Manduka International Site

November 4th, 2011

Karmanica

As the founder and former CEO of Manduka, I have witnessed some remarkable acts of generosity from the yoga community at large. Especially lately, in this challenging time we all live in, seeing how many of you help those less fortunate, with little (or large) acts of kindness, is truly refreshing, and makes me pleased to be part of that community. As a company, we are committed to our part in giving back, and our most current initiative is with karmaNICA, a charitable organization I co-founded with Adrienne Ward of Big World, Small Planet in 2010.

Last year at a yoga retreat at Jicaro Eco Lodge near the historic city of Granada, Nicaragua, I met a sweet group of kids from a neighboring village, after Adrienne asked me if I would teach some of the "locals". After an amazing session of yoga with them, with many demonstrating a genuine interest in the practice, I was graciously invited back to their village so they could show me their school, the only community resource this village had, and which they were very proud of. I could see it lacked so much, including any type of safe play area, and in that visit, the idea was born to help raise money to build them a more adequate facility for their education and their recreation. As part of this effort, there are two upcoming fundraising events, one in Santa Monica "We R All 1" Benefit Concert & Yoga Event with music by Steve Gold and Masood Ali Khan and yoga led by Peter Sterios at Fred Segal on 11.11.11 and one in Miami "U-Night" An Evening of Community Yoga and Live Latin-Inspired Music with music by Capricho and yoga led by Rina Jakubowicz at Villa 221 on 11.10.11.

Come out and enjoy an evening with your yoga community and support a charitable initiative to help these kids get a better education. Hope to see you there!