1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: The yoga of everyday life, the yoga of not cutting 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: someone off in traffic, the yoga of not like wanting 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,120 Speaker 1: to bust a cap in somebody's ask because they said 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: the wrong thing at the wrong time, Like all of that. 5 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: Those moments are the moments where I'm like, Wow, yeah, 6 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: I'm glad that I'm glad that I'm breathing. There are 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet. As a production of I 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Unbust Creative, I'm Bridget Todd and this 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 1: is there are No Girls on the Internet. During the pandemic, 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: I got super into yoga. I love that I could 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: just roll out of matt and do it on my 12 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: kitchen floor. You know, it felt really accessible. Yoga should 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: be for everybody, and as much as I love it, 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: a lot of times, I have to admit that sometimes 15 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: it doesn't feel like it's for everybody, and I think 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: that can be true of a lot of fitness in general. 17 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: It can you really exclusionary if you're not thin and white, 18 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: and sometimes it can be really hard to see yourself 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: represented in the fitness space at all. Luckily, yoga teacher, 20 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: author advocate, and entrepreneur Jessamine Stanley is using the Internet 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: to change that. You know, I never set out to 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: have the platform that I have now. I started sharing 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: my yoga practice on social media because I wanted to 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: find a connection to a yoga community outside of my house. 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: I felt very um, I don't know if ostracized is 26 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: the right word, but I definitely did not feel included 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: in my local yoga community in North Carolina, and so 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: I started sharing my yoga practice on social so that 29 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: I could connect with other practitioners and be like, is 30 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: this how you're practicing triangle pose? Like how do you 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: feel about down dog splits? You know what I mean? 32 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: Like I was really just like wanting to connect with 33 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: other people, and so to me, to share my practice 34 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: doesn't really feel like I'm It doesn't feel like anything 35 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: more than existing. It feels like I'm just here. And 36 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: the Internet is a really safe place for introverts like 37 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: me to make community and to find the people that 38 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: we're looking for. And that is really where I land 39 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: with it. And it helps because there is so much 40 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: that comes along with living in a marginalized body and 41 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: showing your life. And I think that if I had 42 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: not set out with those intentions, I think that my 43 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: perspective on it would be a little bit different, could 44 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: be different anyway. What was the process of Jessamine connecting 45 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: with yoga for the first time? Like, so, I literally 46 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: never cared about yoga at all. I one of my 47 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: aunts was obsessed with beak from yoga when I was 48 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: in high school, and so she convinced me to go 49 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: to a class with her when I was sixteen, and 50 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: I hated it. I thought it was the first thing 51 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: in the entire world. And then when I was in 52 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: graduate school, a friend of mine suggested that I joined 53 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: her at a class. And at that point my life 54 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: had changed quite a bit, and I was going through 55 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: a period of depression, and I'm prone to depressions, so 56 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: it was one of many waves. But she was like, 57 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: oh my god, comed yoga. You're gonna love it. And 58 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: I really thought of yoga as mean something that thin 59 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: white women do. I didn't really think it had anything 60 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: to do with me. And even when I went to class, 61 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: I was like the fattest person, one of the only 62 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: black people. It was a very alienating experience for me. 63 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: But what I didn't realize until I was actually in 64 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: the room was just how often I tell myself no, 65 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: so like what would happen is that I would be 66 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: And this was also in a Beak from Yoga studio, 67 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: which is a style of hot yoga. And the only 68 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: reason that I really bring it up now is that 69 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: in Beak from Yoga Studios they have mirrors. This is 70 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: not common I think in general with yoga, but um 71 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: in this particular style they use mirrors. And so I'm 72 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: looking at myself in the mirror, and I'm just judging 73 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: myself so harshly I was saying. I'd be like, like, 74 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: you have no business being here. Everybody around you can 75 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: see that. The teacher knows you shouldn't be here. And 76 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: I'd be looking at everybody else practicing the postures like 77 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: they can do it, they know how to do it. 78 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: I don't know how to do it, so I shouldn't 79 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,479 Speaker 1: even be here, And like I would get to a 80 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: place of like not even trying the postures. Like I 81 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: would see the teachers start the posture and I'd be like, well, 82 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,119 Speaker 1: I'm not going to do that. And after a certain point, 83 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: I thought, so are you gonna spend the whole ninety 84 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: minutes doing this or like I mean, because you paid 85 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: to get here, so you could do this for ninety minutes, 86 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: or you could just try. Maybe you fall down. Maybe 87 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: the teacher sees that you fell down, and they're like, 88 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: she doesn't know anything. Maybe all the other students see 89 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: you and they're like, she doesn't know anything. Even knowing 90 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: all of that, maybe you could still just try. And 91 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: it wasn't even how much about having that experience on 92 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 1: my yoga mat. It was really noticing all the other 93 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: parts of my life where I do that, where I 94 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: say like I'm not even gonna try. Why why I 95 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: try to do that thing? I can't do that thing? 