Ep 70: Yoke with Jessamyn Stanley
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Ep 70: Yoke with Jessamyn Stanley
Episode 70: Show Notes
Today’s guest, Jessamyn Stanley, is an award-winning yoga instructor, intersectional activist, and author who empowers her audience of over half a million to break down barriers: both those that society has set and the ones that they have created for themselves. Jessamyn would not have been able to achieve any of this if she didn’t break down those barriers for herself and, as is always the case on At The End of The Tunnel, her story involves numerous leaps of faith and moments when she had to put her trust in herself and her capabilities in order to make it happen.
As a fat, Black, queer yogi, Jessamyn’s work in the wellness space centers around creating a spiritual home for wellness misfits who may feel displaced, discouraged, or overlooked due to a lack of diversity in the health and fitness community, and she is a leading voice on intersectional identity.
In today’s episode, she shares an articulate message of representation and visibility whilst also speaking candidly about the personal battles she has fought with imposter syndrome, mental health issues, and taking up space in an industry where she was critically underrepresented.
You’ll learn about Jessamyn’s books, Every Body Yoga and Yoke, and why she says that writing them was a process of awakening for her. We also touch on her Baháʼí Faith, what inspired her to start posting pictures of herself on Instagram, and how she believes we can make the shift to operating from a place of compassion, not fear, plus a whole lot more!
We hope you’ll join us for this deeply validating conversation with Jessamyn Stanley, who has found that so much strength and power comes from not being accepted by other people, because she had to find that power inside herself. Tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
Find out why singing and performing were Jessamyn’s favorite activities as a child.
Jessamyn shares her complicated relationship with singing and the limelight.
Learn more about her upbringing, the Baháʼí Faith, and what her lineage means to her.
What the Baháʼí Faith has taught her about nonviolent resistance, alliances, and acceptance.
The Baháʼí saying, “Noble, have I created thee. Why dost thou abase thyself?” and what it means to Jessamyn now.
Hear about her mother, who was into what she called ‘fruity stuff’ like health and wellness.
Jessamyn on her family’s relationship with health, food, physical activity, and fatness.
Why she says that her relationship with food was born out of limitation and celebration.
How her perception of success, wealth, and legacy has developed and evolved over time.
Her introduction to yoga and how her practice offers her the space to ‘just try’ and intimately examine and engage with her boundaries.
When she began developing a deeper awareness and spiritual understanding of yoga.
The influence that The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali had on Jessamyn’s personal yoga journey.
What caused her to withdraw from her MFA program, go to culinary school, and catalyze her yoga practice; how these events are related.
The importance of embracing the contradictions inherent in the human experience.
Jessamyn shares what inspired her to post those first photographs of herself on Instagram.
The story of how she came to be a yoga teacher after sharing her practice on social media.
How she believes we can make the shift to operating from a place of compassion, not fear.
The process of writing her first book, Every Body Yoga, and the imposter syndrome she felt.
Her second book, Yoke, and why she says writing it was a process of awakening.
How Jessamyn looks at success now; living her truth and truly being, just being.
Why she says that she would let her younger self make all the same mistakes she did.
Tweetables:
“That is such a huge part of the work that we all have to do as a society, [is to] form those alliances between those who believe different things and [see] the common ground and [avoid] exceptionalism and [accept] that everyone is the same.” — @JessamynStan [0:19:12]
“I have found that so much strength and power comes from not being accepted by other people, because you have to find your power inside yourself.” — @JessamynStan [0:32:06]
“What [my yoga] practice offered me and continues to offer me is a space in which I'm able to intimately examine and engage with my boundaries, and to understand why I've created them.” — @JessamynStan [0:36:40]
“In yoga, I'm going over what I believe to be the yoga of everyday life – the yoga of accepting the most complicated parts of myself, the yoga of accepting my internalized racism, sitting at this weird intersection of capitalism and spirituality.” — @JessamynStan [0:43:52]
“We are all so many different contradictions. I think that a lot of unhappiness in life comes from wanting those contradictions to not be there and pretending like they are not there.” — @JessamynStan [0:51:35]
“I kept sharing photos of myself because I wanted to share that I'm not a unicorn – [really,] I’m representative of many people. Not just fat, Black, queer people, but literally anyone who doesn't see themselves represented in the mainstream.” — @JessamynStan [0:57:18]
“If we start to all move from a place of compassion as opposed to a place of fear, that is something that's worth doing. That's why I became a yoga teacher.” — @JessamynStan [1:00:48]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: