Yoke

By Jessamyn Stanley,

Book cover of Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance

Book description

Finding self-acceptance both on and off the mat.
In Sanskrit, yoga means to “yoke.” To yoke mind and body, movement and breath, light and dark, the good and the bad. This larger idea of “yoke” is what Jessamyn Stanley calls the yoga of the everyday—a yoga that is not just…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Yoke as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

You’ve got to love someone who calls out those who think American yoga is a skinny white woman’s practice.

Stanley is a funny, deeply honest, large-bodied, gay Black woman who knows yoga is great for everyone—in fact, her prior book is Every Body Yoga. I love the way she weaves yoga’s philosophy and practices into this short and readable memoir of her life.

And I especially adore how she grasps yoga’s real purpose, which isn’t to pretzel up in funny poses but to slow down and calm the mind. Or, as she puts it: “Honestly, you really only need to…

From Meryl's list on conveying yoga’s deep teachings.

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