96 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: And yoga really became a place where I was able 97 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: to practice jumping over barriers or giving myself the permission 98 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: to run into a wall, and to see what happens 99 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: when I actually look at myself in a really honest 100 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: and authentic way and allow all of my truth to 101 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: be there, the parts that I don't like especially and um, honestly, 102 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: that is why I still continue to retreat to my 103 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: yoga practice, is that it is the practice ground for 104 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: me to find stability and strength in my life. But 105 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,160 Speaker 1: I definitely did not understand it, like I'm talking about 106 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: this like like esoteric lee now but I did not 107 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: understand it that way at the time. At the time, 108 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: I was like, I don't hate this. It makes my 109 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: body feel good. I'll keep doing it. And honestly, that 110 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: kept that pushed me through like five years of practice, 111 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: was just being like, I'm just gonna keep doing this 112 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 1: because it makes me feel good. So that's where I 113 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: started for sure. Wow, I have so much to say. 114 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: A side note, my first time ever doing hot yoga 115 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: was several years ago and a friend of mine who 116 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: was very fit, was like, oh, come do hot yoga, 117 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: and so I was like, Oh, I don't know what 118 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: that is, but sure when I arrived, I was like, oh, 119 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: I thought she meant hot, Like, oh, it's so hot 120 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: right now. She meant no. I I said like, oh, 121 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: I gotta get sup it out of my car and 122 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: I left. No, that's oh my god. I totally identified 123 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: my very first yoga class. It was hot yoga, and 124 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: the room is heated to like hundred and five degrees. 125 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: It's like outrageously hot, and I was sweating from places 126 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: that I truly did not know the human being swept from, 127 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: Like I was sweating from the tops of my fingers 128 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: and inside my eyebrows, and I made it like a 129 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 1: third of the way through the class before I was like, 130 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: I cannot be in here, like this is why these 131 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: people don't know me. And they told me at the 132 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: beginning of class, don't walk out once you've already entered 133 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: the room. But I was like, these people don't know me. 134 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: I have got to get out of here. This is 135 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: crazy talk. And I left the room and I immediately 136 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: felt amazing because there was air conditioning. But then when 137 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: I went back into the room, I learned why you 138 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: should not walk out of yoga, walk out of a 139 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: hot yoga room like that, because the temperature change in 140 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: your body is so extreme that it can have all 141 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: kinds of negative effects, and for me, it was nausea 142 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: and I eventually just walked out and I was like, 143 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: I'm never coming back here. It was seven years before 144 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: I went back and tried it again, so I feel 145 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: like that's really common that people will try yoga and 146 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: they're like, this is the worst. Somebody told me I 147 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: was gonna come and feel calm, and all I feel 148 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: is terrible. And all I can say is that I 149 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: feel you, and the calm is a multifaceted concept, but yes, 150 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I mean it kind of it reminds 151 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: me of what you were saying about how the experience 152 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: of doing yoga really kind of freed you up to 153 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: really see yourself, to fail to hit walls, to you 154 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: know fully, kind of embrace a kind of humanity to yourself. 155 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: And I think that you know, I love yoga, but 156 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: it took it was a while to get there. And 157 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: I think that there's this misconception that you're gonna do 158 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: it and that like you know, it's gonna like a 159 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: white light is gonna feel the room and then all 160 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're gonna be at peace and and 161 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: and calm. Yoga can be sucking hard, and you can 162 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: really feel things physically, emotionally, mentally that really challenge you. 163 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: And that's kind of part of the practice. It's not 164 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: a magic bullet that automatically makes you feel zan or calm, 165 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: but I feel like it's often sold that way exactly. 166 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,359 Speaker 1: I mean, it's really like a synthesis. It's a synthesis 167 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: of an idea that while I definitely understand it, it 168 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: also leaves so much the imagination and it leads out 169 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: a lot. So like when you're saying you feel calm 170 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: m at the end of yoga. This is like I 171 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: felt so calm at the end of my practice today. 172 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: What I felt was that my body had been stretched 173 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: to a place where my mind could relax and I 174 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: could be present. And in order to do that, there 175 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: is an agitation of the body that's necessary, and it 176 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: just kind of depends how much agitation you want and 177 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:26,479 Speaker 1: need some people. For some of us, one posture is sufficient. 178 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: That is more than enough. And really, like I talked 179 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: about this a little bit in my second book, Yoke 180 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: My Yoga of Self Acceptance, But you really only need 181 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: like one posture to practice yoga, and it's whatever posture 182 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,079 Speaker 1: you're in currently, because all parts of life are yoga ultimately. 183 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: But if you are wanting to really like give your 184 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: body a stretch and also sit in meditation for a 185 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,719 Speaker 1: long period of time, it's helpful to do a variety 186 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: of postures that will allow you to arrive in a 187 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: place where you're a little bit more calm. But what 188 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: that looks like is can be very difficult at times, 189 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: and the difficulty is happening on purpose because life is difficult. 190 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: Every part of this life is so hard, and I 191 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: think that we get conditioned to expect for things to 192 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: be easy, and we look for things to be happy 193 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: and good, and so whenever things are challenging or difficult 194 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: or hard or bad, we say, that's not how things 195 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 1: should be. Things should be I should be happy all 196 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: the time, but nobody's happy all the time. You have 197 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: to experience the darkness in order to even appreciate the light. 198 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. That is so true, And honestly, I think 199 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: it comes up in my own love hate sometimes relationship 200 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: with yoga, but also I guess fitness more broadly. You know, 201 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: I love yoga. I do it. I start, I start. 202 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: Every good day, I start with yoga. If I'm able 203 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: to get on the map, you know, that's a good day. 204 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: But I also and most of my yoga happens by myself. 