1 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to Woke a F with me Danielle Moody. If 2 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 1: you've ever listened to me before, and if you have not, welcome, 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: then you know that I'm all about getting you woke 4 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: and keeping you woke. This week, I want to get 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: you yoke. What does yoke mean? Queer body positive yoga 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: instructor Jessamine Stanley writes all about it in her new 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: book Yoke, My Yoga of Self Acceptance, and she joined 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: me on Woke a F Daily to talk all about 9 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: it and hopefully introduce the concept to your life. You 10 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: can get early access to conversations just like this and 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,279 Speaker 1: over a hundred more exclusive interviews by supporting me on 12 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: Patreon at patreon dot com slash woke AF. I hope 13 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: you enjoy my chat with Jessimin Stanley and find the 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: yoke in your life. How do you explain what yoke means? 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: What is it like to practice that love and acceptance 16 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: every day? Like? How do you start your day so 17 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: that you are grounded in the right space? My goodness? Well, okay, 18 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 1: thank you so much for happing. And what I will 19 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: say in response to what is yoke? Yoke is like 20 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: my American millennial translation of the word yoga yoga meaning 21 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: you mean bringing together, and yoke is that it's just 22 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: a union. It's bringing together all the different pieces of 23 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: yourself and whether that be good or bad or really 24 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: I think more specifically and more necessarily the ugly seeing 25 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: every single piece of yourself and not trying to fix 26 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: it or make it different or try to be good 27 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: or not trying to to categorize anything, really just saying 28 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: this is who I am, and I'm going to accept 29 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: every single piece of myself. And that is what I 30 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: have felt that my yoga practice, honestly has always been. 31 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: But I think that yoga, when it's talking about in 32 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: the mainstream, is always categorized as fitness at this point, 33 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: and whenever we talk about it, it's always like yoga 34 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: poses and sequences and like it's not about this connection 35 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: to the truth of yourself and really needing to accept 36 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: every single facet of yourself. And I think of yoking 37 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: as a moment by moment journey that is always evolving, 38 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: and that with time just becomes more complex and more decadent, honestly, 39 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: but just becomes more the journey becomes more intense. And 40 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: I think that on a daily basis. There are many 41 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: different types of practices that I that are a part 42 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: of how I am able to show up. And honestly, 43 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: my yoga practice in and of itself is really how 44 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm able to show up in this world. It's how 45 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: I'm able to be present, especially when the going gets tough, 46 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: and how I'm able to deal with the constant rocking, 47 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: the fact that, as Octavia says, God has changed, that 48 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: there's always change coming. Really being present to that. And 49 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: it's kind of different every day, and I'm really bad 50 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: at keeping the same schedule every single day. I have 51 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: to be able to just let my ship flow with 52 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: whatever is happening in my day on that particular day today, 53 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: for instance, So I'm transitioning to living full time in 54 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: an RV with my partner, and so we are in 55 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: this big period of just like we're in flux in 56 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: a lot of different ways. And so this morning I 57 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: drove to my office in Durham from staying in a 58 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: kind of remote place in southern Virginia, and so and 59 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: so I needed to wake up really early and just 60 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: actually like plug in immediately. And a huge thing for 61 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: me with that is just being able to feel water 62 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: and feel a connection to the natural world, and that 63 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: might mean drinking water. For me today, it especially meant 64 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: bathing in water and just really feeling I was blessed 65 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: to be able to bathe outside today and so being 66 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: able to just be in nature and remember that like 67 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: this is what I am. I'm a creature of this earth. 68 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: I'm not above this earth. I am of the mud, 69 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: I am of the water, the grass. That being able 70 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: to actually remember that and not just be like a 71 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: robot it would be in a box, Holliday, that feels pretty. 