"I have cerebral palsy, the result of a massive haemorrhage that occurred in my brain eight days after I was born. I grew up feeling very frustrated, unsafe, insecure, and debilitated"
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"When I was 21, I reconnected with a doctor who had treated me when I was much younger and she said I could be cured. I worked for years and years to rid myself of every trace of my impairment
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After six or seven years of a constant fight, an uphill battle to cure myself, I realised that I had to relax into the work and stop equating my worth with whether or not I had cured myself
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Yoga helped me to trust my body more, to stop berating myself. It helped me learn that I am not inherently a bad person because I’m disabled, that my value is non-negotiable and can’t be reduced, diminished, or taken from me
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Yoga gives me a sense of calm and a source of strength. I work through my limitations rather than fighting against them. To paraphrase Aimee Mullins: my life is what it is because of my cerebral palsy, not in spite of it
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I still believe that there is value in working hard to stay fit and strong, but my primary intention now is to challenge the negative language, prejudice, and assumptions about disability. I have shifted my focus to advocacy, and to becoming a Pilates instructor and therapist specialising in disability. I care about people and it matters more to me now to help others 🙏
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Yoga saved my life because I no longer consider my disability a problem to be fixed 💚
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