As a society, it feels like we’ve always been led to believe that there’s a ‘one size fits all’ attitude to beauty which discriminates against anyone who might be outside the ‘ideal’ dimensions. Of course it’s important to be healthy, but it’s only that that should be important: not somebody’s waist size.
Which is why yoga teacher Jessamyn Stanley’s message is so inspiring. Describing herself on her Instagram account as a “a fat femme [who] f**king loves yoga”, she’s here as a little reminder that it IS possible to be big and to be healthy at the same time. Because look at her body go:
Speaking to Runway Riot, Jessamyn described how the concept of being fat and being healthy has always been something of an “oxymoron,” but that she’s passionate about changing that perception.
“Basically, I’m the unicorn of health,” she said (definitely just noted that one down as a term to use again).
“People don’t realise that they can’t tell anything about someone else’s health by just looking at them. Realistically, that just is not the case…There are so many different ways to be healthy – why are we conforming to just one type of ‘healthy’ body?”
And she’s completely and utterly right. Some people are born bigger than others; some people have a harder time shifting fat than others, yet there’s just as good a chance they could out-run someone several stone lighter on a treadmill.
Leading a healthy lifestyle is what’s important; exercising and feeding your body the nutrients it needs. Not slimming down so much you feel like you wouldn’t look out of place in a Victoria’s Secret line-up.
“We focus a lot on the outside,” Jessamyne correctly points out.
“For so long, we’ve been fed this idea that how slender you are of a person lets people know how fit you are. We’ve been told what is good and what’s bad; so much so, that we all think we have this clear idea of how people are supposed to be and anything that is outside of the ‘good’ is wrong and bad. (Alprazolam) ”
And the New York-based yoga expert goes on to remind us that comparison is so much different than inspiration. We should be inspired to be the best we can be individually; not to be the same as someone with a completely different genetic make-up.
“If I function as something you compare yourself to, that’s a problem. That inherently means that you are not loving your body, but directly contrasting it to mine,” Jessamyne said, and it’s a point worth remembering.
“If you look at another person and think, ‘Wow, that person is fierce,’ that is totally different. You don’t need to follow me and my every step. I just want to inspire people to live their best life.”
What a brilliant, brilliant attitude.
Originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.co.uk