Jessamyn Stanley

Last updated
Jessamyn Stanley
Jessamyn Stanley receiving Tribeca Disruptive Innovation award.jpg
Stanley receiving 2017 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation award
BornJune 27, 1987
NationalityAmerican
Education UNC Greensboro
The Art Institute of Raleigh - Durham
UNC Chapel Hill
Occupation yoga teacher
Known for Shorty Award for Best in Healthy Living (2016)
Notable workEvery Body Yoga (2017)

Jessamyn Stanley is an American yoga teacher and body positivity advocate and writer. [1] She gained recognition through her Instagram posts showing her doing yoga as a "plus-size woman of color," [2] who self-identifies as a "fat femme" and "queer femme." [3] She is the author of the books Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body [4] and Yoke: My Yoga of Self Acceptance.

Contents

Early life

She is a lifelong resident of North Carolina. [5] In middle school, she dabbled in gymnastics and cheerleading, but her rejection from school teams led her to give up sports for a few years. [6] In high school, she joined the flag football team. [6] She came out as queer at age 16. [7]

Education

Stanley earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Media Studies with concentration in video and film production. She also holds an associates degree of applied sciences in culinary arts from The Art Institute of Raleigh - Durham, and a master of fine arts degree in performing arts management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Career

Stanley first tried yoga as a teenager and disliked the experience. [6] [8] She returned to yoga in her twenties as a way of dealing with depression and found that she enjoyed the practice and that it challenged her in ways she found helpful. [8] She began sharing yoga photos to Instagram in 2012 to get feedback about her yoga technique. She has gained a following through her "inclusive, body-affirming" attitude and showing that yoga is not only for "skinny girls." [9] Stanley went through yoga teacher training at the Durham Yoga Company. [3] [10] Her yoga practice philosophy focuses on how the practitioner feels rather than on how they look. She challenges the societal notion that fat-bodied people are "slow and weak," and suggests a change toward a mentality that "strength comes in different shapes and sizes." [11] She teaches yoga classes online, and teaches in-person classes internationally as well as in her home of Durham, North Carolina. [3]

Writing in Yoga Journal , Yelena Alpert describes the effect of Stanley's work as "changing the perception of what a yogi looks like." [11] In an interview with New York Times writer Jenna Wortham in 2017, Stanley spoke of the Internet's capacity for connecting with a large audience that was geographically dispersed, saying: "There was a niche community of people waiting for a yoga book written by a queer, fat, black person. It was just about finding the means to reach them." [12] She had over 200,000 Instagram followers in 2016, and 350,000 by 2018. [9] [13] Stanley's appearance on one of two covers of Yoga Journal in January 2019, the other featuring a slim white woman, provoked a strong response, which in turn produced an apology and explanation from the journal's brand director. [14]

Stanley's social media reach and status as an influencer has led to partnerships with commercial brands including Lane Bryant and Motrin. In 2017 she became the national brand ambassador for U by Kotex Fitness. [15] [10] [16]

Book

Every Body Yoga, published in April 2017, is partially a memoir and a partially a yoga guide. [17] Stanley writes about her personal history with yoga, food, weight, and family, as well as yoga poses, yoga history, and advice for both solo yoga practitioners and those attending yoga classes. [17] [18] She addresses both how to practice yoga, and also addresses ways of overcoming the emotional obstacles that can prevent a person from feeling like they can do yoga. [19] : 95  A Booklist review described the book as having a "playful tone and personal, approachable advice." [20] Library Journal called it "uplifting"; [18] Publishers Weekly called it a "touching work" and "a must for those new to yoga, no matter their age or body type." [17] A review in the journal Fat Studies called it "readable and relatable;" it also noted that Stanley talks about the importance of the "underestimated and underrated" practices of breath-work and meditation in yoga, but that the book would have been strengthened by saying more about these topics directly. [19]

App

Stanley created the app The Underbelly, an app for yoga practitioners of all levels. [21]

Awards

Publications

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karma yoga</span> Spiritual path in Hinduism

Karma yoga, also called Karma marga, is one of the four classical spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the "yoga of action", the others being Jnana yoga, Rāja yoga and Bhakti yoga. To a karma yogi, right action is a form of prayer. The paths are not mutually exclusive in Hinduism, but the relative emphasis between Karma yoga, Jnana yoga and Bhakti yoga varies by the individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bikram Choudhury</span> Indian-American yoga teacher Bikram Yoga

Bikram Choudhury is an Indian-American yoga guru, and the founder of Bikram Yoga, a form of hot yoga consisting of a fixed series of 26 postures practised in a hot environment of 40 °C (104 °F). The business became a success in the United States and then across the Western world, with a variety of celebrity pupils. His former wife Rajashree Choudhury assisted him in the yoga business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessamyn West (librarian)</span> American librarian, information activist

