May 4, 20214 min read

Yoga Teachers Unite to Help India Breathe

Updated: Jun 8, 2021

This is a time sensitive post.

As a yoga teacher and a student, I would not be where I am today if India had not provided the gift of yoga. Yet when I read the news of what is happening right now in India, the devastating consequences of COVID, I felt hopeless. Yes, I can donate a few pounds here and there to different organisations but that still does not feel like enough. I then remembered that I’m not alone. I’m part of a global community that owes so much to yoga, to India. I remembered that anytime you unite, anytime you come into union, anytime you come into yoga, great things happen. So this is me reaching out to the yoga community, from teachers to students, to members of this community and anywhere in the world to join in the forces to try and help.

India needs our help to breathe and I know you may say that the whole world is hurting, the whole world is struggling. However if you are reading this message it means we are all still here, we managed to get through this pandemic one way or the other.

As a member of the yoga community I found it challenging to sit still and watch without even trying to do something bigger than an individual donation. I thought, me, as many other yoga teachers probably have had a deep connection with India. And if you haven't, you have probably dreamt of connecting and going to the motherland of Yoga one day.

In the hope to help out as much as we all can, I have set up a fundraiser with a minimum goal and hope that you won’t stop when you see we reach the goal but you continue to give all you can to support a country to which many of us owe our practice, our health and wellbeing to.

“Yoga Teachers Unite to Help India Breathe” is a fundraiser set up directly with Give India to “Help patients breathe as they battle COVID. Donate to boost oxygen supply” All funds you pay on this fundraiser go directly to Give India and donors like you can get tax-deductible receipts for all donations. Donations through this platform are tax exempted under 80G and 501(c).

With a few yoga teachers around the world already set up, we hope to offer yoga classes within our communities free in exchange of donations to this fundraiser. My hope is that more yoga teachers will join by leading a free class and inviting their students & their community to donate to this fundraiser so that even if it’s £1, £5 or £10, or even more if you can, it will all add up.

Maybe alone you feel like you won't make much difference, however when we come together and support each other, we unite and we are stronger and we can do better. I urge you to sit back, take a fresh deep breath in, and check how much you can give, what can you donate to support a country that many of us own our our physical and mental health and well-being due to yoga. So please, if you see this message don’t scroll, take a deep breath pause and think of what you can give.

Can you give up your coffee at the bar up for one day? for 10 days and make a donation of 3 to 10 pounds? Are you still employed and have the means to give a little more? What is yoga worth for you? if it has changed your life for better, in ways you can’t describe, this is your opportunity to give back.

I hope you will join yoga Teachers Unite to help India Breath.

Thank you for reading my love letter to India and I hope you well feel connected too.

HOW TO DONATE

Follow this link to donate today

https://fundraisers.giveindia.org/fundraisers/yoga-teachers-unite-to-help-india-breathe

So here I am, asking you to join the fundraiser to help bring oxygen to people in need in India due to the COVID emergency.

How can you help:

1. Donate by clicking on the “Give Now” red button to the right

2. Share this fundraiser on all your social media platforms to spread awareness

3. If you are a Yoga teacher, get involved by offering a free yoga class in exchange for donations. Your class will be added to the list below

This fundraiser will end on May 22nd, 2021.

Please share, donate and join in to help.