Pride Meditation and Chant

Hi, Yogis. Welcome to Yoga Anytime. I'm Miles Barreiro, and I'm so excited to be here to celebrate Pride with you. I thought we could take a maitri meditation. It's one of my favorite tools that I've ever learned in my yoga practice. And the reason why I thought it would be a great tie for Pride is because it is a meditation that inculcates self-love. And it's also a wonderful meditation for letting go of stuff that we don't need any longer. And to forgive, because being queer is such an imperfect perfection. You know what I mean? The world is not really made for it in some ways. The structure is in place. And so we, as queer people, have to navigate a lot of vritti, a lot of fluctuation. And this meditation can really help us move deeper into our diamond heart. And it can really help us release some of the patterning that we carry. So I'd love to share it with you today. Go ahead and take a tall seat. And you can sit on a block the way I'm sitting on a block. If your knees are punky, that might not be a good situation. So sit cross-legged. And if you'd rather sit in a chair, then do that. It would be good if the chair was a little hard so that you could sit on your sit bones and have a nice space for the breath. So that's the only thing. If you could sit on the edge of your block or your chair to sit nice and upright, that would be good. Once you find your seat, go ahead and close your eyes. You can rest your palms either face up or face down on your thighs. Face up is a little bit more open if you're feeling like you want that kind of energy. And face down can be more grounding. And bring to mind the first person or creature that comes to mind when I say the word love. It could be a four-legged. It could be someone who's no longer with us. And once you know who it is, the first person, invite them into your space and place them right in front of you. Have them sit and see if you can imagine them with as much detail as you can conjure. And then in your mind's eye, say to them, may you be happy? May you be happy? May you be happy? May you be healthy? May you be healthy? May you be healthy? May you be safe? May you be safe? May you be safe? May you have ease? May you have ease? May you have ease?

May you be happy? May you be happy? May you be happy? May you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you be safe, may you have ease, may you have ease, may you be happy, may you be happy, may you may you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be healthy. May you be healthy. may be safe. May you have ease. May you have ease. May you have ease and let their image dissolve like dust in a desert storm and notice the effects of that on yourself, the effects of creating that relationship. And then bring to mind someone who is a stranger, someone that you might have crossed paths with but you don't know much about. You don't know the details of your life but they're somewhere in your life making coffee or a cab driver and see if you can imagine them as clearly as possible. Invite them to sit in front of you and then to them say may you be happy, may you be happy, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you be safe, may you be safe, may you have ease, may you have ease, may you have ease, may you be happy, may you be happy, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be healthy, may you be safe may you be safe may you be safe may you have ease may you have ease may you have ease may you be happy may you be happy may you be happy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be safe may you be safe may you be safe may you have ease ease may you have ease and allow them to dissolve into space and notice what you're brewing what you're cultivating and then bring to mind an enemy and that's such a word right it's even hard to imagine what is an enemy almost but bring to mind whatever comes up whomever comes up when the word enemy comes up and it might be someone that you deeply love and it they just might come up and that might just be it for today it doesn't mean that they're stuck being your enemy it's just that they're gonna be the person that sits in front of you today invite them to sit in front of you imagine them as clearly as you can and then to them say may you be happy may you be happy may you be happy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be safe may you be safe may you be safe may you have ease may you have ease may you have ease may you be happy may you be happy may you be happy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be safe may you be safe may you be safe may you have ease may you have ease may you have ease May you be happy. May you be happy may you be happy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be healthy may you be safe may be safe may be safe may you have ease may you have ease may you have ease and let them dissolve into the wind and then imagine yourself and bring yourself to sit in front of yourself. Try to be as detailed as you can in your imaginings and this might be sometimes it's the toughest one for some of us so be soft around that and then to yourself say may I be happy may I be happy may I be happy may I be healthy may I be healthy may I be healthy may I be safe may I be safe may I be safe may I have ease may I have ease may I have ease may I be happy may I be happy may I be happy may I be healthy may I be healthy may I be healthy may I be safe may I be safe may I be safe may I have ease may I have ease may I have ease. May I be happy, may I be happy, may I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be healthy, may I be healthy, may I be safe, may I be safe, may I be safe, may I have ease, may I have ease, may I have ease. Let yourself dissolve like stardust and see what you're sitting with now.

Keep your focus soft as you let your eyes flutter open. Part of why I love that practice is because as a queer person, as a trans man, I've often felt like my belonging is in question. And this practice reminds me that we all belong. And if we all belong, then I belong too. So I find it a really softening and a practice that really cultivates my autonomy and my backbone.

So I hope you enjoy it and that you get to, you can practice it a few more days and see how it changes. And you'll find that different people come into different slots and it's wild. It's totally crazy. And then I thought we would end with a little chant to honor pride. You'll probably know this one.

You can sing, you can listen to me the first round and then sing with me the second round and then once you know it, you can just chime in. I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, born this way, I was born this way, born this way, I was born this way, I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, I was born this way, born this way, I was born this way, I was born this way, I was born this way, I was born this way, happy pride yogis.