Jessamyn Charity West is an American library technologist and writer known for her activism and work on the digital divide. She is the creator of librarian.net. She is the Vermont Chapter Councilor of the American Library Association, and was Director of Operations at the group blog MetaFilter from 2005 to 2014. West owns MetaFilter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat feminism</span> Social movement

Fat feminism, often associated with "body-positivity", is a social movement that incorporates feminist themes of equality, social justice, and cultural analysis based on the weight of a woman. This branch of feminism intersects misogyny and sexism with anti-fat bias. Fat feminists advocate body-positive acceptance for all bodies, regardless of their weight, as well as eliminating biases experienced directly or indirectly by fat people. Fat feminists originated during third-wave feminism and is aligned with the fat acceptance movement. A significant portion of body positivity in the third-wave focused on embracing and reclaiming femininity, such as wearing makeup and high heels, even though the second-wave fought against these things. Contemporary western fat feminism works to dismantle oppressive power structures which disproportionately affect working class poor people or poor people generally. It covers a wide range of topics such as diet culture, fat-phobia, representation in media, ableism, and employment discrimination.

<i>Yoga Journal</i> American magazine on yoga as exercise

Yoga Journal is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events and materials such as DVDs on yoga and related subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoga mat</span> Exercise mat, mainly for yoga as exercise

Yoga mats are specially fabricated mats used to prevent hands and feet slipping during asana practice in modern yoga as exercise. An early variety made of rubber carpet underlay, pioneered by the yoga teacher Angela Farmer in 1982, was called a sticky mat. Before modern times, meditative yoga and hatha yoga were practised on bare ground, sometimes with a deer or tiger skin rug. Modern mats suitable for energetic forms of yoga are made of plastic, rubber, and sometimes other materials including hessian and cork, trading off cost, comfort, grip, and weight. The yoga mat has been called "One of the most ubiquitous symbols of yoga's commercialization".

Doga is the practice of yoga as exercise with pet dogs. The yoga hybrid began in America around 2002, came to Britain in 2004, and had spread around the Western world by 2011.

Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa is a teacher of Kundalini yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and a pioneer in the field of pre-natal yoga. She is the co-founder and director of the Golden Bridge Yoga Center in Los Angeles, and the author of two books and three DVDs. She has become a yoga guru for Hollywood film stars.

Forrest Yoga is a style of yoga as exercise. It was created by and named for Ana T. Forrest in 1982. It is known for "its long holding of positions, emphasis on abdominal core work, and standing series that can go on for 20 poses on each side". Reputed for its intensity, the style emphasizes connecting to one's feelings in order to work through physical and emotional trauma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tao Porchon-Lynch</span> American yoga instructor (1918–2020)

Tao Porchon-Lynch was an American yoga master and award-winning author of French and Indian descent. She discovered yoga in 1926 when she was eight years old in India and studied with, among others, Sri Aurobindo, B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Swami Prabhavananda, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At age 101, she taught a weekly class in New York, and led programs across the globe. She was the author of two books, including her autobiography, Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master, which won a 2016 IPPY Award and three 2016 International Book Awards. In the front matter endorsement, Deepak Chopra said: "One of the most acclaimed yoga teachers of our century, Tao Porchon-Lynch... is a mentor to me who embodies the spirit of yoga and is an example of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Like yoga, she teaches us to let go and to have exquisite awareness in every moment."

Rachel Brathen is a Swedish yoga teacher, a pioneer of paddleboard yoga, and the founder of Island Yoga Aruba in the Caribbean. She is the author of the 2015 book Yoga Girl.

Kino MacGregor is a notable American Ashtanga Yoga teacher, author, entrepreneur, influencer, inspirational speaker, and video producer. When she was 29, K. Pattabhi Jois certified her to teach Ashtanga Yoga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoga as exercise</span> Physical activity consisting mainly of yoga poses

Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. Yoga in this form has become familiar across the world, especially in the US and Europe. It is derived from medieval Haṭha yoga, which made use of similar postures, but it is generally simply called "yoga". Academics have given yoga as exercise a variety of names, including modern postural yoga and transnational anglophone yoga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindful Yoga</span> Buddhist-style mindfulness practice with yoga as exercise

Mindful Yoga or Mindfulness Yoga combines Buddhist-style mindfulness practice with yoga as exercise to provide a means of exercise that is also meditative and useful for reducing stress. Buddhism and Hinduism have since ancient times shared many aspects of philosophy and practice including mindfulness, understanding the suffering caused by an erroneous view of reality, and using concentrated and meditative states to address such suffering.

