What It's Like To Do Yoga When You Have Big Boobs

I love yoga; I take a vinyasa yoga class one or two times a week, and I always look forward to that hour or two each week where I get to focus on calming my mind and strengthening my body. Yoga is as relaxing as it is challenging and if you're one of those people who thinks it doesn't count as "real" exercise, you can GTFO. That being said, I also have D-cup size breasts, and once I began my practice, I quickly discovered that yoga is not exactly big boob-friendly.

I first started taking yoga classes in college when my counselor suggested I try it to help with my anxiety and stress. I was sold after my first class because I felt strong and beautiful walking out of it... well, except for my sore boobs. I asked my instructor the following week for some modifications, noting how uncomfortable my boobs had been during the last class. She pointed out that yoga was probably invented by men (though if you look around your next yoga class and check out the gender ratio, you'll notice that today there are probably more female than male yogis). Which made sense, but didn't exactly help me — even yoga's origins were against my bosoms!

The best advice I've ever received about combining big ta-tas and yoga practice was to strengthen my back so that I could better hold my chest up when needed in certain poses... and, of course don't do anything if it hurts. Sports bras matter in yoga, too — you do more jumping than you think.

If you are part of the big-bosomed yoga club, then you know all about suffocating during inversions and compressing your poor, poor nipples during binds. If you're not, here's a little taste of what it's like.

Downward Dog

Ah, downward facing dog. It's the bread and butter of any yoga practice. But whenever my instructor says, "Set your gaze towards your navel," I'm just like...

You think I can see my navel from here? LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Bow Pose

"Lift your chest off of the ground," they say! Meanwhile, on my mat:

The struggle is too real.

Bakasana

So to get my body in the right position, I essentially squeeze my boobs in with my arms and try not to knee them in the process.

Excuse me while I topple over. Speaking of toppling over...

Warrior III

It takes a lot of core strength and quad strength to keep my top-heavy body from faceplanting.

I'm as graceful as a swan!

Devotional Warrior

Oh good, my front leg will get to bear the weight of my arms and GIANT BREASTS. But let's worry about getting them to the inside of the leg...

Just shove those fun bags over to the inside of your leg, that won't hurt at all!

Marichyasana D

YOU WANT MY BOOBS TO GO WHERE?

Smoosh. Smoosh. SMOOSH.

Shoulder Stand

This should be renamed "Boob in Neck Stand."

But this isn't even the most smothering of poses. You know what's coming, busty yogis...

Plow Pose

Oh, to be able to do plow pose without wondering, "Is this how I die?" Because when I do plow pose it's a little something like this...

I CAN'T BREATHE UNDER HERE!

If you are thinking about doing yoga, but also have big boobs, my advice is to go for it. Sure, some postures are a lot more difficult when you have two giant melons on your trunk, but it does help with strength and flexibility — something every busty gal needs to be comfortable carrying around those big boobs all day long. Plus, yoga helps you feel good from the inside out — and that's worth it, nipple smooshing and all.

Image: Giphy (10)