Essay Sample on Pillars of Yoga and Meditation

Based on the given pillars of Yoga and meditation, I most resonate with Pillar one, “Making peace with your body” (Bodzak,2016, 13-35). This pillar sets to not only encourage the reader to take care of their body and make good decisions about the food we put into our bodies but to forgive ourselves for our past hatred towards our bodies(Bodzak,2016, 13-35). The pillar also tries to convince the reader to be able to laugh at themselves and forgive themselves for unhealthy impulses, and that those impulses are not necessarily bad, you can channel it into healthier choices (Bodzak,2016, 13-35). That we still obviously need to take care of our bodies with healthy food, but gain a positive self image and overall love and gratitude for the body that we were given and the fact that it can function and keep you alive and protected (Bodzak,2016, 13-35). This whole pillar is truly about self love, and I think that is an important aspect of yoga and meditation, that perhaps it should be the most important aspect. 

I resonate with this pillar so much because it is extremely hard to be a young average woman into today's age. A lot of women (unfortunately including myself) align most of their self image with their size, that maybe they would learn to love ourselves if we were a size two. Obviously this is an extremely horrible thought process, but we are taught growing up that being smaller is more desirable to men and the general public. This chapter tries to tell us that we as people are so much more than just our body size and that we should love our bodies for the fact that they keep us alive and protected(Bodzak,2016, 13-35). I have always struggled with my self image growing up, thinking that I would like myself more if I lost weight or If I was a little shorter or had blonde hair. I always compare myself to the other dancers in class and how they looked in the mirror or how that skirt looked so much better on my friend then it did not me.  I could not forgive myself for having to buy my prom dress in the size 8-10 section while my friends chose from the double zero section. I was sixteen and hated how I looked so much that I would try anything to lose weight, and sometimes it would be unhealthy.

 I think that this pillar resonates with me so much is because I want that for myself and the other millions of women in the world who are trying to achieve that level of self love.  This is definitely something I need to consider more in my life, that it is important to make healthy decisions about what I put in my body, but it is more important to love who I am and my body. Losing weight or getting toned should always come after learning to love yourself. That we need to forgive ourselves and learn to grow within ourselves and our self image. I truly believe that if all people across the world looked more into this pillar of discovering their self worth and loving how they were made, the world would be a better and more accepting place. 

Reference

Bodzak, C. (2016). Eat with intention : recipes and meditations for a life that lights you up (pp. 13–35). Race Point Publishing.