72 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: That's not important for me today. You know. I can 73 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: tell you that so many lessons that I have learned 74 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: deeply over the course of this pandemic, but really about 75 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: myself has been understanding when I feel out of flow. 76 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,239 Speaker 1: And what has happened is that I have finally learned 77 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: like what works for me to get into alignment, which 78 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: has been a daily meditation practice and daily walking that 79 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: takes me out, you know, walking on the piers because 80 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: I need to be by water and be outside and 81 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: whether that is for you know, the luxury of two 82 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: hours or if it's for twenty minutes, like I need 83 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: that connection. I used to joke and tell people that 84 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: I was a plant, right, Like, if you can see 85 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: in the background, you see all of my plants. I 86 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: was like, I'm a plant, right, like I need light, 87 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: and I need the water and the air. Right. That's 88 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: it's so bad, is that it's like we are plants literally, 89 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: just like how a tree grows, just like how a 90 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: flower blooms. That is the human experience and we need exactly. 91 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: They are incredible teachers, legit nothing. I always think about 92 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: my plants as being like they are showing me how 93 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: to live. They're showing me how to weather the storm, 94 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: how to get what I need when I need it, 95 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: and how to keep quiet stick, stick to the ground, 96 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: keep quiet anyway, please continue. I also one of the 97 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: reasons why I had been following you and had been 98 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: introduced to you and your work also was this sense 99 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: of feeling so out of whack. Right. I came from 100 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: the school of physical fitness, where I was taught to 101 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: beat my body into submission, right instead of loving my body. 102 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: And I've been talking about this un woke app as 103 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: we are, you know, going on this journey of what 104 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: it means to live consciously, right, not just for the 105 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: politics of rage, which is where my work stems from. 106 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: But also what does it mean to be in a 107 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: state of rest and alignment? But what does it really 108 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: mean to love yourself? And for me, exercise, right, the 109 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: practice of yoga, the practice of any type of exercise, 110 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: had always been about submission, submission into the pose, submission 111 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: into the work. And I want to know for you, like, 112 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: when did it become apparent that it was about the breath, 113 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: that it was about the flow, and that it wasn't 114 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: about the contortion, right, the contortion in our real lives, right, 115 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: like in our everyday lives being contorted as black women 116 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: into other people's boxes and images. But then also the 117 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: contorting of yourself in this practice of yoga that became 118 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: so glamorized for the complexity of the poses as opposed 119 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: to the simplicity of the breath. M this is a 120 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: word that you were serving for real? Like I literally, well, okay, 121 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: so short answer is that not right off the back, 122 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: not at all, Like I definitely did not understand my 123 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: yoga practice as being something that I was experiencing on 124 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: a spiritual level at all in the beginning. I very 125 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: much understood it as a physical practice, and I think 126 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: that that allowed me to feel as though sharing the 127 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: yoga postures and the way that I practiced them, that 128 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: that was the way that I wanted to share my 129 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: yoga practice was like, yeah, this is I like yoga. 130 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,439 Speaker 1: I like moving my body. But even after my teacher training, 131 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: I would say that I still was not that invested 132 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: in the connection to the breath. But at some point, 133 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: I don't even know that it was like an exact 134 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: moment of clarity, but at some point I realized that 135 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: the breathing is really all that was necessary From the beginning, 136 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: the breathing was all that mattered, and ultimately each posture 137 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: is just an invitation to breathe more it's it's just 138 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: another way to breathe. It doesn't even matter what the 139 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: posture is ultimately like, because you can be in as 140 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: long as you are alive, you are assuming a posture. 141 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: So if you are breathing and you're practicing a posture, 142 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: you're practicing like it's not it's all the same. And 143 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: so this came definitely after years of practice, and it's 144 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: something that I would say I am still awakening a 145 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 1: truth that I am still awakening too at to this day, 146 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: and I think that there's so much in the way 147 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: that we as black women are told that we are 148 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: allowed to show up in this world. And I think 149 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: that we are often told that our value and our 150 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: merit only extends as far as it matters to another 151 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: human being. It's not about actually accepting or respecting or 152 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: even seeing yourself as as a individual light. It's all 153 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 1: about how you can be used by someone else. And 154 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: I have I mean, I would