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Today she is a certified yoga instructor in Durham, North Carolina.
Nadya Wasylko
She appeared on the cover ofFabUPlusmagazine.
She’s teaching aYoga Journalworkshop this fall.
And her first book,Every Body Yoga, is coming out in the spring.
Nadya Wasylko
“I am not a person society would expect to see great things from,” Stanley tells SELF.
Her size only further restricted her ideas of what she was capable of.
“I underestimated my body for years,” she says.
Nadya Wasylko
Stanley is the first to admit that practicing yoga didn’t automatically lead to self-acceptance.
That all changed when Stanley started moving based on how she felt, rather than how she looked.
That mindset has extended to the rest of her life, as well.
Nadya Wasylko
[Asking yourself,] ‘How do I feel?’
instead of ‘How do I look?
‘thats the crux of everything," she says.
Nadya Wasylko
The focus on feeling over looks is partially why she so often practices wearing next to nothing.
There’s an element of rebellion to it, as well, she says.
But Im going to continue to do it," she says.
Nadya Wasylko
“I think that it could have had a very positive impact on my life.”
by Zahra Barnes
Padma Lakshmi
The scars on Padma Lakshmis body tell an important story.
While she used to have a go at cover up her imperfections, shes now proud of them.
But now, she sees these marks as badges of honor.
Its what sets me apart and makes me me.
Shes referring, specifically, to the 7-inch-long scar that runs along the outside of her right arm.
Nadya Wasylko
Yet doctors still arent sure what causes it or how to prevent it.
Lakshmi, likemany other women, wasnt diagnosed properly for years.
She suffered from severe menstrual symptoms thinking they were normal.
Nadya Wasylko
These surgeries brought new scars, and with them, another level of strength.
She was one of the hundreds injured, and her left leg had to be amputated below the knee.
Just three years later, she has already achieved both goals.
Nadya Wasylko
“Using a prosthetic has taught me a ton about my body,” she says.
Let alone love it.
Let alone show it.
Nadya Wasylko
Let alone wear shorts or be on camera talking about it.
Its a huge process.
I didnt want to see it.
I didnt want to look at it.
I talked about it a lot, but it took me a long time to really show it."
Through tremendous effort, determination, and hours of intensive rehab, Haslet has been able to dance again.
And this spring, she completed the2016 Boston marathon, against all odds.
While losing her leg changed her life, Haslet refuses to let the experience define heror slow her down.
She also recently climbed thethird-highest mountain in Ecuador.
“Ive said this a million times, and its always worth repeating,” she said.
Ive had a lot of experiences.
Much of Carreras time juggling these different personas has been in the public eye.
Carrera came to realize that she was transgender, and at 25,decided she was ready to transition.
We have to go through so much just to be women, she says.
Abbott went to Iraq in 2004 to work as a civilian contractor, at her mother’s suggestion.
“I was drinking, smoking, doing lots of drugsheavy drugs.”
After just a few weeks in Iraq, Abbott’s camp came under mortar fire.
It was the scariest day of her life.
“Mortar rounds will tend to put things in perspective,” she says.
That day I decided that I was worth living for."
She turned to fitness and nutrition as a way to get her act together.
Abbott started with regular workouts on the elliptical, then foundCrossFitin 2006.
She’s the owner and head coach atCrossFit Invokein Raleigh, North Carolina.
She also wants to help women see their so-called imperfections are what make them unique.
“And it doesnt have to fit any certain specific mold.”
