Have you been to India?
It’s the kind of place that will change you, if you let it.
I certainly can’t make any statements about the people and the land there, as those stories aren’t mine to tell. And I’m aware of the very colonizing practice of using a sovereign people and land as a backdrop for your own stories… but those are the ones that are mine to tell.
With where I was in my life in October of 2017, the story that India taught me was one of letting ritual and the sacred weave itself into and out of the messiness of being human.
I also saw resilience and adaptability and ingenuity everywhere. Humans, going about life, doing their best, sometimes in conditions that would be unimaginable based on what most of us here in the U.S. are used to.
It’s become a cliche to say, but the sounds, smells, and colors everywhere really were a feast for the senses.
I can’t even put words to exactly how it nudged me into a new path because the path it put me on is still unfolding. All I can say is where I am today is due in HUGE part to the practice of yoga and my experiences engaging with the people and land when I visited.
Vedic astrologers (the astrology practice of India) will tell you that today, May 13-14th is an auspicious day - AKSHAYA TRITIYA. The sun and moon are both in their strongest astrological positions and any intentions set, any acts of kindness and charity are magnified.
While this may be a great day for you start a project or spend some time giving thanks for the things you have, it’s also a great day to remember that if it’s one thing a global pandemic can teach us, it’s that we are all connected and that we cannot truly thrive if others are not also thriving.
That healing cannot be achieved in a bubble and that wellness is collective.
In most news cycles, disasters come and go very quickly - but the impact is ongoing and frequently long-lasting.
On this day of heightened possibilities for healing, prosperity, and love-as-an-action I would like to invite you (if you haven’t already or if you can again), especially if you are someone who has benefited from the practice of yoga, to give something in support of people of India who are still being devastated by a surge in COVID cases, further complicated in some areas by recovery efforts from an earthquake.
I know it can be intimidating and overwhelming trying to figure out what to do and where, so I'm simplifying it down to a few links to organizations doing on-the-ground work within communities where the need is great.
Remember that individually, we cannot save everyone or help everywhere, that more is not always more - but that little bits when and where we can matter.
Pick one or two - or, if decisiveness is a challenge, give to one of the umbrella organizations like Give India or India Aid.
If you feel called to help women and girls at risk for trafficking who have been left particularly vulnerable during this last year+, you can do so here.
A lack of oxygen for those who need it is playing a huge part in the fatality count. Hemkunt Foundation is working to provide oxygen to COVID patients
There is a big divide between the rural and urban areas in terms of resources in India, as in many places. Goonj works to balance access to resources through grass-roots organizing and redistributing. During the pandemic, they have been providing support for migrant workers and other vulnerable rural and urban populations and using their organization and distribution skills to get help where it is needed.
Khalsa Aid is an international crisis response organization that operates on the Sikh principle of “recognize the whole human race as one” and are currently focusing efforts in India on meals and medical support.
Give India and Aid India are both organizations distributing donations to smaller efforts and more local organizations providing meals, PPE, and other necessities.
Many blessings for you in your own prosperity and loving efforts - what we feed with our attention and devotion is what grows.