Seva Challenge team update

Three participants in the Seva challenge have reached their fundraising goal!!

Congratulations goes out to Megan Amanda Ridge (Pennsylvania), Sofi Dillof (Vermont) and Tracey Campbell (Denver)... !!

As a team so far the participants of the Seva challenge have raised $340,000!!

Busting out rows for the odd Ones

I will be at this year's Odd Ones Bizarre selling my screen printed Yogini Works apparel as well as homemade organic sugar scrubs & bath salts, hand-knitted scarves and hand loomed rugs donated by a yogi friend.

The odd Ones Holiday Bizarre is organized by the Mantis Collective and this is its 3rd year.


So come on out for a great day of local arts, live local music, homemade soups & breads and community.

Saturday, November 14th at the HHA Building, 1230 North Third Street, Harrisburg Pennsylvania.

Disappointments... and letting things unfold naturally

Along the way sometimes plans fall to the wayside and do not always turn out the way you thought or hoped they would.

That is the space I am in... a lovely event that was a surprise when it was proposed is gone. I am left with some disappointment and a great deal of hope that something else will rise up - and I am excited to see what that might be.

Here's to channeling energy in a positive direction - cheers to that.

Seva challenge update

To date the participants in the Off the Mat, Into the World Seva Challenge have raised $280,000 ... we have a little over 2 months left to raise as much as we can.

Much love and appreciation for all who have helped and been involved in the journey so far.

Ease up

As the weather cools it is hard to believe we are reaching the end of another cycle. The time that has passed seems at once so close, the experiences still fresh and then so far, so much has happened and changed. Lately I have been thinking a lot about this fund raising challenge and how it relates to the busy pace of modern life and the often abstract notion of helping others or being involved in change. I have been going over in my head why I am doing this challenge, how I started and what has happened to me since it began. I have at times watched the others that are participating in the challenge and then for long stretches I remove all connection and just do my own thing. There are still more months to go and corners to explore and personal edges to push the boundaries of - clearly I still have more reflecting to do, but that is where my head and heart have been.

Tonight I came to the realization that part of what I was doing was trying to find how I can be sustainable in my own life and how activism and social change can be too. How you can help make a difference while getting on with your own life and really see the change - which is refreshing in a political climate that often leaves the majority of people feeling unheard. I am doing this challenge as much for me and my community as I am for those that we are helping. By seeing direct change come from our joyful efforts we increase hope and positivity - something we all need.

Uganda Rocks, Part Deuce...

Mark your calendars for Friday November 27th and be there...

Stomachs full of food, head and heart full of family - the Friday after Thanksgiving is the perfect time to go out, celebrate and reconnect with old friends. This year do all of that while helping to make a difference in the world.

Show your gratitude and give thanks by helping others on Friday November 27th when Spy Club hosts Uganda Rocks, II. The ticket price of $12 goes towards the completion of ongoing humanitarian projects aiding Uganda - the building of a seven room primary school, the creation of an eco-birthing center for mothers with HIV/AIDS and providing a well and new mattresses for an orphanage in rural Uganda. Making a noticeable difference in the world is as easy and direct as coming to a show. So come out for what promises to be another great night of music raising money for the greater good.

While the entire line up is not confirmed quite yet I can give you a hint at what is in store. The night includes some fine blues coming from Blue Elephant,a dose of funky jazz from Suburban Transit and the night ends with none other than the infamous rockers, the Martini Bros. Add to this a dash of hip hop jazz fusion coming out of Philly and a sweet starter course of bluegrass and I would call this the perfect night...

Save the date - and get your dancing shoes shined up. Uganda Rocks II is coming.

Doing what we do ... and doing for the greater good.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far. Together as a community we have raised over $6,000. We have already made a great difference and built a bridge from Harrisburg to Uganda.

malas from nyc to uganda

This past winter a happy crew of yoga friends met up in New Hope to go to Seane Corn's workshop at Yogaphoria. I went with two friends from the Rasa Vinyasa kula, Shani and Barb, and we met up with Shani's friends coming in from New York., Emily and Elif. The weekend changed the course of my life by taking my yoga practice to the next level in a way I had never expected - this is when I decided to sign up for this challenge - to try and raise $20,000 within my community to aid ongoing projects in Uganda.

