heartful yoga
from the heart, for your whole life
yoga from the heart, for your whole being
Mixed Levels Flow
*subbing through 4/9*
When: Wednesdays,
9:30 - 10:30am
Where: Evolution Yoga
Glenview, IL or Zoom
for a limited time only!
Mixed Levels classes are appropriate for experienced beginners and dedicated practitioners. These classes synchronize breath with movement in a moderately-paced flow. Specific focal points are explored in each class, allowing students to cultivate greater awareness and explore their edge. Classes are sequenced to prepare students to explore more advanced poses, which are offered as options to ensure that the class is challenging, yet accessible, whether you have been practicing for years or months.
To register, visit
evolutionyogaglenview.com
When: Saturday, April 5th, 2025
1:30- 3:30pm CT
Where: Evolution Yoga
1841 Waukegan Rd Glenview, IL
In this 2-hour workshop, you and your partner will learn skills, tools, & resources within the yoga practice that you can implement during labor and birth. This workshop will include movement, breathing, meditation, education, and plenty of time for questions. Not only is it a great way to connect with your partner and receive support, but you also get to connect to a supportive community of people in the same stage of life.
It is recommended to bring a notebook, pen/pencil, and a blanket/rebozo/scarf. No previous yoga experience required. All pregnant people and birth partners of any kind are welcome!
working with cami
embodied enoughness to embodied empowerment
How does Yoga help with disordered eating and body image?
Through Cami's trauma-informed, evidence-based approach to care, you'll build:
-
proprioception (non-judgmental awareness of the physical sensations in our bodies)
-
trust in the body's functions and communication system (physical sensations)
-
rewiring the brain towards more positive or neutral associations with food & our bodies
-
a relationship with movement and exercise rooted in celebration & care, rather than punishment & control, of the body
-
a deeper understanding of your Self and inherent worth, rooted in the spiritual philosophy of Yoga (without being dogmatic or indoctrinatory)
-
a powerful inner sanctuary of safety & courage to help you fight diet culture
-
your own, individualized yoga & embodiment practice tailored to your body, mind, & spirit
-
a bone-deep, embodied sense of not only how enough you are, but how powerful you are in your whole being
Who is Yoga for Disordered Eating & Body Image for?
Anyone exhibiting one or more of the following symptoms/behaviors (according to the National Eating Disorders Association):
-
Preoccupation with weight loss, food, calories, and dieting
-
Refuses to eat certain foods, and often eliminates whole food groups (carbohydrates, fats, etc.)
-
Makes excuses to avoid mealtimes or situations involving food
-
Develops food rituals (e.g., eating foods in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate)
-
Withdraws from friends and previously pleasurable activities and becomes more isolated and secretive
-
Extreme concern with body size and shape
-
Frequent checking in the mirror for perceived flaws in appearance
-
Extreme mood swings
-
Noticeable fluctuations in weight, both up and down
-
Stomach cramps, other non-specific gastrointestinal complaints (constipation, acid reflux, etc.)
-
Menstrual irregularities — primary or secondary amenorrhea (not starting the menstrual cycle or the loss of the menstrual cycle) or only experiencing a period when taking hormonal supplements.
-
Difficulties concentrating
-
Abnormal laboratory findings (anemia, low thyroid and hormone levels, low potassium, low white and red blood cell counts) though some people with eating disorders do not have any laboratory abnormalities
-
Dizziness, especially upon standing
-
Fainting/syncope
-
Feeling cold all the time
-
Sleep problems
-
Cuts and calluses across the top of finger joints (a result of inducing vomiting)
-
Dental problems
-
Dry skin and hair, and brittle nails
-
Fine hair on body (lanugo)
-
Muscle weakness
-
Yellow skin (in context of eating large amounts of carrots)
-
Cold, mottled hands and feet or swelling of feet
-
Poor wound healing
-
Impaired immune functioning
​
Anyone with the following diagnosis:
-
anorexia nervosa or atypical anorexia
-
bulimia nervosa
-
binge eating disorder
-
orthorexia or chronic dieting
-
avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
-
other specified feeding and eating disorder
-
unspecified feeding and eating disorder
-
body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) or other obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) diagnosis
a word from cami
I don't need to ask, "Are you or your child struggling with your relationship with your body and food?" because I already know the answer. Yes. It seems, for too many of us, and for longer than we can remember, to be alive is to have a complicated, not-so-nice relationship with our bodies and food.
