Finding Freedom through Yoga ... and Mel Robbins

I found this little turtle in the rain gutter near our home and took it out back close to the lake. By releasing our grasp on life, we and others can experience freedom.

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Sometime in the recent past few months, I came across this article in the New York Times: Mel Robbins Wants You to Lose Control. It was so intriguing that it led me to go on and listen to this Modern Love Podcast: Let Mel Robbins Share Her 5 Tips for a Healthy Relationship several times in order to try to glean some helpful insights.

Who is Mel Robbins? She’s an author and podcaster. She’s written a New York Times best-seller book The Let Them Theory. In previous career iterations, she’s been a lawyer and CNN legal analyst, life-coach, and radio show host. 

Here is one of the key quotes from the NY Times article:

“The book’s premise? If you stop trying to manage other people’s opinions, actions and moods, then your well-being and relationships will improve. Friends hanging out without you? Let them! Relatives griping about you? Let them! Your date ghosts you? Let them! Don’t stress about what you cannot control; focus on what you can.”

And I as a yoga teacher would add: if you are teaching a class and you see a student going off the rails doing their own flow that is different than what you are presenting, just LET THEM! True story – I was teaching a group yoga class recently and a student in the front row was doing his own thing as I was leading the class through my Hanumanasana sequence. So, I did as Marsha P. Johnson (see my recent June blog) would have done – I paid him no mind! It freed me up to honor my own truth and not get distracted by other people’s actions.

The NY Times article goes on to say:

"The first half of the 'let them' idea is about freeing yourself from the burden of trying to manage other people. As for the second half, Robbins turns to another concept: 'let me.'”

"It goes like this: after releasing what you cannot control, you say 'let me' and take responsibility for your next steps. Without that idea, you run the risk of simply shutting down and isolating yourself, the book warns."

Later, the article quotes Dr. Robert Waldinger, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School who has appeared on Robbins’s podcast:

“I think what Mel is saying is that, most of the time, life goes better if we let people make their own choices.”

I for one can admit that I’ve tried to control and manage other people. Actually, I think it’s a very common human tendency and I highly suspect that I am not alone. Perhaps it’s tied into on our need to feel like we’re in control in our own lives, a way of keeping the ground beneath us stable and steady. 

But the freeing part of all this is that the energy we spend directed towards other people’s actions can be used and applied to our own actions. One the negative side, we might indeed shut down and isolate if managing other people has been firmly rooted in the foundations of our own identities and that foundation now feels groundless. However, on the positive side, “Let me” might lead us to take responsibility to strengthen our own foundations with new mindsets, beliefs, and practices. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us:

"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice … “

And later he goes on to say:

“… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out."

I like this teaching because it reminds us that we are the only ones that can truly set ourselves free. No one else can, and trying to control other people moves us farther away from this realization. 

In Yoga, the concept of “letting go” is addressed in the practice of Aparigraha. Yoga Teacher Molly Lannon Kenny wrote a short essay entitled: Aparigraha: loosening the grip and finding freedom. In it, she writes:

"Aparigraha is one of the yamas, or the first limb, of Yoga.  Although it is most often translated as "non-attachment," a more correct translation would be something like "non-grasping," or non-hoarding.  Our tendency to hold on tightly is something intrinsically human, and provides us with a false sense of control. ..."

"... The sense of control is indeed, however, false and leads us to feelings of constriction and scarcity.  We ended up having less space, less spaciousness, and we cling to superficial beliefs that cloud our ability to reach for something much deeper to believe in."

As a reminder to all of us who practice yoga, the yamas make up the first limb of yoga. They are practices we should bring to our yoga mat even before we step on to it.

To me, the "let them" theory ties into yoga and Buddhist practices in that by not grasping onto an idea of how someone should be acting or a fixed idea of what a yoga posture should look like we can experience relief in our bodies and clarity in our minds. And it frees us up – as Thich Nhat Hanh said – to be more able to be aware of each step and each breath.

Freedom is a goal of yoga. Cultivating spaciousness in our bodies and minds is why we practice. Freedom and spaciousness in the face of the many life illusions thrown our way allows them to dissolve.

When we loosen the grip on how we find ourselves viewing things, it allows for the heart to expand, and for our basic goodness to flow to the surface of our awareness.

In these very hyperpolarized times, I hope that the “let them” theory, the practice of aparigraha, the slowing down to experience each in-breath and each out-breath can all help you to find more freedom.

I leave you with one final quote from James Baldwin, who said:

"If we can liken life, for a moment, to a furnace, then freedom is the fire which burns away illusion." 

I hope yoga can help you lift the veil of illusions you’ve been living under and ultimately reveal a reality that is truly transcendent.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you let them, … 
May you loosen your various grips, …
May you breathe with awareness, …
May your newly acquired freedom in some way unique to you serve All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

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These sights in July freed my soul.

Water lilies of some unknown variety at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Similar to the lotus blossom -- which in yoga symbolizes rebirth and enlightenment -- the dark muddy water is the important ingredient needed to bring forth such immense beauty.

Q: why did the Sand Hill crane cross the road? A: I have no idea why but as Mel Robbins would say "let them." As long as they are not harming anyone, they are free to do whatever their innate nature wants them to.

A salute to freedom at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks. I've never seen the Brooklyn Bridge look any prettier all dressed up in lights!

Like Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus, things of beauty set my soul free.

View from Parrish, FL on July 25th. The seeds of change they are 'a blowin' in the wind.

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Photo Credits:
Photos from around NYC and Florida all shot by me.

Yoga and the Wisdom of “Pay It No Mind”

Marsha P, Johnson State Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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This month, the ground-breaking movie Brokeback Mountain was re-released in theatres in celebration of its 20th Anniversary and in honor of Pride month. I remember seeing it five times back in 2005 and 2006 – as a younger gay man then, personally it really hit home. Last week, I went back to the theater to see it again – twice. And each time, I came away devastated.

Brokeback Mountain is the story of two gay cowboys – Ennis Del Mar (played by Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) – who couldn’t openly express their love for each other back in 1963 Wyoming. So, they had to repress their feelings. This particular scene from the movie so devastatingly shows how when one cannot be one’s authentic self it can lead to self-hatred and violence. Each time I’ve watch it, it’s brought tears to my eyes. 

Meanwhile, in NYC in the late 60’s, the Gay Liberation Movement was starting to take hold. Gay people were starting to become fed up with not being able to live their lives authentically.

One of the leaders of this movement was Marsha P. Johnson, A New York State Park was named after her, with this description on its website: “On February 1, 2020, the park was renamed in honor of Marsha P Johnson, a transgender woman of color who was a pioneer of the LGBTQ civil rights movement and a prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising.” 

Recently on June 18, I saw this segment on the PBS Newshour about a new biography called "Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson", written by author, artist, film maker and transgender activist, Tourmaline. PBS News journalist, Amna Nawaz, interviewed Tourmaline and cited that people would often ask Marsha “what does the P. stand for?” Marsha’s response:

“Pay it no mind.”

Amna asked Tourmaline “What did that phrase mean to her? Why was that so defining?” Tourmaline’s response:

“It was so important because Marsha was born into a world with immense harsh conditions, right? She moved to New York City, Times Square in 1963, and at the time, if you were a trans person, you could be arrested and put in jail just by going outside and living out your truth.

There were these three articles of clothes laws that the New York Police Department used to arrest and punitize trans and gender nonconformed people. So Marsha was really aware of the conditions of her life, and she dedicated her life to be a leader for her entire community.

And, also, it was really important for her to not get tangled up in the noise of it all. So she said, pay it no mind to the people who didn't understand her beauty. She said, pay it no mind to people who could never see the value of her community, who didn't understand the beauty of trans and gender non-conforming people, turning up the volume of their entire life.”

Sounds like 1963 New York City was not too much different than 1963 Wyoming. However, in comparing Enis to Marsha, at least Marsha had allies and grew up in a supportive and loving family. Enis did not. All he had really was the lonely silence of the vast ranges of the Rocky Mountains. If only Enis could have lived authentically as himself, perhaps he would have found not only true love, but also true happiness.

So why is living authentically so important to us as yogis? This quote from Alan Cohen may have the answer. 

"The road to enlightenment is paved with authenticity, not imitation."

Our goal as yogis is to reach enlightenment. In the beginning, our experiences of enlightenment may be few and far between. But with practice, we can experience it more often. 

And one way we can experience fleeting moments of enlightenment is when we can be our most authentic selves. Being authentic brings lightness to our demeanor and joy to our hearts and minds.

Imitation, on the other hand, suggests conforming. And conforming to other people’s ideas about who we should be can feel so repressive and restricting, and bring great suffering.

So, to me, yoga and the wisdom of “pay it no mind” is that this practice can free us up to be who we are most authentically. It can free us from having to hide the most vital part of our individual selves, the most sacred part of our selves that reflects God in the human form.

