalyoga
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As Valerie and I were shooting, who should come walking down the lake path? None other than Rainbeau Curves coordinator extraordinaire: Xela Gaerlan! (I first met Xela when doing an article on favorite First Friday fashions and she asked me to model for the amazing new “plus size” activewear line). Our original serendipitous meeting has resulted in so many more planned ones – and a couple unplanned such as on this day! I truly appreciate the comprehensive, diverse, and inclusive work Xela is doing while existing in a body that looks nothing like mine.
[Related Article: Rainbeau Curves Size Inclusive Lookbook!]
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This article would not be complete without adding the powerful words of Feminist Audre Lourde that sums up how I feel about honoring self-love and further visibilising body positive yoga: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Always remember to engage in this most righteous form of political warfare through whichever form you choose! In the meantime, don’t forget to follow along with our ongoing body positive campaign: #DropTheTowel this summer and all year round – another form of yoga in action reminding us to take our practice off the ‘mat and into the world’! What do you think? Comment below!
[divider]Congratulations to the winners of the #GlowYourHips challenge, which WYV was proud to be a sponsor of![/divider]
https://instagram.com/p/4w7-OJOmSY/?taken-by=biggalyoga
https://instagram.com/p/58pzaLumTp/?taken-by=biggalyoga