205 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: Sometimes with your videos, I have to say, but I 206 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: do it mostly in my apartment. And I think part 207 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: of that is that for me, the experience of getting 208 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: into yoga with also the experience of things like cultural 209 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: appropriation or like whiteness and thinness really being shoved down 210 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: my throat. Has this been some Has your work been 211 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: a response to that? You know, I don't know about 212 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: a response, but it's certainly existing within all of that. 213 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: And frankly, when I first started practicing yoga, I never 214 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: allowed myself to be present to the spirituality of yoga. 215 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: I've focused entirely on the physicality the postures because I 216 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: was like, first of all, is this cultural appropriation? Because 217 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: I am not South Asian, but I'm practicing something that 218 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: is deeply embedded in South Asian culture and heritage, and 219 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: I know that, and I'm also learning it from white 220 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: people who have colonized as their jobs. So I'm like, 221 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: should I even be doing this? Like it made me 222 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: keep the practice at a distance. But what I came 223 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: to realize, and something that I think is um a 224 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: little loophole in yoga, is that ultimately, if you are 225 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: really living your yoga, if you're really practicing and looking 226 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: within yourself, yoga will always lead you back to your 227 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: own culture. It will always lead you back to whatever 228 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: lives inside of you. And I think that that is 229 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: something that is really hard to understand within the parameters 230 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: of white supremacy, because so much of white supremacy is 231 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: about bringing us It's it's all about like neutralizing individual 232 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: cultures and holding the idea of whiteness on a pedestal, 233 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: and so that doesn't leave a lot of nuance for 234 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: us to accept our own individual cultural identities. And I 235 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: think what it also encourages is white people to avoid 236 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: doing the work of looking at their own uh wounds, 237 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: internal wounds, and instead to try to appropriate or to 238 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: where the mask of someone else's cultural identity. So I 239 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: think that my work has really and it's not even 240 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: like I say, my work, but it's really just like 241 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: my yoga, my yoga is to accept my role in 242 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: all of that. How do I personally uphold white supremacy 243 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: through my own internalized racism? How do I engage in 244 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: cultural appropriation? How can I understand what appreciation is? And 245 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: then on the topic of appreciation, how can I appreciate 246 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: the heritage of yoga and how it exists in South 247 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: Asia and also appreciate my own culture and show reverence 248 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: to my own ancestry and legacy. So, yeah, I don't 249 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: know if it's yeah, I don't I don't know if 250 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: that answers your question, but it's not. It's certainly something 251 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: that's on my mind. For sure. It sounds like what 252 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: you're saying is it's a practice it's a it's a 253 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,199 Speaker 1: it's a joy. It's like a lifelong journey, and that 254 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: is part and parcel of the work. Yes, that's exactly right, 255 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: That is exactly a hundred and that there's no landing point. 256 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: There's always that if you're still here, still alive, there's 257 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: still something to learn, and that that's really what I'm 258 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: opening myself up to. And what I hope that anyone 259 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: who would ever learn about yoga in here or around me, 260 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: I hope that that is what they would get, is 261 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: that as long as you're still in the fight, you're 262 00:14:46,760 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: doing it right. Let's get quick break at her back. 263 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: So you probably know Rosa Parks from her work during 264 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: the Civil Rights movement, But did you know that Rosa 265 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: Parks was also an avid yogi. Dr Stephanie Evans, author 266 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: of the book Black Women in the Ivory Tower, studies 267 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: what she calls historical wellness, or how elder Black women 268 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: wrote and thought about self care. For Rosa Parks, yoga 269 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: was a family affair. Evans wrote that Rosa Parks learned 270 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: about the power of daily morning stretches from her own 271 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: mother and would practice yoga with her nieces and Dr 272 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: Evans says that this focus on taking care of herself 273 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: was actually a part of Rosa Parks's expression of activism. 274 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: What ms Parks teaches us is that self care is 275 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: a part of resistance. She lived at the age of 276 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: ninety two because she began to center her own health needs, 277 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: she explained, and while we may remember Rosa Parks as 278 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: being defiant and poised, images of her on her yoga 279 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: mat all smiles in bow pose are my very favorite 280 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: as a black woman. I am very much into my 281 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: you know, black woman aunties and ancestors and the ways 282 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: of which that they kind of set up a legacy 283 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: of social change and social justice. I feel like I'm 284 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: kind of like walking in the truth of my ancestors, 285 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: and as much as I hold reverence for them, that 286 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: feeling can sometimes lead to me sort of like, I 287 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: don't know, herofying them in a way where they're not 288 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: really real people. And there's this I mean, I'm sure, 289 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: you know, And there's this image that I came across 290 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: several years ago of Rosa Parks doing yoga and I 291 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: haven't framed on my desk because we think of Rosa 292 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: Parks as this like, you know, I think that like, 293 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: it's so easy to think of her as his picture 294 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: in a history book or a picture a picture on 295 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: like a Black history poster, and the images of are 296 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: smiling and doing yoga, And in fact, she really enjoyed 297 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: doing yoga a lot. She was like a like a 298 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: she had a practice, and I do think about that 299 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: picture just reminds me of the way that yoga and 300 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: all of these other little ways that we experienced physical 301 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 1: joy and physical fullness can be a way of tapping 302 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: back into my specific cultural heritage um in a way 303 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: that allows me to be a bit more loving. I 304 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: guess yes. And I would even take it a step 305 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: further that when you think about the legacy of Rosa 306 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: Parks and think about the work that she did, the 307 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: amount of spiritual fortitude that was necessary, the strength and 308 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: the ability to see beyond the present moment but also 309 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: to be in the present moment, those are all things 310 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: that are that come through restorative healing practices like yoga. 311 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: And it's I love so grateful for the legacy of 312 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: people like her who literally were like, Okay, cool. So 313 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: I'm gonna change history casually, but the way I'm gonna 314 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: do it is by practicing yoga like these, so that 315 