The world will not always “get us”. Many in the world may never see our authentic beauty. But as Marsha P. Johnson would suggest, we don’t need to get tangled up in other people’s noise. As long as how we are expressing ourselves isn’t harming anyone else, we can be free to live as we feel we truly are meant to live.

Perhaps if there were more people living their authentic life there would be fewer repressed feelings in the world, and as a result there would be less reason for people to resort to violence. Ennis resorted to violence towards Jack as an outward way of expressing his inner violence toward his own true authentic self. I can’t help but muse: “what if Marsha P. and Enis met?” … Perhaps Hollywood can write a happy ending!

For us as yogis, anything we can do to reduce violence in the world is a good thing. And if being authentically true to ourselves helps to reduce violence both outside and within ourselves, then that is a way of truly serving the world.

And if you need any help along the way remembering who you truly are, perhaps these words from Dr. Seuss can guide you back to your authentic self:

“There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 

Happy Pride.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you pay it no mind, …
May you live authentically, ...
May your authenticity serve All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

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These sights in June made me feel lighter and enlightened.

NYC's Pride March was a day of celebrating our authentic selves in its many varieties. 

Marsha P. Johnson would have been proud of this person's activism at the NYC Pride March. Oh, Mary! - Cole Escola would be too!

The Empire State Building got all decked out for Pride!

Even the rain couldn't dampen this older adult person's sense of civic duty to stand up for democracy on No King's Day back on June 14.

A dramatic sunrise as viewed from Atlantic City, NJ on June 11. Things may seem dark at the moment, but remember that Light is always a more powerful force. Enlighten yourself through continuing to cultivate your authenticity!

Photo Credits:
Photos from around NYC and Atlantic City all shot by me.

Yoga and Lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Amen, Pope Leo.

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Last month, I wrote about the transformative life-work of the great yogi, Mahatma Gandhi. No doubt, his practice of non-violent resistance probably started out like a tiny redwood tree seed. But through his persistent and consistent practices over many years, it grew into something akin to a redwood tree – the tallest tree in the world. His example was so great and mighty, that it had a tremendous influence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi’s teachings and practices guided Dr. King as he sought to bring about changes that would right many of the wrongs of racial injustice that were infecting our collective lives here in America for far too many years.

Earlier this month on May 2nd I read this guest essay in the NY Times Opinion section by Jonathan Eig: For Those Who Wish to Fight Back but Don’t Know How. It talks about Dr. King’s beliefs, moral values, and actions, and offers suggestions for strategies we might be able employ now to meet this moment’s injustices – injustices that can be compared to what Dr. King lived through.

That the essay came out on the day of my 66th birthday was a gift in and of itself! And coincidentally, as it turns out I went to see Redwood on Broadway that night and learned more than I previously knew about this remarkable tree. For example, did you know that a redwood tree’s roots are actually quite shallow, but it’s roots are connected with those of the nearby redwood trees and collectively they form a foundation so strong that it allows for each redwood tree to grow to astounding heights – the tallest is 380 feet!

Dr. King was aware of the interconnected nature of all beings when he wrote these famous words from his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

“I am in Birmingham because injustice is here,” he wrote. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

Similarly, in yoga literature, the metaphor of Indra’s Net reminds us that we are all jewels in this vast universe of awareness and each of us are connected to every other jewel in the universe. And like any net, when you pull at one part of it, it is felt at all other parts – perhaps quite minutely, but felt nonetheless. So, any actions we take that can help move the needle forward in correcting injustices will be felt somewhere out there. It might be felt only minutely at first, but like Dr. King’s efforts, as it gathers other “jewels” to take action, the net effect grows greater and greater until it reaches a tipping point where there is enough of a pull for systemic change to happen.

This particular paragraph in Jonathan Eig’s guest essay contained several ideas and strategies that are part of yogic and Buddhist philosophy and thus struck a chord within me:

“What would Dr. King do today? In his sermons, speeches and essays, he gave us the answer. He told us that while elected officials may try to divide us by stoking resentment and rage, we shouldn’t let them. He reminded us of our essential goodness and encouraged us to trust and rely on the goodness of others. He told us not to expect immediate results. We often forget, in telling Dr. King’s story today, how many of his organized protests were judged failures in their time, from Albany, Ga., to Chicago. Even his efforts in Birmingham were faltering for weeks, with participation falling off and media interest fading, until the city’s youth joined the protests and reinvigorated the movement.”

Buddhist teachings and practices intend to remind us of our essential goodness. And also – though probably more difficult to realize – that all of us are essentially good. Yes, this includes our “enemies.” And this is why Dr. King advocated for “non-violent” resistance, even in the face of violence. Non-violence in yoga is the practice of “ahimsa” or non-harming. In yoga, it is the very first step on the path towards Self-Realization. It would be safe to say that Dr. King was likely a very highly “Realized” individual. But perhaps even more important to Dr. King was that by acting non-violently he was acting with love. He truly did understand that love and hatred are inherent in all beings and he, like Mahatma Gandhi, worked on himself to try to harness the power of his innate love in order to do good in the world and at the same time suppress his innate hatred in order to not undermine his life-work.

Jonathan Eig also points out that many of Dr. King’s efforts appeared to be failures in the early stages. Perhaps while experiencing these failures, Dr. King was consciously also practicing the lessons imparted by these important verses from the Bhagavad Gita – ones that I have shared many times before:

You have control over actions alone, never over its fruits.  Live not for the fruits of action, nor attach yourself to inaction.  Established in Yoga, O Arjuna, perform actions having abandoned attachment and having become balanced in success and failure, for balance of mind is called Yoga.
-- Krishna speaking to Arjuna in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad-Gita, verses 47 and 48

Or, as I read somewhere some time ago, more succinctly here the Bhagavad Gita is advising us to:

Perform your actions in the world skillfully and lovingly, yet know that you are not entitled to the fruits of those actions.

In my own life, this is a reminder to me to just try and do my best to act skillfully with love out in the world. It’s a reminder to me to let the results be what they are going to be. And most importantly it reminds me that in order to be effective I have to hold onto my physical and mental balance – my equanimity. And one way to achieve this feeling of equanimity is by letting go of worrying how things are going to turn out.

I actually tried to live this lesson in my own life recently when I was helping a family member who is experiencing health related challenges. I’m sure you’d agree that it is never easy to help other people who are in difficult situations – perhaps especially if the person is a family member. But I kept reminding myself that the results of my actions are none of my business really. Rather, I tried to focus on just taking the most loving and skillful actions I could think of to take.

In a far greater way, Dr. King took the most loving and skillful actions he could think of to take. Sadly, he didn’t live long enough on this earth to see many of the profound and positive changes his actions resulted in creating, but I am certain he is smiling from heaven!

So, the lessons I’ve learned from the Bhagavad Gita and Dr. King’s example that may be helpful to everyone are:

1. The goal is not necessarily to get what we want, but rather the goal is to take action, daily. Getting what we want depends on outside factors. Taking actions daily depends on inside factors, and we can control those.

2. We can get paralyzed into inaction out of fear that we may not get the desired outcome we wish for. We have inklings and ideas of what actions we should and could take, but we can get stopped in our tracks out of fear that they may lead nowhere. Letting go of the fruits of our actions can help us overcome our fear of acting.

So, as you take whatever skillful actions you can think of to fight injustices near and far, I hope that yoga and Buddhist teachings as well as the life example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. can inspire you to keep moving forward each day. Here again is Jonathan Eig’s essay to assist you along your way.

And as I finished by saying last month, I know full well that this is not easy work. And because of that, I again humbly bow down to your courage. 

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you act skillfully and with love out in the world, ...
May you act with equanimity, …
May whatever the results of your actions are somehow benefit All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

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These sights in May helped me to maintain my equanimity.

While not exactly a redwood tree, this tree I found in Central Park fit the bill just fine. Tree-hugging is good for the soul.

Nature soothed me at the Harlem Meer in Central Park. 

After all those showers, hooray for May flowers!

Photo credits:
Pope Leo’s words from an unknown source.
All other photos shot by Paul Keoni Chun.

Yoga and Lessons from Gandhi

Bougainvillea in bloom, one of my favorite plants in Hawaii. Spring makes me smile!

50501 Protesters on Madison Avenue earlier this month. As far as I could tell, folks were respectful and peaceful.

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Last month, I wrote about the yama Satya, which is the yoga practice of avoiding lying, speaking the truth. One cannot leave out of any discussion about Satya without mentioning Mahatma Gandhi. I read somewhere once that Gandhi is considered by some to be the greatest yogi that ever lived. He spent his whole life fighting against injustice. But most importantly, he did so by first cultivating his own powers and perfecting his own ability to practice Satyagraha, which as I will share further below is a practice often translated to mean non-violent resistance. 

