YOGI Lily Goodfellow encourages women to "embrace the awkward" in yoga: this was a sign you were learning something.
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Ms Goodfellow will run two classes at the new Make Your Move festival in Ballarat on Saturday morning. The event's organisers, an alliance of Ballarat health and well-being experts, has found yoga is one of the top three sports women want to try. Only most were unsure, or lacking confidence to get started.
"When you see poses on Instagram or the internet in these poses, some people think that's what yoga must be like and wonder how they could ever get in a pose like that," Ms Goodfellow said.
"...Yoga poses are not about shape. It's about breath and practising listening to your body. Every person is different and you expect poses to be different for each person.
"Yoga is about more flexibility for mind to move through life with greater ease. The physical side is a bonus."
Ms Goodfellow's advice for anyone keen to try yoga was to leave your ego at the door and let go any sense of competition or comparison to others. She said classmates were there to work as a group and support each other.
Ms Goodfellow, who teaches at Jackie Allen Yoga, said demand for yoga classes was growing. Her studio is offering a five-week beginners course, starting next month, with small class sizes to help people find poses to best suit their bodies.
She suggested to keep checking in with a yoga instructor for the right poses, movement and classes best for your practice.
More than 200 women booked out Make Your Move at Barkley Square. The event offered women a taste of different exercises, health and cooking advice.
- More details: jackieallenyoga.com.au
Image message in headspace cover-up
headspace Ballarat youth leader Georgia Harraway-Jones has led a massive cover-up operation at the organisation's Camp Street headquarters.
Mirrors have been covered in newspaper to create body peace zones in the bathrooms in a bid to make people think twice in talking about body weight, body shape or judging others. The move was to promote acceptance for Body Image and Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Ms Harraway-Jones, who is recovering from an eating disorder, said most people did not realise the impact their comments could have on someone who has an eating disorder or struggles with body image.
An estimated 20 per cent of females have an undiagnosed eating disorder, according to National Eating Disorders Collaboration, and research shows an increasing prevalence of eating disorders among boys and men.
Even in the lunchroom, you will have people saying, 'I'm having a cheat day'. That can be really hard to hear for someone who has an eating disorder
- Georgia Harraway-Jones
"Even in the lunchroom, you will have people saying, 'you're naughty for eating that' or 'I'm having a cheat day'. That can be really hard to hear for someone who has an eating disorder," Ms Harraway-Jones said. "We need to change the culture."
Ms Harraway-Jones told Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System how she planned her suicide amid the grips of an eating disorder and lengthy waits for the right referrals.
Since publicly speaking out in July, Ms Harraway-Jones said the response had been overwhelmingly humbling but also reinforced the need to raise awareness it was okay if you were not okay.
- For crisis support, contact: Lifeline 13 11 14.
- Eating Disorders Victoria: 1300 550 236
- Butterfly Foundation: 1800 33 4673
- headspace Ballarat: 5304 4777
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