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: when we look at social justice works specifically and we 316 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,679 Speaker 1: say like, like, if we're all being present to the 317 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: ways that we contribute to our communities and that we're 318 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: all activists ultimately, then coming from that place to heal 319 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: yourself and to work on to to put your own 320 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: healing journey first is the first step of activism and 321 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: of social justice. That like, there's nothing without that ultimately, 322 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: that if you're not taking care of yourself, there's no 323 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: way that you can take care of anyone else. All 324 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: of the horrible things in our society, whether it's capitalism, 325 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 1: whether it's white supremacy, those forces want us to be 326 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:54,360 Speaker 1: burnt out. They need us to be completely drained and 327 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: feeling like we're pouring from an empty cup all the time, 328 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: and that one way that we can reclaim is to experience, 329 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: you know, that that spiritual and physical fullness or you know, 330 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: whatever it is that makes us feel more whole. Like 331 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: that's the way that we can sort of quietly reclaim 332 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: that and and push against all those destructive forces. That's 333 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: exactly right, That is why it is so the first 334 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: thing that they come for is our spirits. It's the 335 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: first thing and and our breath being connected to that 336 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: that whenever we reconnect to our breath, it is the 337 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: greatest sign of strength and power and an inability to 338 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: ever be silenced. And I think that it's so important 339 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: as things become more chaotic, more tribal, more violent, it's 340 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: really important for us as a society to remember that 341 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,120 Speaker 1: to take care of yourself is the first line of defense. 342 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: I love that that's such a good reminder at a time. 343 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: I think, frankly, we could all use it always, every 344 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,360 Speaker 1: single day because there's always something new. That's the other 345 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,959 Speaker 1: thing about now is that it's such a reminder that, like, 346 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: you know, nothing is forever, and that the present moment 347 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: is paramount. And I think it will only get harder 348 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: to remember that, and so it's helpful to have the 349 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: tools in place. Yeah, I that is a word, you know. 350 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: The last few years and it felt like everything is 351 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: on fire and awful, and just the reminders to breathe, 352 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: reminders to be present, Reminders that you know, my own 353 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: personal vibe takes the shape of like escape. So it's 354 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: like if I can drink too much or other ways 355 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: to like unplug an escape. But ultimately I know what 356 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: I'm trying to do is like avoid having to feel 357 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: what it feels like to be in my body and 358 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: be present, and like, you know, I don't know, like 359 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: as bad as things have been the last few years, 360 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: I'm grateful that I've that I've been able to lead 361 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: into the opportunities to reconnect with my my presence and 362 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: my breath and my body and all of that totally 363 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: literally same. And you know, I think that there is 364 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: some there's so many lessons to learn and escapism that 365 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 1: I feel like are really helpful and impossible to learn otherwise. 366 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: But there is always this line of like what is 367 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: it like to just try to experience your own torment 368 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: and to really like just let the bad ship be 369 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: there just like it's like, yeah, it smells bad in here, 370 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: that's because there's trash. It's okay, it's no big deal. 371 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: And like I feel like every every stroke of yoga 372 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: that I practiced prior to was practiced for and beyond 373 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: because I feel like literally every time that I come 374 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: to my map, that I come to my breath work practice, 375 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: especially in what I think of as the yoga of 376 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: everyday life, the yoga where the yoga of not cutting 377 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: someone off in traffic, the yoga of not like wanting 378 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 1: to bust a cap in somebody's ask because they said 379 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: the wrong thing at the wrong time, like all of that. 380 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: Those moments are the moments where I'm like, Wow, yeah, 381 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,160 Speaker 1: I'm glad that I'm glad that I'm breathing. I'm glad 382 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: that I could just practice like inhaling and exhaling and 383 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: really just try to receive another human being. That is 384 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: so much I think of. There's so much that comes 385 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: from not accepting ourselves, and one of the biggest things 386 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: is that it means that you can't accept anybody else. 387 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: And so to me to be able to like just 388 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,920 Speaker 1: take every challenging moment as an opportunity to just receive 389 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: another person and just hear where they're coming from and 390 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: not try to make it about me and what I 391 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,360 Speaker 1: think and what I deserve, and just be like, you're 392 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: another human being, what are you saying? Not even like 393 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 1: I need to do anything with what they're saying, not 394 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: like I need to agree or like it, but just 395 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: can I receive? And that, I think is like, I 396 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: don't know, it helps. It helps. It's so funny to 397 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: hear you say this because from watching your videos, I 398 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: always think like, oh, just a man. It is such 399 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: a a then centered person probably never cuts people off 400 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: in traffic, and you're like, oh, that's part of the practice. 401 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: I am a very volatible person. And I definitely you know, 402 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: I thought before, like, what is the difference between me 403 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: now and me before I practice yoga? And I think 404 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: that before I started practicing yoga, I was a little 405 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: bit mad all the time, like a little bit unsettled 406 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: all the time. And even now, it's not that the 407 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: anger is not still there. And certainly I mentioned depression before, 408 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: but like I absolutely still experienced depression, waves of depression. 409 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: M It's not that it's not there. It's not that 410 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,159 Speaker 1: the bad ship isn't present. It's that I'm okay with it, 411 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: or I have the opportunity to be okay with it. 412 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: I don't have to judge myself for being uh complicated. 