Yoga and the Art of Touching Hatred

Our collective lights may start out separated, but ultimately they seem to merge.

This past month we commemorated the events of 9/11. I found it interesting to learn that 25% of Americans have been born after 9/11/2001. For the other 75% of us, it’s so vital that we do our best not to forget the experience of that day. For me, it’s practically seared into my DNA, as I recall witnessing the horror out my 27th floor window, 4 miles south of me. I won’t ever forget when I woke up that morning of first seeing the profound beauty of that beautiful fall-like NYC day, and then soon realizing that something wasn’t quite right. 

The Buddha taught:

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

I know we all know this. But to practice healing hatred with love is, in fact, not easy to do. Just try sending love to that person who refuses to wear a mask on the subway and you’ll know what I mean! All kidding aside, though, I think the trick is to first try to touch your hatred – allow for the feeling of hatred to arise within and to touch every fiber of your body – and then being still and noticing the breath.

The Buddhist meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanh taught:

“Even when you see a lot of violence, discrimination, hatred and craving, if you are equipped with understanding and compassion, you don’t suffer.” 

We are certainly seeing a lot of violence, discrimination, hatred and craving in the outer world. Witness Afghanistan, the anti-maskers, and domestic white nationalism, to name three current situations. Most of us are likely challenged to have compassion and understanding for the perpetrators of the harm. But the starting point lies within. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can bear witness to the violence and hatred we aim towards our own selves at times, and the cravings within that sometimes gets the better of us. Yoga and meditation can help us to bear witness to the arising of these feelings. Transforming these feelings into understanding and compassion for ourselves is our goal. Yoga postures like savasana and sukhasana can be very helpful in this regard.

I know that managing our hatred is not an easy thing to do. As your yoga and meditation practices mature, I hope that they can give you the courage to touch the feelings more often and over time – perhaps lifetimes – turn them into something useful for all of us.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you touch your hatred within, … 
May you sit still long enough for it to be transformed it into understanding and compassion, …
May you NEVER forget, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Nature healing.

Yoga and the Art of Being Simone Biles

Simone Biles and Lord Hanuman both serving higher causes.

This past month we witnessed Olympians demonstrate super-human, “Hanuman-like” abilities. But in some ways, their amazing physical feats were the least of their accomplishments. Yes, being able to do a split-leap, like both Simone Biles and Hanuman can, is beyond the ability of most of us “mere mortals.” But what is not beyond our ability is the example that both Ms. Biles and Hanuman set out to show: when the cause is great enough and serves the many and not the few, we somehow find the ability and the resolve to complete the mission that we were put on this Earth to accomplish. It is our life’s work to figure out what that purpose is and to fulfill it to the best of our abilities.

Before the Olympics, one might have thought that Simone Bile’s mission was to rack up gold medals for the U.S.A. Little did we know that ultimately her mission became doing something that we yogis and yoginis aspire to accomplishing each time we come to practice: to overcome our own minds and all the false identities it has accumulated, like “Olympic Gold Medalist” in her case, or perhaps in ours, “slaves to our jobs.” In the narrower picture, she had to overcome the “twisties.” In the bigger picture, though, her mission became highlighting the mental health needs of high-level, high-profile athletes. Given the vast amounts of money the media pays to showcase Olympic stars who could potentially bring home a lot of gold to the U.S.A. and the networks, it is no small feat to turn one’s back on all of that in service to a higher and more important cause. Bravo, Simone!

In the story of Hanuman, a God who appears in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, he does the most amazing thing – he does a giant split-leap over the ocean to rescue Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, the master he was serving. Imagine that! Now Hanuman had some amazing abilities, but he had forgotten he had these. However, they were awakened when he was presented with a mission, a cause that was great enough. Simone Bile’s quest to overcome her own mind is no less difficult and perhaps a more arduous journey than was her quest to win multiple golds. (Similarly, by the way, a yogi/ni should always remember that being able to do “super-human” yoga postures pales in comparison to being able to keep one’s mind steady and calm on a consistent basis throughout life’s turbulent waters.) But the quest was awakened by the situation she found herself in and out of sheer self-preservation, she somehow found the strength to pushback against the critics and pursue this path anyway. 

Though she turned inward to heal, the outward effects were widely felt. She inspired many to take a pause from the rat-race and spend time caring for oneself – one’s “little self” in this case, as opposed to one’s “Higher Self” – in the face of all the forces saying, “you can’t do this!” Well, personally, I did! I’ve spent the last month nurturing, preserving, and prioritizing my own health and well-being. So, Simone Bile’s cause/mission ended up being much bigger than just the needs of only her individual self.

Like Hanuman and Simone Biles, we are all tasked to do something important with our lives. Yes, there are times when we think we can’t accomplish our mission. And sometimes, like Ms. Biles, we stumble (literally and figuratively) onto that mission. But like both, we can pause, remember what is in our Heart, and reinvigorate our devotion to that cause. In so doing, we can all be Olympians – super heroes accomplishing amazing things – in our own way.

And remember this: we’ve all done something super-human – we got through the pandemic! We’re stronger than we ever thought we were. Yay!

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you remember what you were put on this Earth to do, …
May you accomplish your Mission, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere. 

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Finding Love in Central Park on a late August Sunday afternoon. Nothing like an “Artist Date” to promote self-healing!

Yoga and the Art of Surrendering to God

On my morning runs, I constantly receive reminders that God’s presence is always close at hand.

As we continue to come out of the pandemic, we continue to experience much uncertainty. That can be unsettling. What can we do?

In yoga, the 5th niyama (observance), is Isvarah Pranidhana. According to Swami Jnaneshvara, Isvarah translates to mean “creative source, Supreme Guru, or God” and Pranidhana means “surrendering of fruits of practice, practicing the presence of.” In short, it means “surrendering to God.”

At this time of so much that is unknown, what we can do to steady ourselves is the practice of surrendering to God’s Plan. We’ll never know why there has been a pandemic, nor why we escaped relatively unscathed. However, we can experience a feeling of calmness if we add to our daily practice an awareness of God in things we do, and surrendering what we do to that Divine Force.

Judith Lasater says:

Isvara pranidanah is the surrender of all the fruits of practice to one’s chosen deity.  This deity can be whatever it is that one conceives to be a greater power beyond one’s self.  The choice of deity is not important; what is important is that one learns to let go of all the benefits and failures alike that are related to practice.  This letting go focuses the practitioner on the process of practice rather than on the goals of practice. 

And Ramesh Balsekar said:

The surest sign of spiritual progress is a total lack of concern about progress. 

