Overview

Overview

Haven Yoga and Counseling

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Overview

Haven Yoga and Counseling

A place to reclaim the beauty and wisdom of your perfectly, imperfect body.

Hi, and welcome to Haven.

We're really glad you're here.

Titles

Titles

Your body is more than an image. It's more than an object. Your body is your home.

At Haven, we believe bodies—all bodies—are elegant and wise. We practice yoga and engage in counseling to re-remember how to inhabit ourselves.

Stats

Stats

One of the most helpful tools to use in combatting negative body image is to learn how to get in conversation with yourself. When I look at this photo the first thing I notice are all of my flaws. The zit on my chin. My too squinty eyes. My too pale skin. My too gummy smile. And then I notice I’m being critical, and bring in another perspective. When I choose to focus on answering the question, ‘what is there to delight in here?’ I can access a much kinder version of myself. I’m laughing with pure delight here. My skin looks radiant. Everyone gets zits. My moms shirt and earrings look amazing on me! 💁🏻‍♀️ (pro tip: if accessing kindness towards yourself feels too far away, ask yourself what someone who loves you might say.) What a different experience it is, to look at myself and choose to pay deliberate attention to what is working. Love is the art of paying attention. The path to self love begins by choosing to pay kind attention to yourself. Even if it’s uncomfortable. It’s not going to be comfortable. Not at first. We can’t get rid of the critical voice, but we can learn to talk back to it. It’s a practice. Be gentle with yourselves today my friends!

When the trolls are getting you down, remember that there is nothing stronger than a human who allows themselves to feel deeply. Seriously though, not feeling is such an easy choice in his world. The brave ones choose to hope that they are strong enough to feel all there is to feel in this judgmental, dismissive world we live in. Thank you @bymariandrew for always knowing.

The words that we say to ourselves matter. Words either reinforce or challenge our existing beliefs about ourselves and our bodies. If we are going to shift our beliefs about our body, we have to begin reintroducing new thoughts. When I'm doing body image consultation I have my clients choose a positive body affirmation. The tricky thing is, we can’t choose a mantra that feels totally untrue, because telling lies to ourselves doesn't actually help. We need the words we say to ourselves to resonate, not necessarily with our full self, but at least with a part of our self. Here are a couple of my favorites: • This is my body, this is where I live. • I have been told that my body is wrong, and I am open to this being untrue. • My body tells the story of my life and it is important to pay attention to. • I am growing to love my body. • I choose to take care of my body inside and out. • I appreciate my body and what it allows me to do. • I am grateful to have an earth suit to move me through my life. • I acknowledge my imperfections, and accept them because they make me who I am. • My body deserves to be taken care of.
Do any of these mantras resonate with you? If so, claim one, make it your own. Write it EVERYWHERE. Say it to yourself when you wake up in the morning. Write it on your mirror. Say it to yourself when you notice you're thinking nasty things about your body. Tell it to your people and ask them to say it back to you when you're having a bad body image day. The way that we learn new ways of thinking about ourselves is by consistently introducing new ways of thinking about ourselves.
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Image by @kathrinhonestaa

Just a reminder: You've been brainwashed into hating your body. There are people profiting off of our insecurity. Your body is fine the way it is. Your face is fine the way it is. Your value is not centered in your body. It is a part of a larger complex whole of the miracle being who is you. We live in a patriarchal, white supremacist, sizest culture that elevates and revers the body of a woman who is not yet in her power, the body of the girl. We can stand up and say no. We can refuse to play the game of always being pounds away from being acceptable. We can choose to notice the hateful bullshit body shaming rhetoric internally, and instead of fixating on how to change what is wrong with us -- we can begin to wonder about what our bodies can help us to enjoy about our life. We can love our people. We can do our art. We can feel the depth of our connection to the earth and each other. There are so many curiosities in the world to discover. There is nothing to fix. Go play.
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Image by @alexandra_levasseur