28 days --- 56 ways to be Young, Gifted and Black: Sergio Buchanan

How do you spend your days?

I spend most of my days teaching yoga to adults and youth, slowly getting in touch with the divine that lives within me, and exercising my mind, body and soul.

What brings you joy?

I find joy in what I call "my simple things": meditation, writing, reading, asanas, kriyas, resistance training, stretching, laughing with the people I love, twelve glasses of water a day, Guerilla Street Food (that flying pig!!!), binge watching Steven Universe and most importantly, going to bed at a decent time. All of these things help me get in touch with that inner peace and joy of just being alive.

What is liberation to you?

Short answer: Since the struggle is very real and I have the divine right to be here, liberation means that even while trying to reach enlightenment I can still turn these sitting meditations, downward facing dogs and kombucha drinks into twerk sessions, haymakers and French 75s when necessary.*

Long answer: Liberation begins at the individual level and then expands to the group, cultural and societal levels. For me it involves accepting that I've learned many destructive and toxic ways of "living" from many sources: peers, society, family, institutions and so on. At 30, it has taken me a long time to accept that I have a lot of unlearning to do and that I'm resistant to that process. That resistance causes me unhappiness. It also influences me to cause other people unhappiness. Liberation is unlearning all of that. It is the integration of what helps me be of better service to others. It is the letting go of anything that blocks that service from manifesting. Through liberation, I reach that place one day where my body experiences the joy of connecting with the divine that lives in me. Once I know without a doubt how to celebrate the divine within me, I can be free to help others experience the same thing for themselves, or deepen that experience if they have arrived there already. Liberation means that none of us is free until we all are free.

*Gotta thank E.Badu for that one.

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