http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27434106

A positive body image is predictive of emotional and psychological health. Negative body image is a growing concern in current Western society within which the 'thin, beautiful' body if female and the 'toned, handsome' body if male are held up as the holy grail to happiness. Negative body image is tangled up in low self-worth, flailing self-esteem and a sense that one is not good as one is unless one looks a certain way. The increasing numbers of people diagnosed with eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder among other presentations points to just how important it is to find avenues of cultivating a positive relationship with the body.

Researchers such as Tracy Tylka, Rachel Calogero and others have looked at how yoga, as an embodiment practice, can nurture a positive relationship with the body. We were pleased to see the study below in this month's edition of Body Image journal looking at the embodiment model in the context of yoga's benefits for positive body image.

This study aimed to test the Embodiment Model of Positive Body Image (Menzel & Levine, 2011) within the context of yoga. Participants were 193 yoga practitioners and 127 university students who did not practice yoga from Australia. Participants completed questionnaire measures of positive body image, embodiment, self-objectification, and desire for thinness. Results showed yoga practitioners scored higher on positive body image and embodiment, and lower on self-objectification than non-yoga participants. Researchers concluded that yoga is an embodying activity that can provide women with the opportunity to cultivate a positive, even loving, relationship with their body. We have little doubt that similar results would be found in a study of male yoga practitioners too.