More than Money: Yoga Fundraisers
By Kate Helbig
Giving a person a ten-dollar bill simply puts cash in his/her pocket and may not improve the quality of his/her life. However, giving a person a ten-dollar bill along with a simple expression of human feeling and compassion – perhaps a smile, a handshake and an encouraging word – can vastly increase the value of the gift and possibly make a real difference in both the giver's and the receiver's lives. Yoga fundraising, a practice that has been gaining support in Northeast Ohio, embodies this basic principle.
Through yoga fundraising, the yoga community strives to embody a complete form of philanthropy. Yoga teacher Tammy Lyons, CYT, RYT, owner of Inner Bliss Yoga in Rocky River, explained that a yoga fundraiser ignites the intention of giving energetically instead of just financially. A typical yoga fundraiser encourages participants to offer a minimum donation, usually around $15; however, any form of contribution is accepted. “Internally, yoga is what you make of it, but practicing yoga for someone who has a greater need than you is a heart-opening experience,” said Tami Schneider, RYT, CYT, studio director and teacher at Cleveland Yoga in Beachwood. “It's not just a workout.”
To the untrained eye, the practice of yoga may seem to only benefit the practitioner. Certainly, yoga has been marketed in the United States as a way to improve health and overall fitness, and it can greatly enhance one's overall well being. But many people may not realize that yoga, in its basic principles, connects people and promotes unity and self-realization. “If people are healthy and balanced in their bodies, they will be healthier in their thinking and healthier in their interactions with one another,” explained Tiiu Gennert, CYT, RYT, co-owner and co-director at Studio 11 in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland.
Schneider explained that the yoga community is continually looking to improve the quality of others' lives. “It's the natural thing to do,” she said. “The feeling of oneness, unity and community is what yoga is all about.” She described yoga as “putting posture into prayer,” meaning that students can come to the mat to put the energy of their yoga into positive intentions and prayers for themselves and/or others.
“As a student, you get on the mat to find your breath; and your breathing connects you to every other living thing,” Lyons elucidated. “Life is not just about living in the mind; it's an energetic experience. When you slow your mind down, it opens up your heart, so your heart is more receptive to receiving. When you are more open to receiving, you are more open to giving.”
During the four-and-a-half years that Inner Bliss Yoga has been in business, Lyons has been involved in myriad fundraising events, including hosting one for Hurricane Katrina victims in the fall of 2005. In addition to addressing disaster relief, Lyons organizes fundraiser classes based on the interests and involvement of particular students. As an example, she noted that Inner Bliss's April 2004 fundraiser for a rape-crisis center “was really powerful.” She went on to explain that “Some events stand out because of a particular student attached to a particular organization.”
Lyons recalls that a long-time student of hers spoke to a large group of people who came to participate in a fundraiser for victims of domestic violence. “We dedicated an hour-and-a-half practice to battered women and children. There was intention behind every movement, behind every breath, one that was different than simply writing a check,” said Lyons. She believes that yoga fundraisers raise a conscious awareness and generate energetic, healing power.
Cleveland Yoga's fundraisers, often held on holidays over the summer, generally benefit local groups in need, including one for battered women. It held one of its largest fundraisers for the tsunami victims in 2004. “The mats were overlapping,” said Schneider. “We had 70 to 80 people, and everyone wanted to help.”
Rooted in thousands of years of history, yoga is gaining popularity in the United States today, causing practitioners to become more aware of the world around them, as well as their inner state of mind. “Our world is in such turmoil,” Schneider said. “If you can find your own sense of peace, it will spread to the next person.”
Gennert concluded that yoga promotes respect between people and encourages peace. “When you boil yoga down, it is love,” she said. “What do you do when you love someone? You respect them and do good things for them.” Yoga fundraising truly embodies this spirit. While supporting worthwhile causes with money and intention, it also gives practitioners the satisfaction of knowing their donation of funds and energy has created positive change.
