Bec's Yoga Bubble

If you know me, you'll know how import yoga is to me, my health and my life!

Yoga helped me so much in recovering from my mental illness, specifically an eating disorder, and I'm not alone. This is a story that we all hear again and again.

I fell in love with yoga for more reasons than I can begin to explain. But even though I knew that yoga helped my recovery, I never knew why. I was if I'm honest, very confused as to how this 45 /60 mins on my spongey mat surrounded by nice smelling essential oils burning had healed me.

So I started wanting answers, and I began investigating how I could understand what had happened in my body and mind. Enter Eat Breathe Thrive.

There is so much to learn from this series, but I'm going to share three key things that I learned while taking the 7 week series.

I learned that my yoga teachers, by giving cues in poses, helped me tap back into sensations in my body that I had long been cut off from. Being able the identify what my body was telling me (interoperceptive awareness), was like a golden ticket for me.

You see once I understood these signals, I could then start to know how to act on these signals to give my body what it needed ... nourishment, a long relaxing bath, some slow breath work etc. This (self regulation) now became my little superpower. I was now able to respond to what my body needed, instead of turning to my old destructive habits to cope with anything and everything that came along.

These things combined led me to be able to feel at home in my body. I never thought I could feel at home in my body. But by getting to this point, I now was actually in control, unlike my perceived control during anorexia. I was running this ship now, I was able to identify what my body was telling me, I was able to figure out what healthy and constructive actions I could take to look after my mind and body. I was no longer afraid of my own mind, feeling helpless and like there was no other option.

As I said Eat Breathe Thrive 7 week series thought me so much more than just this and if you too want to learn more, why not join us. Next course (Free and Online) starts in just 5 days. So why not apply, link in bio!

Xx

I know january can be a really hard time of year when we are surrounded by diet culture and talk of how this exercise or that exercise is what everyone apparently "SHOULD" be doing.

If you are someone who is struggling with body image issues etc at the moment, you are not alone so why don't you check out this link https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-february-2022 with more details to an upcoming course I'll be teaching the end of February.
You don't need a "new year, new me" mentality. You're exactly the way you should be. Sometimes we just need help to be reminded of this.

Hope to see you there online on the 23rd Feb.
Becka Xx

I'm back after a busy few days where I didn't get a second to post a topic.

So today's is all about being a people pleaser .....
I am 1000% percent guilty of this one!

I measure everything I do against whether or not it will disappoint other people. I worry constantly that I don't meet other people's standards and that I'm not living up to other people's expectations. Where the actual f**k does that come from!

Where along the way did I loose sight of doing things for me, or doing things to have pride in myself? When did that stop being enough?

And I know I am not the only person who thinks like this. So many people have this same way of thinking.

So anyway, the other day I started to think about how different it would be if I flipped the conversation that goes on in my head. At the end of the day whether I do or don't stress about how much I'm letting others down, it doesn't change anything. All my brain and body are capable of doing is what they are capable of doing. I can't change that. Worrying and stressing over not getting things or people getting annoyed with me for not getting things is not going to change my abilities.

I think the saying "All you can do is your best" is used so much that the meaning of it goes over people's heads sometimes. If you are like me and hear that and think, ye that's fine for everyone else but there's a different standard for me, which ties back to that perfectionism I talked about last week. Try this week to remind yourself, you are only human. And all you can do is your best. That isn't just a saying for other people, it's true for everyone, you included.

Have some patience with yourself and try to remember that being perfect doesn't exist, and it isn't something that other people expect of you. It's just in your head!

B Xx

So today I heard someone say "I binged on x" and so it reminded me how often people use this term completely out of context.

When someone says I binged on x or y or z, referring to a meal at a fast food restaurant or maybe a slice of cake more than they would normally have, even though they don't mean anything bad or nasty by it, it can come across as making light of a really serious illness.

Binge Eating disorder is a heartbreaking and very real struggle that people go through. It is not a person who eats 2 chocolate bars in one day. That is not binging.

The reason why I bring this up is because behind these terms that we use in society, often in a 'joking' way, are horrific, heartbreaking illnesses.

It's completely unacceptable to make fun of things like cancer or MS or other physical illnesses so why is it still okay to say things like "Oh I'm so OCD" as a joke.

So maybe, next time if you catch yourself about to say something as a joke, that could be really hurtful to other people and insensitive to their struggles, try a find a different way to say it. You never know who might be around you that is listening.

