I am plus size & grew up hating my body & myself. I am @perfectlyimperfectyogi_ & this is my story

Life is complicated & messy. I grew up with a wonderful family who loved me & supported me. At the same time, I was always larger & deeply felt the messages (both spoken and implied) that I was unlovable & unacceptable because I was bigger. I struggled with self confidence & self worth, and there was zero self love in my life. In fact, I’d say there was a lot of self hate. I went through very negative stuff. I spoke to myself with words and messages that no girl should ever hear. I treated my body with disdain. I had a mental list of things I wanted to do or try, but I constantly avoided activities because of my size. That just fueled my self hate even more. Living a life of self hate is not living at all . Yoga saved my life. In my early twenties, I moved to the Caribbean. The island attitude toward body size is totally different than in North America. I started to feel like I could do things I was too afraid to try at home. It only took one yoga class & I was hooked. I kept going back, and I am so glad I did . Years have passed. I am living back in my hometown and I’m now a yoga teacher. Yoga has taught me to love myself where I am right now. Working to better yourself is great, but not nearly as important as accepting yourself in the place you are. Self love, self worth, self acceptance, self confidence - I have all of those now, thanks to my yoga journey . I use my blog and my social media presence to spread messages of body positivity and self love. I hope to remind people that they are loved, worthy and deserving of good things. I do my best to encourage people of all shapes, sizes and skill levels to try yoga. Size doesn’t matter- any body can be a yoga body . It doesn’t matter if you can do something perfectly- all that matters is that you try. Show up and honour yourself and your body. Do not give up on yourself. You won’t be able to do it perfectly, because perfect is a lie. Perfection is an illusion. You and I, we’re both imperfect, but that’s exactly how we’re meant to be. I am perfectly imperfect, and so are you 💚 .