Coupling the two together, when we let go of our concerns about making progress and yet still show up to and put our heart into whatever we’re practicing at and focus on the process rather than the outcome, then for sure we will make progress toward our goals. So perhaps, rather than “working” on your current life project, consider “practicing the presence of God” as you engage with your project. Your mind will calm down, and as a result you will move forward, rather than stagnate, or worse, move backward.

For me, practicing the presence of God as I write this yoga wisdom means delighting in the moment-by-moment thoughts and inspirations that come into my mind with each sentence. Practicing the presence of God in my various work projects means showing up to the work, breaking things down into smaller parts that my mind can grasp, and making enough space in my mind for the answers to show up from God. And it sometimes means not setting a hard deadline on some of the projects and not worrying if the end product is perfect or not. And outside of work and yoga, practicing the presence of God means delighting in all the amazing artistic creations in this amazing city of New York. From the restaurants, to the art creations, to the natural beauty of the sacred spaces in our parks large and small, there is something to remind us always of God’s existence.

I hope for you at this challenging time that you can delight in all the beauty that exists around you and surrender to whatever force you identify as God, and in so doing, experience the calm radiance that is at the heart of yoga, even if for only a moment.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you practice the presence of God, …
May you practice surrendering to God, … 
May you surrender to God’s Plan for You, 
May you experience calm radiance, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

I think they’re onto something at Citrovia. You've heard the saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Truly, perhaps life is really better with lemons, as this sign says. Maybe all the lemons we encounter are really part of God's plan for us. Those life encounters with lemons might make us wince, but they do make us more resilient.

Yoga and the Art of Being “Comfortable with Uncertainty”

The brave men and women who stood up to the police on this night and the days following stared uncertainty in the eyes and chose to take action anyway. Who knew what a revolution their standing up for what is right would lead to?

Things are quickly changing for many of us in the U.S. at this time of the nearing-the-end-of-the-pandemic period. We have all experienced so much uncertainty over the past 16 months. And for those of us who have survived, we can undoubtedly say that we’ve been battered, yet are stronger and more resilient than we were before.

Uncertainty is a theme I’ve touched on often in my past yoga e-Letters – probably because it’s an enduring theme for our entire lifetime – but I felt it to be especially relevant at this particular period in time.

Pema Chodron encourages us to be “Comfortable with Uncertainty” in her bookand chapter with the same title. She writes:

Those who train wholeheartedly in awakening bodhichitta – noble or awakened heart -- are called bodhisattvas or warriors—not warriors who kill but warriors of nonaggression who hear the cries of the world. … A warrior accepts the we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not-knowing is part of the adventure. It’s also what makes us afraid.

Likely, most of us didn’t willingly sign up for “warrior training” at the beginning of the pandemic, but we’ve all been forced, in one way or another, to become warriors during the past 16 months, whether we liked it or not. For me, it meant keeping my bubble very small and relying on daily yoga and meditation in my (small-ish) Manhattan studio apartment to keep me sane. For me, meditation has been a way to embrace life as it is, with all of its beautiful moments and with its pock-marks too. Pema writes:

If we find ourselves in doubt that we’re up to being a warrior-in-training, we can contemplate this question: “Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly [and therefore embrace uncertainty], or do I choose to live and die in fear [running away from uncertainty]?

Meditation is one of the main tools of the bodhisattvas or warriors in Buddhist tradition. It can help us to embrace uncertainty and live with less fear. For sure, whether we signed up for warrior-training or not, during these past 16 months we’ve all been forced to find ways to cope and discover the resilience we didn’t know existed with us. And whether or not you actually embraced formal meditation practices over these months, undoubtedly life created opportunities for you to pause, embrace stillness, and feel your breath more often than before. Perhaps most importantly, we’ve all been forced, whether we liked it or not, to choose to relate to life directly.

For those of you who have embraced a formal meditation practice, know that it has had benefits for the whole planet, as this passage from whenonepercent.org states:

When just one percent of a community spends time in prayer and meditation, the whole community moves toward peace. Scientific studies record as much as an 80% decrease in violence within that community. With so much uncertainty in the world, One % of us committing to a daily meditation practice can make a significant difference.

With statistics showing that violent crime is rising across our country right now, please know that any kind of meditation practice you can undertake can make a difference and help alleviate the situation. For sure, the world could very much benefit from the bodhisattvas or warriors Pema speaks of above: not warriors who kill but warriors of nonaggression who hear the cries of the world.

Pema reminds us that whatever we are feeling right now, we are not alone:

This anxiety or queasiness in the face of impermanence isn’t something that afflicts just a few of us; it’s an all-pervasive state that human beings share. But rather than being disheartened by the ambiguity, the uncertainty of life, what if we accepted it and relaxed into it? What if we said, “Yes, this is the way it is; this is what it means to be human,” and decided to sit down and enjoy the ride?

I don’t know if you necessarily enjoyed the ride of these past 16 months, but for sure it has brought you to a greater understanding of what it means to be human. As alone as we’ve all felt, we can take comfort in knowing that we have not been alone in our feelings. It helps to remember in our moments of anxiety, that all humans across the planet experience these same feelings at some point or another.

In the end, we can always be encouraged by this quote from Rumi: 

What strikes the oyster, does not damage the pearl.

We’ve all been struck in so many unknown and untold ways these past 16 months. Hopefully, we can exit with our individual and collective pearls shining brighter. Your yoga and meditation practices can be armors you can use to help build a more resilient shell, and not only keep your pearl from getting damaged but also making it shine so brilliantly that you help light the whole world and all its magnificent beings.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you be comfortable with uncertainty, … 
May you be part of the 1%, …
May you train as a warrior, …
May your pearl light up the world, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere. 

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

My husband and I had a visitor in our front yard. For all creatures who live out in the wild, each days is filled with the uncertainty that comes with constantly having to forage for their next meal. Hopefully we didn't upset Nature's delicate balance too much by giving this little one a helping hand.

Yoga and the Art of Balancing

The Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom -- what better symbol to remind us humans that we have to do a better job of balancing our consumption with more respect for all of life on the planet. If we don't, we are doomed.

Balancing is so important in the practice of yoga. And it’s not just about being able to balance on one leg, or on your arms or head. It’s more about balancing your energies and your expectations. By doing so, you will experience more joy and ease in your life.

Every May for more years than I can remember now, I share one particular quote from the Bhagavad Gita in my yoga classes. In chapter 2, Krishna says to Arjuna:

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.

