About this episode
Growing up in India, I noticed a culture of body shaming, an obsession with thinness, & fair skin being the ideal standard to be considered beautiful. While my own household luckily never endorsed any of this. Body image hit me like a rock when I became a professional Bollywood dancer at the Shiamak Dance company. Often if not always we were shamed, bullied, insulted, ridiculed & threatened with consequences if we didn’t remain or become thin. It is then as a young woman, I developed an unhealthy relationship with my own body image. It was also a big reason why a practice like yoga resonated with me SO STRONGLY. On the podcast today, I chat with Melanie Klein about body image, feminism & yoga. I can’t think of a better expert to have this conversation with. She’s a professor of sociology, & women’s study. A thought leader, an empowerment coach, author & co-founder of Yoga & Body Image coalition Tune in if you’ve been keen to understand this topic more! Tune in if you’re a yoga teacher who gets questions about weight loss often. Tune in if you think you need to be thin to do yoga. Tune in so you can have a healthier relationship with yourself & more… Some episode highlights… How Melanie became such a thought leader in the yoga world How Melanie’s body image evolved and enhanced over time with her yoga practice Resisting the system of oppression and educating ourselves How do we as women take control of our own narrative? Where are we today in the yoga world in terms of representation of body image Tokenism for POC yoga teachers How Melanie interprets yoga What does it mean to be a feminist in the yoga world today? How do men & male yoga teachers get involved in the conversation about feminism? Melanie shares the first time she heard the term yoga body The woman who have impacted Melanie’s life You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes at https://letstalk.yoga/ Connect with us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/arundhati_baitmangalkar / Join our exclusive Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/letstalkyoga Join our mailing list: https://www.aham.yoga/instagram-2021 for all episodes. Waitlist for the Online 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Training (launching January) Sequence Smarter – The Living Body of Asana For teachers living in India, reach out to Janessa at admin@ahamyoga.com for special local pricing Join our mailing list Find all the resources mentioned in this episode Connect with us on Instagram