I watched Barack Obama take his oath of office while sitting in a conference room at the Hyatt Regency hotel in San Francisco. I was in a meeting with the editors and publishers of most of Yoga Journal’s international editions, including Russia, Thailand, Japan, Brazil and Germany.

But  at 9 am PST, we paused. We put a live stream of the inauguration up on the screen, and twenty of us watched the 44th President being sworn in. Right after Obama said the last words of his oath, “so help me God,” the entire room stood up, clapped, stamped their feet and cheered.  The Bush era was over. And a vastly different kind of human being — one who is brilliant, strategic, and inspiring, and whose skin happens to be black — became our new President.

After eight very long years, I can now say once again, that I am proud to be an American.