Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear. Get On the Mat. Love Your Body. by Jessamyn Stanley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I wrote this review, there was only one other review in Goodreads, and the reviewer didn’t like how this book wasn’t more about Yoga, and the poses, and what kind of yoga book is this anyway. And, at first, when I started to read this book, I wondered the same thing. Why is there so much text? Why am I having to read about so much before I read about the yoga itself.
But, in actually reading this book, I realized that this is more than just a yoga book. You can probably get lots of those at any bookstore. This is a book about a fat, black, lesbian yoga instructor, and I don’t think there are a lot of those kinds of books out there. Certainly not the fat part.
So, this book is part memoir, part encouraging, and part instruction of how to practice yoga even if you are not a skinny-minnie, and look like all the other soccer moms out there.
This is more the book for the average person, who isn’t thin and blonde and fit. This is for the rest of us out there that are aging, and lumpy in not quite the right places, according to Western society.
So, if you want to read a yoga book, read about how Jessamyn got to where she is, and how you can too, this is a great book for it. If you want to get a basic book of yoga poses, that show differently shaped people, this too is the book for you. And if you want to experience the fun writing of Jessamyn, and she lays everything bare, this too is the book for you.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.