B Xx

With it being world mental health day today I wanted to talk about perfectionism. In my experience perfectionism is never a good thing, it's always detrimental.

I think perfectionism is such an underestimated problem for our mental health. And it's something so many of us are dealing with. So many of us are striving to be perfect because we place our worth on it.

Society is always making us feel less than. We are constantly told that we need to look perfect, be polite but not too polite, be smart, go to college, have a degree, have a good job.... the list is never ending. And if we fall anyway short of that we deem ourselves 'not good enough'.

Have you ever felt that dread of going out somewhere because you don't have the perfect outfit, you're hair isn't sitting right, your concealer just won't cover up the hours of hard work you've put in at your job that week? That s**t is stressful and can lead to so much anxiety as a result.

Yesterday, I forgot I was 'meant' to take a yoga class. I got preoccupied doing other things and jumped into the shower before I realised the time. Years ago, forgetting about something like this, or maybe making a mistake in work or having to cancel on a friend because something came up would have sent me spiralling into that 'I wasn't perfect today' anxiety.

But guess what! The world did not end because I didn't attend my yoga class. I wasn't perfect... so f***ing what! I did the best I could and carried out my day the way I seemed fit.

Nobody is perfect! Striving for it will only come with misery. Instead, why don't we just do the best we can with what we have. Enjoy ourselves as much as we can while doing it. And if we mess up, tell ourselves we are human and get on with the rest of our day.

Anyway if we were all perfect and didnt have any mistakes to laugh at, would we really have any fun in this life?

B Xx

I think the body positivity movement that we have seen lately is incredible. And I really admire people who are speaking about it and trying to encourage others to love their body aswell. is my all time favourite woman for this. If you don't already follow her, go do so and check out her YouTube channel aswell. She is so real, truthful and honest about her relationship with her body and trying practice body positivity as much as possible.

But if I'm really honest, I don't love my body. I'm not there yet and I think that's okay. If you are like me and think there's no way you could possibly love your body, you are by far not alone.

I have however learned though that I don't need to love my body to accept it. I can practice body neutrality. I can love how my body allows me to move, function, keep me healthy. I can love the life that my body allows me to live. And I can view my body as the body that allows me to live the lifestyle I want to.

I, hand on heart, don't know 1 person in my life who doesn't struggle with body image issues. Even people who are working towards body positivity will tell you they don't always feel that way, they have off days themselves.

I hear often, people saying things like "I would be happy if x looked like y" or " I would be happy if I had so and so's blank". But to be honest, I don't think that's ever true.

I think it's better to shift our focus from being on how we look constantly to who we are as people. We don't love other people for their weight or size. We love them because they are funny and kind and hilarious to be around etc.

With all that being said, if you are looking to try find some peace with your body image struggles. And want to have meaningful conversations with people who know exactly what you're talking about, then keep your eye out for a post I have coming out tonight.

Life's too short for all that worry and it is possible to move from all that negativity and awful self talk to neutrality or even positivity.

But for now just know even if you don't see it, other people love you just as you are. And there is nothing wrong with you or how you look!

B Xx

With Thanksgiving coming up soon in Canada, I started thinking about the occasions that I would spend time worrying about beforehand.

I honestly think that most of us do this. We are so programmed to think that we need to eat a certain way and get our exercise in, that disruptions to our expectations for ourselves, can cause all sorts of worry and fear.

We might get thoughts like, "I can't have that because it's not on my plan", "this is more food than I would normally have", "I'll be good again tomorrow" or "I can't join in with x because I'm being good". And it's not your fault, we have been programmed to think like this in our society for so long.

But here's the truth. Food is just food. It's energy for our body. Occasions spent with family and friends are memories that are meant to be created and cherished in years to come. Food is just part of these occasions to celebrate and enjoy traditions that we might not have all year around.

We do not need to be spending time worrying or stressing before, during or after these events. After all we won't look back on our death beds and think "oh I'm glad I missed out on my mums apple crumble Christmas of 2010". We'll just be annoyed that we weren't fully present and enjoying ourselves.

As I said, I think this is something a huge amount of us deal with. And you shouldn't have to. You should be able to be fully involved in celebrating whatever you celebrate.

So if you do want to have some freedom from these thoughts and not spend time feeling guilty about these things that do not matter then why don't you apply here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021 for a course that can help.

If you are celebrating something soon, I hope you have a lovely, carefree time. Because that is what it should feel like!

