Yūgen

I’ve fallen into a rabbit hole of analyzing Japanese culture. By no means am I an expert, but even scratching the surface of some of their customs has been incredibly enlightening compared to our western beliefs and upbringings. One concept in particular felt like it coincided beautifully with our Pridefit ethos. The concept is called “yūgen.”

“Yūgen is usually translated as ‘mysterious profundity.’

“Yūgen is usually translated as ‘mysterious profundity.’ Yūgen means: the beauty that we can feel from an object, even though the beauty doesn’t exist in the literal sense of the word and cannot be seen directly. Yūgen is a sense not to enjoy the superficial beauty of an object, which is in front of our eyes, but to enhance the beauty by imagining its latent beauty. For example, we think a flower is beautiful when we see it. This beauty is the superficial beauty. The flower has a past of withstanding wind, rain, and snow until now, and will someday wither, however beautiful it is now. Although the beautiful flower itself impresses us, the beauty will be more impressive than the superficial beauty, when we can imagine its past and future.”

Goju Karate, Yūgen: Profound, Mysterious Sense of Beauty

Extrapolating yūgen to apply more directly to humans is simple. We get so caught up with the weight on the scale and what we see in the mirror, and completely ignore the latent beauty of our bodies. What have our bodies done for us to get us to this point? What is the potential for our bodies in the future?

“ I am not a finished product, nor is my current aesthetic a direct reflection of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years. ”

Recognizing the past and future efforts of my body makes me appreciate where I am right now. I am not a finished product, nor is my current aesthetic a direct reflection of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years. When we stop focusing solely on the result and acknowledge our past and future, believe it our not, we’ll be more motivated to keep going. Finding self-compassion through yūgen isn’t weakness, it can be one of our greatest sources of motivation. So don’t lose the big picture. Lean into the “mysterious profundity” of yūgen.