say that I am 155 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: still awakening to the ways in which I am through 156 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: my own practice and through what I share with others, 157 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: am still playing into that over and over again. And 158 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: I think that is my yoga, that is my posture, 159 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: that is that's where the breath it is necessary, that 160 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: that is the work of this life, is to have 161 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: that experience and to grow from there. And I don't 162 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: think that. I think the part of acceptance is not 163 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: looking for the final destination and not looking for not 164 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: looking for a right answer, just saying this is just 165 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: what it is, and this is where I am. I 166 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: think that it's so weird to have a yoga practice that, honestly, 167 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: I feel like the yoga that I was sold in 168 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: the beginning was very much like the white man's yoga 169 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: very much like this way of understanding spirituality that had 170 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: been co signed by white supremacy. And it's very interesting 171 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: how the durability of the truth of yoga that it 172 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: would it would be able to survive even that that 173 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:18,559 Speaker 1: ultimately you are still You're still being offered an opportunity 174 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: to accept every single part of it, even when it 175 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: is shrouded in something else, even when it's been made 176 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: to look like something else, it's still the truth is 177 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 1: still there. And yeah, how do you come back the 178 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: commercialization of yoga, right, the commodification, the capitalist aspect of it, 179 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: while staying grounded in the essential purpose of it? Right 180 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: like you are extraordinary in one in your ability to 181 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: make something so expansive right that I feel like capitalism 182 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: and the mainstream has very much narrowed right like yoga 183 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. I think the beauty of 184 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: what you bring in your perspective and your ideology of 185 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: yoga is more expansive. But how do you balance that 186 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: with you know, the need to live right like, you know, 187 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: the more success you have, right, the more that you 188 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: also have to feed into this structure that is unbalanced 189 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. So how do you stay 190 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: grounded in that. I don't. I don't think it. I don't. 191 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: I don't. I try as much as I can, I 192 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: try not to combat anything. Honestly, I don't want to 193 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: combat because I don't think that. I think the commodification 194 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: of yoga is just it's false. It has nothing to 195 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: do with what yoga actually is. And and I think 196 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: that it fizzles out. It will it's a trend that 197 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 1: will be gone, and that we worry about it because 198 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: it's not real. I think that it is very, very 199 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: hard though, this line of like wanting to wanting to 200 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: make money so you can eat, and also at the 201 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: same time not wanting to be a part of some 202 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: fakeshit And I think that just accepting that that complicated 203 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: line is even there, and not trying to rest on 204 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: one side or the other, just accepting, like, this is 205 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: where the hard spot is. That to me is the yoga, 206 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: It is the reason for living the practice at all, 207 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: and so that feels like a worthwhile expression of it, 208 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: to be in acceptance of this hard thing that does 209 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: not make sense. But I think that like for me, 210 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: just trying to try to find a final answer or 211 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: trying to corral in a one particular direction. It just 212 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: ends up not it doesn't create a sense of fulfillment 213 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: at all. But I think that it's so interesting to 214 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: me now because there was this point some years ago 215 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: where I thought about not posting on social media anymore 216 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: because I felt like, I feel like social media asks 217 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: the opposite of what yoga does. Social media says, look 218 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: outside yourself for answers, always show me exactly, show me 219 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: and care what other people think, and yoga is literally 220 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: the exact opposite. It is like, look within yourself only 221 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: if you can get away from other people and do 222 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: not really be Actually it's not really get away from 223 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: other people, but we can. I don't want to get 224 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: in the weeds. But I think that for me, it 225 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: ultimately comes down to the impact that it can have 226 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: on the lives of other people to see someone being 227 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: honest and authentic and actually living their truth and not 228 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: trying to share any one particular idea, being problematic, being contradictory, 229 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: like doing all of these things. It's so it's like 230 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: anti capitalists ultimately like to just be complicated and to 231 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: say that that is enough, because capitalism really is at 232 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: its best when we believe that we need something from 233 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: someone or something else. And so if you say, not 234 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: only do I not need anything from anyone else, but 235 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: I am complicated. I rest at the center of all 236 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: these different intersections that can inspire other people to accept 237 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: themselves as well. And that me feels like what the 238 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: world is really it's more people just being messy and 239 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: being problematic and doing saying the wrong thing and being 240 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: open about the fact that they've said the wrong thing. 