Yoga and the Power of Pride

Rockefeller Center Plaza all decked out for Pride!

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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!