Jessamyn Stanley is proud to be breaking the myth of yoga as a practice for “skinny, rich white women in expensive leggings.” “If you can breathe, you can do this practice,” she says. It seems quite basic, but judging from the reaction that this “fat femme” has caused throughout the international yoga community, you’d think she’d invented an entirely new form of exercise. Stanley, who lives in North Carolina, has become not just a yoga instructor but a body positivity advocate and an online educator.

What made you want to teach yoga?

I do feel like I was called to do it. If you don’t go into teaching yoga with the intention of making money, I think you are able to appreciate it in a different way. I’m always trying to hold space and make space for people to have the...