Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Burns.
Laura, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I found yoga and body-positivity at a low point in my life. I was unhappy with my body, felt unworthy of love and respect, and didn’t see much of that changing for me in the future. By integrating the teachings of yoga and the body-love movement into my daily life, I’ve been able to find beauty, joy, and worth in myself. I became a Body-Love Coach and created Radical Body Love Yoga as a response to the need I saw in the community. There were so many people like me who didn’t see their own value, and for whom the idea of body-acceptance was completely foreign. I never planned to be a yoga teacher! This life chose me – I feel called to create welcoming accessible spaces for people to explore the power and capability of their bodies as they are in this moment. I work with folks one-on-one through Body-Love Coaching, which is much like Life Coaching, but with a focus on healing the relationship between body and mind.
Has it been a smooth road?
There have certainly been challenges along the way! The biggest challenge I face is combating the stereotypes ingrained in our culture surrounding fat bodies. I’m a fat yogi. For many people that is an oxymoron, but that viewpoint comes from the sizeist culture we live in and a misunderstanding of what Yoga truly is. Body size does not determine whether someone can practice a yogic lifestyle and/or help others learn yoga asana. I teach in an inclusive space, but many local yoga studios are more concerned with upholding cultural beauty standards than addressing the issues of oppression within the yoga community. For example, I won’t say which one, but I contacted a popular local studio chain to see about teaching a body-positive yoga class at one of their locations and was told that they “are an aspirational studio, and (my) body isn’t aspirational”. That kind of mentality does not represent what yoga truly is. I don’t tell that story to be a downer, but to help people understand why the type of classes and the accessible atmosphere I create, is so needed and important.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Radical Body Love story. Tell us more about the business.
Radical Body Love is, before anything else, a body-positive brand. The name refers to the fact that loving and honoring your body, as it is in the moment, is a radical act. The world constantly bombards us with ads and messaging that tells us that we’re not good enough. We are brainwashed into spending billions of dollars on products to change ourselves to try and fit into an ideal that is not attainable.
I bring healing to people of all shapes, sizes, ages, gender identities, backgrounds, and abilities through Body-Love Coaching and accessible, affirming yoga asana classes. I created Radical Body Love Yoga and Hoop Asana, two forms of Hatha yoga, to bring the benefits of yoga to all people, regardless of experience or ability. I use lots of props, including hula hoops(!), to help people make the poses work for them and get the most out of their practice.
I am known for body-affirming classes that integrate self-love and self-care elements throughout. I specialize in teaching yoga to people who are often marginalized within the yoga community. I teach people who thought yoga wasn’t for them because they never saw themselves reflected in pictures of yoga on tv or in magazines.
I’m most proud of how I’ve been able to help people heal their relationships with their bodies, physically and emotionally. Through my work I’ve seen folks heal their bodies and find self-love – it’s amazing and wonderful and I can’t imagine having another job.
What sets me apart from other coaches and yoga teachers is my body-positive approach. I integrate it into every aspect of my work – from how I create asana sequences to the language I choose to use in class to my interactions with my students.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
There has been a change in the yoga community over the past few years, with some yogis of color and some fat yogis getting attention from mainstream publications and other media. I hope the change continues and we see more representation in the media and more opportunities for diverse teachers and classes. I’d love to see local studios dropping the focus on weight loss and conforming to beauty standards, and instead offering classes that promote self-love and body-positive ideals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.radicalbodylove.com
- Email: laura@radicalbodylove.com
- Instagram: @radicalbodylove
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/radicalbodylove
- Other: www.youtube.com/c/lauraburns
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