B Xx

Before I start into this, I just want to make it clear that I am not bashing anyone's food or exercises choices. You do you and it's really great if your choices make you feel the best version of yourself.

However, not everyone benefits from living life a certain way. Extreme diets, restrictive diets, diet and exercise trends, can have a really negative impact on a lot of people.

A lot of people talk about how clean they're eating, how many times a week they've worked out, how this diet or that diet makes them feel x,y or z, and even telling people how they should try these things.

The reality is we live in a world where eating disorders and disordered eating are at an all time high and I really don't think you should ever comment on how people look, what they eat, how they eat etc etc. You never know who is listening and what they're trying to get through.

I'm not saying anyone is responsible for other people's choices. But I am saying, don't push your diet or fitness choices onto someone else.

Everyone is on a different path in life and like I've said before our bodies will do what they want to do, they cannot be programmed to work a certain way etc. We are not all the same manufactured robot.

So even though you might think comments like "oh I had indigestion and so I removed x from my diet and it was cured" or " I have anxiety and started running / lifting weights or whatever and it's now fine" are harmless. Unless you are a professional and know what you are talking about and someone's history please don't give such information to people because it can do so much more harm than good.

It can be so hard when you are surrounded by people who don't understand what is going on in your head and the path that you are on at the moment. But there are other people who get it. There is a community out there that understand.

Maybe you might find other people's experiences and sharing helpful on a course like this https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021

As always sending love your way if any of this resonates with you,
B Xx

So a day but today's topic is all about exercise. I want to start this off by saying if you have an E.D or disordered eating and you are reading this and thinking "I'm not struggling with over exercising, so maybe I'm not as sick as other people" or perhaps even "other people are 'better' at this than me" which is not a thing by the way. Just know that not everyone struggles with this or experiences this, it's just something I have experienced and thought I'd chat about.

I exercised throughout my anorexia (apart from when in inpatient). I was a dancer, so when I wasn't in school, I was generally in a studio somewhere training for something, whether it be a show coming up or an exam.

However, it wasn't actually until I tried to recover that exercise really became a problem. Whether I was in the gym, taking an exercise class or home workouts, I was working out everyday and intensely. I was also obsessed with the steps I got in everyday and always wanted to be moving all the time.

I will say that part of this was because society was changing at this time. Clean eating, working out and using watches to track your activity was coming in and it was being seen as the norm (this is my next topic, trying to recover in a disordered society).

But, it was also because I had this messed up thinking that if I was going to eat then I needed to burn it off to stop me gaining weight. I thought I was trying to recover but really I was swapping one addiction for another.

Unfortunately, the only way I could stop was to stop. I needed to stop exercising to a) break the habit and obsession, and b) show myself nothing bad was going to happen. It was only then that I was able to properly start to let go of all my eating disorder behaviours. Because the truth is, we cannot keep E.D or disordered eating behaviours in our back pocket and still recover. You can't be a little bit disordered. It's all or nothing.

If you are struggling with this, you can beat it and come out the other side. Even if it feels impossible now, trust me when I say if I have been able to do all of these things, you can too!

This struggle won't last forever and there is help out there. If you are looking to feel more free from this check out an upcoming course here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021

You can overcome all of these struggles,
BXx

This weeks schedule;

- Wednesday 7pm zoom:
Gentle yoga flow

- Saturday 9am zoom:
Energising yoga flow

As always, email [email protected] or dm me to book your spot!

See you on the mat,
B Xx

I don't think I'll ever understand bmi requirements for restrictive eating disorders. Restrictive E.D's like anorexia are mental illnesses yet have physical requirements. WTF !!!

As someone who has had every bmi between 11 and 21, I can tell you that anything below my body's natural weight, left my mind fully controlled and consumed by anorexia. But yet from a bmi of 17.5 to my natural bmi, I wouldn't have been classed as such.

However, trust me when I say my mind was just as ill and I lived in just as much of an anorexic bubble at bmi 19 as I did at bmi 11. Because my body was still starved and restricted.

Quite often in recovery, people with E.D's are given bmi targets to reach. A doctor might say, if you just get to a bmi of 18.5 (the lowest bmi in the healthy range) then you'll be recovered. Or often this bmi 20 is thrown around as the bog standard for recovery.

Here's the problem with that. We are not all built the same. We do not all have the same genetics. And our bodies are not robots that can be programmed to do exactly what you want it to or what a doctor has given you a target for.