As a creative person who aspires to do my part in helping to create a better world – whether it’s through my yoga teaching, or the nonprofit I founded, Keoni Movement Arts, or my work as a performing artist – often I find myself working in the space of the unknown. While it can be scary, it can be exhilarating when all the elements seem to come together at the right time to create something praise-worthy and beautiful. I remember going on countless musical theatre auditions in the early aughts of the 2000s, never of course knowing whether I was going to book the job. This quote helped me immensely, as it gave me the mindset: just go in and show them what you got, then walk out and let it go. And in the beginning, when I was starting Keoni Movement Arts, I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I just did what I thought I had to do. And fortunately, 13 years later after many failures and successes, enough answers have been revealed to me that the organization is viable and its work is being recognized as important for our community. And lastly, I’ve been writing these yoga blogs for more years than I can remember now, and I never know if the messages will be of use to anyone. Then I’ll run into a former yoga student who thanks me for writing these emails and letting me know how much the messages have resonated with them and helped them in their lives. (Thanks, Andy P.!) Throughout it all, I’ve tried to listen to that inner voice that says to me: You must do this! And at the same time, this yoga philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita has helped put my actions into perspective and kept me in balance. Actions alone are not going to bring results – there has to be some Divine intervention at play too. But since my actions are the only thing I can control, that’s all I have to be concerned with. And when I include the ingredient of “Faith in Something Bigger than My self”, it allows me to relax and feel calm.

Pema Chödrön has also helped me to stay balanced through her many teachings. This one, called Room for Not Knowing, has helped me to retain my equanimity in those moments when my mind has become fixated on outcomes:

When we think that something is going to bring us pleasure, we don’t know what’s really going to happen. When we think something is going to give us misery, we don’t know. Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. We try to do what we think is going to help. But we don’t know. We never know if we’re going to fall flat or sit up tall. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may be just the beginning of a great adventure.  

Letting there be room for not knowing is like the secret ingredient that should be included in all our recipes for success. It’s the one ingredient that can help keep our mind balanced and strengthen our connection to the Divine. In my life, I have found on quite a few occasions that when something happened that didn’t go the way I was hoping it would, it was only later that I became glad things worked out that way because a better outcome eventually was in store. I am sure your life has been full of many such occurrences. The stream of life has many unexpected twists and turns, and practicing yoga and meditation regularly can help us pull out more to try to see the stream from the 30,000-foot level so our minds don’t get entangled in each twist and turn and become unbalanced.

The Yoga Sutras also teach us an important lesson about balancing our energies. SwamiJ.com offers this translation of Sutra 2.46 – sthira sukham asanam:

The posture (asana) for Yoga meditation should be steady, stable, and motionless, as well as comfortable, and this is the third of the eight rungs of Yoga.

• sthira = steady, stable, motionless

• sukham = comfortable, ease filled

• asanam = meditation posture (from the root ~as, which means "to sit")

While this specifically is referring to seated meditation posture, we can extrapolate its meaning to any posture/position we find ourselves in, whether it’s on our yoga mat or off. If we don’t balance comfort with steadiness, we will find our mind and body losing its balance and our ability to see clearly diminished. When you feel yourself losing your sense of balance in life, try seeing if you can maneuver your position so that you can feel more stable and comfortable.  

I hope that your ongoing yoga and meditation practice can help you off the mat in every posture life will throw at you. May you be as steady and comfortable in each life situation as you can possibly be.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you balance success and failure, … 
May you leave room for not knowing, …
May you balance not knowing with knowing and stay balanced doing so, … 
May you balance steadiness and comfort in every posture in your life, … 
May your life have meaning, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Yoga and the Practice of Saucha, Cleaning

This Emu has something to teach us.

Ready for some spring cleaning, the yoga way? Saucha literally means purity, cleanliness and clearness. It is one of the five ‘niyamas’ or observances according to the Yoga Sutras. Practicing it, along with the other stepping-stornes of yoga, will help us reach the ultimate yoga goal of Self-realization.

According to the Chopra Center, 

… The Niyamas are personal practices, rituals and daily activities for wellbeing and spiritual growth. … 

… Soucha, … the practice of cleanliness … not only refers to the cleanliness in personal hygiene, but it also addresses the cleanliness of our internal environment (our bodies) and our living environment.

For example, one way to practice Soucha is by committing to the wellbeing of our environment and taking active measures to care for the Earth. 

Actively engaging in the internal practice of Soucha includes eating nourishing meals that keep the body running efficiently, and replacing toxic thoughts with those that are more positive, creative and productive. We can also keep our bodies and minds clean by avoiding drugs and alcohol, which only prompt us to lose control of our actions and the choices we make when we live drug and alcohol-free lives. 

During this past month, I took some of this advice to heart and implemented what I reasonably could. (My advice – change can be hard, so we should only do what we can.) For e.g., usually I like to have a glass or two of wine at dinner time. I decided to give this up for the month, and I’ve noticed a qualitative difference in my thinking, that my mind is clearer and I am waking up in the mornings feeling more rested than before. I can’t commit to never drinking wine again, but I do like the feelings of mental clarity the practice has led me to experience. It’s a nice feeling. 

Here during this month when we celebrate Earth Day, each of us has to do our part in keeping the planet clean. For me, I recycle as much as I can (perhaps too fanatically at times) and I make sure to dispose of my trash when I am out and about in the city. I feel so dispirited seeing the people discard their trash on our streets, so I try to make sure I do my part by not engaging in that kind of behavior. 

From a yoga perspective, why would we want to practice Saucha? Well, T.K.V. Desikachar, a noted yoga teacher and son of the 20th Century master Krishnamacharya, commented on Yoga Sutra II.40 this way:

When cleanliness is developed, it reveals what needs to be constantly maintained, and what is eternally clean. What decays is the external. What does not is deep within us.

So practicing Saucha helps us to remember that this body of ours and all the things we put on it, will one day decay. Kind of scary to think in those terms for sure, but keeping that awareness fresh in our minds helps us to move towards full Self-realization. We become more fully aware more often of the part of ourselves that will never die. That can be liberating.

Practicing Saucha can also help us experience more joy. As George Bernard Shaw said:

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.

When we can see the external world through a clean lens, a clean window, we’ll have more capacity for seeing goodness all around us that we might have otherwise missed if our perspective were clouded over by mental trash and debris. According to Yoga Sutra 2:41, if you practice saucha, you will experience: pleasantness, goodness, gladness, high-mindedness, cheerfulness. And, as Thomas Merton, an American monk, writer and activist, said: 

The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds.

