What if my boobs (or belly, or thighs, or arms...) get in the way?
For me, part of loving my body included coming to terms with the fact that in exercise there where often positions required where my bigger body parts just got in the way - and that it was OK to find proper work-arounds, that having to do so didn't make my exercising any less worthwhile than anyone else's.
The first time I recall this issue clearly, was back in high school. We where learning archery in gym class and I was much more endowed than any of the other girls in my class - and we had a male gym teacher. He kept insisting that our arm position had to be tucked in close, and that meant that when I released the string on my bow hit my left breast - OUCH! He told me there where no other right ways to do it, so maybe I just couldn't do archery. It wasn't until MANY years later, after getting involved in Medieval Re-enactment and having a really talented female archer (who happens to have fairly significant breast size herself) show me that my breasts did not, in fact, have to be in the way that I realized how wrong that gym teacher was.
In many forms of exercise I find that I need to make adaptions for the shape of my body, and along the way I got to thinking about it. If people who are much more slender than me, or just shaped differently are the ones primarily involved in developing the poses, positions and forms for the various types of exercising I'm participating in, it makes sense that they would have developed those positions for their own body shape and center of gravity. Mine is different, not better or worse, just different - and so it makes perfect sense that in order to accomplish the same thing, I might need to do it slightly differently. I put a great deal of thought into making sure that my body stays in proper alignment when I make these changes (I don't want to hurt myself by stressing some other part of my body improperly!), and that I'm accomplishing the same thing after the adjustment (IE: getting the same stretch or working the same muscles) - the goal of making these adjustments isn't to make it less of a workout, it's to make it a better workout for my body.
I'm fortunate to have some great people resources in my life for helping me make these adaptions, and I have a good solid understanding of body dynamics to draw from as well. Not everyone has these kinds of resources - but there are some great places on the web, great books and videos where you can go to find adaptions that people who are smart about this stuff have found.
I love this blog in general, but her adaptions of and recommendations for yoga positions are awesome: http://bodypositiveyoga.com/about/
Here's another great resource for yoga poses for larger bodies: http://www.bigyogaonline.com/
Great website with all kinds of information for plus sized belly dancers: http://www.bellydanceplus.com/
Info on Hula hooping (which is an amazing workout!) for plus size bodies: http://www.hooping.org/2012/02/for-the-love-of-plus-size-hoopers-everywhere/
and of course there is always the Fitfatties website (http://fitfatties.ning.com/) for asking other folks what they do!
I want to hear what your resources are for adapting exercise and movement for your body shape and size!