413 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: I don't have to judge myself for being mean or 414 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: for being problematic, Like I can just be all of 415 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,679 Speaker 1: those things. And I think that, Um, it is a 416 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: day by day journey, and some days I wake up 417 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: feeling it and some other days I do not. And 418 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: the most important thing for me, I think always is 419 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 1: to just like not try to cover it up, like 420 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: toxic positivity, I think is the biggest issue, like anytime 421 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: saying that, like you know, I'm just talking to think 422 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: about that, I'm gonna focus entirely on the happy things, 423 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: like no, it's got to be at least for me, 424 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: and I'm I'm a double cancer. So this is really 425 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: this may be specific like water signship, but like I 426 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 1: feel like if I don't experience every emotion fully, I 427 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: won't get over it. I will It'll just fester underneath, underground, 428 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: and it might not be today, it might be years 429 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: in the future, but it will come out, and it'll 430 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: be worse than if I just set it straight up 431 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,720 Speaker 1: from the beginning. I identify so hard. I could talk 432 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: all day, but I will just say I agree, and 433 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: I see you more. After a quick break, let's get 434 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: right back into it. Jessamine's work is grounded in body 435 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: positivity at a time when the term can be so 436 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: watered down and co opted to the point where the 437 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: very idea of body positivity can almost lose its meeting. 438 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: One of the things I really was excited to talk 439 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,160 Speaker 1: to you about is the idea of the body positivity movement, 440 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: and I love that so much of what you do 441 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: is grounded in making space for bodies. But my question is, 442 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: do you ever feel like both body positivity and sort 443 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: of wellness like quote wellness have been kind of co 444 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,439 Speaker 1: modified to the point where whatever radical meaning might have 445 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: been in there, we sort of I don't know, it 446 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,439 Speaker 1: just seems like it's so easily kind of turned into 447 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: a happy slogan and the reality of what what that 448 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: kind of stuff looks like it's kind of lost. Oh yeah, totally. 449 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: I mean, I think that happens with all movements low key, 450 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:31,159 Speaker 1: that whenever it becomes whenever a movement is like popularized 451 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: or becomes when it starts trending, the impact of it 452 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: gradually degrades. And I think specifically with body positivity, which 453 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,360 Speaker 1: I think a body positivity is really being like an 454 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: offshoot of body of fat, fat positivity and fat acceptance 455 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: and fat acceptance as a movement deeply radical did not 456 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: start yesterday. A percent has been like in the sixties 457 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: and seventies like there. I mean, that's and that's me 458 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: really just being kind of vague in general, but it 459 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: has existed for quite some time. And body positivity, I 460 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: think from fat positivity has always been seen as like 461 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,160 Speaker 1: kind of a bullshit movement, low key, like I think 462 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: that people in the fat acceptance movement fat positivity have 463 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: always been critical of body positivity because it is more general, 464 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: and I thought a body positivity is being like basically saying, 465 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: you're okay today, exactly as you are. You don't need 466 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 1: to change anything about yourself. Your body is exactly as 467 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,120 Speaker 1: it needs to be. And when you accept your body, 468 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: then you can do anything that you want, which is 469 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: a really cool message. And it's not actually about body size, 470 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: which a lot of body positivity has become about. The 471 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: message is not what I just said, and it becomes 472 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 1: like fat girls deserve the same clothes as thin girls 473 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,399 Speaker 1: or something along those lines. And so it's not and 474 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: it's not noting the extent to which black, black uh creators, 475 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: in particular black fat creators have been really instrumental in 476 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: the body positivity movement being what it is now like 477 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: it excludes all of that. And I think that because 478 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: of that, maybe bastardization is taking a step too far, 479 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: but also maybe not because of that. Certainly, simplification of 480 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: the message body positivity has been co opted by a 481 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: lot of people that I think that their intentions are good, 482 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: but what ends up happening is that the message just 483 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:49,960 Speaker 1: becomes water down, it becomes deluded. And so now, in 484 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: response to body positivity, even just the idea of being 485 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: positive about your body, like a lot of people push 486 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: back on that and they're like, I don't want to 487 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: feel positive about my body all the time. And so 488 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 1: from that, body neutrality has um has sprung up. And 489 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: the idea with body neutrality is that you can be 490 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: neutral about your body that like, you don't have to 491 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: feel any kind of way about it. It just exists 492 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: and then you go from there. And my feeling about 493 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: that is that body neutrality is it's not really possible 494 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: because we're not neutral. Our bodies are not neutral. We're 495 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: political beings. Our bodies are radicalized from birth, and so 496 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: to say that you're neutral towards your body is to 497 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: really like lose responsibility for what it means for your 498 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: body to show up in this world. But you know, 499 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, this is this is 500 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: maybe a niche clueless reference, but at the end of 501 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: the day, the more the merrier, I'm just like, Okay, 502 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: I feel like it doesn't really matter what you bring. 503 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: It doesn't really matter how you get to the party, 504 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: as long as you get there. I'm like, we have 505 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: to get to a place whereas a people, we stop 506 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: worrying about our body, we stop talking about our bodies 507 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: so much, because right now we live in an age 508 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: where like, if someone's nose doesn't look the way that 509 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: they think it should, then it's like their life is 510 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: over and they shouldn't exist. So, like, we can get 511 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: to a place where everybody knows that your body is 512 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: the way that it is on purpose, you are the 513 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: way that you are on purpose, You're not a mistake. 