Yoga and the Power of Joy

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

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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

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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.