Finding Connection through Giving... |
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Here's a cool story...
One month after her wedding day, thirty-three-year-old Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the life she knew changed forever. Each day living with her diagnosis brought new negative thoughts: "I’m going to end up in a wheelchair... My life is over… Why did this have to happen to me?"
Then, as a remedy for her condition, Cami received an uncommon prescription from a friend/Spiritual Teacher, an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo. The prescription was to give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Mbali explained to her, "By giving, you are focusing on what you have to offer others, inviting more abundance into your life.”
The gifts could be anything: a pretty shell to a child building a sandcastle, money to a person on the street, a word of cheer to a friend, as long as they were given with consciousness and intention. The experience of reaching out to others, which Walker chronicles in her book 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life, resulted in what she describes as a fundamental shift in her mind-set and completely turned her life around.
As it turns out, Walker is also a yogini and she reminds us of yoga’s fundamental wisdom when she says in her book, "We're not here to live in a vacuum. We're here to be of service to each other and have a common experience. I now see I am a small part of a much greater whole, rather than the self-contained, deserted island I felt like before."
While we haven’t all just received a diagnosis of MS, as a collective we’ve all been given a diagnosis of Covid-19 and likely at some point over the past eight months you too have felt like a deserted island in one form or another because of this diagnosis.
We’re not here to tell you not to feel or acknowledge the grief, fear and loneliness that this diagnosis has blanketed so many of us with. We are here, however, to encourage you to remember that within all the heaviness we may be feeling, there’s also MORE and that there are tangible practices we can engage with that will support us in finding that sense of more-ness, such as the practice of GIVING.
Yoga challenges us to practice generosity (especially when we are stuck in a story of scarcity). Generosity is the practice that loosens the bonds of selfishness and awakens the heart. When we practice generosity and giving we see that we all depend on one another and find once again that inherent sense of connection.
To see the world change, WE have to DO something to change the world. Rather than living in a world of isolation, loneliness and scarcity, let's create a world of connection through giving this holiday season. Below you’ll find a few ideas we’ve put together to support you as you navigate what to give to whom.
Please read on to find out how you can give back to Asheville Community Yoga and why it’s needed NOW!
Also, please take a little time to read through our “Gift Giving Directory” where you’ll find a list of our teachers and the goods and services they have to offer this holiday season. Please remember this has been a financially challenging year for many. Most of our teachers are local independent contractors and small business owners who could absolutely use a little extra right now. Rather than supporting big box stores and corporations who do very little to protect our planet and all of her inhabitants, why not choose to support local friends who are doing good in the world and may need a little extra generosity this year? After all, they've selflessly given their time and energy to all of us over and over again to make this community possible.
Thank you, dear teachers. We bow in humble gratitude to you, always. And thank you to all of our community members who continue to show up to support us during these long months of closure. May the New Year be BRIGHT and ABUNDANT for ALL.
Om Shanti Om
Peace, Peace, Peace
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End of Year Giving Campaign |
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Welcome to the homestretch of an extraordinarily challenging year. We are so grateful for the support you all have offered over the tumultuous course of 2020, from your willingness to attend masked outdoor classes in chilly weather conditions to the outpouring of love we received when our beloved Ryan Tibbs passed away in September. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such vibrant, resilient individuals who dare not only to partake in the devotional practice of yoga but to do so in the context of crucial community connection.
If this year has taught us anything it’s that we are so much stronger together than we are apart. We at Asheville Community Yoga fully believe in collective people power and we want to offer a recap of the last 9 months as well as our vision for the future.
As we have stated recently, we do not intend on opening up for indoor classes in the coming months. The current spike of the virus that continues to grip our planet is too significant to risk the health and possibly even lives of the community that we love so dearly. Thank you for your continued understanding.
We do however have our sights set on an eventual, safe opening once a trustworthy vaccine is available and we can all breathe close to each other in good conscience. To that end, we are committed to rehiring staff members. As you know, when COVID hit the states hard we made the difficult decision to close the studio. What you may not know is this meant we furloughed all thirty of our incredibly dynamic, creative, dedicated staff members. For the last 9 months ALL Asheville Community Yoga operations have come entirely from a small group of volunteers. We are so so grateful for the folks who were previously staff members who have offered any amount of their time and skills as we navigated setting up an online platform, kickstarting outdoor classes, and just generally staying afloat as a non-profit in the height of a pandemic. We won’t claim to have done this whole thing perfectly, but it would have been a whole lot less perfect if we hadn’t had folks willing to come in to mow the grass, weed the flower beds, maintain the entire campus, or check social media for us. Asheville Community Yoga will be able to eventually re-open in a recognizable way because of the time that these volunteers put in over the long months of the spring, summer, and fall.
Therefore, after 9 months of total volunteerism and congress still not reaching a deal for a new unemployment package, we’d like to bring a few key positions back on payroll to keep our online programming ramped up over the winter months, maintain the website and social media platforms, keep our connection to the community alive and well, and to gear up for in-house programming when it’s safe to do so once again. The three part-time positions we need to bring back to sustain the next phase of the pandemic include those of our Associate Director, Teacher Liaison, and Programming Coordinator.
In addition to raising money to pay for staff, we need funds to pay our mortgage. We’ve relied entirely on SBA loans and grants to pay our mortgage and utilities throughout these long months of closure. Those funds are however quickly dwindling.
Our monthly financial breakdown follows:
Mortgage - $8800
Utilities - $600
Subscriptions - $400
Salaries - $5000
Total = $14,800/month
We have approximately three month’s worth of savings in our account. We are so very grateful for the SBA loans and grants we received but those funds are not enough to sustain us through the winter and spring.