514 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: Then I think from that place we can start to 515 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,960 Speaker 1: heal some of the deeper systemic wounds that exists in 516 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: our society, Like there's no healing of systemic racism without 517 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: first accepting that your body is okay. So it's I 518 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: don't think that there's anything wrong with the movements, frankly, like, 519 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:49,040 Speaker 1: I think that the delustion ultimately leads to more people 520 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: having a conversation about their bodies, and it leads to 521 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: greater change. But I do think that it's important for 522 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: us to be aware of the fact that a movement 523 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: or a title can't be the fullness of your identity, 524 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: so that like, if the movement is gone, where do 525 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: your values lie now? Where do they lie? Then? Mm hmm. 526 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: That's such a good point, in such a good way 527 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: to put it. And I think you're you're so right, 528 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: Like it's so the idea that you could just exist neutrally, 529 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 1: especially for black folks, especially for black women. It's just 530 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: like it's just like it's not gonna happen. Like I 531 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: have been going through some stuff recently, like I just 532 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: became an aunt for the first time, and I thank you. 533 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: I'm an auntie to a beautiful baby girl. And when 534 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: she was born I kind of had to do a 535 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:47,479 Speaker 1: lot of inner work to realize I had a lot 536 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: of fear and anxiety around what I remember from being 537 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: a black girl in the South, and all of the 538 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: negativity and hang ups and the way that like even 539 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: people in my family, people who loved me, just felt 540 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: like love for them was about it could only kind 541 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: of exist as a criticism, right, like my hair wasn't right, 542 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: my way it wasn't right, this wasn't right, my clothes 543 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: would weren't right, my short everything, and the idea of 544 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: my niece being born into the world, knowing that she 545 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: might get that same stuff hung on her that I 546 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: spent a lifetime working to unlearn. Like that was really 547 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: hard for me. And I think, like I wish we 548 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: could get to a place where when a little black 549 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 1: girl is born, you're not thinking about all the ways 550 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: that society is going to be so hard on her 551 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: and and critique her and politicize her and judge her 552 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,239 Speaker 1: and sexualize her and all of these different things. I 553 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: wish that was a place that we would get to, 554 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: But I don't think we're there. Yeah, I think we're 555 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: not quite there, But I do think that every step 556 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: is a step in the right direction. And I feel 557 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: like it's so important for us to individually be doing 558 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: the work exact actually as you have described, like acknowledging 559 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: those parts of yourself, seeing the ways that you're like 560 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: continuing the cycle, and just being like as gentle and 561 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,640 Speaker 1: accepting about it as possible that I feel like is 562 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 1: all anybody could ever ask. Like there's nothing else to 563 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:24,960 Speaker 1: be done. And that's because even as we evolve as 564 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: a society, and even like if we heal everything that 565 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: are at all of the wounds that our ancestors created. 566 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: We're just gonna make new wounds because that's what life 567 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: is about. Like, it's just about having those experiences. But 568 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: it's so beautiful to notice what you're talking about into 569 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: just take that step forward to do something different being 570 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: that queer and black. On the Internet, I mean, the 571 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: people will have a lot of opinions about your body, 572 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: your clothing, your diet, it and really your existence overall. 573 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: Something that I've really noticed a lot is that, both 574 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 1: on the Internet and in real life, I think that 575 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:14,640 Speaker 1: people feel very entitled to have opinions on bigger black bodies. 576 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,760 Speaker 1: And it's it's always these assumptions like, oh, that person 577 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: can't do yoga, that person can't be healthy, that person, 578 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: you know, shouldn't be eating that or wearing that. And 579 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: I wonder like, like, like where do you think that 580 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,439 Speaker 1: comes from? Like, like why do you think that when 581 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: people see a bigger black body, For a lot of folks, 582 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: their first like knee jerk reaction is to criticize them 583 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: or to make an assumption about who they are from 584 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: a screen that's gonna be a picture of a stranger. 585 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 1: I think there is so much hatred of black people 586 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: in general that I think that's a huge piece of 587 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,799 Speaker 1: that specific thing. I think that when it comes to 588 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: that black bodies that I think that fatness is uh 589 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: really demigrated in every society and in all cultures. And 590 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: I think especially in the black community, black people shading 591 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: other black people, that fat blackness is not accepted. And 592 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:19,480 Speaker 1: I think that there's this desire often to colonize and 593 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: to have an opinion about ship that really is none 594 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,440 Speaker 1: of your business at all. And I think that people, 595 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,240 Speaker 1: I think it's so normalized, and because of the medical 596 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: industrial complex and all of the research around what obesity 597 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,320 Speaker 1: is and these health statistics, people think that they're literally 598 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,240 Speaker 1: like doing you a favor to say like that's not healthy, 599 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: or like that person is doing a bad thing, etcetera. 600 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: And really, I think it just points to deep insecurity 601 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: in the self and the feeling that like maybe by 602 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,720 Speaker 1: controlling other people you can control yourself. And it's just really, 603 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: you know, I don't even really know what he has 604 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:03,800 Speaker 1: to say about it. It's just I think it's something 605 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: the human beings do to feel better about ourselves on 606 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,239 Speaker 1: an individual level, and it never works out that way 607 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,239 Speaker 1: because it always just makes you sadder. Yeah, and you 608 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: just really named one of my like one of my 609 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,480 Speaker 1: biggest pet peeves, the concerned trolls, and they're like, oh, 610 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,879 Speaker 1: I'm trying to help them out. I'm trying to give 611 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 1: them some device. I'm trying to like, No, you're not. 612 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 1: You're literally being hateful. You're really you really don't care 613 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: about this person. If you did, you probably wouldn't be 614 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 1: leaving hateful comments, Like exactly, I hate it so much. 615 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: It's such a pet peeve of mine. Yeah, I really 616 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: feel like it just makes me sad whenever people, for 617 00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,839 Speaker 1: whatever reason want to lean into the negative, because it 618 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: means that they are really sad. Like anytime