The various purification processes of yoga, including the physical postures, the breath work, meditation, and the observance we should practice in our daily lives, can truly help us to clean out our minds and lead to clearer thinking. With clearer thinking, you will experience more joy.

The Earth needs people with clear visions and awareness of the destruction we’re doing to it. Will you help it out by clearing out the rubbish both in your immediate surroundings as well as in your body and mind? If you practice Saucha, believe me, not only will you benefit by experiencing more joy and cheerfulness, but you will also help the planet in subtle, yet powerful and profound ways. And you will experience the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing your part.

Oh ye, you Yoga Warrior you, know that I salute your courage!

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May your thoughts be positive, productive, and creative, … 
May you clean out the clutter in your mind so that your window to the outer world can be clear, … 
May you know the eternal part of yourself, … 
May you do your part to help clean up the Earth, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

View of Earth as Michael Collins, 3rd astronaut on Apollo 11's mission to the moon, saw it. His message to all of us likely would have been: we only have one Earth to save, so please do your part in keeping it clean and healthy.

Yoga and the Art of Accomplishing Something

If you can dream it, you can accomplish it.
(Can you guess which iconic NYC building this is?)

Sitting in front of my computer here in this moment, I feel some fear. Will I be able to write something meaningful that will help anyone who reads this? Will I finish all the work and personal projects I’ve set out to do this month? Will I have the courage to act on manifesting my 2021 New Year’s Resolutions and Goals and see them to fruition? Are there any yogic ideas that can help me here?

Then I remember a line from a Taoist poem that suggests I “shoot for nothing” and voilà, the actions are set in motion.

The full poem goes like this:

When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets –
He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting –
And the need to win
Drains him of his power.
[Taoist poem]

This poem encourages me to have the attitude of shooting for nothing in order to accomplish something. I just remind myself as I write this: just speak from your heart and the words and thoughts will be of use to someone. Whatever it is I accomplish will really be an expression of God emanating through the vessel of my heart and out to the hearts of others.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced me to become more self-sufficient and self-reliant. I am sure this has been the same for you this past year. I learned and taught myself a bunch of new things. (Can you say ‘do-it-yourself-tax-returns’?!!) I always feel a little fear in the beginning of each new endeavor. But somehow each time I muster up enough courage to take the first step, and eventually the project is done. I have a feeling that I am not alone in my fears, or else none other than Shakespeare – someone who understood human nature extremely well – would have penned these words:

Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good
We oft might win
By fearing to attempt.
– William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 1 scene 4

Reading this, I don’t feel so alone. But I’ve coupled that with this statement by Mahatma Gandhi:

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely 
acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not 
have it at the beginning.

In my opinion, there is no joy in life greater than overcoming one’s fears and doubts by plunging ahead and doing some small action that leads us closer to our desired outcomes. To me, “Yoga and the Art of Accomplishing Something” means:

• Starting with the belief that I can do it – and perhaps even deluding myself in the beginning into believing I can do it until I actually do believe it; every time we step onto our yoga mats, we take that leap of faith that the practice will lead us closer to enlightenment

• Transforming the fear into action by staying with the fear and continuing forward – in this respect staying with the feelings that meditation practice trains us to do is very helpful

• Having an explorer’s attitude about the journey

I like the notion of having an explorer’s attitude. It can really help us to accomplish much, over time. And it frees us from the burden of having to get it right at the start or be perfect. I think the journey of yoga and meditation as a practice involves just trying to maintain this attitude. In this day and age of keeping track of metrics and hitting targets, it’s refreshing to have some things in our life which don’t have to be subject to outward measures of success.

Some years ago, I watched the spiritual teacher Wayne Dyer (now deceased) on a PBS pledge drive. On the show, he interpreted the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, written by the 4th Century Chinese Philosopher, Lao Tzu. Tao means “the Way.” Here some of the ideas from this ancient text:

There is no way to happiness; Happiness is the Way.

Accomplish much by trying less.

See yourself in Everyone.

Be flexible, soft, and allowing.

Live without attachment -- be generous.

Practice radical humility.

What stood out to me here was the notion of stop trying so hard to accomplish things. Work less. Take breaks. Refresh. And this is really what we’re trying to train ourselves to do in yoga practice. The moments of effort are always balanced out with the moments of rest and surrender. In every moment, your body will instinctively tell you just how much effort to give to some task. You can trust that instinct will be correct, and ultimately lead you to accomplishing much – whether it be a new yoga pose or a life-long goal.

Here’s another little gem of a thought that guides me:

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.
– Arnold Toynbee

Whether you are one of those who are lucky enough to really love their job or are the exact opposite, there will always be moments when all our jobs will feel like a grind. In those moments, we can play mental tricks on our mind and have a playful approach. How would a child approach such moments? Perhaps with curiosity. How would a trained yogi handle it? Probably by lightening up and making it child’s play by adopting an explorer’s attitude. If you can accomplish just that, I agree that would be a supreme state of being, a God-like state of mind.

Pema Chödrön says it best here:

We can stop struggling with what occurs and see its true face without calling it the enemy. It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything —not about winning or losing—but about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is. That is what we are doing when we sit down to meditate. That attitude spreads into the rest of our lives.

This, I think, sums up why we are practicing yoga and meditation. We do so in order to loosen the ambition, and to be able to meet moments for what they are – just moments – and meet life where it is with a bit of levity.

I truly hope that by shooting for nothing and in not trying so hard to accomplish anything that you ultimately accomplish something that can be of benefit to all beings. May your sustained yoga and meditation practice guide you there. 

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you shoot for nothing, …
May you overcome your doubts and start with the belief that you can do it, … 
May you have an ‘explorer’s attitude’, …
May you try less, … 
May you blur work and play, …
May you shift the focus away from accomplishing anything, …
May you, over time, accomplish something huge, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

If you can dream it, you can accomplish it.

Yoga and The Art of Working with Love

Hatred never ceases by hatred but by love alone is hatred healed.
This is an ancient truth.
Many forget that we here must die.
For those who remember, hatred ends.
-- The Buddha, from the Dhammapada

During this month of February when we celebrate (perhaps in some cases, endure) Valentine’s Day, I’ve always returned to the theme of using love as a guiding force for our yoga practice. I’ve always found the above teaching from the Buddha to be a powerful and guiding force in my life, particularly the reminder that one day I too will die. Though I am just shy of turning 62 and my life has been full and wonderful in so many ways, I also realize that relative to the vastness of the Universe, my life is but a molecule. I hope it’s been a useful molecule though.

