Empowering all sizes to do yoga

By Michael Gibbons

When Cora Clearwater first started taking yoga classes, she stayed at the back of the room.

“I stayed in the back because I know what people think. I know when I walk into a room… there’s a prejudice,” she said. “It automatically comes to the surface without anybody talking about anything.”

Clearwater, 63, has been heavy for most of her life. But that didn’t stop her from living an active lifestyle. As a youth, she enjoyed doing physical activities like playing basketball and pole-vaulting.

“There were a lot of things I could do that I wasn’t supposed to be able to do as a large person. So yoga was kind of the next step,” she said.

“I started looking and started talking to people who are large about exercise and why they weren’t exercising. They weren’t exercising because they were embarrassed.”

After doing some initial research and following her intuition, Clearwater created Reubenesque Yoga, a yoga class designed specifically for larger women that takes place at the Newmarket Public Library. Her goal is to empower plus-size women to become physically active and be happier with their bodies.

Kripalu Yoga Clearwater practises the Kripalu form of yoga. Kripalu Yoga was designed in the `60s to accommodate all body types, fitness levels and ages. Kripalu stresses the importance of self-acceptance, witness consciousness (not judging the mind`s activity) and incorporating yoga teachings into everyday life. “It’s cooperation. It’s gentle movement. It’s about learning what’s going on in the inside. That’s the parts of the Kripalu that I like so much. It’s becoming a witness to what you’re doing. A witness to being able to sit still or not sit still. A witness to ‘Well if I breathe this way then I can stretch just a little bit further.’”                                                      - Clearwater

The misspelling of “Rubenesque” is intentional. Clearwater wanted to evoke Peter Paul Rubens, the painter best-known for portraying full-bodied women, as well as the Reuben sandwich. For her, this play on words creates a light-hearted atmosphere for her students.

“We have fun and we kind of make fun of ourselves, which is really interesting,” she said.

Clearwater’s ability to poke fun at herself indicates a level of happiness and comfort with her body that does not come easily to many plus-size people. Media and advertising today bombard society with images of thin models. Tina Szeto, program co-ordinator for the National Eating Disorder Information Centre, knows the damage societal pressure and the media can have on women.

“The so-called ideal body that’s been defined by societal influences such as the media can… have a negative effect,” she said.

Szeto points to new research identifying a genetic makeup in some women that can increase their vulnerability to developing an eating disorder.

 “This vulnerability, in combination with contemporary North American culture and pressures on weight-loss and dieting and so forth, may lead to a development of eating disorders,” she said.

Clearwater hopes her class can provide women with a shelter from the media’s narrow view of beauty.

“They haven’t had a place to be safe, to be comfortable… to let it all hang out,” she said.

Maryanne Slade is one of Clearwater’s students. The 58-year-old, has had three strokes. While her size did not directly cause her strokes, it did not help prevent them. Slade likes Reubenesque Yoga because it allows her to exercise and achieve greater flexibility. She has already noticed positive results from the class.

“It helps me sleep better at night after doing something physical,” she said. “It helps me think better. It’s relaxing and fun.”

Clearwater has adapted her teaching to maximize comfort for plus-size people.

“A lot of yoga classes, they have a format. I try to go from standing postures to sitting-down postures to knee postures to back, so that it’s not up and down, up and down,” Clearwater said. “Because it’s really difficult and it gets discouraging.”

Nor does she enforce a strict definition of yoga poses. For example, Slade participates in the class while sitting in a chair.

“There’s some modification and I encourage it, whatever they decide,” Clearwater said. “If you can’t put your hands on the floor, put them on your knees.”

The journey toward happiness and positive body image can be a difficult one. For some, just making the mental shift toward change is a small victory.

“Just going to the classes takes some motivation to do, and I look forward to being there,” Slade said.

From the back of the room, to the front of her own class, Clearwater hopes to spread her message and attract more people like Slade. She seems to be succeeding. She has had to look for a new space in order to make room for more participants.

“It’s kind of developing a community of people who are large to feel good about themselves wherever they go,” she said. “It’s to give self-respect and self-confidence to women and to go anywhere, to be able to exercise anywhere.”