Sharing their own stories of individual and collective turning points, the contributors explore how body image and yoga practice intersect with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, dis-ability, class and socioeconomic status, age, size, and society.

Pia Guerrero writes about how yoga was her tool to accept her body when struggling with Lupus and fibromyalgia, and like many writers in the book cites a yoga practice as a crucial tool to deal with perfectionism tendencies. ‘There is no perfection, just happiness’ writes Robyn Baker in her essay on using yoga as a way to assist with recovery from an eating disorder.

Media comes under the lens of many writers in the book, particularly the way that marketing employs ‘sneaky attempts to create or validate insecurities as an attempt to sell the solution,’ as Lisa Diers describes it. Jessamyn Stanley writes about how she has used Instagram to challenge the rich, thin, white girl image that pervades the yoga world, and Cyndi Lee speaks about her #selfie@sixty practice.

Taking up space isn’t something that we are encouraged to do in today’s world, yet that’s exactly what Gwen Soffer calls us to do. Kimber Simpkins calls on us to challenge the narratives of what constitutes a ‘good’ diet and exercise practice, and listen to the ‘expert within.’

Representation is something that the Yoga and Body Image Coalition are passionate about. In this book there are stories from people of all ages, body types and race, all of whom have found yoga as a way that they can change their own lives and the world they live in.

The aim of the coalition, and of this book, is to make the healing balm of yoga and meditation accessible to everybody, and every body. These essays are examples of how that path is beginning to be trod. It’s early days, but change is happening. We have to challenge the dominant narratives and rebel against the structures that keep us stuck, but through storytelling and practice, we can do so.

Yoga Rising: 30 Empowering Stories from Yoga Renegades for Every Body by Melanie Klein is published by Llewellyn Publications.

Through monologues, tender portrayals of confessions, thrilling dances and even an in promptu ‘love your body’ workout this a performance about embracing the aspects of our bodies that we forget, the scars, the strength, the energy and the actions. The prevalence with which media and society scrutinises and criticises our bodies has created a culture where the body is punished and damaged, not praised and loved. And that’s not a healthy place to be. 

Body Gossip the tools works with schools and organisations to help young people navigate the worlds of internet, media, fashion and beauty on their own terms, accepting them for what they are, and revelling in what their bodies can do and being excited about the lives that they enable them to live. The laughter, tears and lumps in the throat poignancy that One Size Fits All provides is a powerful and entertaining communication of the brilliance of the body, the many layers of beauty, and the thrill of being alive.