If you aren't already one of her 138,000 Instagram followers, you need to know about Valerie of Big Gal Yoga. A prolific social media user, tireless yogi and avid body-confidence enthusiast, she is changing the way people think about yoga, ability and body image, one picture at a time.
Valerie started practicing yoga about four years ago, and her passion for the lifestyle has only grown since, to the point that it's at the centre of her mission to encourage others to use and love their bodies. Her site features a truly beginner-friendly guide to starting a yoga routine, most notably with a list of fitness-gear brands that are inclusive of all body types. Once outfitted, you can head over to Valerie's Instagram page and kick off one of her many month-long challenges. Her updates on her own progress with each challenge will consistently deliver you a dose of motivation.
Click through to see a selection of Valerie's best poses and read what she has to say about getting into yoga and how to respond to body-shamers.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been super upset with myself for being bigger, but I still had that mindset of wanting to lose weight."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
After about a year and a half on Tumblr, Valerie says she "had gotten about 10,000 followers, so then a lot of people started asking me to do Instagram... It was mostly people wanting me to connect with them in a way that’s a lot easier than Tumblr."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
When asked about receiving negative comments on her Instagram posts, Valerie explains that "it comes with being big. But it’s very rare... I don’t get them on a daily basis."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"A lot of comments can be very small, like, ‘Oh, you’re fat,’ or they’re like, ‘ew,’ or something."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"It’s very rare that I’ll get someone that I’ll have a debate with."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"[But when I do engage in a debate], I’m trying to have a conversation with them about why they’re thinking the way they do, and trying to see if I can change the way they’re talking about [body image]."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"But most of the time, they’re really small-minded, so I can’t really change their minds."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"A lot of the time, [negative commenters] assume things about me, so my defence [is] saying, ‘You don’t really know how I live my life,’ and it’s like with anybody; you don’t tell someone your unwanted opinion and assume they’re not going to be defensive about it, because they don’t know you."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"The pose that I’m practicing a lot more now is crow pose [pictured here], because I’m not used to balancing on my hands. That pose was pretty difficult for me. [I’ve spent] these past few years trying to get it, and now I’m finally feeling more comfortable with it."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
On the media's depiction of the yoga community: "I think the media discriminates — they only show a small portion of who yogis are."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
Valerie continues, "That’s like with anything in the media — you see the thin blonde woman, which is the stereotyped media look [in general], so that’s [also] how they stereotype yoga and how they stereotype people who do yoga."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
This is why, it seems, the mainstream image of a yogi is not a plus-size one: "The media sees any other yogi, besides this type of standard, to not be part of the group."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
If Valerie could give one piece of advice to people who are nervous about getting into yoga, it would be to just try it and see. "If it’s something that you think would make you happy," she urges, "just go for it."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"A lot of people think that they have to be flexible already to start yoga, which is kind of the whole point of yoga — you’re trying to get stronger and flexible through yoga."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"It’s the same as having a 'yoga body' — you don’t have to already be a certain way; you just have to want to start and have to want to commit to this practice."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
When asked if she hopes to run her own studio one day, Valerie says, "That’d be nice! It’s kind of hard for me to see too far into the future. January is already pretty far into the future right now."
Photo: Via @biggalyoga.
"I'm just trying to go with everything."
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