I know we all know inside our hearts that it’s true – hatred can only be healed by love. The difficult part is that it’s easy for us to forget. And so, I hope that any little reminders you can receive along the way will help you to come back to that realization from time to time.

As far as our own lives (and yoga practices) are concerned, we can try to discipline ourselves with hatred, but the more difficult and more fruitful path is to discipline ourselves towards enlightenment by using the power of love. Practically speaking, when I falter in my life, I try to “love myself” back onto the Path. Hopefully, you can try doing the same. And don’t think that because you can’t do a particular yoga pose that you are “less than.” You are already whole, and just practicing to stitch together remembrances of that. 

The Buddha also taught:

If you truly loved yourself, you would never harm another.

So, the by-product of using love as our ‘weapon-of-choice’ is that the beings outside of ourselves will not be harmed, if what the Buddha is saying here is true.

The teachings of the Indian Mystic and Spiritual Master, Meher Baba, also ring loudly in my mind. He said:

Love has to spring spontaneously from within... it cannot be forced on anyone, it can only be awakened in him through love itself.  Love is essentially self-communicative; those who do not have it catch it from those who have it.  True love is unconquerable and irresistible, and it goes on gathering power and spreading itself, until eventually it transforms everyone whom it touches.  

I know we all have tendencies to want to control other folks. Meher Baba is suggesting here that that the best way for us to help others change is to control our own capabilities for being love, and letting that spill out. It will affect those around us in profound ways, if we let go of any desires that they must change in order to receive our love. They will change automatically if we drop our expectations that they change. For what J. Krishnamurti taught here is undoubtedly true:

What brings understanding is love. When your heart is full, then you will listen to the teacher, to the beggar, to the laughter of children, to the rainbow, and to the sorrow of man. Under every stone and leaf, that which is eternal exists.  

It’s so easy to forget the love that exists under every stone and leaf around us. And our job, as yogis, is to keep finding love in the most unexpected places. And in finding love in hidden spaces, our hearts can remain open and become fuller. And In such places, we can find it in our hearts to forgive others, even if we don’t fully understand their karmic baggage and the suffering they evoke with it. 

Life can beat us down to the point where we are so emotionally closed off that we literally cave in physically around our chest area. So as yogis, let the heart-opening yoga postures help you to keep your chest open, and may the result be that your heart can be restored to its natural fullness. Even if it’s just a short while, it will have an inward and outward effect.

If we practice faithfully, we may one day reach this ecstatic state that Rumi describes this way:

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.

You know in your heart what that sacred dream of yours is. When you’ve been touched by it, you come to see it is your life’s mission. And when you are moving in that space, you will experience true and divine love. 

Stay open, and as someone famously said: “dance like no one is looking.” If you can do that, truly, love will spring forth naturally and easily from within you, and truly, it will help heal the world.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May your heart remain open, …
May your heart be full, …
May you take steps without feet, …
May love spring forth gracefully from within your being, …
May you dance like no one is looking, … 
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

The wedding cake-topper on my husband, Ed, and my wedding cake. As Lin Manuel-Miranda said in his 2016 Tony Award acceptance speech:
...
We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love
Cannot be killed or swept aside
...

Yoga and the Wisdom of Beginning Again, … and again, … and again

Brisk, cold, wintry January sky in NYC. A clean slate, so pregnant with possibilities for the new year. The eternal movement from dark to light. The perfect slate upon which to begin again.

It’s time for new beginnings, both within ourselves and externally in the larger world. So much has changed in the past month. It’s as if the Earth and all its inhabitants are purging itself – volcanically – of the old, and moving forcefully toward a renewal. Boy do we need one – a major one.

But the cool thing about new beginnings is that endless possibilities abound. Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi encourages us to have a Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. He writes:

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.  In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.

How can we empty our mind in order to cultivate a “beginners mind?” Well practice yoga, of course. Remember what the main goal of yoga practice is, as stated in these beginning verses of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: 

yogash chitta vritti nirodhah (verse 2)
tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam (verse 3)

Essentially, these verses mean that yoga practice’s aim is to help us to quiet down the movements of our own minds, so that we can realize who we really are – the Big Self, not the little self. In fact, a sign that you are progressing on the path of yoga is when you observe that you are less obsessed about your own little needs and more concerned about the needs and well-being of the people all around you, and indeed those of the very planet itself.

I have always found comfort in this meditation teaching from Sharon Salzberg:

[When we put our attention on the feeling of our breath] almost immediately we feel the healing power of being able to begin again. No matter where our attention has gone, or for how long, nothing’s ruined, nothing’s lost, we can always, always begin again. Everyone who meditates – both complete beginners and long-time meditators – gets high-jacked by thoughts and feelings. It’s just impossible not to. But it’s completely possible to start over. Wherever we’ve gone, we can begin again. It’s not a sign of failure. It’s not remedial practice. This is the practice. This ability to let go and begin again is the kind of fruit that we take into our ordinary life. We might stray from our chosen course, but realize we can begin again. We might lose sight of our aspiration, but realize we can begin again. We might make a mistake, but realize we can begin again.

I hope you too can take comfort in these words, especially each time you perceive you’ve failed. I fail to live up to my highest aspirations often. But each time I do, more and more now I find them to be moments to begin again to not berate myself yet again, and to begin again to cultivate a personal understanding of what it means to be a human who, like everyone else, has both flaws and unlimited possibilities.

And what about those aspirations? If you’re like me, you’ve probably set some New Year’s resolutions and SMART goals for 2021. Another favorite quote of mine – from Goethe – might be a helpful reminder of your innate power:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation.  There is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves to.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way.  Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.  Begin it now.  

Whatever are your highest aspirations for the new year, I invite you to join me in ‘beginning again’ and ‘beginning it now’ to achieve them!

Know that I salute your courage!

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May your mind be clear, …
May your mind be a beginner, again, …
May you begin again, … and again, … and again, …
May you begin again, NOW, …
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere. 

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

May your yoga and meditation practice lead you to new heights!

Yoga and the Wisdom of Native Americans

Take Heart — the gray skies have much to teach us.. And yes, soon the light will burst through and illuminate the clear skies above.

I watch Nature and Discovery shows every chance I get. On a recent show, I learned that Native Americans have been on the American continent for over 12,000 years. That blew me away. That’s a long time to gain wisdom, and it saddens me that so much of it has been lost over the 400+ years that Europeans have been on this continent. It’sis especially sad to me as Native Americans have a lot to teach us contemporary Americans. As a part-indigenous person myself (I am part Native Hawaiian), I know first-hand the destruction of native people’s ways and the struggles that go with living in both old and new ways. Hence, I dedicated my yoga teaching in December to the wisdom of Native Americans in hopes that they could serve as reminders for how to live a more fully realized life in 2021, especially after the year we’ve all been through.