In to my inbox recently arrived an email with a link to an article in Psychology Today by Zoe Weil entitled: What Can Gandhi Teach Us Right Now? It was a captivating and topical read. Indeed, during this time of upheaval in our country and all the ripple-effects they’re having in the larger world, there is a lot we can try to emulate from the way Gandhi lived his life that may help us now.

Zoe, the article’s author, said a friend posed this question: “Do we just be still without any action to what is happening in this country?” Zoe’s response was: 

“Gandhi would hardly want us to keep still. After all, he worked tirelessly. He also worked strategically, wisely, and forcefully, with force embedded in his guiding principle of satyagraha, often translated as ‘nonviolent resistance.’ But satyagraha means so much more than this. The word combines satya, meaning truth, and agraha, meaning insistence, firmness, and adherence. In other words, Gandhi’s force for change was an unshakeable commitment to opposing injustice with truth.”

The key practice for us as yogis is to cultivate a deep insistence on knowing what is true and what is not. The firmer we are in our pursuit of truth, the bigger challenges we can take on, and the better will be our chances for success in cracking open doors that will lead to systemic changes that alleviate suffering in the world.

Apparently, Gandhi had worked on himself so much that he got to the point where he was able to say:

“I hold myself incapable of hating any being on Earth. By a long course of prayerful discipline, I have ceased for over forty years to hate anybody. I know this is a big claim. Nevertheless, I make it in all humility. ….”

All I can say is “Wow.” I don’t know that I will ever be able to make that claim in my current lifetime, but perhaps through my yoga and meditation practices I can at least crack open some inner doors in order to move in that direction.

Just as importantly, Gandhi goes on to say:

“… But I can and do hate evil wherever it exists. [For e.g.,] I hate the systems of government that the British people have set up in India. … But I do not hate the domineering Englishmen ….” 

Gandhi worked on himself and achieved extraordinary abilities. Chief among them, perhaps, was his ability to separate people from their actions and the institutions that influenced them so that he could hate the actions and the institutions while still being able to love the person. He was able to make to make that critical distinction between the person and the evil acts themselves, and the systems and institutions that caused people to do evil things.  

Similarly, yoga encourages us to separate who we really are from who we think we are. From the yoga perspective, we are not really the thoughts we think or the body we inhabit, but rather we are the observer of all these human experiences we are having. Practicing meditation, particularly, can help us to separate out the act from the actor, the thought from the awareness of the thoughts. Importantly, it can help us to still be able to love ourselves and others more while still not always loving everything that we or others do.

Gandhi said: 

“I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.”

And to add to this, Zoe said:

“… truth for Gandhi meant never doing evil to combat evil; never using violence to oppose violence; and never succumbing to hate to resist hate. It meant no less than living, acting, and teaching with an abiding core of love.” 

Just as the heat of our yoga practice of tapas helps us to burn away the impurities in our mind and body, so too can the heat of our anger be mixed with our capacity for love to transform the unjust situations we are trying to change in an almost alchemical kind of way. The key practice: Control your Anger. If one can do that, then metaphorically speaking one can use the heat from one’s anger to compost any unjust situation one sees into a rich soil that will produce positive outcomes and change systems and institutions for the better.

A key point of the article is that Gandhi is someone we can try to live in the spirit of, similar to how Christians may try to live in the spirit of Jesus or Buddhists in the spirit of the Buddha. We may not be able to attain the same level of enlightenment that Gandhi, or Jesus, or the Buddha achieved, but we can be inspired by them enough that we can keep taking baby steps forward rather than backward.

If you’d like to delve a bit deeper and perhaps gain further insights, here again is the link to the article: What Can Gandhi Teach Us Right Now?

Keep moving towards an unshakeable understanding of the Truth. The Truth is there in plain sight if you can slowly clean away the fogginess from the lens through which you perceive reality. This takes work. Fortunately, yoga and meditation – and prayer even, if that’s your thing - are things that can help get you there. 

Zoe reminds us to “do the inner work as tirelessly as the outer work to achieve all of the above.” 

This is not easy. I bow down to your courage. 

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you practice truth-telling with a firm insistence, ...
May love be at the core of your resistance, …
May the rich compost you create through your sincere and humble efforts benefit All Beings Everywhere. 

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

……………………

These sightings in April resonated.

Three views of the Hawaiian sky at different times of the day invites the question: who are we really - the menace of the dark clouds? ...

Or the promise of the puffy white clouds? ...

Or the clearness and immeasurable possibilities of the unobstructed deep blue sky? Remember: where you put your attention is how you'll perceive reality.

Or perhaps the joy of a happy Hawaiian Gecko?!

Yoga and the Power of Satya – Truth

Plaque at the New England Holocaust Memorial on Boston's historic Freedom Trail. One of many truths that can never be erased.

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Last week, I traveled up to Boston to experience in-person the World Figure Skating Championships. It was the ultimate Artist’s Date! 

Along the way to TD Arena, I passed through a brief stretch of the Freedom Trail and came across the New England Holocaust Memorial. During this time in the world where forces want to erase many truths of human horrors, it is especially important that we honor truth-telling.

Turns out, we, as yogis, are especially called upon to practice truth-telling. According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, before the physical practices of yoga (that we are all so familiar with), there are the yamas – moral restraint practices – and the niyamas – positive duties and observances. They are the so-called “Ten Commandments” of yoga.

The second yama is satya – the practice of restraining from lying. In essence, it is the practice of truth-telling.

Sutra 36 particularly caught my attention with respect to the benefits of truth-telling. SwamiJ interprets it this way:

2.36 As truthfulness (satya) is achieved, the fruits of actions naturally result according to the will of the Yogi.
(satya pratisthayam kriya phala ashrayatvam)

• satya = truthfulness, honesty

• pratisthayam = having firmly established, being well grounded in

• kriya = actions

• phala = fruition, results, effects

• ashrayatvam = come as a result of, are dependent on, are subservient to (the Yogi)

Satya brings whatever is willed: For one who increasingly practices honesty or truthfulness in actions, speech, and thoughts, his or her will is naturally fulfilled.

I am encouraged to know that any opportunities I have to tell the truth will ultimately bring about that which I will. And, at the moment – as is the desire of many others, I’m sure – more than anything else I wish to will into existence resistance against erasure through truth-telling.

The Holocaust, of course, is just one example of many where history is being lost or forgotten. It’s hard to believe that 1 in 5 young Americans think the Holocaust was a myth. But history is full of other examples of human aggression and injury that are in danger of being forgotten. Prominent examples include slavery denial and the Genocide of Indigenous Peoples. Less well known – and one that is close to my heart – is the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in the late 1800s.

However, the Sutra also warns:

• In … reminding oneself (2.33, 2.34) that such behaviors, words, or thinking will only bring personal misery and suffering, the ensuing letting go process allows a natural flow of goodness or positive fruits to come.

In other words, lying will only bring about personal misery and suffering. That in itself should be more than reason enough to avoid lying.

On this point I’m also saddened to think about all those who are yet going to suffer because they’ve turned away from the truth. But that’s a long and whole other discourse. Sigh.

One other important thing to remember about practicing satya is that it is inextricably tied into the practice of the first yama – ahimsa – or non-harming, non-violence. SwamiJ says this:

Relation of Truth and Non-Harming: One of the challenges, if not confusions, that often happens with practicing satya (truthfulness) and ahimsa (non-harming) is how to balance them. It's important to remember that non-harming is the central practice of the five Yamas, and that the other four Yamas are in service of that. To not harm or hurt others is the central goal that the others serve. Learning how to delicately balance not lying while not being painfully honest with others is a real art of Yoga.

Practicing both ahimsa and satya in our daily lives really is the ultimate yoga practice. In some ways, it’s a more difficult practice to achieve than being able to stand on one’s head for a minute. 

With respect to your yoga asana practice, try not to let your ego get the best of you. Try practicing yoga postures that your body is truly capable of doing. And along the way, do the least you can to harm your body by listening to it carefully in every moment. Your body has a natural wisdom that is available to you at all times, if you will just listen to it.

With truth-telling in such short supply at this time, I hope that your ongoing yoga practice can not only help you to be clearer about what is true and what is not, but also be able to speak the truth eloquently, compassionately, and wisely. That is part of our job as yogis.

Speaking truth to power in a nonviolent way is the ultimate power. 

Speaking truth to power in a nonviolent way is the ultimate position of strength.

May telling the truth in a nonviolent way set you free.

We must never forget.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you advance your yoga practice through truth-telling, ...
May you speak truth in a non-harming way that will ultimately ripple out to positively benefit All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

……………………

These sightings in March resonated.

I was near Wall Street earlier this month when I happened upon this peaceful protest. I did my five-minutes worth of truth-telling. Thank goodness for our right to protest.

As seen from midtown Manhattan, the moon cast an eerie glow over us. Almost looks like a painting.