Shortly after that my new Elif signed up for the challenge too. Elif lives in the great NYC and is the creator of lovely jewelry. To raise money for the Seva challenge Elif decided to create handmade malas and sell them on Etsy, the site for handmade goods -under the shop name Malas for Peace.

Fast forward, through the summer's fast pace and activities... Elif sent me a message about a month ago that her life had taken a change in course, the summer brought with it a beautiful tiny wedding in the city and she was no longer finding the time for the Seva challenge. Elif had decided to donate what she has raised to my goal.

Thank you Elif for this beautiful act of friendship. And thank you everyone who supported and continues to support Elif on this journey. Together we are now closer to meeting the financial needs of the ongoing projects with Shanti Uganda, the New Hope orphanage, and Building Tomorrow.

Yoga joy

yogini tea

During the Second Series workshop my yoga friend Crissy told me she was planning a tea at her house, and the women invited are asked to bring a donation that would go towards my goal of $20,000 in the OTM 2009 Seva challenge.

While catching up and enjoying the company of friends Crissy and her tea raised $100. I am touched by this simple act of great generosity. Namaste C & tea friends....

Mysore & second series Maui style

This past weekend was an Ashtanga second series workshop taught by Nancy Gilgoff. Nancy is my teacher's teacher and she learned the Ashtanga practice from Pattabhi Jois in the early 1970's.

The entire weekend was a refreshing and challenging reminder of why I do yoga. Nancy has a humor and a laid back ease that dissolved any anxiety I had about being in the presence of such an elder yogini and learning the second series asanas. And up until this point I had sort of avoided going to mysore class - and well, this workshop made me go, so I got past that hurdle in the company of many others new to mysore.

Mysore is a style of yoga class (originating in Mysore, India) where the teacher is present but the practice is not lead. You simply go in, do your practice, and the teacher is there to assist you and guide you. It really is one of the best ways to learn the yoga practice. I had held some anxiety about this style of class - mostly worried I would not remember the order of the asanas. The first morning mysore class during the workshop was a refreshing and peaceful. No sound but the steady breathing of the people practicing and the morning light in the studio washed a serene calm over everyone. My body and mind remembered the sequence of poses with almost no problem and I am hooked on mysore... it makes the practice your very own.

And so thank you to Nancy and to Bobbi... for passing on the flame of yoga to many, many students.

What a little Rasa can do...

This past week I was off the mat. I joked that I was doing the yoga of screen printing. A break always seems nice but only for a day or two. After that it is down hill. I went an entire week without any of my practice. Just work, more work and screen printing. My body did not really appreciate this as I stood for long hours and really did not care for myself in the best way... the busy of life took over.

The accidental hiatus was almost worth it after going to the Prana Flow class tonight... I literally feel juiced, wrung out in the best possible way and reconnected to what brings me to the mat. There is a delightful freedom that can be found in all that movement and presence.

Tonight I was reminded how amazing our class is, how special a place it can be and how life altering the practice of can be. I know it sounds dramatic but it is true. The practice of yoga will transform your life in some way. It can crack you open. Or, as it was so beautifully said tonight, yoga takes the gray flat world we have grown accustomed to and adds depth and color.

Thank you Harrisburg!

With contributions from the night coming in at over $3,015 and monetary donations and shirt sales still rolling in I would have say that Uganda Rocks! was a huge success. I am still riding the high from the event and am happily blown away by the support that came out on Friday night. Our town is pretty fantabulous, and once again music brings people together creating social and world change.

I am fairly certain a good time was had by all - the pictures from the event are all of megwatt smiles, dancing and laughing. Even after the whirlwind of the last minute preparations have subsided I am still finding it just a little surreal.

Current times can seem uncertain but in this moment I do know this, I am thankful and surrounded by generous people and joyous people. That there is hope, and one night in history went down as a really, really good one. And those are the ones that count, the ones we are living for.

Thank you everyone you came out and supported the event and raised the money in all the ways that you did. Thank you to the talented and generous musicians who gave it their all. To the gang at ABC for rockin it. Big ups to my crew for helping me make it happen - both at the brewery & in the basement (aka the "bat cave"). And special thanks to Megan Caruso whose fabulous design is now scattered across the country (I just sent a bag to a friend in Santa Monica).

Together we are all doing some good work.