Pema Chödrön re-tells this story:

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.”

If anything, the pandemic has exposed the inequalities that exist on our planet. A few at the top have prospered, those in the middle are enduring, while far too many in the lower rungs of society have suffered. Truly the recovery has been “K-shaped.” As conscious yogis, we must ask ourselves – which wolf will we choose to feed? Hopefully, most of us will wait to get the vaccine until when it’s our turn, rather than jump the line and go before someone who has truly suffered and has more need than we do. Will you choose to feed the wolf of fairness and moral uprightness?

I also learned of this Native American belief:

A healer needs to have some gray in his/her hair.

If “Madison Avenue” and Hollywood could have their way, they would make you want to get rid of all your gray hairs when they appear. But as yogis, hopefully our practice can teach us the wisdom of letting the gray be. It symbolizes that the experience of life has taught us important lessons. Similarly, I know “the weather outside is frightful,” but the gray skies symbolize the vast amount of wisdom that we have all gained during this “year-of-the-pandemic,” and I do believe that hidden in the gray are seeds of promise that will flourish in the coming spring. Will you join me in watering those seeds – even if we can’t see them – with kindness and understanding?

Crazy Horse (1840-1877) was a Native American Warrior who fought against the encroachment of American settlers and for the Native American way of life. He famously said:

I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you, and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.

At the end of my yoga classes, I offer students the opportunity to share “Namaste,” which translates to “I bow down to the Light within You.” In his own way, Crazy Horse was practicing yoga when he uttered these words. He truly knew that we are all One. As yogis, it is our duty to use the practice to help us move closer to our centers. For it is at that place that we can truly be of use to the world. As you continue or renew your yoga practices in January, use Crazy Horse to inspire. Keep moving towards the peaceful center within you so you can do your part in recognizing the unity of all beings. It is at that place that we can truly help the world to heal from the pandemic. As you start your new year, will you join me in feeding the wolf that sees the Light within all beings?

As we close out 2020:

May you truly be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you use this “season of gray” to gain wisdom for the coming spring …
May you practice the Wisdom of Native Americans …
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

I wonder what the the folks up on Jupiter and Saturn must be trying to tell us earthlings right now?! (Pinch out to find Saturn.)

Yoga and the Wisdom of Enough Is Enough

A new day is dawning in America.

As Americans, we are beyond fortunate to live in a land of plenty. We have a plethora of things to not only fulfill our basic food, clothing, and shelter needs, but also more than enough things to indulge our pleasurable wants and desires. (Can you say “binge-watching Schitt’s Creek on NetFlix”, which my husband and I did throughout Thanksgiving week?!) As yogis, though, it’s important to know when enough is enough.

There’s a Chinese saying that goes like this: “Have you eaten to contentment?”

We can apply this sentiment to many aspects of our lives. For example, the distinguished yoga teacher, Donna Farhi, says:

 "The world doesn't really need more people who can bend their bodies into amazing positions. What it needs are kinder, more compassionate, generous people."

As you’re practicing yoga asana, it’s important to know when enough is enough. Remember, yoga is a balance of effort and surrender. One mustn’t overindulge in the effort part. And in terms of building good yoga karma, it really doesn’t matter if you can stand on your head for 20 minutes or put your foot behind your head. Rather, what really matters is that you be kind and compassionate with yourself, so that you can then be even more kind and compassionate with others around you. If anything, be more generous with the ease in which you approach your practice.

Why is this important? Well, according to distinguished Buddhist meditation teacher, Jack Kornfield:

“Our body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care."

In a way, our mortal bodies are a gateway to knowing our immortal selves. When we are feeling good in our bodies, we have more of a capacity to know our true nature, our divine being. When we are not feeling at ease in our bodies, our awareness is stuck in the pain and suffering we’re experiencing.

It’s worth remembering these words from David Simon:

“The same creative force that generated the universe created your body. It is vibrating with intelligence and spirit. It is ultimately sacred and worthy of your love, respect and intention. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you.”  

For sure, the peace and joy we seek starts with us taking care of our bodies. The venerable Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

PEACE begins with each of us taking CARE
                  of our bodies and minds EVERYDAY.

I hope that as you enjoy the holiday season that you will keep in mind, as I am, when enough is enough. Indulge, but try not to overindulge. The benefits extend beyond just you.

AS the holiday season gets busier, I hope you will take short breaks to take care of your body and mind. Here a few of my current micro-habits which have been getting me through:

• Dancing for 5 minutes to a lively ‘get up and dance’ song

• Doing one-minute sprints down the block between my appointments 

• Doing 4 rounds of ‘4, 7, 8’ breathing in the morning before starting my day 

And speaking of “enough is enough”, it looks like the majority of American’s have had enough. For the sake of the entire planet, we can breathe sighs of relief collectively. Yes, a new day is dawning in America. As the old dies off in these coming winter months, I do believe it will give way to an amazing spring awakening for the planet.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you fill just to contentment, …
May you be OK with enough being enough…
May you vibrate with the wisdom and intelligence of the Universe, …
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere. 

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

One of my favorite images from this past month. The simplicity of the ornaments match the simple beauty of Central Park. Truly an example of enough is enough!

Yoga and the Art of Working with Uncertainty

Clouds of uncertainty are hanging over our beloved United States at this time.

We are living in uncertain times. This Tuesday, an event will take place that could affect the future of the planet. My friend and yoga teacher extraordinaire, Mary Aranas, suggested to me that we, as yogis, have been preparing for this moment. We’ve been practicing all these years to meet just this kind of moment. 

Yes, it’s stressful and anxiety provoking. And no, we don’t have to run from the feelings. In fact, Pema Chödrön suggests we can run towards them, which may end up being more beneficial to us. She says:

… rather than being disheartened by the ambiguity, the uncertainty of life, what if we accepted it and relaxed into it? What if we said, “Yes, this is the way it is; this is what it means to be human,” and decided to sit down and enjoy the ride? …

"Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears."

For sure, these past four years have felt like the ground was constantly shifting underneath us. This NY Times editorial suggests 15 things we’ve lost over these years. As much as it is our civic duty to go out and vote, might it also be our civic and yogic duty to meet the feelings of uncertainty head on rather than running away from them? In so doing, perhaps we can transform them into something useful and add to the calm amidst the chaos, a calm that will be so needed on Election day and the days following. 

