When fitness programs go on and on about getting the "perfect body," they're usually talking about some unbelievably toned figure that maybe, like, 2% of the population will ever really attain. The rest of us? Oh, we just get to feel bad about ourselves when we inevitably don't measure up. However, when it comes to the just-launched Perfect Body Yoga Program (PBYP), "perfect body" means something very different — and very refreshing.
"I was so tired of seeing programs promising 'bikini bodies' or losing X inches off your waist and knew it was possible to have a program that uplifts and inspires you without beating you down and making you believe you need to be different to be good enough," says Erin Motz, the 28-year-old yoga instructor and cofounder of both Bad Yogi and PBYP, in an email to R29. "I was inspired by the negative messaging of all the popular programs out there that just further perpetuate the idea that there’s one 'perfect' ideal and they’re going to help you achieve the unachievable."
So rather than continue in that tradition, Motz says "[she operates] on the belief that the perfect body is simply the healthiest version of the body you already have." That comes through in the program's organization. It's eight weeks ($129) broken down into three sections: strength (honed through a full-body yoga schedule), mindfulness (cultivated via guided meditations), and a no-hard-rules food guide to help you find what kind of balanced diet works for you.
And that approach is paying off big time. After being online for just a few days, the program has already gained over 1,000 members, says Motz. Many of them are also leaving encouraging feedback about both the program and the community that's quickly built up around it. Considering how good it feels to simply be accepted as you are, it's not exactly surprising how quickly the program has become so popular. "The Perfect Body Yoga Program is for people who are tired of being told they’re not good enough as they are," says Motz, "because any trainer or yoga or fitness program that sells them that idea is dead wrong."
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