Synopses & Reviews
Jessamyn Stanley's first book, Every Body Yoga, with 59,000 copies in print, taught us how to do yoga. Now, in Yoke, she tells us why. Writing about what she calls the yoga of the everyday — which is not just about poses but about applying the hard lessons we learn on the mat to the even harder daily project of living — Yoke presents a series of deeply honest, funny, gritty, thoughtful, and largely autobiographical essays that explores the issues of race, self-love, capitalism, sex and sexuality, cannabis, and more.
Drawing its name from a literal translation of the Sanskrit root "yuj," from which the word "yoga" derives, Yoke, invites every reader to find their own authentic "yoga of the everyday," and learn to handle life's toughest moments with the same flexibility, strength, grounding energy, and core awareness found in a headstand or Tadasana or cobra pose.
Review
"Through a series of charming and thoughtful autobiographical essays, Yoke ultimately explains why Stanley practices yoga in the first place." Marie Claire
Review
"Jessamyn Stanley is that rare combination of radical honesty, deep empathy, expertise, and an unwavering dedication to her craft. Yoke is the antidote to fluffy self-help culture that, at its core, is anything but healing. There is no wellness without realness, and Jessamyn never strays from her center. In turn, she helps to root us deeply within our own. This book, like its author, is a gem." Chani Nicholas, author of You Were Born for This and cocreator of the Chani app
Review
"Read this book. It will bring you back home to you. Yoke is powerfully honest, but above all it’s a book that will remind you of your own ability to yoke; to untie; to arrive at that centered place inside where all the pieces of you fit together." Rachel Brathen, author of Yoga Girl and founder of yogagirl.com
About the Author
Jessamyn Stanley is the author of Every Body Yoga and Yoke and an internationally acclaimed voice in wellness, highly sought after for her insights on 21st-century yoga and intersectional identity. She is the founder of The Underbelly, an inclusive wellness community and streaming app, cohost of the podcast Dear Jessamyn, and cofounder of We Go High, a North Carolina based cannabis justice initiative. She is a regular contributor to SELF magazine and has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, and Sports Illustrated.