Dianne Bondy - Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses For Every Type of Body

Yoga for t Everyone DIANNE 50 Poses FOR EVERY TYPE OF BODY BONDY u tDIANNE BONDYu 9781465480774_YogaForEveryone_JKT_FINAL.indd 3 18/03/19 3:47 PM Yoga forEveryone 001-011_Frontmatter.indd 1 10/15/18 2:59 PM 001-011_Frontmatter.indd 2 10/15/18 2:59 PM Yoga forEveryone50 Poses FOR EVERY TYPE OF BODY tDIANNE BONDYu 001-011_Frontmatter.indd 3 10/15/18 2:59 PM Publisher Mike Sanders Editor Christopher Stolle Senior Designer Jessica Lee Art Director Nigel Wright Photographer Joanna Wojewoda Proofreader Lisa Starnes Indexer Brad Herriman First American Edition, 2019 Published in the United States by DK Publishing 6081 E. 82nd Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46250 Copyright 2019 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC 18 19 20 21 22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001312956APRIL/2019 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Published in the United States by Dorling Kindersley Limited Note: This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author(s). It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author(s) and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services in the book.

If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent professional should be consulted. The author(s) and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book. Trademarks: All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books, DK, and Penguin Random House LLC cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4654-8077-4 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2018958035 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fundraising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 SpecialSales@dk.com Printed and bound in China Photo Credits: Cover 123RF.com: Liliia Rudchenko / rudchenko; Cover, 2-3 Dreamstime.com: Shakila Malavige All other images Dorling Kindersley Limited For further information see: www.dkimages.com A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW www.dk.com 001-011_Frontmatter.indd 4 10/16/18 12:09 PM Contents 001-011_Frontmatter.indd 5 10/15/18 2:59 PM FOREWORD I remember the first time I stepped into a yoga class. I sat in my car until I was almost late for class. My heart was racing as I unrolled a mat in the back corner of the class. I didnt know the first thing about yoga. But I was pretty sure that people like me didnt belong in a yoga studio.

You see, Im plus-sized. A person in a bigger body. Round. Fat. (You can pick the word you like.) This big body has always been my yoga body. Yoga marketing and the covers of magazines had taught me that only thin, wealthy, hyperflexible, white women practiced yoga, and so there I was in my fat, awkward, tattooed body and my decidedly unfashionable workout clothing, nervous and waiting for class to start.

I struggled through that first class, but I felt such a profound benefit from the internal regulation tools that yoga offered me that I kept coming back. After each class, my mind was quieter, I was less self-conscious, I felt more grounded in my body. But that doesnt mean the physical practice of yoga felt easy to me. When I began practicing yoga, teachers didnt know what the heck to do with me. Even though my body wasnt making many of the shapes they were asking of it, in most of the classes I went to, I was ignored. Teachers didnt offer me modifications, variations on poses, or ways to personalize my practice.

Sometimes, teachers would tell me to use a prop if I needed one, but I was clueless about what to do with props. Looking back now, being ignored for a few years of my practice was a gift because it meant I had to be creative and have agency when it came to my practice. Back then, there werent online videos telling you how to modify poses. There werent yogis who looked like me with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. And in class, no one was telling me why I couldnt step my foot forward between my hands to get from Downward Dog into Lunge or how to get there in a different way, so I had to figure it out myself. Back then, Id have given anything for a book like thisor a teacher like Dianne.