The following is a YBIC National Eating Disorders Awareness Week post that highlights how the practice of yoga can be an integral component in the effective treatment of and on-going recovery from eating disorders and disordered eating. 

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Just 3 years ago I was literally stuck in an eating disorder that was killing me and I felt hopeless.  I kept going back to the same doctors and the same “treatments” that often left my body more depleted and my heart without hope. I was desperate and reached out to my family for help. My step mother recommended that I go to an Embody Love Movement workshop……my whole world changed.

The Embody Love Workshop is designed to dismantle media and body image myths, empowering women to feel worthy of love and self-respect for who they are and not how they look!  The workshop culminates in an hour long embodied yoga practice. It is a powerful experience and for me that hour of yoga changed my life.

I had done yoga as a teenager, but my at home yoga videos could not compare to being present on my mat in a room full of people who I felt seen and heard by. It was like a lightbulb went off and I opened the door to my higher self. I tried to shut it kicking and screaming many times since, but once you open the door to your heart and mind and plant new intentions, then there is no turning back!

Yoga is so much more than exercise, it saves lives. For people struggling with any dis-ease in the body-mind complex, yoga is the re-connection between the brain and body that can be shut down by traumatic experiences, illness and injury.

Our bodies are the repositories for the stories in our minds. Often times talk therapy, medication and other treatments alone may not address the root of the illness. This is especially true for eating disorders, since the root is often hidden deep underground.

My body was so disconnected from my mind, that I feel I would not have recovered without the help of yoga and meditation. Yoga Nidra in particular really helped me to see that my subconscious beliefs could be shifted, making space for new, healthier beliefs about myself and the world. These practices gave me back my power and enabled me to take control of my own healing journey. I was no longer a diagnosis, disease or patient, but rather the creator of my own inner world.    

I am now an RYT 200 instructor and Embody Love Facilitator with the hope of helping others who are struggling. I am still a work in progress both on and off of the mat, but I now know that we are all one and it is our mission in this lifetime to complete the circle and find peace in our hearts so that we may bring the wholeness to others who need it.

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Kate Trevorrow is a yoga instructor, mindfulness educator and holistic health expert living in the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex. She was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to Texas during here senior year of high school and is now proud to call herself a Texan.

Katie Trevorrow is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) with Yoga Alliance. She specializes in Somatic/ Emotive Yoga and Yoga Nidra with an emphasis on mind-body integration for every body and age. She utilizes a unique combination of breath, body awareness, intention setting and postures to bring clients back into balance both physically and mentally.

In addition to her RYT certification, she holds a Yoga Nidra and I AM Yoga certifications from the prestigious Amrit Institute. Kate believes that health, wellness and prosperity start from within and that yoga, meditation and holistic health are the keys to unlocking your full potential and living a vibrant life filled with passion and purpose. You have the power to change your life and shift from a state of dis-ease to health, Kate is here to help guide you through the process and recycle your insecurities, self doubt and limiting beliefs!

She is also an Embody Love Movement Facilitator serving the greater DFW area. She facilitates transformational 3 hours workshops for women and girls regarding media myths, body image and self love. She believes that yoga is a powerful tool for self discovery, self love and growth.