Donna Noble is a Wellbeing Coach, Educator and founder of Curvesomeyoga. She is widely known for her dedication to making yoga and wellbeing more accessible and inclusive. She is also a social justice and diversity and inclusion advocate. As well as an original co-creator of the UK's first Black wellbeing & fitness festival. Donna is also a writer and her work has been featured in countless print and digital media including HuffPost, Thrive Global, Stylist Magazine The Metro, Om Yoga and Lifestyle Magazine and on BBC and Channel 4.
You can find out more about Donna and her work at www.thenobleartofyoga.co.uk and on Instagram @donnanobleyoga
Title: Teaching Body Positive Yoga: A Guide to Inclusivity, Language and Props
Author: Noble, Donna
ISBN: 9781787753358
Binding:
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication Date: 2022-08-18
Number of Pages: 208
Weight: 0.3721 kg
This book celebrates all that yoga is. It breaks down all barriers and shows us that yoga has open arms for anyone who wants to practise. A liberating look at how anyone can be part of what yoga has to offer mentally and physically. Donna shares her wisdom and past experiences to show us the origins of yoga, subconscious bias and how we can all be more inclusive when it comes to yoga.
A celebration of yoga for all.
-- Fearne Cotton
As a yoga teacher and teacher trainer, I'm always in search of resources for aspiring teachers (and for myself!) that are practical, helpful, and most importantly, represent my values. Donna Noble's new book
Teaching Body Positive Yoga meets all of these criteria and then some. I highly recommend it to all yoga teachers and future teachers.
Even if you think you don't need this book, you need this book. -- Kat (Heagberg) Rebar, co-author of Yoga Where You Are and former editor in chief of Yoga International
In Teaching Body Positive Yoga, Donna Noble has written a superbly relatable, practical book. She gives us the why as well as the how to practice inclusive, Body Positive Yoga.
I especially love the section called Body Positive Yoga Off the Mat where Noble gives us case studies and practices to bring these tools into every moment of our lives! She confidently states, As teachers you have a voice that is able to create yoga's future. She gives us many tools and practices to create a more inclusive future. As a South Asian woman working to preserve the heart of yoga today, I'm thrilled to have Noble's book grace my yoga bookshelves and support all of our practice and teaching. -- Susanna Barkataki, Author of Embrace Yoga's Roots
Donna distills the most fundamental information about diversity and inclusivity in yoga, making it
a must-read for anyone in the industry. -- Reeva Misra, Founder & CEO Walking on Earth
Donna Noble is a tireless, fearless, inspirational and fierce campaigner for anyone who feels that they have become invisible in the world of westernised wellness with
a simple message for everyone and every-body, reflected in every single page of this marvellous book: you are welcome on the yoga mat. This book and Donna's knowledge and commitment, represents a vital contribution, not only toward body positive yoga, but toward dismantling the many cultural issues and obstacles that stand in the way of this practice being accessible to all. -- Dr Lee Watson, Founder of Fierce Calm
Donna Noble writes in a way that allows the reader to understand the universality of yoga as a beautiful ancient practice. Stripping away all the notions that make yoga as we know it in the West to feel inaccessible, Donna reminds us that to be in the present is to be at one with the body mind and soul.
Amazing work!
-- Kelechi Okafor, Actress and co-founder of Kelechnekoff Fitness studio
If you're looking to better understand and inform yourself with topics like the history of body positivity, and the use and understanding of language on and off the yoga mat, then this is a great guide for you;
well-researched and easy to digest. -- Lindsey Porter, yogi, yoga tutor, author of Whirlpools, yoga and the balance of life
It was such a pleasure reading 'Teaching Body Positive Yoga!' Thank you for creating this important resource!
The case studies at the end of the book were extremely moving as well as maddening. It is a reminder that so much work still needs to be done to make sure yoga is inclusive for all body types, ethnicities, ages, genders or abilities. 'Teaching Body Positive Yoga' should be required reading in all teacher training courses.
-- Lauren Cap, Writer
Donna Noble's
Teaching Body Positive Yoga is
a jewel in my yoga library. It acknowledges that we live bodies of various sizes, races, genders, and mobilities--and that we bring different embodied experiences to the mat. Her approach to yoga respects whatever body we are practicing in.
She offers wisdom from years of practice, solid research, and personal experience--so her guidance feels trustworthy and honorable. -- Tamara Jeffries, Senior Editor, Yoga Journal
Donna's book not only encourages the reader to think about the necessity of making the yoga industry affirming and accessible for all bodies, but she gives them the tools and skills to put what they're reading into practice in actionable and meaningful ways.
Everyone in the yoga industry needs to read this book. -- Chrissy King, Writer, Speaker, Fitness and Strength Coach, and Creator of The Body Liberation Project (TM)
Donna Noble has crafted a
deeply uplifting, accessible, and thought-provoking text imploring the reader to consider boundaries to yoga practice and how to mindfully dissemble them in practical and systematic ways. As she poignantly notes, Everyone Body is a Yoga Body . For this adage to manifest we must all look at and beyond our preconceived ideas. Through first person accounts and life experience Noble shares the truly yogic pursuit of divesting oneself of staunchly held biases allowing us to expand our vision of what yoga and yoga practitioners look like. In reading her book it is clear that Body Positivity Yoga is and should be the future of yoga. -- Heather Mason, Founder of Minded Institute
Teaching Body Positive Yoga, Donna Noble's new book is a wonderful resource for all teachers. Whether you label your classes as body positive or not, this book is recommended reading for all yoga teachers who want the skills and resources to facilitate a positive class experience for everyone.
'True body positivity is when everyone is welcome on the yoga mat. You can do this by creating a space where people feel empowered to let their practice accommodate their body and do yoga in a way that feels good for them, so they have agency over their body.'
The tone is welcoming and informative, Donna Noble keeps it real and kind as she shares about how size, race, body image, trauma can impact someone's experience in class, and how we can support individual needs as teachers.
This is vital information for yoga teachers today, yet is sadly lacking from many teacher trainings. Teaching Body Positive Yoga introduces these topics providing a foundation of knowledge as well links to further educational resources from a diverse range of experts. It really is a fantastic resource for new and established teachers.
She begins by honouring the Black Femme originators of the Body Positivity movement, and the cultural roots of Yoga itself, as well as sharing her own journey as teacher and practitioner of yoga - this approach is both respectful and welcoming. Some of the topics discussed like unconscious bias, sensitively navigating trauma, touch and language around size and gender could potentially be challenging or confronting for teachers - especially if it was not covered in their initial training, and therefore hasn't been an aspect of their classes. This book is not about shaming anyone - rather to thoughtfully share insights and resources to help us all grow.
As well as the philosophical aspect, she grounds the book in the reality of teaching yoga today. There's a great section on using props in class, but also marketing, navigating working within a studio versus hiring a space and growing your business ethically.
Donna Noble's love and respect for her community shines through this book - she honors and uplifts the people she has learned from, as well as sharing that knowledge so we can all benefit.
'Real yoga takes place off the mat and is integrated into our lives: it is how we interact and support others - it is yoga in action, it is being the change we wish to see in the world.'
-- Jo Stewart, The Flow Artists Podcast (cohost), Garden of Yoga (founder)
