Karma Offerings: Charities
Below you'll find a featured charity and a listing of past featured charities. Featured charities tend to be those that we are working with directly to provide yoga, volunteer or financial assistance. In case you'd like to find out more, links to these non-profits are provided.
» Featured Charity
» Information on Other Charities We Follow
» Why Karma Yoga?
» Simple Ways to Incorporate Karma Yoga Into Your Life
Featured Charity: InterAct of Wake County
InterAct is a private, non-profit, United Way agency that provides safety, support, and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault. InterAct fulfills this mission through the support of its volunteers and community.
InterAct also promotes violence-free relationships and communities through collaboration, public information, education, and advocacy. InterAct is the only confidential domestic violence prevention program serving Wake County's twelve municipalities. In 2009, InterAct opened its new headquarters, Family Safety & Empowerment Center in Raleigh, which brings together nine other community agencies to provide wraparound services for victims and survivors of violence and abuse.
The nine collaborative partners and the services they provide in InterAct's center are:
Easter Seals UCP coordinates the provision of mental health services to women and children suffering from trauma exposure.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle operates InterAct's commercial kitchen and provide culinary skills training.
KIRAN promotes self-reliance and empowerment of South Asians in crisis through outreach, peer support, and referrals.
Legal Aid of North Carolina offers InterAct's clients legal assistance and regular legal clinics.
Raleigh Police Department houses its entire family violence intervention unit on-site.
SouthLight offers family substance abuse counseling service on site.
Wake Health Services provides primary medical care using InterAct's medical clinic.
YMCA of the Triangle maintains InterAct's pool and operates after-school and summer youth programs.
YWCA of the Greater Triangle offers its Women In Transition Program to InterAct's clients.
www.interactofwake.org
InterAct's Family Safety & Empowerment Center
1012 Oberlin Road
Raleigh, NC 27605
Main Office: 919-828-7501
Information on Other Charities We Follow
The following is a list of past featured charities and other charitable organizations whose commitment to the bettering the world amazes us.
Project Compassion:
This nonprofit organization creates community and provides support for people living with serious illness, care-giving, end of life and grief.Yoga for Vets:
This nonprofit organization is dedicated to finding studios and teachers willing to offer veterans 4 free yoga classes in an effort to heal physical and mental injuries from their service.Yoga Bear:
Yoga Bear is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing cancer survivors with more opportunities for wellness and healing through the practice of yoga.
Doing for others is a gift to oneself, although ideally we do not give in order to get back - even if what you got was just a happy, self-contented feeling. So why do we do good deeds?
The teachings of Karma Yoga are derived from ancient Hindu texts, the "Bhagavad Gita." In the Bhagavad Gita, Karma Yoga is described by a chariot driver for Prince Arjuna called "Krishna". The prince speaks of a distressing family quarrel and Krishna relates Yoga practices to his feelings, one of which is Karma Yoga. Krishna emphasizes that the prince should do what is right, and not expect a benefit in return.
The story boils down to this: the happiness we seek can only be fully realized when we seek it for others. Karma is not merely the idea that every action a person performs will cause another action to happen to them that reflects the nature of the first. It is about intentionality, too. Karma is not about actions only, but also the thoughts and intentions behind those actions. Karma Yoga allows people to reflect on their motivations and develop a deeper sense of self that can lead to unadulturated happiness.
Simple Ways to Incorporate Karma Yoga Into Your Life
Sometimes the philosophy and ideals of service can be intimidating. We feel somehow inadequate to make a grand enough gesture to move the world forward. Groovy Yogi has experienced those feelings from time to time and believes one thing very strongly:
The greatest service you can do for the world is to be kind to yourself.
We are not talking about self-indulgence here - no wailing, flailing, shopping or other drama-manifesting activities. Instead (and perhaps with the help of a trained therapist), gently crack open the floodgates of your subconscious enough to listen in on the nagging thoughts that you continually stuff away. There may be an inner child that is still seeking approval; an adult self that feels you have failed to measure up to some set of expectations you embraced in the past; a mourning self that never dealt with grief and guilt. Now comes the difficult step, that of forgiving yourself and forgiving the ghosts of your past. This process may take diligent meditation and heart-opening practice for the remainder of your life.
If you cannot be kind to yourself, you may find it difficult to be kind to others. This is precisely why Groovy Yogi believes that the first step in karma yoga is to become comfortable being present with oneself. If you are happy, at peace, and physically strong, then surely you have more energy to make a positive impact on the external world.
Now, if you are happy, at peace and physically strong, you may find the following ways to do service in the community engaging:
• Smile for no reason to strangers: Mother Teresa said that “Peace begins with a smile.”
• Be patient and kind to your spouse and children
• Let others talk: listen without interrupting
• Volunteer for an organization you believe in
If you are a yoga teacher, here are some more ideas:
• Offer free yoga to returning troops and prior war vets through Yoga for Vets
• Give free yoga classes to cancer survivors through Yoga Bear
"It's one of your many gifts, to show the way.” – R.H., Cary, NC