that I 619 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: see trolling in general, I just think, like, damn, that 620 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:51,399 Speaker 1: person is really sad. Because if you're happy, or if 621 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,919 Speaker 1: you are if you're feeling happy, you want for other 622 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: people to feel happy. But if you're feeling sad, you 623 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,480 Speaker 1: want for other people to feel sad. And I think 624 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: there's a lot that we can do on an individual 625 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: level and then on a collective level to be manifesting 626 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: compassion for ourselves individually so that when we come up 627 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:15,319 Speaker 1: against that or see people like really just going in 628 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: I mean, people get violent with their words because they 629 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:24,279 Speaker 1: are feeling so sad and desperate, and to respond to 630 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: that desperation with hope and with love and with compassion 631 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,959 Speaker 1: is a triumph. It's the It is the opposite of war. 632 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,399 Speaker 1: So I feel like I agree with you. I feel 633 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: the same way. Back in January, Jessamine was on the 634 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:46,040 Speaker 1: cover of the fitness magazine Self. She looked absolutely incredible. 635 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,839 Speaker 1: But when Donald Trump Jr. Posted that cover on its 636 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:54,239 Speaker 1: Instagram with the caption what are your thoughts? Well, I 637 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 1: don't think I have to tell you that the comments 638 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: were not nice and he knew exactly what he was doing, 639 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,760 Speaker 1: setting his six million followers up to knock Jessimine down. 640 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: Only it kind of didn't work. I know that for 641 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 1: you fucking Donald Trump Junior. And he did the thing 642 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,760 Speaker 1: that I like. It burns me up because at least 643 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 1: haters can be like, I'm a hateful person. Here's a 644 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,080 Speaker 1: hateful comment. The thing that really gets me is when 645 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: someone on the Internet posts a picture and then they'll 646 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:27,600 Speaker 1: just be like mm so that's question mark. And I 647 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 1: see it all the time, and I'm like, Okay, first 648 00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 1: of all, if you're gonna like you know what, you 649 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,640 Speaker 1: know what you're doing, you know what you're trying to say, 650 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: why don't you at least just fucking say it. But 651 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 1: like the thing of like throwing a stone and hiding 652 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,120 Speaker 1: your hands, I cannot stand it. I see it all 653 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,560 Speaker 1: the time. I hate it. No, it's totally small dick bullshit. 654 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 1: And I mean, like, honestly, I'm just like I feel you. 655 00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:51,279 Speaker 1: I mean, like when he said he was talking shit 656 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,279 Speaker 1: or or encouraging other people to talk shit, I really 657 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: don't know because I wasn't that much attention because it 658 00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,799 Speaker 1: has happened so much, and I'm just like whatever. But 659 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 1: I feel like, frankly, first of all, any time that 660 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: a white man is talking ship about my body, I'm like, Okay, 661 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: so you love it. That's part of the issues that 662 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: you love it and you feel like you can't say that, 663 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,520 Speaker 1: So okay, heard got it talk about something that I 664 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: learned from my ancestors. But I'm like, okay, I got you. 665 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,439 Speaker 1: But then also I'm like, oh, and then there's also 666 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,000 Speaker 1: a piece of me that's like thanks for the free publicity. 667 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,520 Speaker 1: Sounds great. Um, I don't really have an issue with that, 668 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:32,400 Speaker 1: but I'm also like, damn, this really pushed you, Like, 669 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,600 Speaker 1: this really provoked you. It made you think it made you, 670 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:39,439 Speaker 1: like like it made him, it made anyone anyone who 671 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 1: has that like, that's strong of a negative reaction. I'm like, 672 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,799 Speaker 1: you just got pushed. You got pushed, and maybe you 673 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,920 Speaker 1: got pushed to the to the next level. Maybe you 674 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,959 Speaker 1: got pushed to think about things in a different way, 675 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: to see the world in a more expensive way. And 676 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:57,560 Speaker 1: that's where I feel like the onus is on me 677 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,799 Speaker 1: or on whoever is receiving the trolling to say, like, 678 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,840 Speaker 1: who am I in this circumstance? What do I stand for? 679 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,080 Speaker 1: Do I believe in myself? Do I think that I 680 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:10,840 Speaker 1: deserve to exist? And if that's the case, if I 681 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: think I deserve to exist, when everybody else deserves to exist, 682 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,640 Speaker 1: everybody else deserves to have their opinion and post about 683 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:19,320 Speaker 1: it on Instagram and ask for feedback from other people. 684 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,319 Speaker 1: Everybody has that right, and what I can do is 685 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,960 Speaker 1: just try to find ways to enjoy it and to 686 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:29,279 Speaker 1: not be held back by it. Jessamine is continuing to 687 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,040 Speaker 1: build community on the Internet to grapple with those very 688 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,520 Speaker 1: same questions. Her new digital wellness app is called the 689 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,080 Speaker 1: Underbelly or Anyone can explore wellness and yoga in a 690 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,759 Speaker 1: way that affirms who they are and however they're showing up. 691 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,759 Speaker 1: So tell us about your new app, the Underbelly. How 692 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,920 Speaker 1: are you using it to have a different conversation about 693 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,560 Speaker 1: our bodies and wellness that are may be different than 694 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 1: some of the other spaces that we've seen. Totally, I 695 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:58,960 Speaker 1: think that wellness has been defined very one dimensionally. It's 696 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,400 Speaker 1: become about what you look like and whether or not 697 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:06,960 Speaker 1: you fit in and what ever the wellness practice is 698 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: going to do for your body or like what other 699 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:13,239 Speaker 1: people will think about it. And the underbelly is really 700 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: about acceptance and about accepting yourself exactly as you are 701 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 1: accepting your messy house. Your kid that you is practicing 702 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: yoga on the map with you, maybe your dog is 703 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:25,719 Speaker 1: practicing on the map with you. Maybe you don't have 704 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:29,439 Speaker 1: a yoga map. Maybe you fart compulsively, Maybe you do 705 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:31,960 Speaker 1: all kinds of things that people have told you that 706 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: you should feel bad about. And the underbelly is the 707 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:36,560 Speaker 1: space where you don't have to feel bad about it. 708 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,279 Speaker 1: You don't have to feel bad, you don't have to 709 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:44,360 Speaker 1: explain yourself. There's no explanation needed. It is wellness without requirement. 710 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,200 Speaker 1: And I think that for me That is what I 711 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: when I first started posting my yoga practice on social media. 