Angela Farmer is a teacher of modern yoga as exercise. She uses a non-lineage style that emphasizes the feminine, free-flowing aspect. She is known also as the creator of the first yoga mat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Gates</span> American modern yoga teacher (1965–2022)

Janice Gates was a teacher of yoga as exercise and mindful yoga, known for her emphasis on the power of yoginis, women in yoga and her work in yoga therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoga in Sweden</span>

Yoga in Sweden is the practice of yoga, whether for exercise or other reasons, in Sweden. The form of yoga practised in the Western world was influenced by Pehr Henrik Ling's system of gymnastics. Sweden is home, too, to Europe's first yoga school, the Goswami Yoga Institute in Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoga using props</span> Use of objects to assist yoga postures

Props used in yoga include chairs, blocks, belts, mats, blankets, bolsters, and straps. They are used in postural yoga to assist with correct alignment in an asana, for ease in mindful yoga practice, to enable poses to be held for longer periods in Yin Yoga, where support may allow muscles to relax, and to enable people with movement restricted for any reason, such as stiffness, injury, or arthritis, to continue with their practice.

Cyndi Lee is a teacher of mindful yoga, a combination of Tibetan Buddhist practice and yoga as exercise. She has an international reputation and is the author of several books on her approach and runs her business from New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obesity and sexuality</span> Influence of obesity on sexuality

Being overweight or obese has influence on the sexuality of people in various different aspects. It can include negative aspects such as stigmatization which can be an obstacle for romantic developments, sexual dysfunction and an increased chance of risky sexual behavior. It can also have positive aspects in the form of fat fetishism.

References

  1. ↑ Ruth, Kiara (2018-01-10). "Yoga Star Jessamyn Stanley Discusses Body Positivity Through the Lens of Eunice Johnson's Ebony Fashion Fair at NCMA". INDY Week. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  2. 1 2 "Jessamyn Stanley, Most Creative People 2017". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  3. 1 2 3 "Jessamyn Stanley is fighting for radical visibility and yoga for every body". The Daily Dot. 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  4. 1 2 Stanley, Jessamyn (2017). Every body yoga : let go of fear, get on the mat, love your body. New York: Workman. ISBN   9780761193111. OCLC   978275954.
  5. ↑ "For the queen of cannabis yoga positivity, fighting stigma is a daily battle". Leafly. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  6. 1 2 3 "Did You Know That Jessamyn Stanley Actually Quit Yoga Years Before Becoming the Yogi She Is Today?". Shape. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  7. ↑ "Jessamyn Stanley On The Road To Sexual Liberation". Bustle. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  8. 1 2 Miller, Kelsey (May 2017). "Stretch your limits". Good Housekeeping. 264 (5). ISSN   0017-209X – via Academic Search Complete.
  9. 1 2 Codrea-Rado, Anna (2016-08-16). "'My belly is there, I'm still strong': Jessamyn Stanley on body-positive yoga". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  10. 1 2 Davis, Amber and Tiffany. "Insta-Yogi Jessamyn Stanley On Finding Balance on Her Own Terms". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  11. 1 2 Alpert, Yelena Moroz (13 October 2016). "How Jessamyn Stanley Is Erasing Yoga Stereotypes". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  12. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (2017-07-06). "Finding a More Inclusive Vision of Fitness in Our Feeds". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  13. ↑ "Fat, Black, and Flexible: Yoga Star Jessamyn Stanley Says 'Confidence Is a Fickle Bitch'". Rewire.News. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  14. ↑ Eichenseher, Tasha (11 January 2019). "Yoga Journal's Response to the January 2019 Covers". Yoga Journal.
  15. ↑ Kerwin, Ann Marie (2017-09-25). "The Beyoncé Effect". Advertising Age. 88 (18): 66 – via Academic Search Complete.
  16. ↑ "Influencers work out for U by Kotex Fitness | WARC". www.warc.com. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  17. 1 2 3 "Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body [book review]". Publishers Weekly. 263 (52): 120. 2016-12-19 – via Academic Search Complete.
  18. 1 2 Branche, Cheryl (2017-02-15). "Stanley, Jessamyn. Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear. Get on the Mat. Love Your Body [book review]". Library Journal. 142 (3): 107 – via Academic Search Complete.
  19. 1 2 Strings, Sabrina (2019-01-02). "Every Body Yoga". Fat Studies. 8 (1): 93–96. doi:10.1080/21604851.2019.1528132. ISSN   2160-4851. S2CID   150269969.
  20. ↑ Bostrom, Annie (2017-04-01). "Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body. By Jessamyn Stanley. [book review]". Booklist. 113 (15): 8 – via Academic Search Complete.
  21. ↑ "Jessamyn Stanley's the Underbelly App is Hitting the Road As a Live Event". Yoga Journal. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  22. ↑ "Jessamyn Stanley - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  23. ↑ "Your Yoga Questions, Answered". The New York Times. 2018-08-08. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  24. ↑ Stanley, Jessamyn (January 2019). "Find Your Voice". Yoga Journal (307): 90–94 – via Academic Search Complete.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.