Yoga instructor Jessamyn Stanley champions cannabis use. Her advocacy started with self-acceptance.

• Jessamyn Stanley is an internationally-known yoga instructor and cannabis advocate.
• In 2019, she shared her cannabis use and advocacy publicly for the first time ever.

When Jessamyn Stanley smokes a joint, she feels free.

Stanley, a 34-year-old internationally renowned yoga instructor who founded the cannabis-advocacy organization We Go High NC, said cannabis saved her life after she discovered its ability to quiet her anxious mind in her early 20s.

As she continued to use cannabis, Stanley read about its therapeutic benefits and the social and racial inequities that exist in the cannabis industry. As a queer Black woman, Stanley said it was troubling to learn about the disproportionate number of Black people incarcerated for having weed.

But she avoided expressing these views or sharing her personal use as she was becoming increasingly well known on social media for her body-positive approach to exercise. She said she feared being judged and losing work.

She said the weight of hiding her passion for cannabis, now a daily practice, became unbearable when she accepted a job where she was contractually obligated to stay mum on the topic because of a morality clause.

"I never wanted to be in a situation like that again where I couldn't talk about something and that would cause me to be dishonest to a degree," Stanley told Insider. "Because so much of yoga, ultimately, is about honesty with yourself, and I felt like I was not honestly living my yoga practice if I was concealing this piece of myself."

Once the contract ended in 2019, Stanley publicly shared her love of marijuana for the first time, on the cover of Yoga Journal.

Shortly after that, Stanley cofounded We Go High, a mission-driven for-profit organization, in her home state of North Carolina, where cannabis is illegal. The organization educates local communities about weed and champions legislation to decriminalize cannabis, guided by Stanley's belief that no one should go to jail over marijuana.

"The freedom to operate as I like is invaluable," she said. "I think that has been the greatest payoff for me, knowing I can operate from a place of integrity where I don't need to conceal this piece of me."

Stanley said that while her openness about using cannabis closed the door to certain business opportunities, she doesn't regret the decision, because others see her authenticity as a positive.

Adidas asked her to be a brand ambassador after she publicly shared that part of her identity — she said it was one of her proudest moments.

"It was not a part of the conversation. I feel the brand respects the authenticity of my voice and my connection with my community, and they choose to support that above all else," Stanley said.

But most rewarding, she said, is the chance to witness how her honesty about cannabis use inspires others to speak up too or change their views on it.

In June 2021, Stanley released her second book, "Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance," where she shares her journey of self-love. In it, she explains how her cannabis use, much like her yoga practice, helped her grow into her authentic self.

In bringing together her two passions, smoking weed and getting on the yoga mat, Stanley's never felt more like herself, she said. Now she gets to be a beacon of authenticity for others.

"There are always people who don't agree with you, and they don't like what you're doing, and maybe they're mad at you or will flat out ignore you," Stanley said. "But inevitably the tide turns, and there are people who find themselves, who are able to see themselves truly, because of you taking a stand."