Separated as we may feel at times from each other, there is always a bridge that connects each of us indelibly to each other. Call that bridge yoga, call that bridge the Dharma, but by whatever name you call it, I hope you can cross it over and over again.

No matter what you think of Joe Biden, this reprieve from the previous administration has felt like a breath of fresh air. As individuals, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we need first and foremost food, clothing, and shelter. Extrapolating this outward into the political world, it has felt like we’ve needed this time over the last year to catch our breath from the collective trauma we experienced for the few years of our country’s recent past. Having met our basic needs and being able to breathe again, we can move up the ladder to secure love and belonging.

And now there’s Ukraine. Everything feels disrupted again. My heart is broken. So back to my yoga and meditation practices I go, for which I am grateful.

The Dutch Priest, Henri Nouwen, wrote:

In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.

There’s so much rivalry, anger, and hatred in the world, it’s overwhelming at times. I think of my yoga and meditation practices as one small part of that bridge that can help heal some of this. In addition to all the external things I try to do to help the world, this inner work helps me connect, through my breath, with this living sign of love. What a privilege.

The Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton, wrote:

The only true joy on Earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life Who dwells within the essence of every creature and in the core our own souls.

I am grateful that yoga and meditation keep me constantly aware of all the false identities I’ve built up that I’ve come to falsely believe define me. Equally as important, they remind me over and over again of the connection that I have to every living being on this planet and elsewhere.

A core belief of the philosopher, J. Krishnamurti, was that:

Love & truth can't be found in any book, church, or temple. It comes when you know yourself.

I am so grateful that yoga and meditation help me to know myself better, and with greater compassion.

The Persian poet, Rumi, wrote:

Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.

And:

A pearl in the shell
does not touch the ocean.
Be a pearl without a shell
a mindful flooding
a spark turned to flame
bird settling nest
love lived.

I am so grateful that yoga, meditation, and dance help me to feel that spark of love deep within, and that on occasion it grows bigger and becomes a flame. Every so often, the shell around my being comes off and I am moved to take actions that will somehow benefit not only me but others as well. Every so often, I am engulfed by Love so fully that my sense of reason goes by the wayside, and I find myself saying: It may seem crazy, but I have to do this. It has led me to taking action to find and receive romantic love, pursue a life in the performing arts, and to found Keoni Movement Arts, which serves people who don’t have the opportunities I’ve had in life.

I hope that yoga and meditation can help fulfill one of your basic needs – your ability to love again … again and again – for the benefit of all beings everywhere.

I hope you’re feeling a sense of optimism as spring begins to bloom again.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you at times be a pearl without a shell, …
May that spark of love within you become a flame, …
May you cross that bridge between hatred and love, again and again, …
For the benefit of ALL Beings everywhere.

Aloha, Metta, Peace, and Joy,
Paul Keoni Chun

Engaged Yoga

Yoga and the Art of Loving, Again

Keoni Movement Arts