How This Yogi Is Reclaiming The Word 'Fat'
How This Yogi Is Reclaiming The Word 'Fat'
"To me, to use the word fat is not an insult."
Jessamyn Stanley is not used to attention. She's not even that comfortable with her newfound fame in the wellness space. But the 30-year-old yogi has more than 300,000 followers on.//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram and troves of fans reading her new book Every Body Yoga ($12, amazon.com). Jessamyn's fans are drawn to the way she's representing both fat yogis and black yogis in a totally new and incredibly empowering way. She's made waves in the fitness and yoga community, providing a place for women—specifically women of color—to feel safe and comfortable and inspired in their yoga practice. She says the attention she's earned sometimes makes her feel like a snail who wants to crawl back into her shell, which "is a weird thing because I do feel very confident in my everyday life." Sometimes she even forgets why she's getting attention. "I don't really think of it and I've only recently become aware of this not being a thing where only a couple people know about me," she says. "It's brought to my attention when I encounter a random person who knows me and I'm, like, oh right, yoga and the internet." Still, it's a lot to take on. Jessamyn's story is now being featured in a new short film called "Unbelievers" produced by Bai Brands, a line of antioxidant-infusion drinks, in partnership with Tribeca Studios. The “Unbelieve” campaign highlights the origins of the brand and celebrates people who strive to better themselves and their communities by moving beyond the boundaries of the ordinary.
Jessamyn says it's been an adjustment trying to stay grounded and true to her message amidst all the attention she's been getting. "One of the things I’ve been critical of is the reasons why you’ll find yourself in the spotlight, and I think that we all tend to lean toward ego and it’s something that I definitely struggle with," she says. "I’m being very, very conscious of that because the attention is blooming at the same time that my book's coming out and the Bai film is out and it’s a weird balance."
"What yoga helps me with is understanding that the world we live in is not about who you're in love with or what job you have. All of those things are going to change because you are constantly changing. There's always a truth and understanding that what's bigger than the self is what's within the self."
"The use of the word fat is absolutely a reclamation technique. It's very much like the word has been used as a weapon against me, and I hear people still using it as a weapon toward themselves, toward one another, and then it doesn't mean large, it means stupid, it means ugly, unworthy to exist. To me, to use the word fat with its designated meaning of large is not an insult, it's just a statement of truth. I'm saying I'm fat because I am fat is the same thing as saying I'm black because I am black."
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