Leg Length Discrepancy Yoga Intro

Here is my truth…

I am not perfect.

This seems obvious—because I am human—but it is hard to accept. We adopt personas and images to help create frameworks of who we are. But many of them are facades and unattainable.

Yoga teaches many things; it has helped me accept my truth—what is.

I started doing yoga every day years ago because I have a structural leg length discrepancy of just over 2 cm. Though this doesn’t seem like a huge or painful revelation, it is to me. The fact that I am not perfect and that this physical impairment adds a layer of complexity to my life makes me uncomfortable and self-conscious. I have to wear sneakers on a beach because I need the heel lift to help bolster my shorter leg. I can no longer wear flip-flops on a pool deck and am limited to boots as dress shoes. These aren’t extreme impediments to living a full life, but I have still spent half of my existence trying to hide my emotional pain from being different and my physical pain caused by leg, hip, and spinal asymmetry.

As I got older it got harder to ignore this asymmetry, so I turned to yoga for relief. As I continue to get older, I turn to yoga to accept this difference in my legs and my life.

The reason I became a yoga teacher was to help people find relief from discomfort, but I have neglected to be honest about my own.

I often practice yoga with a flip-flop under my right foot.

My own yoga practice has been a hodgepodge of styles and classes, just taking what was available at the studio or online day to day. But now I want to dive deeper into what I need. As I embark on this journey, I will share things that I learn and what I am doing to manage my leg length discrepancy and the resulting scoliosis.

I still plan to post my thoughts on wellness and self-care through yoga, but I must also acknowledge my truth and use the hand I have been dealt—or legs for that matter. And hopefully notes from my experiences will help me improve my practice and help anyone dealing with their own obstacles.

Other posts in the Living with Leg Length Discrepancy Series:
How to Measure Leg Length Discrepancy
How Scoliosis and Leg Length Discrepancy Affect My Physical Body

And sign up to get my Best Yoga Pose for Leg Length Discrepancies guide