Fitness Mantra: Plus-size woman defies stereotypes through yoga

Dolly Singh, 34, has gained something of a fan following online for showing that size is no barrier to mastering complex yoga moves. “To say, ‘You can’t do this because you have so much weight,’ I don’t believe that,” says Singh. 

Four years ago, a doctor advised her to lose weight following an ankle sprain. Singh, who is 150 cm, weighed almost 90 kg at the time. She got a trainer and embraced the “whole frenzy of losing weight” but grew bored of running and signed up for something she’d never done before – yoga. 

“The first class I was thinking, ‘Can I really do this because I have a big body?’ After two or three classes I realised people were looking at me and thinking, ‘Oh my God, she can do this.’ My body had a certain kind of stamina and flexibility.” 

Singh soon realised there were limitations to group classes and sought instructions online. “We all have different bodies. I’m a big-busted person and if the teacher isn’t how are they going to understand that when I’m doing a Halasana (plough pose) I’m almost choking to death!” she explains, laughing. Singh started filming herself to monitor her progress and then began posting clips of her yoga poses on Instagram. 

Soon she was inundated with messages, mainly from foreigners at first, but then from Indian women saying that Singh was an inspiration to them. “I’ve been overwhelmed by some people saying they would feel alienated in a room full of perfect yoga bodies. There’s an idea that you’re supposed to hide everything because you’re big bodied as it’s not appealing. But that’s just something that’s been sold to us,” she insists.

The response hasn’t all been positive however. “Indian men have not been encouraging at all. There are a lot of people who write very nasty comments. They say, ‘You’re just a fat blob,’ ‘You look just like an elephant,’ or ‘You’re unfit or it’s because you’re eating so much food.’ 

I completely ignore them. I don’t know these people so why should it bother me?” Singh says she will continue trying to sell “a more positive body image” and “challenge notions of fitness and beauty.” “I’m not aiming to have this thin figure but I am aiming to have a beautiful flow and make my body strong through yoga,” she finishes.