Irwin Kula, American Rabbi writes:

The more you unfold, the less you unravel.
The only way we can grow is to let go of our “not me.”
You can’t really get enough of what you don’t really need.
Embrace the messiness of life.
“Daieno”: being happy with enough
There’s a lot to be learned in the messiness.
Uncertainty is the key to learning something new.

I think he’s essentially saying here that we have to train in unfolding amidst the vicissitudes of life. Yoga can help us to create the spaciousness within that will meet life’s moments freer of the biases that come when we have expectations of how things should be and pre-determined ideas about how karma should be unfolding in our earthly experiences. Hopefully we can somehow emerge from this very messy period having learned many new things. Hopefully, they can lead us to a period of progress that will redefine for all of us what it truly means to be great again. Our potential for greatness can only be realized if we’re willing to embrace uncertainty and touch the messiness.

A SAG Foundation workshop for actors entitled Embracing Uncertainty, had these useful ideas:

Ironically, one of the few certain things in life is uncertainty. This is especially true for those who pursue a road less traveled, take creative risks, and seek to welcome vulnerability as a friend. … our relationship with uncertainty affects our well-being and decision-making, and [can lead us to] learn strategies for leaning into ambiguity. Though fear may temp us to resist it, embracing the unknown can lead to innovation, growth, quieter anxiety, and a deeper connection with others and ourselves. As author Dame Margaret Drabble mused, "When nothing is sure, everything is possible."

For sure, actors, like all artists, live with uncertainty all the time. In Nature, we see tremendous diversity of plant and animal species. Perhaps this is the result of all of these living things living with the biggest uncertainties they face daily – will I eat or be eaten today?! Perhaps Nature is telling us not to hold on so tight to a rigid experience of life, but rather to let it unfold so that each moment can be pregnant with many possibilities, rather than just the few our mind is fixated on.

Deepak Chopra says:

Uncertainty is my path to freedom...

There is something incredibly freeing about not knowing how things are going to turn out. This way of meeting life’s unfolding can create space in our mind and heart to manifest realities we might not have imagined otherwise.

And finally, NY Times Editorialist David Brooks, sums it up for us:

Modesty means having the courage to rest in anxiety and not try to quickly escape it. Modesty means being tough enough to endure the pain of uncertainty and coming to appreciate that pain. Uncertainty and anxiety throw you off the smug island of certainty and force you into the free waters of creativity and learning. As Kierkegaard put it, “The more original a human being is, the deeper is his anxiety.”

Anxiety is not an easy thing to experience for certain. But perhaps on November 3rd and in the days following you will end up being more original!

At any rate, I certainly hope that your yoga and meditation practices to date have prepared you well for this week ahead. See you on the other side!

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you unfold more and unravel less, …
May you be an original!, …
May you touch uncertainty , …
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere. 

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Yoga and Self-Care in the Age of the Coronavirus

May this grand old lady continue to stand as a symbol of freedom and liberty for all Americans for many sunsets ahead, despite the looming dark clouds in our collective hearts and minds in the current political environment.

What does self-care look like in this time of the Coronavirus?  

During the pandemic, I’ve been indulging in one of my guilty pleasures – watching Nature shows. I love having this extra time to see beyond the concrete jungle of Manhattan to see the real jungles out there in the larger world. I love having this time to watch shows about the Universe – they remind me of how small humans are in the whole of cosmic creation. I enjoyed watching a show on the rise of mammals, and how they rose up after dinosaurs were wiped from the earth as a result of the asteroid collision. I was recently enthralled by a show on the rise of Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire, how Christians were at one time persecuted by the Romans and then eventually how Christianity became tolerated as a religion when the Emporor Constantine the Great came into power in the early 4th Century. All these shows have given me hope for humanity, and all life on earth in general. That which at one time seemed impossible ended up arising, against all odds.

We’re living in a dark time, in my view. So much of the progress we’ve made as a civil society, an imperfect union, has been lost in the last four years. And much more may be lost in coming years depending on the outcome of the elections.

I am heart-broken at Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s passing. Yet, I remind myself that her dissents, as it’s been suggested, may indeed become the blueprints for a more equitable world in the future. Ideas may take a long time to germinate, but progress always starts with someone having dreamed up an idea – no matter how crazy it may have seemed at that time in history. Thank God for all the seeds RBG planted in the fertile psyches of those of us who try to cultivate an imperfect yet ever more open mind through yoga and meditation practices.  RBG’s life mission will not be forgotten.

There are many things we can all do to make sure that we don’t lose all the good things we have the privilege of having. And one of these things we can and should do is practice self-care. Here are some of the ideas of Stanford Professor, Dr. Jacob Towery:

“One of the messages I took with me is that being compassionate to others is wonderful, but self-compassion is incredibly important, too.” He emphasizes that the more we prioritize compassion for ourselves, the more we can be available to be compassionate, patient and kind toward others. “It doesn’t have to be someone winning and someone losing. If you prioritize self-care, other people in your life can also benefit from you being happier, kinder and more patient. It is not a zero-sum game. Everyone can win.”

For more years than I can remember, I’ve done a morning metta meditation where I start my day quietly uttering phrases to myself like: “May I be happy … may I live with ease … may I have compassion for myself.” To me, this is self-care.

Self-care for me has also meant practicing saying “no” to things. As Steve Jobs said:

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

So, self-care for me has involved focusing on a few things daily that are really important to me, and saying “no” to numerous other things. 

And self-care during the age of coronavirus has meant slowing down and doing less, not more. It has meant taking care of my physical and mental health through regular exercise and meditation. As the sentiment goes, if we don’t take care of ourselves first, we’ll have nothing left to give to others. 

So yes, get worked up about the upcoming election. But also, plant seeds for the future recovery by practicing self-care and self-compassion. The recovery may take one generation or hundreds, but the seeds will have been planted by you along with other luminaries like RBG. Remember, your happiness and well-being are not a zero-sum game.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you extend compassion to yourself, …
May you know self-care intimately, …
For the benefit of ALL beings everywhere.

Aloha, with Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Yoga and Service, in the Age of Coronavirus

Another long-time fixture in Hellʻs Kitchen, NYC, shuttered. So sad! #nyccovidclosures

What does service look like in the time of Coronavirus? Perhaps the story of Hanuman has some answers.

I have always loved the story of Hanuman, and have been teaching a yoga sequence leading to the posture Hanumanasana (forward-splits) yearly around this time for more years now than I can remember. In addition to being a good stretch for the hamstrings, hip flexors, and chest, the themes of the story – acquiring knowledge for the benefit of the greater good, devotion to something bigger than little me, letting go of ego’s grip – have always inspired me to seek ways I can be of service to humanity. 