Today is Giving Tuesday, a post-Thanksgiving holiday on which non-profits across the country ask their community to offer financial support. And so, in the last month of a very very long year, we are fundraising for our future. This money will go directly towards staffing Asheville Community Yoga and securing our building so that we can re-open our beautiful space when it is safe to do so.
Please remember that as a 501c3 non-profit organization, we will provide you with a receipt for your tax deduction. If you have any specific questions, please contact our Executive Director, Michael Greenfield. michael@ashevillecommunityyoga.org
Donations can be made by clicking the donate button below or on our website. You can also mail checks to:
Asheville Community Yoga
8 Brookdale Rd.
Asheville, NC 28804
We are so very grateful for all the donations we’ve received over the past ten years to get where we are. This community is truly magical and has somehow managed to create and sustain what we now know as Asheville Community Yoga. We trust that together we will continue to create and not only sustain, but THRIVE in the months and years ahead.
With love and gratitude we say, Thank you.
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Adam and Laura Potts:
Business: Begin with Breath Connect
Service: An online studio offering 3 live zoom classes per week and a monthly tai chi and mindfulness training along with access to all the recordings (currently over 100 class recordings available to members).
Monthly or annual memberships with discount codes for the ACY community:
20% off annual membership: Discount20
10% off monthly membership: Discount10
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Brannan Robson:
Business: Golden Hour Bran + Web Design
Service: A company that works hard for YOU and keeps working until they get YOUR vision just right!
Contact: Reach out on Instagram @goldenhour.designs
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Christian Gages:
Business: Biltmore Door, LLC
Service: We offer complete service for most commercial and residential garage doors and electric garage door operators.
Facebook @biltmoregaragedoors
IG #biltmoredoorllc
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Cory Costanzo:
Business: Still Point Wellness
Service: Asheville's premier Esalen Massage and Salt Water Floatation Spa
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Eddie LeShure:
Business: A Mindful Emergence, LLC
Service: Personalized Online Mentoring Support for Major Transitions in Life. We help individuals get unstuck with simple steps: Somatic Meditation, Mindful Movement, Integrative Breathwork.
FB and IG - "A Mindful Emergence"
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Jean Marie:
Business: Mastering the Relaxation Response
Service: A 30-Day somatic process to disarm anxiety, stress and overwhelm while re-sculpting your nervous system for ease. Blending somatic yoga, interactive guided imagery, nidra, Reiki and meditation to elevate your physical, emotional and mental vitality. You can learn more about this virtual (on-line) program here.
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Julie Merrill:
Business: JL Merrill Metal Works
Service: Tribal. Industrial. Ethnic. Rustic. A collection of mixed metal jewelry featuring earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and buckles. Influenced through ancient world cultures and the natural ways of life on our planet.
Business: Alchemy Cambo
Service:RENEWAL. HEALTH. ALIGNMENT. Kambo: The Amazonian frog venom known as “nature’s vaccine”. Private or group Kambo treatments and ceremony.
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Joy Dettling:
Business: Upswing Wellness
Service: Pain-Away One-on-One Virtual Yoga Package. In these custom one-on-one sessions, certified yoga instructor Joy Dettling will pay close attention to your unique needs and goals to teach you how yoga will be your best friend to creating your vision of a fuller life. With an open mind and dedication, you are never too sick, too old, or too broken to start your path to self-healing. Claim your package today!
Service: Burnout to Bliss Transformational Coaching. Are you...BURNT OUT?? Fatigued, foggy, chronic pain and an ever-growing list of health issues? It doesn't have to be this way. With an open mind, commitment to yourself and proper guidance, your life could be easy, fulfilling and blissful. Get in touch to see if BLISS is right for you.
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Joshua Canter and Luna Ray:
Business: True Nature Education and Travels
Service: A holistic travel company providing full services in hosting a diverse catalog of retreats and educational programs worldwide. Locally owned by Asheville Community Yoga instructors Joshua and Luna Canter.
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Luke Shaver:
Business: Lessons in the Alexander technique
Service: Learn about how to address pain and discomfort in your life and in your living through the "indirect" procedures of the Alexander Technique. Cultivate constructive curiosity about habits of thought and movement. Learn practical observation skills, learn how to “do nothing,” and learn about functional and moving anatomy. Lessons offered individually as well as in sessions of 6 and 12 weeks. Virtual and In-person offerings!
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Robyn Tiger MD:
Business: Stress Free MD
Service: Freedom for Physicians Through Self-Care Education
Service: Free 30-minute physicians' self-care webinar
Service: Rx Inner Peace: A Physician's Guide for Self-Care
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Sonya Costello
Business: Be Love Movement
Service: dedicated to inspiring change in the world through the practice of yoga, mindful creations (mala necklaces, mala bracelets and Be Love merchandise), and supporting Creative Women Entrepreneurs with mission-driven businesses by taking things off their plate to allow them more time and space to work on their unique brand of magic.
Business: Be Love Weddings
Service: rooted in integrity and creativity. We provide a wedding planning service for down to earth couples in planning their spectacular dream outdoor wedding while being accessible and fun. Relax while we do the work for you.
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"Be the Change You Wish to See in the World"
~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
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Wow! There is likely not a single one of us leaving 2020 behind unchanged. From the global pandemic and the widespread loss it's created to climate change, social justice, the nature of TRUTH itself, and so much more, we have been altered as humans. Perhaps we've even been awakened a little more to some degree or another. This is a potent time to be alive. May we enter the New Year aware of the impact we have on the world we inhabit and the power we possess to make it better each and every day. May we harness this power through love, kindness and GENEROSITY.
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Asheville Community Yoga is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. |
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