This brings me on to 'set points' so I'll leave it here for now and continue on where I left off in tomorrow's post.

As always, click here if this resonates with you and you are looking for some help https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021

B Xx

So this one makes my blood boil. You DO NOT have to be emaciated, lying on a hospital bed to deserve help. Period !

Eating disorders and disordered eating comes in all shapes, sizes, genders, races, sexuality ... the list could go on and on.

And in my experience, it does not matter what a bmi chart says you are. If you can relate to being obsessed with food, or carrying out rituals involving eating, or being tired, or cold, or distracted, or hungry, or over full etc, then you are ill enough.

If you are using restriction or binging or purging or compensatory behaviours then you are living within a disorder bubble and need help.

I'm going to keep the whole bmi thing for another day because really it needs a post all to itself. But just know that just because society shows an image of eating disorders or disordered eating looking a certain way does not mean it's the truth.

And from my experience it is actually the polar opposite more often than not. The unfortunate truth is that these ideas come from statistics that often come from who's fortunate enough to access treatment. And that is not representative of people struggling in our society as a whole.

As always there is help out there for you. Click here for some more information on help that's available https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021

Sending all the love to you if you are reading this and struggling ❤
B Xx

Start your Saturday off with a flowy, energising yoga class tomorrow morning!

9am - 9.45am on zoom

Just send me a quick message or email [email protected] to book your spot 🧘🏼‍♀️

B Xx

After my post about my story recently, I was asked about why I used the terms eating disorders and disordered eating separately, and were they not the same thing. I realised that in society these terms are often used interchangeably even though they are actually different, so I thought I'd try to clarify.

So before I go into it, this is by no means me saying one is better or worse than the other, or one deserves treatment more than the other etc etc
Eating disorders and disordered eating can be really competitive, so it's important to realise that I am not trying to make one more important than the other.

And also, I am not a psychiatrist or doctor or whatever else. This is just what I've learned and experienced myself over the years of illness and recovery.

Eating disorders:
- 3 types (and also subtypes) recognised by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM): Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating disorder
- Have diagnostic criteria, for example, in many countries a bmi of under 17.5 is one of the criteria for anorexia (I have an entire post coming soon about this topic)
- They are diagnosed by a mental health professional (for example a psychiatrist)

Disordered eating:
- This is when someone has irregular behaviours surrounding food but doesn't actually meet the criteria the DSM sets out for the 3 recognised eating disorders.

What I really want to get across in this post is that when we use these terms interchangeably, people who are quietly suffering can end up with feelings of "well my bmi isn't 17.5, so I can't have a problem" or maybe "I'm not sick enough for help" or maybe even use it as fuel for their illness, or possibly even use it for some sort of evidence to convince everyone else that they're "fine".

Every single person who is struggling, regardless of what criteria they do or do not meet deserves help. There is no "sick enough" or "ill enough", there's just different diagnoses.

Tomorrow's post is going to be about exactly that problematic and destructive "not ill / sick enough". But for now, if this does resonate with you check out my post yesterday about a course coming up soon or click here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021 because you absolutely deserve to feel better and be free from whatever it is that is impacting your life in a negative way.

B Xx

Only 5 weeks to go until Eat Breathe Thrive series starts online!

Early Bird offer of €149 is still available until Monday, so don't miss out.

If you have ever felt as though:
- You are not at home in your own body
- Uncomfortable with your body
- Wished / tried to force change upon it
- Poor body image
- Anxiety surrounding how you view your body
- Like you are not able to fully let go and live your life how you want to because of one or more of these struggles

Then click here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021 because you deserve to be living free from all of the things that don't make you feel good enough (spoiler - you already are)

*** while I'm on this topic, I realised after sharing my story how much eating disorders are still so misunderstood because they aren't talked about enough. So I am over the next few weeks going to post (once a day / maybe every second day) a bit on a topic relating to E.D's and disordered eating from my experience (I am not a mental health professional) to hopefully spread a little bit more information about them ***

This weeks classes;

Online:
Wednesday - Zoom @ 7.30pm
Saturday- Zoom @ 9.00am
***Message or email to book

In person:
Thursday - .ie @ 9.30am ***Click here to book https://www.freedomfitness.ie/yoga

See you on the mat,
B Xx

Tomorrow Morning
9am - 9.45am
Zoom
Message or email me to book your spot
B Xx

Still time to book your spot for tomorrow x

I'm looking forward to some more flowy stretchy relaxation tomorrow at 9.30am with Becs for Yoga Flow!