The promise of spring is upon us.

Speaks for itself.

Yoga and the Power of Mixing Compassion with Equanimity

Walking near the Moynihan Train Hall this past month, I looked up and witnessed to this natural wonder. I look at this as a sign that though things may seem dark at the moment, as long as our heart is beating, there is hope.

……………………

I shared before that I had done an online meditation course with Sharon Salzberg on the topic of Equanimity. (She’ll be offering the course again in March.) I wish to share more of the wisdom I gleaned from the course, as I think it could be very helpful to us in this moment.

Sharon taught that Equanimity – Upekkha – is one of the Brahma Viharas, which are boundless states of awareness that our hearts are capable of experiencing. Another one is Compassion – Karuna. It feels liberating to me just knowing that my heart is capable of experiencing these supreme states. It builds feeling of courage in me to try to see how far my heart can go in these directions.

Sharon describes karuna – compassion – this way: 

Compassion can be thought of as the trembling of the heart in response to suffering and a movement of the heart towards that suffering to see if we can be of help.

Certainly, our collective hearts have been trembling quite a bit lately in the face of the suffering we’re seeing in the larger world. Reading this definition of compassion again, my first thought is what a gift it is that our heart can tremble. Whether it is melting at the sight of a puppy at play or feeling pain at the sight of someone suffering, this very fact that our heart can feel something is the entry point into greater states of awareness.

The key words for me in this statement are: “if we can be of help.” I can definitely say that there have been times when I’ve seen someone in distress and have tried to rush in to help, only to discover that my helping wasn’t really helping. Perhaps you can relate with me here. It pays to ask first: “do you need my help?”  

Sometimes, people can be in distress but there’s really nothing we can do to help them. And that’s where our wisdom practices can kick in – we can balance caring deeply without becoming overwhelmed. Sharon says it like this: 

The combination of compassion and equanimity allows us to care profoundly and yet not become overwhelmed or unable to cope because of that caring.

This can serve as a reminder that it is possible for us to care too much, and in a way that will ultimately be detrimental not only to ourselves but even to the person(s) we’re trying to help.

Sharon also says:

We can dedicate our lives to the alleviation of suffering and yet combine warmth and spaciousness, wisdom and kindness. 

And:

There is a balance between opening one's heart fully and accepting the limits of what one can change.

I’m glad for this reminder that there are limits as to what I can do to effect change. As my heart trembles at what I am seeing and reading about in the news, I have to remind myself to cultivate spaciousness at the same time. It’s a delicate balance, but I am trying to practice being aware of what’s going on and at the same time “cocoon” them into a larger space so that I don’t become overwhelmed. I know that I cannot be effective if I’m overwhelmed. 

I also know that this moment requires me to maintain and upkeep warmth and kindness in my heart, especially when I’m in a situation where there’s nothing I can do to change someone or some situation for the better. These times require me to call up wisdom – in this case the ability to see if I can be of help. On this point, Sharon teaches:

Myth: Compassion means only ever saying yes.
Fact: Compassion doesn't dictate a fixed response.

The wisdom to know that we can’t and shouldn’t always say yes – even if people ask us for help – is so important for us to keep at the forefront of our awareness. It will give us some space, and it will ultimately make us more effective as we try to figure out how we can help. Or if we can even help at all.

And there is so much wisdom in remembering that each situation we face is different, and that no fixed response is required. This will give us the flexibility to navigate these uncertain times with a certain power – the power that’s derived when we alleviate ourselves from the need or desire to have to come up with a response. Sometimes it’s OK to not do anything even as our heart trembles in the face of suffering. Sometimes, as the New York Times article “The Secret to Better Running? Walking.” suggests, doing the “run-walk method” is not only a strategy for runners, but also one that we can adopt in our daily lives. As the author discovered in her running practice, breaking up her running routine with short periods of walking actually led her to having faster overall race-times. Conversely, when she just pushed through and kept running, her race-times ended up being slower. Same in life. Each time we go out and try to tackle the challenges of our life the inner and outer variables will be different. So, some days we’ll accomplish more if we “run” and on other days it’s best if we “walk.”

We need to balance this perilous moment in Earth’s history with an acknowledgment that there are limits to what we can change – at least immediately. I think it’s wise to stay engaged, but be careful to not become overwhelmed. Again, we risk not being able to be effective if we become too overwhelmed.

So, as you negotiate these times in your own unique and particular ways, I hope that yoga and meditation can keep your heart open and spacious, warm and kind. And I hope that you will see your heart’s trembling as the doorway to even more liberation.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May your heart tremble, ...
May the trembling of your heart inspire you to take wise actions that will benefit people nearest to you … and ultimately, ripple out to benefit All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

P.S., as I compose this, my heart is trembling as I witness President Volodymyr Zelensky’s utter bravery in the face of having been attacked for stating what most people in the world know to be true. May we all have such bravery to state Truth to power.

……………………

These sightings in February truly made my heart tremble.

With the Freedom Tower in the background, the Bell of Hope behind St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan serves as a reminder that hope will always triumph over tragedy.

This plaque inside St. Paul's Chapel reminds us that meekness is a sign of wisdom and - paradoxically - strength.

Things may seem bleak at the moment, but there are still patches of blue, spacious sky to behold. That's where I'm placing my attention.

This month I was invited to teach chair yoga to people with disabilities at the Center for Family Support. My heart is trembling thinking that they will be greatly affected if Medicaid benefits are reduced. The suffering is starting to hit closer to home. 

Photo Credits:
Scenes from around New York shot by me.
Scenes from the Center for Family Support shot by Leslie A. Colón.

Yoga and the Power of Doing Small Things with Great Love

Love is in the air at the great seafood restaurant, La Parilla, one of the Kioskos de Luquillo in the northeast part of Puerto Rico. La comida es muy deliciosa - I highly recommend!

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By chance last month, I ran into a past yoga student of mine from pre-pandemic times. He told me that something I shared in class a long while back has stayed with him all these years. I am always so touched when I hear that the little pearls of wisdom that I offer in class resonate with students, and especially that the passage of time and space hasn't lessened the lesson.
 
The quote, it turns out, was something that Mother Teresa said:
 
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." 
 
And this is resonating with me a lot right now, particularly in the geopolitical climate we are currently living through. I believe that as yogis, we all know at some level that it is our responsibility to not only change our own individual selves for the better, but the planet as a whole as well. We don’t do our work in isolation, and everything we do does have some effect – positive or negative – out there in the larger world. 
 
And I have no doubt that many of us look at the challenges in the larger world right now and wonder “what can I do?” But because the many problems in the world can feel so overwhelming, we can begin to feel helpless.
 
So, Mother Teresa’s statement may be just the antidote for how many of us may be feeling right now. Time to go local, or hyperlocal even. 
 
I, for one, am constantly on the lookout for small things in my immediate environment that I can do with great love. Even these Yoga e-Letters, I pour a lot of love into them. And I’m so touched when folks let me know these writings are helping them in their lives. Beyond this, when I see small ways that I can help out someone in my immediate environment, I jump on the opportunity to serve God in this seemingly small way. Who knows what large effects the small efforts we make can have on another human being.
 
Martin Luther King, who we commemorated and celebrated this past month, shared a similar sentiment:
 
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
 
And the Indian philosopher and mystic, Osho, said:
 
Creativity means enjoying any work as meditation; doing any work with deep love. When you understand, whatsoever you do - cooking, cleaning, etc... Life consists of small things; just your ego goes on saying these are small things. You would like some great thing to do - a great poetry, a great painting... Drop the ego and everything is creative.
 
So do not think for a moment that the little and seemingly mundane things you do in your life have no effect. If they are done with great love and attention, they can ripple out and have a huge effect.
 
And, as yoga asana practitioners, who really cares if you can do “great" yoga postures like standing on your head? In some ways that’s easier than doing a relatively simple posture like child’s pose but with great love. 
 
Speaking of doing small things with great love – we’re in the midst of movie awards season and I’ve been screening the movies nominated for the Screen Actors Guild awards. I wanted to give a shout out to these two small movies that were obviously made with a great deal of love:
 
The Last Showgirl … Pamela Anderson leapt out of the screen and into my heart!
Sing Sing … never underestimate the power of the Arts to rehabilitate and heal! 
 
In Buddhist teachings, it’s been said that when the heart can be moved, it’s the start of compassion. Both movies stirred my heart, and I can recommend both!
 
The power of doing small things with great love lies in the fact that each small act creates a Light that ripples out into the world. Unlike darkness – which contracts and draws in and consumes – Light moves outward and illuminates and creates possibilities. Let this please be a small reminder that you are indeed very powerful.
 
May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you do small things with great love, ...
May your small things done with great love somehow benefit both you and All Beings Everywhere.
 
Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

……………….