241 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: Because now we're coming into this time where like now 242 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: that people are finally more comfortable using the word racism 243 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: and talking about it, there's this desire to like point 244 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: a finger at everybody other than yourself and be like, well, 245 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: everyone else is fucking up, but like look at look 246 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 1: at and I'm like, you are doing just the same shit. 247 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: It's literally everybody else. Like you have all the same 248 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: companies just like everybody else, and being able to just 249 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 1: there's so much power in that, and there's so much 250 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: opportunity for healing. And I think that all of that 251 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: that's what yoga really is. So when we talk about 252 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: like the commodification and talking about like trends and honestly 253 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: people work shipping handstands and like being obsessed with leggings 254 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: and coconut water. All of these things are just not 255 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: like which I love someone literally I love, but I 256 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: love it. I could talk for hours about leggings. Sand 257 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: is an incredible substance on which to practice yoga, like 258 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: I feel it. But at the same time, it's like 259 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: all of that is just kind of like it's window dressing. 260 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: It will, it will pass the time. But the reality 261 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: is that we have this incredible opportunity as a society 262 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: to heal, and we can do that through our individual 263 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: yoga practices, and I just I think there's a lot 264 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: of opportunity there. Can you talk to us about the 265 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: healing properties that yoga provides as intertwined with marijuana and 266 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: the understanding too. I mean, this is like a multilayered 267 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: question because I find that the more obviously, the more 268 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: places that we'd finally becomes legal and decriminalized, the more 269 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: I talk to black people, varied black people about you know, 270 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: how they have smoked weed and how it has differed 271 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: now right then when we were younger, that it is 272 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: actually more of It's not so much an escape. It 273 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: is really about a healing and connection and a slowing down, right, 274 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: And like removing ourselves from the grind and these things. 275 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: And so I do I want you to talk about 276 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: the spiritualness and the connectedness of your practice with marijuana, 277 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: which some find like some you know, like with anything else, 278 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: will find issue with. But I believe that there is 279 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: a true there there. How did that come about for you? Yeah? 280 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: I mean, I definitely Okay. So the thing about yoga 281 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: and weed is that they have literally always gone together. Honestly, 282 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 1: weed has gone with every single spiritual practice, like indigenous 283 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: spiritual practice in for time and memoriam, because human beings 284 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,119 Speaker 1: use this plant to be able to cleanse from the 285 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: inside out so that you are balancing and regulating your 286 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: stem and you're also I think if it's like sweeping 287 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: out the cobwebs, it's like there's so much that happens 288 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:31,119 Speaker 1: in our life that is painful and it's difficult, and 289 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,360 Speaker 1: that we don't need to hang onto. And cannabis creates 290 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 1: a world where you don't have to you don't have 291 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: to hang onto things that are unnecessary, and it is 292 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: a deeply spiritual practice and something again that like has 293 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: literally always been used in tandem with one another. But 294 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: I did not know that when I first started practicing yoga, 295 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: or when I first started smoking weed, and like, I 296 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: felt a lot of shame about smoking weed, like in 297 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: I mean on a very deep level. And even now 298 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,920 Speaker 1: I think that that's so much of my own advocacy. 299 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: It's coming from a place of wanting to accept from 300 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: myself that I don't need to feel shame about using cannabis. 301 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: And I think that the way that they work together 302 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: is that specifically, thinking about yoga, like when you're practicing, 303 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: when you're doing a really hard physical yoga practice, there 304 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: it is so easy to be distracted by how hard 305 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: the practice is, and cannabis makes it much easier to 306 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: endure the difficulty of whatever the posture is, whatever the seriences. 