{"id":7547,"date":"2022-10-22T15:02:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T15:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=105114"},"modified":"2022-10-22T15:02:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T15:02:29","slug":"can-yoga-bridge-our-political-divides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/22\/can-yoga-bridge-our-political-divides\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Yoga Bridge Our Political Divides?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of the year. As midterm elections near, our news feeds overflow with political ads, candidate debates, and nonstop punditry. For some people, these are exciting demonstrations of democracy in action. It makes others want to curl up in Child\u2019s Pose<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Reggie Hubbard, it\u2019s a little bit of both. He says used to be a hard-driving political operative who lived on cigars, whiskey, and adrenaline. Now, he\u2019s still a high-energy political operative, but his energy comes from another source. He\u2019s also the founder of Active Peace Yoga<\/a>, a platform for political strategy, yoga instruction, and other \u201ccool projects\u201d that intersect both.<\/p>\n

As the Chief Serving Officer of the organization, he\u2019s a role model for how civic life and yoga can come together in the service of good.<\/p>\n

Bridging the political divide<\/h2>\n

The US has had political differences since before the states were united. What\u2019s new is the width of the chasm over which people are shouting\u2013and the internal fractures forming on each side.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> shows that America was becoming increasingly divided\u2014and that polarization within parties<\/a> is also on the rise. Such divisions lead to high emotions on the one hand and a sense of hopelessness on the other. A rising number of people<\/a> are saying they feel like strangers in their own country.<\/p>\n

The divide shows up in the yoga community, too, where some people think that yoga principles offer the ideal guidelines for addressing social and political issues, while others are adamant that politics has no place in the practice devoted to personal peace.<\/p>\n

Do yoga and politics mix<\/a>? If anyone has a strong opinion on the perpetual question, it\u2019s Hubbard. For him the answer is an obvious yes\u2026and it\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some work to do civically,\u201d he says. \u201cI do not believe yoga is a practice of comfort. I believe it gets us comfortable with discomfort and from that comfortability with discomfort we can ask audacious questions and transform the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gratitude for gifts of adversity<\/h2>\n

Hubbard was trying to transform the world<\/a> well before he got into yoga. \u201cI got involved in politics to help people. I didn\u2019t get involved in politics to backstab and social climb,\u201d he says. He describes his early experience with political life as extremely destructive.<\/p>\n

After an unsuccessful bid for a post in the Obama administration, he took a break and vowed to only do things that lowered his blood pressure, were \u201cartsy,\u201d or that he\u2019d never done before. When someone invited him to a yoga class, it checked all three boxes. He enjoyed it enough to keep at it, but it wasn\u2019t until he found himself in a challenging work situation that he fully understood the power of his practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He had moved from DC to Colorado for a job that turned sour fast. \u201cEvery day it was just microaggressions and extreme racism,\u201d he says. \u201cYoga gave me space to be in this horrific environment with equanimity.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he got a message (via text) telling him that he\u2019d been fired, he says, \u201cI responded by saying, \u2018Blessings and peace to you. Thank you for the gift of adversity and the lesson on how to handle that with grace and wisdom.\u2019\u201d That reaction surprised even him. He realized that something about the yoga practice was working.<\/p>\n

Mining mindful muscle memory<\/h2>\n

Almost immediately after the Colorado job ended, the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign called; they needed his help. Hubbard was reluctant to get back into the political world. But one of his teachers pointed out the unique opportunity he was being given to practice his discipline in what he calls \u201cthe heart of darkness.\u201d He said yes.<\/p>\n

To maintain his equilibrium and his commitment to his yoga practice, he drew some lines in the sand. \u201cIf this job impacts my practice or my health I\u2019m out,\u201d he told Sanders\u2019 campaign managers. He cut meetings short if they interfered with his meditation, and made time for yoga during his travels. He turned his work into dharana<\/em>, a practice of intense focus.<\/p>\n

