About Curvy Yoga

Curvy Yoga is about living in your body – plain and simple. (Except that, it’s totally not.)

As someone who has been on 65 diets in my life, I actually find embodiment, or really getting grounded and listening to that inner voice, to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But it’s also the most transformative (notice I didn’t put that in past tense – the process is very much ongoing!).

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Curvy Yoga is for those of us who are looking for a body lovin’ yoga practice, regardless of our shape, size or ability. It was born out of my personal practice but has spread far beyond.

I’ve spent most of my career doing work related to women’s empowerment, and Curvy Yoga is a natural extension of that. My mission is to share concrete yogic tools with other women so that we can find, connect with and live from our root truth — all while leaning into the process and practice of loving our bodies. I’m also on a mission to grow community for curvy yogis and their allies around the world.

When I first began practicing yoga in the late ‘90s, I had no clue.  I had no clue about yoga. Or that I had any problems with my body beyond just not being able to find the “right” diet. Or that my mind and body had anything to do with each other.

All I knew is that I needed some pain relief, so I gave yoga a whirl.

And lo and behold, it worked. Not only that, it gave me the first tiny glimpse that there might be something to this whole listening to your body thing.

I’d love to say that was the end of the story and after that the credits rolled and “Happily Ever After” came scrolling across in beautiful font. You know that’s not the case, though, don’t you?

You’re right.

Instead, I’ve spent the 12+ years since that time in a variety of struggles with my body and body image. Over time, I’ve begun to make more peace with my body – and (perhaps more importantly) see the beauty of how this path continues to unfold (even though some days I’d pay a million dollars to be done with it!).

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I also spent more years than I’d like to remember practicing uncomfortable (and sometimes humiliating) yoga – poses where I thought my boobs or belly would suffocate me to death or instruction that was clearly only applicable to folks who sprung from the womb with completely opposite bodies from mine. After way too much time thinking the problem was my body, it finally dawned on me that something else entirely could be at play.

Very few people knew how to practice or teach folks with bigger bodies.

Ding, ding, ding! I’d hit on a problem with a solution. I just needed to learn what would work for me – and then share it with others. And that’s what I’ve set out to do here. On this site, you’ll find blog posts to inspire your journey, pose options to customize your practice, opportunities to connect with other body positive yogis from around the world and sequences to use on your own at home – among many other tips, tools and gems.

May we all find our own unique way toward embodiment as the basis of a life well-lived and body well-loved.

About Anna Guest-Jelley

This is the street-cred section (depending on your street, I suppose). I’m a yoga teacher and writer, so most of this has to do with those two activities. Here are some of the hats I wear and clothes I’ve donned:

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Education/Certification

  • MA, English
  • MFYCS, Family, Youth & Community Sciences (Nonprofit Leadership)
  • BA, English & Philosophy

Co-Founder of:

Proud contributor to:

Want even more? Check out my CV.

Press

Interviews, articles, and awesomeness:

Pals

For a list of Curvy Yoga pals, please click here.