307 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: It makes it where you can just be present, you 308 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: just get into it. It's like, yeah, this is hard 309 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: and it sucks and that's okay. And honestly, that is 310 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: so much of why black people have used cannabis for 311 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: so long, as to be able to just deal with 312 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 1: this world that we live in that does not want 313 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: us to be whole and to be fully to be free, 314 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: and it's an extension of that just being able to say, 315 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: you know what, this is hard and it is a lot, 316 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: but I can do it and I can bear it. 317 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: And I think the same can be said for like 318 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: understanding the practice is something that is more than physical 319 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,919 Speaker 1: when you think about your mental body and your emotional 320 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 1: body being able to have that same application saying like, 321 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: you know what, this is a lot right now. There's 322 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: a lot going on for me mentally, and it's okay. 323 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: There doesn't need to be less. It's okay that there's 324 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: a lot and I can hold it and I can 325 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:42,479 Speaker 1: handle it. So like I had not known that, I 326 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: didn't know about the thousands of years old relationship that 327 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,959 Speaker 1: yoga and we'd have. I didn't know about spirituality, and 328 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: we'd just always haven't been linked. But when I first 329 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: started practicing yoga, it was when I first started practicing 330 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: yoga regularly, it was around the same time that I 331 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: started smoking weed regularly, and I would just like always 332 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: hot box my car right before going into the studio, 333 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 1: and I just had so much I mean, talk about stigma. 334 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: I was like, I don't want up in here smell. 335 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: I'm like everybody knows I'm walking in Like, let me 336 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: breathe myself real quick, like made somebody doesn't know, No 337 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: everybody knows, and but I got to this place of like, 338 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: I just don't care because I feel so good. It 339 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: just makes me feel. It makes the practice. So there's 340 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: a level of opening that can happen when you are 341 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: not clinging on to things that you don't need to 342 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: cling on too. And I mean maybe this is just 343 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: me as virgo rising, like always wanting to have a 344 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: list and check it twice, but like being able to 345 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: let go of that list and just be in the 346 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: present moment. Game changer, complete game changer. Yeah, I would 347 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: a great funny. I'm a Virgo rising as well. Oh 348 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: I would. I'm like very interesting. But no, I agree. 349 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 1: I think that there is so much to the letting go. 350 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: And I've been having this conversation, you know, as we 351 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: came off of Juneteenth, as we had just had you know, 352 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: America's you know independence, whatever that means, this practice of 353 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: understanding what it means to be free, right, like what 354 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: freedom actually means, and you know, and for black people 355 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: in particular, Like I was talking about how our ancestors 356 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: in bondage created ritual understood themselves as free even while shackled. 357 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: And so what does it mean to like live in 358 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: this oppressive system, this state that doesn't want to see us, 359 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: that doesn't want us to be free. What does freedom 360 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: look like? It doesn't look like getting permission from other 361 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: people to exist. It looks like deciding that I'm going 362 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: to show up as who I am right And like 363 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: that's it. Literally, it means saying that I was free 364 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: the day out for that I am free, that that 365 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 1: is inside of me. There is a light that shines 366 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: so bright. Nobody can hold that. It doesn't matter if 367 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: I am a physical bondage, nobody can hold that. And 368 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: I feel so much gratitude to our ancestors for enduring 369 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: and exhibiting the way that they have exactly what it 370 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: is to be free. That no matter what happens, no 371 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: matter who tries to someone can think that they hold 372 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: a bill of sale on your name, but they don't 373 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,160 Speaker 1: own you. They don't own you, they don't know anything. 