Who Says Yoga Just for Slim Body

PENNSYLVANIA - A plus-size yogi has revealed how the physical practice has helped her overcome years of binge eating and fad diets and finally learn to love her body and all of its strength.

When Dana Falsetti (22) from New Hope, Pennsylvania, US, hit her heaviest weight of 300lbs while at college in New Orleans, she believed her unhappiness was the result of her size. However, after losing more than 70lbs, she realized she still felt miserable.

"After all those pounds went away, I was still me. I was still sad, feeling unworthy, feeling even more confused, and just lost. I went to yoga because it was something new to try during a time when I felt like giving up," this yoga teacher told Daily Mail.

Dana, who can now twist and contort her body with ease, admitted that she once believed she was too large to successfully master more complex yoga moves.

"A big part of me was craving the time for silence, for meditation and reflection. I had no idea the physical practice would lead me down the path of inner strength that I always needed, and that led to the larger perspective shift that really changed my life," she said.

Dana admitted that when she first started doing yoga, she doubted that she would be able to do more advanced poses, such as a headstand, because of her size.

"That pose was a far, distant dream worthy of somebody else,' she said. I was sure I was too heavy to hold myself upside down. I was trapped in a really bad cycle of negative self-talk, but I kept practicing because I just couldn’t stop, and then things started to change," she added.

Dana explained that it was her dedication to yoga that eventually changed her mindset.

"I was slowly getting glimpses of possibility. I call them the sparks of the practice. When you start to feel a little float, or you feel at ease in a pose that once felt impossible,' she recalled. 'You start approaching your limits, and to me that’s the whole point," she said.