My husband and I visited Puerto Rico this past month. I can fully understand now why they call it Isla del Encanto - Isle of Enchantment. Below are some of my favorite scenes. I fell in love, over and over again!

We visited a lechonera, El Rancho Original, in the Guavate area of Cayey in the central mountain region. La Comida (the food) was outstanding and so obviously prepared with much pride. Perhaps a rather small thing in the grand scheme of things, yet you could taste the love in every bite!

View of the Caribbean sky from Luquillo. God obviously was creating with love!

Nature delighted us over and over again at Jardín Botánico y Cultural de Caguas William Miranda Marín in Caguas. Seeing this, I was immediately reminded of my own island roots back in Hawaii and could feel the Aloha - love.

Sculpture in honor of the Taíno Indians, the original human inhabitants of this island paradise, at Jardín Botánico y Cultural de Caguas William Miranda Marín, Caguas. It's so important - especially nowadays - to remember who was here before us.

Una Iglesia (church) in Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce. Clearly, the builders crafted this relatively simple structure with a great deal of love, and the citizens maintain it with a great deal of pride and care.

Back here in NYC, I learned how to make one of my favorite Chinatown dishes - 白切鸡 – bak chit gai - "white cut chicken" with ginger scallion sauce. Turns out, it is a rather simple dish to prepare. I pour a lot of love into my cooking, and it brings me great joy! Kung Hay Fat Choy!

Yoga and the Art of Walking the Tightrope of Life

Scene from the Big Apple Circus' 2024 show Hometown Playground. Such fun!

……………….

Earlier this month, my husband and I had the absolute pleasure of attending a performance of the Big Apple Circus. It was truly a delightful experience, and made this grownup here feel like a kid again.

Among the many acts that made us ooh and ahh was the above tight-rope walker. Reliving this memory now makes me realize that life itself is really like walking a tight-rope. Perhaps there are some lessons for us here. Like the tight-rope walker, when we’re attempting a difficult task there is a real balance between applying too much energy and not applying enough. And the tightrope walker really has to stay in the present moment and let go of as many distractions as possible in order to be successful. This is what we’re training ourselves to get good at when we practice yoga.

I mentioned back in October that I had done a 10-day online meditation course on Equanimity with Buddhist meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines “Equanimity” this way: mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation [as in] she accepted both the good and the bad with equanimity. 

In Lesson 1 of the course, Sharon’s inspirational message was: 

“We can genuinely be engaged with life without being consumed by it.” 

For sure, that is a real balancing act. How can we remain engaged with life especially during those times when we want to run away from it completely? 

Sharon teaches:

“Equanimity is engaging with life with perspective and wisdom.”

In other words, to avoid being consumed by the challenges we face requires stepping back a bit in order to gain perspective. And Sharon says “we can cultivate enough spacious attention around our feelings so that wisdom can naturally arise.” So as tight-rope walkers in life, there is a balance between concentrating fully on the task/challenge at hand while simultaneously cocooning it with moments of space. As an example, as I’m writing this, I find that I’ll have moments where the thoughts are coming quickly followed by moments where I have to step back and pause for a bit. In creating a bit of space around the current task of writing this blog, the perspective and wisdom can rise from deep within and out onto the page. 

Sharon shared:

“Equanimity’s strength derives from a combination of understanding and trust in the cycles and tides of our life’s experiences.” 

First, we have to remember that there are indeed cycles and tides to the life experience. Life isn’t always linear. Sometimes it’s circular, sometimes parabolic. Sometimes life speeds along exponentially – both in the direction we want it to at times and at others not. And sometimes life comes to a complete standstill. Remembering that life hums along at different rhythms and seasonal vicissitudes can help us to build trust. And as our trust in the process of life grows, so too do our states of inner equanimity and balance.

Truth be told, on the night we went to the Big Apple Circus, the tight-rope walker actually fell off (safely) at least once. But he treated it as a natural occurrence in the life of a tight-rope walker and just got up and kept going. If memory serves me correctly, he was trying to do a headstand on the rope – imagine that yogis! – when he fell off. But he treated his “failure” so nonchalantly that no one in the audience really cared. In at least trying to execute this difficult feat, he really succeeded in my mind. Perhaps he’s been successful on other nights, but that night it wasn’t meant to be. So, he just proceeded on calmly. That to me is an example of truly trusting the process of life, not being consumed by success or failure, and engaging with life with perspective and wisdom. The audience in the end was no less entertained and applauded him loudly. 

Lastly, Sharon shared in this lesson:

“The art of crossing the flood (of life’s challenges) is accomplished one moment at a time and fueled by our ability to continually begin again.” 

As we finish one year and enter into a new one, it is so important that we remember that our job as yogis is to continually begin again. Yes, we face great uncertainty and challenges – both personally and globally – in 2025, but it behooves us to remember to take each challenge just one moment at a time. If we can remember that we do have a great innate capacity for beginning again, over and over again, then our confidence in our ability to remain balanced amid the challenges ahead will only grow and grow.

Thank you for being a reader of my blogs in 2024. Best of luck to you in 2025!

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you find the balance between applying too much energy and not enough, ...
May you cultivate mental calmness as you tight-rope walk through your challenges ahead,
May your sincere efforts in 2025 somehow benefit both you and All Beings Everywhere. 

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

……………….

Some beautiful birds I encountered at the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary in India Shores, FL last week. Witnessing Nature like this keeps me in balance.

My best attempt at flying. I have a thing or two to learn from the birds.

Yoga and the Art of the Marathon

Change is in the air.

A scene from the NYC Marathon, Nov 3, 2024. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Despite what Alexander Hamilton might have said, you don't have always have to write like you're running out of time.

……………….

Perhaps you’re like me and have been finding the need to retreat lately. Get quiet. Slow down. Take mental health days. In order to be able to “Do Something” – as a famous person recently implored – I’ve found the need to do nothing. Or rather, do different things than I had been doing. Especially as I’ve minimized my news intake, slowly I’ve found clarity of mind returning.

I’ve always believed that yoga practice is more like a marathon, rather than a sprint. It takes a long time to get really good at it, especially at the subtler aspects of it and the deeper practices.

I don’t know when I wrote these words but many years ago, I added the following entry into my “Pearls of Wisdom” document: 

Yoga Practice is like investing in mutual funds for your retirement. You have to think long term. Know when to be conservative and when it’s safe to take risks. Take the turtle approach - go slow, yet steadily towards your desired outcome.

I’ve always believed in just showing up, doing what I can do … daily, weekly, monthly … and seeing what it all adds up to many years down the road. Now that I’m in my “re-wirement” years, I have a better sense of what some of my “investments” – I’m not speaking in monetary terms – have led me to realizing. 

The turtle approach is not an especially popular one in our success-oriented, need-it-by-yesterday American collective psyche. But I do believe it is one that can produce the longest-lasting results when all is said and done. Many years ago, when I studied Ta’i Chi, my teacher passed on this wisdom:

Slow, imperceptible changes last.  Quick, dramatic changes do not.
- Ta’i Chi principle 

The quiet, soft approach may go unnoticed but I do believe that over time, it can yield powerful results. In my own life, I’ve gotten better at a few things simply by perfecting my skills over a long period of time.

Another powerful Ta’i Chi principle our teacher taught us was:

Never force.

I remember my Ta’i Chi teacher describing the practice something like wrapping a steel sword in soft cotton. Taking this approach may lead to appearances being deceiving, whereby those who appear weak may actually be quite strong, and vice-verse. 

I think it’s so important to remember to never force – especially as we practice yoga asanas. When I first began seriously practicing yoga in the ‘90s, I did Ashtanga (a.k.a. Power) Yoga, which is quick and dynamic. As time went on, I shifted to doing more ViniYoga, Restorative Yoga, and Yin Yoga, which is slower and gentler. This approach has allowed me to continue practicing yoga asanas and still receive the benefits.

As we all do our individual parts in charting our country’s next reinvention of itself, I’ve felt the desire to step-back, with the hopes that insight will arise and guide me to doing my own small part in helping steer us towards Good. I don’t know what lies ahead on my path – and our collective path – but I am encouraged to follow the sage advice from some true Masters:

 If you want to change the world, first try to improve and bring about change within yourself. That will help change your family. From there it just gets bigger and bigger. Everything we do has some effect, some impact.
- H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step....
- Lao Tzu 

So right now, I’m trying to help the collective consciousness by first going small and doing what I can to slowly change myself and my own physical, mental, and emotional states of being.

I am also taking to heart the words of Fred Hargadon – a.k.a “Dean Fred” – who was the Dean of Admissions at Stanford University back in the 70’s and who admitted me there. He said:

“Take the LONG view.” … “Let your whole life be serendipitous, a series of seemingly accidental, yet happy and beneficial events.” … “Don’t have your life so well planned out that you don’t leave room for good things to happen by accident.” 