374 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 1: That there is a power inside of each of us 375 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: that again capitalism, white supremacy, they prop off of us. 376 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: Not believing this, So like that's the whole point is 377 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: that you do not feel this way. But there is 378 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 1: a light that shines so bright it cannot be held, 379 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: It cannot be contained by anyone else, and just being 380 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: able to remember that is the most important thing because 381 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: there's i think for everybody a moment coming in your 382 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,199 Speaker 1: life where you feel like you are not free, like 383 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: you are not like you are in chained, enslaved, that 384 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: you are not able to be express yourself fully, and 385 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: ultimately it's the mind that is holding that. And if 386 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:27,920 Speaker 1: you can say, I know I'm free, I know I'm here, 387 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: i know I'm present, But it does take I mean, 388 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: it's something cannabis helps dramatically. It makes it makes such 389 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: a difference. And it's always very interesting to me whenever 390 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,679 Speaker 1: people are anti weed, when they are not comfortable talking 391 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: about it, because I'm like, yeah, I can see that 392 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: all of these things are related. Like if you don't 393 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 1: feel like you're free and you don't smoke weed, that's 394 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,880 Speaker 1: why these things are connected to one another. So it's 395 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: all okay everything. I think that it just makes the 396 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: makes the advocacy more important. It makes the work of 397 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:09,879 Speaker 1: each of us so much more important. Yeah, and oh yeah, 398 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: I'm curious what your son and moon's signs are. My 399 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:21,640 Speaker 1: son is a Scorpio and I'm a Leo. Absolutely, I 400 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: love that. Oh, I love that. Oh you better come grout. 401 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 1: That's a beautiful balance on that. Very interesting. Do you 402 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: have a like a air sign placement in a in 403 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,639 Speaker 1: a high like in a prominent planet? Do you do 404 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: you have like a Gemini or a or a Libra 405 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: or a um. I'm wondering. I'm like, I'm like, let 406 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: me pull up. We don't become post our friends later. Actually, 407 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: I'm always curious everybody chart. I love that, like, let 408 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: me look at let me look at my chat reel 409 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: because I you know again, these are things that I 410 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: fully and totally connect you believe in? Yeah? Is all 411 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:09,400 Speaker 1: of that? Yes? Libra is in Pluto? Oh interesting? Okay, 412 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: heard kind of far out. What year were you born? 413 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I am or something? No, that's so cute. 414 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: Seventy nine, seventy nine okay, heard very interesting Libra? Very interesting? Okay, cool, Yeah, 415 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: you don't mind. Great, I would love to. I would 416 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: love to the last question that I will ask you 417 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: is this, you know, what does it mean to live consciously? 418 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: For for you? What is what does that mean? Because 419 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: this is again, this is where I'm trying to take woke. 420 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: Af was from this place of political rage to also 421 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: understanding what it just means to be conscious, right, And 422 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: consciousness doesn't isn't just about being conscious of everything that 423 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: is wrong, right, and this is this is where I'm 424 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: trying to move to that. It also means being conscious 425 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: of joy, being conscious of gratitude, being conscious of when 426 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: you are feeling low vibration or high vibration, conscious of 427 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,959 Speaker 1: who you're sharing your energy with. So I'm curious as 428 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: to what that means for you man so many different things. 429 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: I think that consciousness is just being present for me personally, 430 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: It's just like just being present to all that is 431 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: and saying that, not ruling anything out, existing without barrier, 432 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: without boundary, to just be and to feel all of it, 433 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: not just the things that feel fun or or that 434 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: look pretty when they're written down, the things that especially 435 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: the things that look ugly, that feel hard and confusing, 436 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: and just being really, really comfortable with the fact that 437 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: this moment is fleeting, that the past is gone, that 438 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: the future is always coming, and that all that really 439 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: matters is what is happening in this exact moment. Self 440 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: acceptance is a journey, not a destination. It is a practice. 441 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: Yoga is one way in which we can get on 442 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: that journey and stay on course. But even if yoga 443 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: is not a part of your personal path, I do 444 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: hope that Jessiman's teachings and her concept of yoking was 445 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: able to touch or even awaken something inside you to 446 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: help you on whatever form of your journey you're on. 447 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 1: Part of why I do this podcast is for us 448 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: to come together in pursuit of wokeness and and also 449 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: work on bettering our yokeness. If you want to join 450 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: the woke a F nation, you can support me on 451 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 1: Patreon right now at patreon dot com slash woke f 452 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: every day where you're having new conversations about the state 453 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: of our world in all of its facets, and I 454 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 1: would love for you to be a part of it. 455 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: Power to the people and to all the people. Power, 456 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: find your yoke, get woke, and stay woke as fuck.