​
This is why I believe eating disorders are a full-blown public health crisis, global epidemic-level state of emergency. And, unfortunately, the research, evidence, & statistics agree with me:
​
-
Eating disorders are the second deadliest mental illness of all time. The first is opioid addiction. Take a moment to reflect on how we’re responding to one with a reasonable sense of urgency, but not the other.
-
To put it in the context of time, one life is lost to eating disorders every 52 minutes.
-
9% of the US population is affected by this disease. That’s about 28.8 million Americans who will have this disease in their lifetime.
-
22% of kids and teens worldwide have shown patterns of disordered eating.
-
Children ages 4-17 are more than 200 times more likely to develop an ED than diabetes. No, that is not a typo. TWO. HUNDRED. TIMES….despite our current health education system’s obsession with diabetes prevention and complete lack of focus on body image/disordered eating awareness.*
-
Larger-bodied people have a 2.45 times higher chance of disordered eating, yet are clinically diagnosed half as frequently as those considered “normal” weight or underweight.
-
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for those with an eating disorder. Around 25% of those affected by eating disorders attempt suicide in their lifetime. If it’s not abundantly clear – that rate is astronomical.
-
Those in marginalized communities, for example, low-income & food-insecure communities, BIPOC communities, and LGBTQ+ communities, are often experiencing these statistics at even greater rates.
​
​
Here's where I lovingly invite you to pause and take a breath. As much as I don't want to freak you out, I am keenly aware of how alarming these statistics are. So why are we not only collectively not taking this issue seriously, but often encouraging and rewarding disordered behaviors around food and our bodies?
​
It's called diet culture, and it's funded by an industry that's worth over a trillion dollars.
​
While many believe mental health conditions are only individual, personal and genetic issues, mental illness is not always internally sourced. Sometimes these issues are created by the deadly combination of power and money in the wrong hands, and then exacerbated by individual circumstances or genetics. We can't talk about healing our relationships with our bodies and food without this.
​
So what is diet culture? It is a global cult predicated on:
-
improperly researched, anecdotal "evidence", myths, and conspiracy theories about what it means to be healthy that are rigid, outdated, and rooted in the idea that thinness equates health
-
the categorization of certain foods and those who eat them as morally "good" or "bad"
-
the demonization of larger bodies and the assumption that fatness is a result of poor lifestyle choices
-
a marketing scam to get us to incur debt buying products & diets that are ineffective at best, and dangerous/deadly at worst
-
a form of systemic oppression that ensures equity & access remains exclusive of and unattainable to certain people
-
the idea that our bodies and their functions -- including weight gain or aging -- cannot be trusted and must be controlled
-
the idea that all of us must conform to these ideas in order to feel worthy of life, love, belonging, respect, access, kindness, & basic human decency....rather than the belief that our worth of these things is inherent
​
Now, am I saying that you're not allowed to take care of yourself and your body in the way you want to? No, of course not. Self-care is a life-affirming choice. But subscribing to diet culture is not a form self-care; it's rooted in self-control. Diet culture is not a life-affirming choice.
​
So what do we do about all this?
​
Yoga for Disordered Eating and Body Image asks the questions:
What if we fed and moved our bodies like we trusted them?
What if we fed and moved our bodies like we cared about them?
What if we fed and moved our bodies like we loved them?
​
And if you're looking at me like I grew three heads, thinking, "Cami...that is not possible for me," I am here to tell you YES; it absolutely is.
​
Because I am the living, breathing embodiment of that possibility, and the hope I have for you to heal and find freedom in your relationship with your body and food.
​
I'm on your team -- so let's work together.