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Yoga can support eating disorder recovery by improving body image, self-compassion, and emotional regulation.

Fitness-focused yoga may reinforce perfectionism, body criticism, and unhealthy exercise or eating behaviors.

Trauma-informed yoga promotes safety and body acceptance instead of focusing on appearance or performance.

Gentle yoga can support early recovery by helping people reconnect with their bodies.

This post was written jointly by Ruby Kagan and Robert T. Muller, Ph.D.

A resurgence of thin-biased, toxic norms is fueling a new wave of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and a rising global prevalence of eating disorders. Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa are among the deadliest of all mental health conditions. Western treatments for eating disorders have traditionally prioritized nutritional rehabilitation and cognitive therapies.

Since 2005, a growing body of research supports the value of somatic approaches, like the practice of yoga, that treat the body as central to healing rather than merely a battleground. Carolyn Costin, author, clinician, and founder of the first residential treatment center to incorporate yoga into clinical care, describes yoga as a powerful tool “to concretize reconnecting mind, body, and soul.”

A 2020 study found yoga to be promising for eating disorder prevention and treatment, suggesting that it reduced disordered eating behaviors and enhanced body image, emotional regulation, and re-embodiment. The........

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