Jessamyn Stanley's Topless Yoga Photo Will Help You Get Over Saggy Breast Shame

Plus-size yoga instructor Jessamyn Stanley is something of a celebrity among Instagram's body positive community. She's strong and confident and takes no bullshit. But when someone reaches that kind of body positive fame, it can be easy to forget that they still struggle with negative thoughts about their body.

In the caption of a new nearly-nude photo posted to her Instagram, Stanley reminds us that body positivity is an ongoing struggle — even for her.

"I very rarely practice in actual 'yoga clothes' — kinda wild considering I've spent most of my life in a state of fear/panic over my naked body," she wrote. "I still get shy when I'm naked in front of mirrors — I tend to hold my body at random angles so I don't have to look at it full-on."

She acknowledges that avoiding her naked body is a "terrible habit," but that it's left over from growing up in a society that devalues plus bodies and other traits we believe to be "flaws," like having saggy breasts.

"I'm especially judgmental of my breasts. They've always been saggy and I've battled shame over them since forever," Stanley wrote. "I mean, the media always makes tits look so pert and shit."

But she's realized lately that she should learn to love her breasts, sag and all, because what if something happened to them one day? Given that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it's not surprising that it might be on her mind.

"I like to think that my tits and I will be together until I say so but bitch, please — I ain't in charge of that. The odds might not be in my favor," she wrote. "So I'm going to love these droopy sacks as much as I can right now, do my best to check 'em regularly and try to stop thinking shitty thoughts bc good grief — life is short and I don't need to waste mine by hating a body that's more than a gift to me."