I really do believe, by treating this period of time like a marathon, that slowly, but surely, many happy accidents and beneficial events – some that I cannot even dream of at this moment – are in store for BOTH me and Us. 

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you do nothing in order to be able to Do Something, ...
May you take the long view, …
May happy, accidental and beneficial events lie in your future, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

I love the quirky art that is in abundance around NYC. Always brightens my day.

I don't know how we'll get there, but this song has been a balm for my spirits and fears recently, and reminds me that, somehow, someday WE WILL get there.

Youtube Description: "Woyaya" is the title song of a 1971 album by the legendary Ghanaian band "Osibisa". The song was frequently heard in work camps throughout central West Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. “Woyaya,” like many other African scat syllables, can have many meanings. According to the song’s composer, it means “We are going.”

Yoga and the Art of Staying Equanimous

Things may be changing all around us, but we can still remain balanced, equanimous.

……………….

Feeling unbalanced lately amid all the world events swirling around us? I certainly have been. Which is why when I had the opportunity recently to do an online meditation course on Equanimity with Buddhist meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg, I jumped at the chance.

According to Sharon, Equanimity – or Uppekhā as it is called in Pāli, the language of the Buddha – is one of the four “Boundless states” or Brahma Viharas – that it is possible for humans to experience.

Despite all the chaos going on around us and the life experiences that make us feel bound, we can experience boundless states in our minds. The Buddha offered us trainings that could serve as a potential way out of feeling trapped.

Over 10 days, the course offered audio teachings, inspirations, reflections with opportunities to journal, fact checks, takeaways, and references. It was rich with information, insights and wisdom. I’d like to share a few of them that have been resonating with me particularly at this time.

“Equanimity” is synonymous with “balance.” Sharon writes:

“Fact: Balance is like a living gyroscope, ebbing and flowing.”

We’ve all seen gyroscopes rolling around being pushed in different directions by the various forces it comes into contact with. And yet, it’s easy to imagine that despite being moved around – and sometimes even being thrashed around – in space, its center is very calm. It’s akin to the eye of a hurricane.

Similarly, as living beings we too can create that center of calm within ourselves. Yoga and meditation practitioners know that breath, awareness, and wisdom can aide us in our pursuit of this state of being. And, Sharon suggests in the following takeaway another way we can be reunited with our center:

A sense of meaning in our lives can provide a deep core, much like the gyroscope’s core, lifting our aspirations, strengthening us in adversity, and helping us have a sense of who we are and what we care about despite changing situations and painful experiences.

Reflecting on this made me pause to think about the things I value that give me a sense of meaning for my life. Many things have come to mind over the past few months. Here are just a few: kindness … healthy boundaries … knowing right vs. wrong … being generous when and where I can be, sharing what I have with others … knowing what’s important to me and trying to make a difference in my small little world … seeing the ‘we’ in ‘me’ … planting good karmic seeds every chance I get … believing that what goes up must eventually come down …. With each passing day, the list grew, as I am sure yours will grow too, should you do this exercise. At any rate, remembering some of my core values has helped to keep me calm and returned me to feeling balanced these past few months. So, to me, the art of staying equanimous is knowing what your values are that lie at the center of your being and staying true to them the best you can.

Another bit of inspiration Sharon offered that was particularly helpful to me was:

“Inspo: we don't have to do things in the hardest way possible.”

She followed this up with this takeaway:

It’s more effective to work with pain by titrating (taking breaks) and building in balance along the way.

We already know from our yoga practice on the mat that we can’t keep going and going. We have to take breaks – for example taking child’s pose and doing savasana. And out in the external world, we have to do the same.

The word “titrate” kept popping into my head. It reminded me to pause … take difficult things in small doses … take breaks … do fun things that help keep me calm – in my case, lately that has been cooking … read/watch/listen to the news just in small doses …. Employing these strategies have helped me to build in some balance along the way.

These are the perennial words from the Bhagavad Gita which I have shared in past e-Letters that have helped to keep me feeling balanced through the years since I first read them:

You have control over actions alone, never over its fruits.  Live not for the fruits of action, nor attach yourself to inaction.  Established in Yoga, O Arjuna, perform actions having abandoned attachment and having become balanced in success and failure, for balance of mind is called Yoga.

-- Krishna speaking to Arjuna in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad-Gita, verses 47 and 48.

In your asana practice, try to remain balanced whether you succeed or fail. Just try your best. And similarly, in life, all we can do is act in the world with grace, dignity, and wisdom. The results of our actions are really not up to us. But the realization that our best actions are sewing good karmic seeds that will one day grow into being useful to all beings can be enough to help us remain feeling balanced, equanimous.

Sharon said that one of her earliest teachers would often say to his students: Stay equanimous. So, my hope for you is that no matter what happens next Tuesday, I hope that you can stay equanimous.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you keep your values at the forefront of your awareness, ...
May you take meaningful breaks, …
May you stay equanimous, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

A walk in the woods of Central Park brings me into a state of equanimity.

For us New Yorkers, Central Park is the center of our collective gyroscope.

Yoga and the Power of Love over hate

FDNY Memorial Wall, Lower Manhattan, September 11, 2024

……………….

This month, I made a trek down to Lower Manhattan on 9/11. I try to go down there each year on this date, when I can. The searing images from 23 years ago of seeing the towers fall as I gazed out of my window in midtown will be with me for the rest of my life. Being down there earlier this month at those two sacred pools which are on the footprints of the twin towers helps me to not forget. Seeing the names of the victims etched into the walls around the pools helps me to remember that these were human beings, sentient beings like you and me. Watching the commemoration ceremony on TV and seeing family members read their names – always with much emotion in their voices – helps me to remember that the loss is still felt deeply by those closest. For me, it’s good to pause on this day, and reflect on how that day’s events can provide lessons for me as I try to live my best life for the rest of my life here on this Earth.

Pema Chödrön shared this story, The Wolf That Wins:

There was a story that was widely circulated a few days after the attacks of September 11, 2001, that illustrates our dilemma. A Native American grandfather was speaking to his grandson about violence and cruelty in the world and how it comes about. He said it was as if two wolves were fighting in his heart. One wolf was vengeful and angry, and the other wolf was understanding and kind. The young man asked his grandfather which wolf would win the fight in his heart. And the grandfather answered, “The one that wins will be the one I choose to feed.”

Clearly, we see many examples currently in the outer world that show the results of people choosing to feed the wolf of vengeance and anger. But as yogis, I think, the important task at hand is to move inward and try to feed our own inner wolves of understanding and kindness. 

Having turned 65 this year and entering into my “re-wirement” years, I can slow down a bit. I’m not chasing money and fame like I was in the 1st and 2nd chapters of my life. When I’m out on the streets, most often I’m not rushing to get somewhere, but rather I can take my time. It's a luxury I wish all beings could have. 

I know that when I am in a hurry and being impatient, that’s when I can easily succumb to feeding the wolf of anger and vengeance. An example of this in my personal life is that my neighborhood in midtown west Manhattan has become crowded and almost a bit dangerous in the last few years. The sidewalks are full of people – and often e-bikes, sadly. On the streets, cars are whizzing by and e-bikes (again) are often going in the wrong direction. You really have to look left and right before you cross the street. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t use my AirPods when I’m out and about so that I can have all my senses available to me to prevent possibly being hit. A few weeks back, I was in a hurry to get home and was making my way through a crosswalk on a green light signal when suddenly a car made a quick right turn through the crosswalk and nearly hit me. I remember in that moment wanting to feed the wolf of anger and vengeance, as that car nearly injured me. And I remember those feelings stayed with me for a few hours that night. 

But here’s the point of my story – I looked inside myself to see what changes I could make so that I would less likely be in a position to want to feed the wolf of anger and vengeance when I’m out there in my little world surrounding me. The awareness that came over me was that I can start by accepting that there are people out there who, when triggered, will cause harm to others. That is their karma that they’ll have to account for it. But for me, I can slow down and move more mindfully through the world, and in so doing I can lessen my feelings of anger and resentment. Walking with more awareness and light I can put myself in a better frame of mind to be able to feed the wolf of understanding and kindness, even as I’m traversing nearby busy Times Square, which some might say is the center of the Universe.

The Buddha’s core ethical teachings were compiled thousands of years ago into a text called the Dhammapada. At this time of year, I always like going back to it to reflect on these particular verses:

"Hatred is never ended by hatred - but by love [this is an eternal rule]"
Dhammapada verse 5

and

Many forget that we here must die,
For those who remember, quarrels end.
Dhammapada verse 6

For me, with each passing year and at this chapter of my life, it becomes much easier to remember that I won’t be around forever and ever. I certainly can’t make any promises to myself or anyone else that in my remaining lifetime all my quarrels will end. But I do often contemplate the need to come to peace with any quarrels within myself. At this point, I look back and think of the mistakes I’ve made, mistakes that were made out of the ignorance of youth, so to speak. Mistakes made while pursuing fame and fortune in my earlier years. And the sheer recognition of those mistakes makes it easier to understand how others can make similar kinds of mistakes. As spiritual beings, we’re all just trying to make some sense of what it means to have a human incarnation. It can either become a trap or be a springboard to more authentic joy and happiness – and humility.

