Goal Diggers, I am so excited to introduce you to today’s guest, Jessamyn Stanley. Miss Jessamyn is an internationally recognized yoga teacher, award-winning Instagram personality, and body-positive advocate. She has been profiled by a wide range of media, including Good Morning America, TIME, New York, Glamour, Shape, People, Essence, and many others. I personally have LOVED following Jessamyn for so long– the way that she speaks boldly and authentically, and always seems to be taking care of herself is so inspiring to me. I love how she carries herself and today she is going to teach us all about not fitting the “mold” in your career, prioritizing self-care, and how to live life on our own terms!
WHY YOGA:
First things first, I had to hear about how Jessamyn carved out this beautiful niche for herself. I absolutely loved how authentic and personal her yoga journey was. It started with encouragement from a friend, and it the love for yoga took off. The main thing she mentioned was how present she felt during yoga. It taught her that she was living on auto-pilot in many areas of her life and she used yoga as a tool for self-care and growth.
“I started taking photos to watch my progress over time” and eventually I posted them online in order to create community. When Jessamyn started putting her photos on Instagram, people were genuinely surprised that she was doing yoga (you need to hear this story!), and she soon realized there was a visibility issue in the yoga world. That generally, the only people shown doing yoga (in advertisements, clothing, etc) are slender, white women. And Jessamyn set out to change that.
TACKLING LIMITING BELIEFS:
Jessamyn and I tackled limiting beliefs and all the things you’ve told yourself (and been told about yourself) that have held you back. “[Facing my limited beliefs] has been incredibly helpful for me– coming into conflict with these long-held “beliefs” has gotten me here”
One thing we both focused on is our relationship with body-love that we have both become known for in our careers. One thing I LOVED is the way that Jessamyn described self-love: a relationship with yourself is on-going, and I am in a permanent state of recovery. “I learned to body-shame myself from the beginning of life” and that habit of it compounding for decades, it is still really hard to overcome. “I think of myself as a person that is addicted to body-shaming, and I am in a permanent state of recovery… I work at it every day, I “slide” back into bad habits every day, but I’m committed.”
“If you’re really living in your truth… those who are within the system want to be around you”. The most important thing for me is “stick to who you truly are, be authentic, do what feels right for you” and it will all fall into place. Goal Diggers, when you are YOU, it’s amazing how opportunities open up.
LIVING UNAPOLOGETICALLY:
One thing I love about Jessamyn is how her message has never changed. “Sticking to authenticity can feel like a full-time job”, especially in this technology and social media world. “Especially since the “media” became bigger than the “social” part.” She mentioned that in this hyper-busy world, it’s easy to feel the way of a toddler demanding “look at me, look at me!”
When you just live your life and share it authentically, and that’s what people connect with. The connect with another human being. We live in an age where people don’t know who they are, they look to their phones to feel a connection. “I can’t be caught up in if someone clicked a follow button for me, or if they liked a photo”. And it’s genuinely hard not to get wrapped up in that. Because obviously from a business standpoint, you love seeing your “numbers” go up, but you want to grow your following with the right people, even if that means slower growth.
Wow, this episode was so powerful. Her mission, her bold voice, and her truth. She is SO authentic and you can feel that in every moment of this episode. (And she is about to teach you how to live in the same way.)
Check out This Woman’s Own Podcast: Jessamyn Explains It All !
