The health nut identity is far too common in our culture. It's often actually an eating disorder in disguise: orthorexia, an obsession with "healthy" eating. Caroline Young, MS, RD, LD, RYT, reflects on her years suffering from orthorexia and shares how she reclaimed her worth by letting go of her “health nut” mask.

In her final blog of our 12-month series, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of systemic exclusion and the power imbalance in healthcare systems impact how people seek help for eating disorders, and how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery. 

Guest contributor and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor Maria Scrimenti explains how, “When we feel triggered as adults, it’s often not our adult self that is activated. It is our child self showing up, unable to regulate their emotions and less able to access rational perspective. It’s like your adult self is being hijacked by your child self. Often, your child self feels unsafe and needs to know they are okay.” Maria shares an exercise to help us communicate with our inner child and forge a caring relationship with them, so that we can begin to heal the triggers we confront as adults.

In this month’s blog series, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of stigma and silence around mental health concerns, including eating disorders, impact how people seek help and how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery.

Research has demonstrated a strong link between trauma exposure and other severe adverse experiences in both childhood and adulthood with eating disorders. In her latest blog, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of systemic exclusion and associated trauma impact how people seek help and how yoga therapy can support inclusive eating disorder recovery.

Guest contributor Isabelle Gillibrand admits that she started practicing yoga to lose weight. Now, looking back on her own journey as well as how yoga is often marketed for weight loss, Isabelle is calling out why this is a problem and reminds us that, “Yoga is meant to celebrate you and your journey - not be a punisher.”

Guest contributor Bridget Clawson shares how, 5 years into her eating disorder recovery, she found herself in a cooking class to face a disconnect she feels with engaging with food, whether through grocery shopping or in the kitchen. Read her experience of making “imperfect” pancakes and how she is remaining open to facing challenges while acknowledging her ongoing progress.

In her latest blog post, Niya Bajaj explores how the experiences of individuals who do not fit in the “skinny, white, affluent, girl” (SWAG) stereotype impacts if and how they seek help for eating disorders. Educating on the yoga practice of Satya, Niya identifies how yoga therapy can support inclusive recovery and guide individuals to reconnect with aspects of their identity and cultural practices to support their recovery.

Guest contributor Lora McCandless struggled with an eating disorder for many years, often feeling alone and unseen. Here, Lora shares how hearing the words “Be Kind to Yourself” for the first time set her on a journey to learning how to practice self-kindness in her recovery and in her life today as a mother, wife, and human.