Love evokes for me feelings of light, kindness, and understanding. It’s an ever upward spiral. Hatred evokes feelings of heaviness, anger, and vengeance. It’s a downward spiral.

I realize that you yourself may be in an earlier chapter of your life than I am, and may not have the luxury of time that I have. If I could share my sense of ease with you, I would. At the same time, I wish more than anything for you that you can carve out moments of mindful and expansive awareness in your life. And I hope that these moments can evoke feelings of love for all beings that will help to obliterate some of the hatred that is out there.

In your yoga asana practice, please do remember to feed the wolf of understanding and kindness for your body and its limitations. If you do, you will surely be closer on your way towards Enlightenment.

Finally, I invite you to listen to this very moving song called Dear Hate. I have a feeling it will make love grow within you and spiral you higher and higher.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you feed your wolf of understanding and kindness, ...
May your Love grow to become a powerful force, …
May your Love conquer hate, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Light rising above darkness at one of the 9/11 Memorial Pools. Simply put - Love wins.

Almost full moon illuminated the midtown Manhattan skyline on September 16th. For me, it felt like a sign that even amidst all the darkness, there is still hope. Simply put - Love will find a way to pierce through.

Yoga and the Power of Joy

On Sanibel Island this month, watching the birds fishing for food in the morning brought me great Joy!

……………….

Joy seems to be the word-of-the-month! Without getting political 😊, I think it’s important for each of us to cultivate joy. Why? Because it can give us a sense of much needed direction in our lives. 

I shared this story in one of my past yoga e-Letters, but many years ago when I did Julia Cameron’s the Artist’s Way, one exercise asked the question: if you didn’t have to do it perfectly, what would you risk doing? For me, the answer was teaching (gymnastics at the time), and it eventually led me to teaching yoga.

What led me to doing the Artist’s Way in the first place was that I had just left an acting program because it was bringing me no joy whatsoever. In fact, it was a painful experience. Subsequently, in my search for a new acting teacher and program, I came across an acting teacher named Robert McCaskill. I’ll never forget the quote at the top of his page that described his approach: 

“Joy is the Center of the Creative process.”

It has stayed with me ever since. Whatever I pursue, I try to find the joy. And I’ve also come to see that if something is not bringing me joy, then it’s time to move on. Mind you, I’m not talking about the “serial-interest path” whereby one pursues something until one gets bored then moves on to something else. (Sadly, this is all too common in our society.) Rather, I’m talking about the pursuits that brings so much joy ultimately that one is willing to push through the mud and do all the things necessary to feel like a success. For me at various times in my life the list has included doing gymnastics, dancing, acting, teaching, and founding a nonprofit. Each of these pursuits – hard as each has been at times – has also brought me great joy, the kind that no one can take away from me.

We know that there is much happening in the world that is creating the opposite of joy. They include: wars, famine, violent political rhetoric, and greed wreaking havoc on the planet, to name a few things. Things like this must have been happening even in the time of the Buddha, because at the end of a yoga class I took 20+ years ago, the teacher left us with a quote from the Buddha, who taught:

“Learn to live Joyfully through all the world’s sorrows.”

But how you might ask could we possibly do this? The American Buddhist Monk, Pema Chödrön may have the answer. She said:

“Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It’s becoming critical. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way we can benefit others.”

To me she is saying that it is essential that each of us finds things that spark so much Joy within ourselves that we we’re willing to make “blood, sweat and tear” sacrifices in order to pursue these things further. It’s essential that we find activities that when we’re engaged in doing them time seems to stand still.

Joy’s power is that it points us in the right direction. Joy’s power is that it motivates us. Joy’s power is that it is contagious. Joy’s power is that it makes it easier for us to find common ground with people who see things differently than we do.

Perhaps if more of us experienced the elixir of joy more often, the world might truly be in a better place. We’d lower our guards more often, be less competitive and greedy, and share more of what we have with others. Perhaps more than ever before in history, we have to become beacons of Joy in order to not only save ourselves, but also the entire planet. 

As you practice yoga asanas, consider fanning the flame of joy with each breath you take. Find the joy – rather than the suffering – in each asana (posture) you perform.

I leave you with this poem from Rumi which captured my joy:

"‘This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet."

This makes me remember a moment back in college at Stanford University many years ago when I was in rehearsal for a musical with Ram’s Head Theatrical Society, a student run theatre organization. I distinctly remember doing a Grand Jeté (split leap) across the stage of Memorial Auditorium. And in that moment, I just knew that I had to dance. I leapt so high I remember feeling like I was never going to come back down to Earth. It was such a seminal moment for me that it did eventually lead me to pursuing a career in dance.

So, similarly for you, I hope that in whatever pursuits you are engaged in at this time that you are flying toward your own secret sky and that veils are falling all around you, like they did for me. And like I experienced in that moment 43+ years ago, I hope you are floating on air as you are pursuing what you love doing.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you be creating with much Joy at this time, ...
May your Joy be powerful, …
May your Joy be alleviating some of the sorrows of the world, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere. 

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

……………….

These are some sights from this past month that brought me great joy upon witnessing them!

At sunrise, the early bird gets the fish ... or in my husband's case, the best pick of the shells that washed up on the beach overnight.

Dive-bombing for breakfast!

A few treasures found on Sanibel from my husband's impressive shell collection! Learn more about shelling on Sanibel Island here.

Yoga and the Importance of Balance

This past month, I returned to Hawaii to celebrate a milestone birthday for my oldest brother. Coming back home gave me a chance to create some balance in my life as I reconnected with my family and bathed in the natural beauty of this island paradise in ways that touched all my senses. It reminded me that creating feelings of balance in one’s life is so very important.
 
I got to visit with my cousin, Kaili, who is a well-respected Native Hawaiian sculptor and installation artist based in Hawaii. She gave me a personal tour of some of her art pieces in Waikīkī, downtown Honolulu, and in her own studio in Nuʻuanu. Particularly, her piece Muliwai caught my attention. She explained to me that in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language), Muliwai is the place where the fresh water from the mountains meets the salt water from the sea, and creates the proper conditions for a certain fish called the Hinana (baby ‘o’opu) to thrive. She said that the Hinana were one of many fish that Hawaiians ate to sustain themselves. According to my cousin, “we [Hawaiians] knew and still know their lifecycles and know when to harvest [them] and when to let [them] grow.” In other words, Hawaiians didnʻt over-harvest. Rather, they balanced the “taking from Nature” with periods of letting nature replenish itself. In this way, they could live in harmony and balance with nature and thus experience harmony and balance within themselves. As we say in Hawaii, “so akamai!” – so smart!
 
In the installation’s description above, it says: 
 
“Where the wai (fresh waters of the mountains) meets the kai (salt waters of the sea), there you will find the muliwai, Here, the brackish water sustains a nutritious environment for fish and sea creatures that together feed the people of the land.”
 
In addition to meaning “slightly salty,” another definition of brackish is “unpleasant or distasteful.” And that got me thinking about life itself. What are the necessary life experiences one needs in order to live a full and meaningful life? I would argue that we need to experience both the refreshing parts of life as well as the salty parts of life. The balance of the two will help us to keep moving in the direction of Enlightenment, which is what we’re trying to achieve in our yoga practice both on and off the mat. From a yoga perspective, we need a balance of stimuli – both the light and the dark, the easy and not so easy – in order to create the right conditions for us to reach Enlightenment.

The installation description also states:
 
“In tribute to the rhythmic flow of the muliwai, the undulations of the artwork highlight the ebb and flow of lunar and tidal connections, reflecting the brilliance of the ahupuaʻa, the gifts of the muliwai, and how the ingenuity of our kanaka maoli fuses with the creative forces of our world, allowing all to flourish and bloom.”
 
The key takeaway for me as it relates to yoga is that the Hawaiian people (kanaka maoli) flourished and bloomed because they were able to ebb and flow with nature rather than against it. And the lesson for us is that we can ebb and flow with things just as they are, rather than constantly fighting to have things be something different than they are. 
 
At the moment, I am working my way through a course on Equanimity given by the Buddhist Meditation Teacher, Sharon Salzburg. In the first lesson she offers these words:
 
Equanimity is engaging with life with perspective and wisdom.
 
and
 
Equanimity’s strength derives from a combination of understanding and trust in the cycles and tides of our life’s experiences.
 
