HOUSTON – A Texas woman began what she calls heavyweight yoga and she has sold DVDs across the country. She also helped open the Nurture Soul Therapeutics studio in Houston to help overweight people find the benefits of yoga.
"Yoga can be done by anyone regardless of size or situation," said Abby Lentz, the founder of Heavyweight Yoga.
Using modified movements in order to build strength, Lentz created yoga for overweight and obese people. She is intentionally trying to give the sport a different body image.
"When you think of yoga as that image and then you try and see yourself in that image it doesn't compute," said Lentz.
At the Houston studio on Spring Cypress Road, Lea Ann Deel practices the moves she was not encouraged to try before she discovered heavyweight yoga.
"I've been flat told that I was probably too heavy to do anything (other people working out) could do," said Lea Ann Deel, a yoga teacher at Nurture Soul Therapeutics. "I have been requested to move to the back of the class. I have been injured because I tried just following instructions."
Deel said she practiced at her own pace and got strong on her own.
"We're not teaching you how to get into a slim pose," said Deel. We're teaching you how to be foundationally strong in a heavy body."
Yoga has been shown to lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and increase flexibility.
You think it's about the physical benefits but what you find is it's about the sense of well-being and the emotional benefits," said Lentz.
For more information, you can visit Heavyweight Yoga's website or Heavyweight Yoga Houston.
Deel is available for private classes, employee chair and office yoga.
Lentz returns to Houston in May and September for Women's Yoga Retreats.