712 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,279 Speaker 1: The community of the Underbelly is what I was looking for. 713 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:56,440 Speaker 1: I was looking for a place where it was okay 714 00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:01,120 Speaker 1: to be different and too to be unapologetically so, and 715 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:06,240 Speaker 1: that more than anything, more than yoga, specifically more than meditation, 716 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:09,000 Speaker 1: which we do offer this, I mean the Underbelly. You 717 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,880 Speaker 1: can practice yoga with me that you can go to 718 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:12,839 Speaker 1: the underbelly dot com and try a free trial right 719 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,480 Speaker 1: now if you like. But you can do practice yoga 720 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,040 Speaker 1: with me. Practice meditation, for sure, that's there. But really 721 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: the space is there for you to just be yourself 722 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:25,360 Speaker 1: and not have to make any explanations for your identity. 723 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 1: So I was this way before I started doing yoga. 724 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,720 Speaker 1: I'm sure that there are people listening who are rolling 725 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:37,360 Speaker 1: their eyes saying, okay whatever, as if fitness or yoga 726 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,720 Speaker 1: or any of this mambo jumbo is going to help 727 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,319 Speaker 1: my life. What do you say to someone like that? 728 00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:47,160 Speaker 1: Can you give someone who is a nonbeliever here is 729 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,960 Speaker 1: an easy, quick way to just try out these practices 730 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 1: in your own life that might make a difference. First 731 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,200 Speaker 1: of all, I totally feel you. Your critique is legitimate. 732 00:42:57,239 --> 00:43:00,560 Speaker 1: If you're like, um, that sounds like bullshit, I feel 733 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 1: you you're a real one. But the thing about it is, 734 00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,960 Speaker 1: you can start practicing yoga right now with literally we 735 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:08,960 Speaker 1: can do it right now together. If you just close 736 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,440 Speaker 1: your eyes and take a deep inhale and take a 737 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:18,080 Speaker 1: deep exhale. This is all. This is yoga, literally just 738 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,600 Speaker 1: linking together. And so if you take that a step further, 739 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 1: I would not go out and buy a yoga mat. 740 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,319 Speaker 1: You don't need to like go get books or go 741 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:30,840 Speaker 1: get like a special outfit. Literally, if you have access 742 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,880 Speaker 1: to the internet, just go to YouTube, look up the 743 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 1: very first free yoga class that you can find, and 744 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:38,479 Speaker 1: just give it a try, and if you don't vibe 745 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,560 Speaker 1: with the teacher, cut it off. Try another one. There are, 746 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: literally there are so many free yoga resources on YouTube 747 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:47,319 Speaker 1: right now, and you just start and maybe, let's say, 748 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 1: cut the class you don't want to try it for 749 00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: yoga class, I feel you just try one posture. Maybe 750 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,680 Speaker 1: the posture is mountain post. Mountain posts can be practiced 751 00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,479 Speaker 1: seated or standing. Maybe the pose is child's post, which 752 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:03,680 Speaker 1: is essentially like it's literally like laying like a child 753 00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:06,640 Speaker 1: on the ground. Maybe it's corpse pose where you lie 754 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,600 Speaker 1: on your back, which truly I think is the hardest 755 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:13,160 Speaker 1: posture of yoga, any of those postures. You just start 756 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,920 Speaker 1: with that one posture, and then if you want to 757 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 1: do more, you do more. Maybe you get down on 758 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:19,840 Speaker 1: the ground into corpse pose, and then you want to 759 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:23,520 Speaker 1: try out cat cow pose, and before you know what, 760 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:27,680 Speaker 1: you're practicing vinyasa's and down dogs and all that. But also, 761 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:31,560 Speaker 1: that one posture is more than enough, and you don't 762 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,200 Speaker 1: even actually need to change your body from how it 763 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:38,400 Speaker 1: is right now. You could practice it the breathwork, the 764 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,920 Speaker 1: connection to the chronic life force that connects all of us, 765 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:47,239 Speaker 1: that can happen from wherever you are right now, and 766 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:52,360 Speaker 1: if you vibe with it, that's great. But also, yoga 767 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:58,759 Speaker 1: is a very broad category, and there are yoga components 768 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:02,840 Speaker 1: in all forms of physical movement. So if you maybe 769 00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,120 Speaker 1: yoga postures are not the thing for you, like finding 770 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:10,320 Speaker 1: some kind of wellness practice that reminds you to tune 771 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:13,040 Speaker 1: back into yourself and to listen to your own breath. 772 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:18,360 Speaker 1: That's really the point of all of it. That is beautiful, Jessamine. 773 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,560 Speaker 1: Where can folks keep up with all of your amazing 774 00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:24,319 Speaker 1: work totally. You can find me on social media at 775 00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:27,560 Speaker 1: my name is Jessamine on most platforms, I think on Twitter, 776 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,759 Speaker 1: I'm at Jessamine's stand Um that you can find my 777 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 1: name is Jessamine everywhere, and you can find The Underbelly 778 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,759 Speaker 1: at the Underbelly Yoga. You can find my podcast at 779 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:40,640 Speaker 1: Dear Jessamin, and you can get links to everything, including 780 00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:44,080 Speaker 1: my books and my organization, We Go High. You can 781 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:48,920 Speaker 1: find all of that at Jessamine's Stanley dot com fabulous. 782 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,000 Speaker 1: Is there anything that I did not ask that you 783 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,319 Speaker 1: want to make sure get concluded? Oh my goodness. The 784 00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:54,759 Speaker 1: only thing that I would add, which is what I 785 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,799 Speaker 1: always say, is just thank you so much. Thank you 786 00:45:57,840 --> 00:45:59,960 Speaker 1: for having me, and thank you so much to everyone 787 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 1: who was listening, and thank you for being you. You 788 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:07,000 Speaker 1: were made this way on purpose. You are a creature 789 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,799 Speaker 1: of light, and who you are matters, and what you 790 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: bring to this world is imperative. So thank you for 791 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:20,240 Speaker 1: being you. If you're looking for ways to support the show, 792 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,360 Speaker 1: check out our March store at tangodi dot com. Flash Store. 793 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:26,600 Speaker 1: Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or 794 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:28,520 Speaker 1: just want to say hi. You can reach us at 795 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:31,320 Speaker 1: Hello at tangodi dot com. You can also find transcripts 796 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:33,759 Speaker 1: for today's episode at tangdi dot com. There Are No 797 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:35,879 Speaker 1: Girls on the Internet was created by me Bridget Toad. 798 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,240 Speaker 1: It's a production of iHeart Radio and Unboss Creative edited 799 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:43,120 Speaker 1: by Joey pat Jonathan Strickland as our executive producer. Terry 800 00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:46,279 Speaker 1: Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. Michael Amata was 801 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,279 Speaker 1: our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Tod. If you 802 00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:51,000 Speaker 1: want to help us grow right and review us on 803 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:54,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, check 804 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:56,640 Speaker 1: out the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you 805 00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:01,560 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Do well Will