Traveling the country to produce campaign events that draw thousands of people creates an environment that\u2019s rife with potential for frayed nerves and conflict. Instead of using his yoga as a private practice to get away from the stress, he brought his practice to work\u2013greeting people with peace and blessings, guiding his direct reports away from grind culture, and calming tense meetings by having people do breathwork. When things went wrong\u2014as they inevitably do when you\u2019re managing so many people and moving pieces\u2014he leaned into \u201cmindful muscle memory\u201d instead of the typical yelling, blaming, and panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone would come at me [with a problem] I\u2019d be like, okay, shoulders back, head level, breathe in through the nose, out through the nose. Then, okay, what\u2019s going on?\u2026What are we gonna do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Reggie
(Photo: Leigh Vogel\/Getty Images )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yoking yoga and civic life<\/h2>\n

When he returned to his home base in Washington, he dove headlong into both yoga and political life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took my 200-hour teacher training while flipping the House of Representatives, and took my 300-hour while being the strategic advisor for the impeachment of the president,\u201d he says. He taught occasionally as a sub in studios. \u201cBut pre pandemic, there really wasn\u2019t space for me, and I really wasn\u2019t looking to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first official public class I taught on my own was April 4, 2020,\u201d he says. By then the world was in the midst of a pandemic layered over national political turmoil and racial justice protests. But he had developed the tools to engage in politics in a new way. He saw how he could use yoga principles as the basis for how he worked in political circles\u2014and<\/em> help guide the yoga and wellness communities to be more engaged citizens.<\/p>\n

In these politically polarized spaces, closing gaps means building the bridges first.<\/p>\n

Finding common ground<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt starts with talking to people\u2013even those who may not agree with you,\u201d he says. But across-the-aisle dialogue doesn\u2019t just happen; you have to create the conditions for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to rest people\u2019s nervous systems so that they don\u2019t feel<\/a> under attack, under threat, under duress, angry,\u201d he says. That\u2019s where yoga and contemplative practice comes in. It prepares the ground for seeding new ideas. And even that has to be done carefully. \u201cI am not just dropping things or throwing ideas at people. I\u2019m placing them,\u201d says Hubbard.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a yogic perspective, we have far more in common than we think that we do,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we just need to talk about what we share as opposed to what we don\u2019t share.\u201d  Seeking out commonalities is part of yoga practice<\/a>, Hubbard says. It\u2019s how we embody the common translation of namaste\u2014to see and honor the humanity in one another. \u201cAs we come together, we realize there really isn\u2019t that much separation. The only separation is the one that we create.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our  yoga practice provides direction. \u201cThe same cues that someone might offer in an asana practice are applicable to the hard conversations; they are applicable to the intractable nature of things as they seem right now,\u201d he says, likening the process to following the cues to soften into a pose. \u201cIf we can do it in asana, why can\u2019t we do it in life?\u201d<\/p>\n

Making an impact<\/h2>\n

This sentiment has opened doors for him personally and professionally. He says he never thought it would be possible to meld yoga, meditation, grassroots activism, and political work. \u201cBut the promise and the blessing of yoga is the merging of these things together. And as those things merge, they blossom into a beautiful hybrid,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view my teaching practices as a means to liberate suffering for all across my path,\u201d he says. The practice is not just what happens on the mat or on the cushion or even in the halls of power. \u201cIt can just be a smile in traffic. It can be [a nod] on the subway. But if you take that seriously, then you begin to see how that shifts the environment around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

His impact is being felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the best compliments I\u2019ve received in my life is from Ayana Pressley [the U.S. representative from Massachusetts],\u201d he says. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Brother, you\u2019re so cool that when you walk in, blood pressure drops.\u2019 That is why I do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mapping the path forward<\/h2>\n

Hubbard is currently working with leaders in the contemplative community on a project called Mind Our Democracy<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to inspire the spiritual<\/a> community in civic engagement,\u201d he says. They are taking a direct action against the idea that there\u2019s no room for political or civic action in contemplative space.<\/p>\n

The group, including Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Konda Mason, Maya Breuer, and a whole who\u2019s who of leaders in meditation, mindfulness, and yoga communities, \u201crecognizes voting as an extension of contemplative practice.\u201d Mindfully casting a ballot is a start to changing the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t forecast the future, we can just do the best we can with the present,\u201d he says. And yoga will help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf yoga can transform us individually, why not collectively?\u201d Hubbard asks. \u201cI stand by the notion of the transformational power of yoga,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Can<\/figure>\n

Activist and yoga teacher Reggie Hubbard says, yes. Here’s how he uses his practice to create change on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

The post Can Yoga Bridge Our Political Divides?<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-7547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}