Yoga for Ukraine

Empower is donating 100% of its proceeds from this class to United Help Ukraine. Donation amount suggested is the usual price of a drop in pass, $20, but any amount is appreciated, even if it’s just $5. Bring your friends, your family, or even your coworkers and let your money go to a truly important cause.

I would like to highlight an important yogi, Eknath Easwaran, who walked with Gandhi in the salt marches to protest British rule in India. He studied under Gandhi and encouraged many to work to save elephants from poachers, brought deeper meaning of life to seniors and worked with those who promoted peace globally. He believed living a kinder, more conscious life would gradually change the world around us. He translated and commentated on the Gita and offered this beautiful reminder:

“A family of two or three or four will not satisfy us; we will want a whole continent for our family, as Gandhiji had. When Mrs. Gandhi was asked how many children she had, her reply was, ‘I have four, but my husband has four hundred million.’ As meditation deepens and self-will becomes less, we come to regard everyone as our own; if they have problems, it is our privilege to live for helping them to solve those problems. When at last we regard the entire world as our family, we will be enabled to draw upon the vast reservoir of love and wisdom lying unsuspected in all of us.”

So while many believe that practicing yoga off the mat simply looks like quite contemplation, the Malalas and MLKs of the world would never have changed the course of human history by simple meditation and quiet observance.

Truly, an important part of yoga is putting an equal sign between ourselves and everyone else in the world. It means asana and pranayama but also service. Activism. Peace comes by sitting together in unity. Whether that’s during meditation or in protest. By standing with like minded organizations to oppose those who harm others, or inspire peace. It’s voting, petitioning, and in this case… donating.

Our path is to work for peace. We can’t om it away. But we can do the work.