Available as a drop in to non-members and as part of your price plan if you are a gym member or pass holder for the month of September.

See you on the mat,
Karen

B O O K N O W > > >
🌐 www.freedomfitness.ie/yoga

Classes this week:

Thursday 9.30am .ie
- book here https://www.freedomfitness.ie/yoga

Saturday 9.00am online zoom (dm or email me to book)

See you soon,
B Xx

Do you want to feel more comfortable and confident in your own body?
Do you want to learn tools to feel more able to deal with difficult emotions and situations?
Do you want to have less anxiety and feel more relaxed?
Well then I have just the thing for you...

Starting in November (3rd), I am running an online Eat Breathe Thrive Course that uses psychoeducation and yoga to help with everything I mentioned above!

You don't have to suffer from an eating disorder to join this course. My overall aim is for you to come away with tools to be more resilient, in control and feel more comfortable in yourself.

We will have small group chats in breakout rooms, larger group discussions and interactive exercises as well as yoga and meditation that will help you to grow as a person and keep you moving towards the person that you want to be and living the life you want to live!

Make sure to apply here: https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/events-calendar/eat-breathe-thrive-online-series-with-becka-worthington-november-2021 , before 4th October to avail of the early bird offer of €149.

Course is 6 weeks long, every Wednesday evening 7pm to 9pm GMT - includes a lovely bedtime yoga to finish each session.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message,

B Xx

Don't forget to book your spot for the donation based class this Sunday 10am!

All you need to do is email me [email protected] or dm me to get your zoom link.
And then donate whatever you can here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/donate

This will help Eat Breathe Thrive to continue to help people struggling with disordered eating, body image issues and so much more.

So please come along and show your support for such an incredible organisation!

See you in the morning,
B Xx

Not too late to book your spot for some 'me time' tomorrow morning 🧘🏼‍♀️

🧘🏻‍♀️⭐ Tomorrow at 9.30am ⭐🧘🏻‍♀️

Yoga Flow is Bec's favourite class to take and teach because of the variety it has to offer.

Some days the class will be focused on a specific theme or area of the body. Other times it will be a full body class with a bit of everything.

Each class begins with a lovely, gentle warm up in preparation for some mindful movement through sun salutations and flow sequences, before finishing with a relaxing Savasana.

You will leave the class feeling calm and reconnected to both your body and mind, all while feeling nice and stretched out, ready to tackle your next strength session.

For the month of September, gym members will be able to use their membership/passes to book in for Yoga Flow!

See you on the mat,
Becs

🌐 BOOK NOW >>> www.freedomfitness.ie/yoga

Excited for tomorrow 🧘🏼‍♀️❤🥳

Yoga Flow | Freedom Fitness Yoga Flow is Becka's favourite class to take and teach because of the variety it has to offer. Some days the class will be focused on a specific theme or area of the body. Other times it will be a full body class with a bit of everything. Each class begins with a lovely, gentle warm up in preparatio...

First things first, thank you for all your lovely messages after last night's post ... means so much 💖

Don't forget to:
* Email me - [email protected]
Or
* Dm me
To book your free zoom yoga flow class tonight @ 7pm

See you later,
B Xx

The difference in these 2 photos are worlds apart but what's more is that the person in these 2 photos is too. I've gone from battling severe anorexia to now living my life, doing what I love. Simple as that right? Not so much.

Asking for help is terrifying on it's own, but trying to access help is a whole other fight sometimes. But Eat Breathe Thrive is there to help!

A non profit organisation who's passion is to help people learn healthy tools and resources to cope in difficult times, feel more comfortable in their own body, and no longer feel alone in their experiences with disordered eating, body image issues and more.

Such an amazing non profit that does incredible work. But being a non profit organisation, donations make a whole world of difference. So this week I'm teaching a donation based yoga class online on Sunday @ 10.00am BST

All you need to do is DM or email me at [email protected] with your email address (if booking through DM) and I can send you your zoom link!
Then click here https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/donate to give whatever you can to help Eat Breathe Thrive continue to help people live their lives to the fullest again.

If you want to read more about my story with anorexia, I've just posted a blog post that you can read here https://www.becsyogabubble.eu/blog/anorexia

Hope to see you at the donation class,
B Xx