In his public statement after yesterday’s guilty verdicts in Minneapolis, Philonese Floyd said he'd been "hoping and praying and speaking everything into existence.”
He was referring to his faith that there would be accountability for his brother George's murder: in the same way that right action created waves of compassion and support in the eyes of the public, courage in the eyes of Darnella Frazier, the teenaged girl who recorded the events of May 25, and grace in the eyes of his God.
When we recognize yoga as an embodied practice, the concept of expressing our soul's hopes into existence rings true. Whether through asana (posture), pranayama (breathing practice,) or dedicated meditation, each embodies a projection of our deepest voices asking for peace to prevail, for justice to rule, for humanity to rally round itself.
Yoga's texts distinguish between the small “self," a separate, ego-driven animal, and the universal “Self," an interconnected awareness. When enough small selves unite in purpose, individual practices turn into action, and action at scale results in change. As I sit in quiet contemplation of this moment, the chorus of change is a far sweeter song than the lonely cries of a man who couldn't breathe.
~ Annie Moyer