She questioned how this person can reckon with the complicated relationship between white women and Black men in a space where he's seeking inner acceptance. The question stunned Stanley, who says she often feels the same way but didn't vocalize it because of internalized racism. In the chapter 'White Guilt,' Stanley says she explains that she's 'not talking to white yoga people about race anymore.' But in her conversation with host Robin Young at a virtual event from WBUR’s CitySpace, she admits that sometimes she wants to.Īt one yoga event she attended, a practitioner raised his hand and said he doesn't feel comfortable being the only Black man in a class full of white women. 'But I feel like any time that the practice does not sit well with your spirit, there’s no reason to continue to be in that space.' I felt like I had caused the problem in the class,' Stanley says. 'No one else in my class had an issue with the video. When Stanley said she was uncomfortable with watching the video, her teacher said they'd never thought about the appropriation of South Asian culture in yoga. In one teacher training early on, she was asked to watch a film of famous white actors waxing on about yoga’s spiritual roots. And mostly she’s concerned about race and appropriation: Why is a practice steeped in spirituality in India, represented by thin, white, American women wearing expensive yoga garb in wealthy neighborhoods? Stanley is concerned about her health but doesn’t want to wait to love her body.

The title comes from when Stanley tried writing that yoga yokes people together but instead mistakenly spelled it 'yolk.' The self-described Black, fat, queer yoga instructor tackles topics ranging from her weight, white supremacy, cultural appropriation and Blackness. Author Jessamyn Stanley‘s new book “ Yoke” is a series of honest, challenging, humorous and poignant essays about her life - mostly seen through the lens of her yoga practice.

Yoke by jessamyn stanley