As a critic of mainstream, “commercialized” yoga, Jessamyn Stanley’s appreciation of cannabis in wellness culture is probably not surprising. In fact, cannabis consumption represents a major part of her journey to practicing and teaching yoga, which has made her one of the most prominent voices in the practice.

“I’m a Reagan baby. My parents made sure that I was in D.A.R.E.,” Stanley told Mona Zhang for Cannabis Now. “So I was really anti-everything up until undergrad, and even then, [smoking cannabis] still made me think, ‘This is like a bad thing to do?’”

Cannabis Consumption Can Be Healing

For someone immersed in D.A.R.E rhetoric, the idea of cannabis consumption as a part of a wellness lifestyle wasn’t something that crossed her mind—that was until she dated a cannabis consumer. They demonstrated that cannabis consumption could be healing and was nothing to be ashamed of. Later, this would become central to her success in yoga.

Inadvertently Starting a Yoga Community

Following her aunt’s death, Stanley turned to yoga as a way of coping with the anxiety and depression that came after. In 2013, she started posting photos of her yoga to get feedback on her form. Unexpectedly, she found that her example motivated others to do the same. Many comments on her posts at the time followed along these lines: “I just started doing yoga, and I didn’t think I could do some of the moves because I am not a twig! Thanks for showing me anyone can do yoga!”

Since those initial posts, Stanley’s community has grown enough to get the attention of publications like The New York Times and People, as well as enabling her to teach yoga across the world. She has published a book, Everybody Yoga, and launched a new app called The Underbelly to promote yoga for those who think they can’t do yoga based on their appearance or lifestyle.

“The combination of cannabis, yoga, and meditation… I don’t know where I would be without them,” Stanley said. “[Marijuana is] something that I attribute so much of my health and success to. As my life has evolved to have this career that takes so many different pathways, it’s very difficult for me to be emotionally available for my work in the way that I need to be without it.”

Stanley has yet to teach a cannabis-friendly yoga class but expressed that she finds the combination of cannabis and yoga to be “incredible.”

Wellness Advocacy and Cannabis Advocacy

Stanley’s wellness advocacy extends to cannabis advocacy, though she admits that she was afraid of how speaking out would impact her professional standing. Even though the United States has seen progress in legalization, the stigma around cannabis consumption remains. Despite the fear, she felt that if she didn’t talk about it, she was being complicit.

“I just felt like, ‘What’s the point of having the platform if you’re not going to really use it for something that matters?’” Stanley expressed. “What’s key for marginalized people is to stop trying to be accepted by this mainstream whitewashing of the cannabis industry.”

“Yoga studios and companies ask this all the time, ‘What can I be doing? We want to be body positive, we want to be diverse,’” Stanley said. “I’m like, ‘Look around you, dude. If you’re only looking at people who look like you, why would anything different be happening?’”

Pushing for Genuine Change Through Cannabis and Yoga

For Jessamyn Stanley, black and brown voices can’t concede to an agenda for tokens of acceptance, nor should companies who genuinely want to make a difference try to accommodate diverse groups with vague promises. Companies can’t just say they will be body-positive and diverse; they have to be those things; “listen to the other voices in the room,” Stanley says.