We discuss SFPL’s On the Same Page book selection for Jan./Feb., Jessamyn Stanley’s, Yoke: My Yoga of Self-acceptance.

Jessamyn Stanley is an internationally acclaimed voice in wellness, who is highly sought after for her insights on 21st-century yoga and intersectional identity. 

Stanley’s first book, Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On The Mat, Love Your Body, has inspired global audiences to discover the power of yoga and set forth on a path for personal development. Her highly anticipated second book, Yoke: My Yoga of Self-acceptance (Workman Publishing), is out now. In a series of deeply honest, funny, gritty, thoughtful and largely autobiographical essays, Yoke explores issues of self-love, body-positivity, race, sex and sexuality, cannabis and more, all through the lens of an authentic yoga practice. 

Stanley is an award-winning social advocate. She is well-versed on a variety of cultural issues including the modern Black experience, LGBTQIA+ representation and equality in the health industry amongst others. She is the co-founder of We Go High NC, a southern Cannabis Justice organization working to increase cannabis access in prohibition states like hers, and highlight the natural connection between cannabis consumption and prison abolition. The organization operates on a simple truth: No one should be in jail for weed.