The character Hanuman appears in the Hindu myth, the Ramayana. Essentially, Hanuman, who was deeply devoted to his master, Lord Rama, seeks to serve him by rescuing Rama’s wife Sita, who had been captured and taken to the island Lanka in the middle of the ocean. Hanuman comes to the edge of the ocean, and in that moment is reminded of the enormous physical and mental powers that lie deep within him. He gathers up those powers and does a giant spit-leap over the ocean landing on Lanka. He eventually rescues Sita and returns her to Rama. As Professor Joshua Greene puts it, Yin and Yang are reunited. 

Hanuman represents things that can be particularly useful to us as we endure the pandemic. For example, Hanuman was so devoted to serving the greater good that he somehow found the strength to do so through his superhuman feat of leaping over the ocean. Similarly, as we protect our own health and well-being at this time, we must be aware that our own health is connected to the health of those around us. Yes, wearing a mask may seem like a chore and an imposition, but it can save lives, and not just our own. We all have this wonderful opportunity to serve by protecting the health and well-being of others in our community, and when we are aware of the larger picture, we have access to the deepest wells of resilience and perseverance that lie hidden within ourselves. Knowing we’re helping others through our own actions can inspire us to continue to keep being safe for the remainder of the pandemic.

Hanuman got his flying abilities from his father, Vayu, the wind god. I have always loved this quote from the spiritual teacher, Neem Karoli Baba:

I am like the Wind, No one can hold me,
I belong to everyone, No one can own me.

 In this age of the pandemic, we really do belong to everyone, as we are all so interconnected. The virus can be carried by our own winds, so it’s best we keep that closed in at this time. But more importantly, remembering that we can belong to everyone and that thus no one can own us gives us a sense of freedom in realizing that we have opportunities to serve the many. Being like the wind, our own good deeds can carry far, and serve more people than we can imagine. Being like the wind, we are reminded that our small acts of goodness do indeed carry very far.

 May you not be held nor owned by anyone, yet …
May you belong to everyone, … 
May you find your deepest wellsprings of strength, devotion, and perseverance at this time, … 
For the benefit of all beings everywhere.

Aloha with Metta,
Paui Keoni Chun

View from way down below in Hudson Yards. The clouds are a constant reminder of the wind’s effect at all times around us. We are all interconnected.

Yoga and the Art of Being Content in a Time of Discontent

Gray skies may indicate discontent in the outer world, but these flowers and leaves seem very content with the way things are just as they are right now. It's a lesson for all of us at this time.

New York City is slowly climbing back from the deepest throes of the shut-down back in April, May. The health and wellness, and entertainment industries in which I work in New York City have been closed down for just over 4 months now due to the pandemic. I haven’t been able to fly down to Florida to see my husband in over 5 months. I, for one, am starting to feel inner rumblings of wanting things to return a little more to the way things were 5 months ago. Surely, many reasons to feel discontent. And yet, I know, continued patience is called for. And I also know that this is the time to practice the yoga niyama (observance) called Samtosha or Contentment.

According to the Yoga Sutras (Chapter 2, Sutra 42),

"From an attitude of contentment (santosha), limitless happiness, mental comfort, joy and satisfaction occur." 

Here are some commentaries on this sutra from prominent yoga teachers:

First understand what contentment is. It is not happiness but a condition for happiness. It is not complacency or just saying "oh, whatever" - instead it is serenity and an acceptance of whatever is. 
– Mehtab 

Contentment is not a sissy concept.  In order to be content, one must have won and lost, gained and given up, been up and been down.  In order to be content, one must have lived fully. … Samtosha is the ability to remain present with, and in fact remain happy with, the circumstances of just this moment. 
– Judith Lasater

And then, of course, one of the greatest spiritual teachers of all time, the Buddha, taught:

“Contentment is the greatest wealth.”
– Dhammapada 204

So even in the midst of the rages of the pandemic, I’ve found it helpful to remember how lucky I am with the way things are in some respects. I still have food on the table and a roof over my head. I realize many others are struggling with that at the moment. The extra amounts of quiet time I’ve been bathing in has helped me to reflect on my life and the directions it was going in pre-pandemic and begin to set new priorities and S.O.P.s when this is behind us. Yes, I’ve had to give up certain freedoms (like enjoying a good restaurant meal), have had to restrict my movements around the city, and have had to keep my mask on everywhere I go outside my apt. But I’ve also been able to protect my own health and feel good about protecting the health of my loved ones. And I’ve learned to be more self-sufficient – cooking more, learning to cut my own hair, exercising on my own daily – all things I might not have done before this all started. 

What has helped build contentment within me has been micro-practices such as these:
1)   Dharma Teacher, Tempel Smith, suggests we “Incline the mind towards contentment over dissatisfaction.” Doing so, he says, will move us closer to the highest yogic experience – samadhi or realization. For me, it means daily and sometimes moment-by-moment practicing of moving my mind towards being OK with things just as they are in this moment, and gently accepting things as they are.
2)   BJ Fogg, social science research associate at Stanford University and author of books on persuasion techniques, suggests:
a)  “Lower your expectations!” This one is great for me to remember, as I often strive to achieve too much.
b)  “Celebrate your behavior – give yourself an ‘awesome’ affirmation every once in a while.” It’s been nice to pause and give myself little pats on the back every now and then.
c)  “Plant a tiny seed in the right spot and it will grow without coaxing.” During the pandemic, I’ve tried to develop little habits – e.g. a short set of sit-ups at the end of my daily yoga practice, a short routine of yin yoga before bedtime, an extra serving of fruits and vegetables every day – that have remained consistent and even grown over the past 4 months.
3)   Krishna Das suggests accepting and working with one’s own karmic stains from the past, and negotiating them as best one can in this lifetime. So, I try not to worry too much about trying to be the perfect yogi or meditator, but just being the best I can be given the limitations of my own karmic baggage.

I don’t know what your personal situation is and what karmic baggage is playing out in your life at the moment, but I do have empathy for what you’re experiencing. I hope you can remember, as I’ve had to, that though we’ve endured a lot, we still have much capacity to endure more. If it means saving a life – whether ours or someone else’s – that will surely bring contentment to your being.

May you endure for just one more day, … 
May you know you are wealthy already … 
May you be inclined towards contentment, … 
For the benefit of all beings everywhere.

Aloha with Metta,
Paui Keoni Chun