Here & Now co-host Robin Young sits down with yoga instructor and body positive activist Jessaymyn Stanley to discuss her new book, "Yoke: My Yoga of Self Acceptance." In this essay collection, Jessamyn takes a hard look at the limitations and hypocrisies of yoga culture and advocates a yoga of authentic self-acceptance, which is the best path to true wellbeing.
Jessamyn leads a 30-minute yoga class before the conversation begins. Grab your mat and join the fun!
Event in partnership with Boston Public Library | Roxbury and Frugal Bookstore. Receive a 10% discount on your purchase of "Yoke" here.
Schedule
5:30 p.m. yoga session with Jessamyn (30 minutes)
6:00 p.m. 15-minute break
6:15 p.m. conversation with Jessamyn and Robin (1 hour)
About "Yoke"
It has been nearly ten years since Jessamyn Stanley began breaking barriers in the conventional world of American yoga. In that time, she has been celebrated for her trademark confrontational approach to tackling big topics—fat-shaming, reconciling her queer Black identity in a society that privileges heterosexual white experience, the tyranny of unattainable beauty standards—has garnered her national media attention, a devoted following and acclaim as an internationally celebrated yoga instructor, founder and CEO of The Underbelly and author of "Every Body Yoga."
And "Yoke" is Jessamyn’s most personal work yet. A series of largely autobiographical essays that explore issues of self-love, body liberation, cultural appropriation, sex, sexuality, cannabis and more, it is classic Jessamyn; funny, brash, deeply thoughtful and honest. Drawing its name from a literal translation of the Sanskrit root “yuj” from which the word “yoga” derives, "Yoke" is about the yoga of the everyday—a yoga that is not just about poses but about applying the hard lessons learned on the mat to the even harder daily project of living. Yoga is the amuse bouche, but self-acceptance is the meal.