Part 1: Defining your politics
Thus far I’ve been making noise about yoga’s huge silence on politics (see my first three posts: 1, 2, 3). No word so far about what to do beyond connecting yoga with politics—or how we even know what, exactly, our politics is (yes, politics is considered grammatically singular). Time for us to lean in that direction, no?
Just as the human body consists of an anatomical structure (skeleton, nervous system, muscles, and internal organs), so, too, does our personal politics. What does that structure look like? I see 3 distinct parts, which are co-dependent and in constant motion: 1. defining your politics, 2. developing your platform, and 3. engaging your politics. Each of these parts is a huge enough topic on its own, which is why I’m breaking them into separate posts.
This first part, defining your politics, sets the foundation for the rest of your political anatomy. The skeleton is the framework of operation for the entire body. If we didn’t have skeletons, the rest of our bodies would be homeless and functionless. Same here. If you don’t know what your politics is, your platform lacks a home and your sense of engagement will lack purpose (more on these later, of course).
“What?!” some of you may be thinking. “I know precisely where I stand on things and what my purpose is.” If that’s where you are, great—those are key (and precise) tenets of your political position. Even if you can precisely define your politics, I invite you to consider whether you’re fine with where you are.
Begin with the backdrop.
If you’re wondering where to start, I suggest reflecting on your personal history. Our personal circumstances—how and where we grew up, experiences in education and work, etc—shape our worldviews over time. Your worldview is the contextual framework of your politics. Contemplate your life experiences to-date. What situations and/or people have played major roles in your life? How? Why? What are your beliefs and values regarding humanity? Can you pinpoint who or what has influenced you in those regards? The answers to these questions provide a backdrop to your politics.
Can you see how your context has shaped your understanding of the world and your place in it? Maybe a personal example would be helpful. My ideas about eliminating social-economic-political gaps between the haves and the have-nots in part stems from my experiences in growing up dirt poor, being called nasty names because I have brown skin, being looked at and treated in certain ways because I’m a woman, constantly scrambling through most of my adulthood to earn a living, and being up the wazoo in student loan debt. It’s an everyday struggle for me to overcome my fears and anxieties about my future abilities to take care of myself. I often wonder: What kind of society allows some people to live like kings and others to suffer; what kind of society favors material wealth over human potential? These kinds of issues require political solutions. Not the corrupt politics we know so well now, but a different kind of politics, one that values human relationships and creativity above all else.
Numerous people have influenced my thinking—family, friends, co-workers, teachers of all stripes. The Indian philosopher/revolutionary Sri Aurobindo, who founded Integral yoga (not the yoga of the same name trademarked in the U.S.), has been a huge influence on my yoga and politics. I first learned about his writings in an undergrad politics class with Zillah Eisenstein at Ithaca College. We read Aurobindo’s The Ideal of Human Unity, which he started writing during WWI. As the title conveys, he worried about the state of human disunity. I like to say yoga is about finding unity in diversity. I straight up steal that “unity in diversity” phrase from Professor Eisenstein, who was likely influenced by Aurobindo’s thinking. The phrase is so useful and precise. We create our realities. So instead of seeing differences as threats to control, we should see our various histories and cultures as the glue of humanity. Everybody’s got something to give, and we’re all in this soup together.
Make it real personal (cuz anyway you look at it, it is real personal).
So you see, defining your politics begins from a very personal place. Your yoga practice began from a personal place, too, right? How has/is your yoga evolved/evolving to include the whole of humanity? Ah-ha: THAT is your politics.
Grab a pen and some paper. Write, in 2-3 sentences, where you stand politically. Forget labels. How do you see yourself in relation to others, where would you like to see humanity go? Labels created by someone else don’t define your politics. Ditto on the names of political parties or affiliations. Your most heartfelt, honest intentions are the backbone of your politics. They are your foundation; they are where you stand.
Up next: developing your platform.