The Hawaiian people surely understood this in ways that we can learn from. There is a rhythm to life, and our job is to try to stay in the flow, swim with the flow, and not to try to resist the flow, especially when it leads us into brackish waters. Because that is where we may truly find the life-nutrients we need to help us move forward spiritually. That is where we may gain more perspective and wisdom.
 
No less important as a practice, the installation description starts with these words:
 
“Famous is the Āpuakehau stream, flowing through the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī from the verdant mountains to the thriving ocean, giving birth to the abundant muliwai laden with gifts of life-giving food that fills the ʻopu of our people. Mahalo e Āpuakehau for sharing your many treasures.”
 
The Hawaiian people knew the importance of saying Mahalo (thanks) to Nature for its gifts that filled their ʻopu (stomachs) to samtosha (contentment). So I will conclude here by saying that our practice of cultivating balance in our own lives needs to include slowing down at times and observing the non-man-made things around us. Cultivate balance by pausing and giving praise to the beauty around you that is always being given to you freely by the Universe .
 
May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you flow with Nature, ...
May you be like the Hinana and thrive in the brackish waters of your life, …
May you practice balance in your life, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere.
 
Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Mahalo - thanks! - to Nature for giving us such beauty!

Me and Cuzin Kaili.

Yoga and the Power of Pride

Rockefeller Center Plaza all decked out for Pride!

……………….

In yoga and Buddhism, pride can have negative connotations. It’s often associated with having a high sense of self-importance and too great of an ego, both of which we’re instructed to try to lessen through our practice. But Pride can also have positive effects on our practice as well.

This month, we celebrated LGBTQI+ Pride month. The lesson for all of us is that we can come out to our very own authenticity.

Back when I was a dancer, I heard this quote from Martha Graham, the iconic 20th century Dancer and Choreographer, which had a profound impact on me:

There is a vitality, an energy, a life-force that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.

As a dancer, I remember always comparing myself to others. And I also remember how the music made ME feel and what joy it brought ME expressing it through movement. I felt that vitality, energy, and life-force that Marth spoke of. And Martha’s statement made me realize that no one is going to express that movement like I can, and that is to be celebrated from within.

And as a yoga teacher, I’ve kept coming back to my inner voice when it comes to choreographing my yoga sequences. That voice has guided me, and over time, I’ve learned to trust it with more and more confidence.

The yogic lesson I’ve gained is that no one can express any particular yoga pose like I can. And no one can teach a yoga class like I can. Both are unique to me, and both deserve to be celebrated.

Marianne Williamson wrote the following which also had a profound impact on me back in the 90s:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not in just some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson - A Return to Love, 1992

From a yoga perspective, I say “Amen to that!” Yoga practice isn’t meant to serve only the privileged few, the ones who can easily touch their toes or stand on their heads. As yogis, we were all born with that ability to manifest the glory of God within us through our yoga practice. It is important not to block our fullest expressions of ourselves in our practice. No one can express downward dog or warrior 1 quite like you or I can. And that is something we can take pride in. Especially since this is the kind of Pride that allows us to let our own Light shine, which then, as Marianne says, gives others the permission to do the same.

I don’t know who said this, but it resonated with me:

We are all being called upon – each in our own unique way – to find out who we are, and to live that authentically in the service of this world, not just for our own particular small-minded gain or benefit.
- author unknown

Each of us must find our own unique voice. And as we do, we can proudly share it with the world and in taking pride in who and what we uniquely are, we can be of service to the world.

After all, isn’t that ultimately one of the main reasons why we’re practicing yoga and meditation? 

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you know your uniqueness, ...
May you experience your innate vitality, …
May you take Pride in who and what you are, ... for the benefit of those nearest and dearest to you, and ultimately All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

At the Puerto Rican Day Parade this month, it was a joy to see this kid display unabashed Pride over his heritage at such a young age.

Seeing this Pride event at Rockefeller Center uplifted me! Made me feel so proud to be me, exactly as I am!

Out on our building's playground, even our seal was bathed in Pride!

Yoga and the Power of Aloha and Keoni

The Koʻolau Mountain Range on the Windward side of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Seeing this, I am immediately brought back home.

……………….

I've lived in New York City for close to 39 years. A long while back — sometime in the 90's, I believe — a family friend from Hawaiʻi was visiting NYC. He said something to me that I haven't forgotten. Paraphrasing from memory here, he said: "Paul, don't take this the wrong way, but you're too nice to be a New Yorker." I think initially I was mildly offended. Having lived here in NYC for all this time, it’s easy to come to believe that being "too nice" is not a good thing. But in reality, it may actually be a strength rather than a liability. In truth, I am who I am mostly in part because of where I came from — Hawaiʻi. I come from a place where the Spirit of Aloha is a powerful essence embedded deeply within the cultural heritage of the people who grew up there. Itʻs hard to shake off our cultural roots and traditions. 

Skyline Hawaiʻi, a local Eco-Adventures company, describes Aloha this way:

If you were to ask someone in Hawaii, “What does aloha mean to you?” you may receive a variety of answers. Aloha is an essence of being: love, peace, compassion, and a mutual understanding of respect. Aloha means living in harmony with the people and land around you with mercy, sympathy, grace, and kindness. When greeting another person with aloha, there is mutual regard and affection. This extends with warmth in caring for the other with no obligation to receive anything in return. The direct translation from Hawaiian to English is the presence of divine breath. The Hawaiian word "alo" is presence, front and face, and "ha" is breath.

In practicing yoga and meditation, we hope to achieve some similar outcomes. Being able to be more loving and kinder, both to ourselves and others. Making our own minds more peaceful in the hopes that it can somehow radiate outward and have a positive effect on the world at large. Through a mutual understanding of respect for others, we can come to see that basically, we all want the same thing — which is peace and harmony with everything around us. The ancient yoga text, the Bhagavad Gita, encourages us to take action in the world without concern for the outcomes. And of course, yoga and meditation practice are all about being in the presence of our breath, which is indeed a divine gift.

Back around 2007 or so, when I was putting into motion the formation of a yoga, dance, and gymnastics nonprofit organization, I reached out to my brother Kamuela, who is a Hawaiian language, hula, and culture expert, for suggestions for a name for the organization. I wanted it to be something Hawaiian. He responded "why don’t you call it ʻKeoniʻ?" Now Keoni is my Hawaiian middle name and I thought I don’t want to name the organization after myself. And I always knew of Keoni as a translation of the Biblical name "John." My brother said, yes it’s true that "Keoni" is what the Christian Missionaries designated for "John." But, if you break down the word to "ke" and "oni", it refers to "the move." But not just any kind of movement, but specifically to movement that is gentle, steadfast, and soothing. I recall him saying think of a boat in harbor moving gently side to side. Think of a hula dancer’s hips swaying slowly and mesmerizingly from side to side. Thus, it was a fitting name for the organization, which came to be known as Keoni Movement Arts. In true "keoniʻ style, I have gently, slowly, and steadfastly built the organization from the ground up and use the meanings behind the word to guide its teaching and learning practices and methodologies.

For the purposes of yoga and meditation, I share this story mainly because in our western way of thinking we often see gentleness as a weakness. But something that the Buddha taught has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it: 

With gentleness overcome anger.
With generosity overcome meanness.
With truth overcome deceit.
— The Buddha

So in a way, Iʻve come full circle. I was born into a culture and tradition that values gentleness. And later as a student of yoga and meditation, I learned that the Buddha taught that gentleness is a way we could overcome differences. Gentleness is a strength, not a weakness.

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and as someone who comes from both racial and cultural traditions, I wished to share my story because as I’ve grown older, I’ve become increasingly more aware of and proud of my cultural heritage. And also, I have no doubt that whatever your particular cultural heritage may be, I am sure that there are similar concepts and practices of Aloha and Keoni in your traditions. They may be called by another name, but for sure they can be your guiding Light when things get tough.

The late Queen Lil’uokalani — the last Monarch of Hawaiʻi who was removed from office by the American government — once said, “Aloha is to learn what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.” Similarly, this is the path of yoga. Its highest aims can only be experienced. 

One last thing — Queen Lil’uokalani wrote the well-known and much venerated song Aloha ʻOe. As we commemorate Memorial Day once again and in in honor of all those who gave their lives for the freedom we can enjoy, we in Hawaiʻi would say to them and their loved ones "Mahalo Nui" — many thanks — and Aloha ʻOe, until we meet again. Indeed, every goodbye is an eventual hello, which is why in Hawaʻi we use the same word for both — Aloha.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you take time for gentle movement, ...
May you see kindness as a strength, …
May you know the Spirit of Aloha, ... for the benefit of those nearest and dearest to you, and ultimately All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

The colors of Hawaiʻi mesmerize.

Off the coast of Kāneʻohe Bay, this Honu — Hawaiian Sea Turtle — heads towards Mokoliʻi, also known as Chinaman's Hat. Just another day in Paradise.