I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi is a moving documentary that follows Maris Degener’s recovery from an eating disorder alongside her struggles with anxiety and depression.

The film offers an intimate portrait of a young woman learning to reconnect with herself after years of emotional distress. Through yoga, creativity and self-reflection, Maris begins to face feelings that had long been buried and to find a gentler, more compassionate relationship with her body and mind.

What makes this documentary so powerful is its honesty. Maris speaks openly about the emotional pain that can sit beneath eating disorders, including anxiety, shame and the painful feeling of not being good enough.

For many people, struggles with food are not simply about food or weight. They can be connected to deeper emotional experiences such as anxiety, trauma, perfectionism and the pressure to appear in control. Emotional eating, disordered eating and body image struggles are often ways of coping with overwhelming feelings or inner distress.

Maris’ story reminds us that recovery is rarely just about changing behaviours. Healing often involves reconnecting with our emotions, learning to listen to our bodies, and developing a more compassionate relationship with ourselves.

A Story About Mental Health, Healing and Self-Love

The film describes Maris’ experience this way:

“Tormented by anxiety, depression and a life-threatening eating disorder, a teenage girl confronts her buried emotions through yoga.

With infectious authenticity, I AM MARIS paints an unguarded portrait of mental illness and recovery, using Maris’ own words and vivid artwork to illustrate her inspiring journey.

I AM MARIS is a story about mental health, self-love and the power of one person’s voice.”

Emotional Eating, Trauma and the Search for Self-Worth

In psychotherapy we often discover that struggles with food can be connected to deeper emotional wounds. Feelings of shame, anxiety or the sense of not being good enough can shape how we relate to our bodies and to food.

For some people, emotional eating or controlling food becomes a way of coping with difficult feelings or managing inner pain. Beneath these patterns there may be experiences of trauma, perfectionism, loneliness or pressure to live up to expectations.

Films like I Am Maris help bring these inner struggles into the open. They remind us that behind an eating disorder there is often someone trying to make sense of overwhelming emotions and find a way to feel safe in their own body.

A Film That Offers Hope

One of the most powerful aspects of I Am Maris is the sense of hope it offers. Maris’ journey shows that recovery is possible and that healing often begins when we allow ourselves to be seen, heard and supported.

For anyone struggling with eating disorders, emotional eating, anxiety or feelings of not being good enough, this film offers a gentle but powerful reminder that change and healing are possible.

You can watch the trailer here:

I loved this flick because as a PACFA Registered Clinical Psychotherapist, and an Eating Disorder Coach through the Carolyn Costin Institute, one of our go-to recommendations to support eating disorder recovery, is the practice of yoga. Carolyn writes,

“In an eating disorder, body and mind become disconnected from each other and disconnected from the person’s deeper essence or soul self. Sufferers are in a state of constant comparison, judgmental of themselves, out of balance, caught in habitual behavior patterns and living in the past or future. Yoga is an ancient philosophy and practice designed to unify mind, body and spirit and thus can help someone whose relationship with all three is so tragically disrupted.”

Here is an interview with Eating Disorder Hope and Carolyn Costin talking about The Role of Yoga in Eating Disorder Recovery:

If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, disordered eating or other sickness of the soul – maybe now is the time to reconnect with your mind, body and soul through a yoga practice?!