The Yoga Project
Dear friends,
I have a story, but that's not what this is about. Sure I've had my share of hardships and the side dishes of anxiety, escapism, insomnia and depression that have challenged me. I am sure you have too. I have found that it is not the story that matters, but what I do with what I've learned. We all have difficulties, but there is always someone who is facing something harder. Kids, especially deserve our attention. In our overstimulated, overstressed world, where lockdown drills are part of their educational experience, kids deserve a safe place. A place where they can connect with who they are and what they want to become. If their world is rife with stress or violence, it affects many people, and eventually, many more. So, instead of telling my story, I am taking action to become part of a larger community story, to contribute towards better options through the health practice of yoga. My goal is to train to teach and offer yoga therapy to mothers and kids who are experiencing stress or hardship.
As I’ve worked through difficult periods in my life, with the accompanying stress and anxiety, I have gained a deeper appreciation for suffering. I have found strength through yoga. It has literally been the pathway to peace and given me a sense of being at the wheel of my life. It has given me tools to work with in times of weakness and despair, and helped me find rest. This has inspired me to become a lifelong student of the practice and pursue teaching. I know firsthand that the practice of yoga can ease suffering in mind, body and spirit. I want to put that knowledge to use and become a resource in my community. I aim to offer yoga to people who might normally have no access to it due to economic hardship or circumstance. I want to bring yoga into schools and shelters, and eventually integrate with health providers. I specifically want to offer this health option to women and children.
Yoga has proven beneficial effects, and is now a widely accepted health practice by the medical community. Yoga promotes many health benefits for both adults and children, including:
- Improved ability to focus
- A healthy and balanced sense of strength
- Emotional balance
- Increased flexibility and cardio strength
- Decreased anxiety and insomnia
- A sense of calm and quality of life
My long term intention is to be a yoga therapist and create more access to this health practice. I want to concentrate my efforts towards those who are encountering significant stress or illness. I am particularly inspired by people working with kids who face great difficulties just growing up.
About Me
I am a mother, raising an amazing son, a creative professional and a lifelong student of health and nutrition. Making a contribution to society is important to me, especially investing in the kids. I have practiced yoga in a sporadic way for the last 20 years in an attempt to find peace and balance. The last few years, as I faced some extraordinary challenges, while being a mother to a young child, I finally got it. As I turned more and more to yoga, I learned the nourishment and healing that this very basic practice can provide. It offered me a path to peace through my body and calmed my anxious, chattering mind. I still find my time on the yoga mat to be challenging, yet the benefits continue to spread out like concentric circles through my life and offer rewards in a very measurable way.
Vision
This campaign is the first step towards becoming a certified yoga therapist, beginning with my 200 hour teacher training this summer. I'll then pursue my 500 hour training and specialized yoga therapy certification.
I want to bring the empowering potential of yoga practice into communities that are experiencing need, but have no access to yoga, or peace and quiet. Specifically, I want to work with mothers and children who may find themselves up against great odds, due to economic hardship, divorce, domestic violence, PTSD, bullying at school or work, depression or illness. I want to offer a way to access inner strength through a mind-body practice that can be done anywhere, for free.
Plan
I plan to complete my first level of yoga certification this summer through intensive workshops. I've been studying with a gifted set of teachers at a studio in Austin who's training is accredited by the Yoga Alliance, which means they are legit. I will continue my full time job and arrange my time around the intensives. I will need to raise $3000 to achieve this goal, and $300 to facilitate this effort, which I hope to raise through this campaign. I will pay forward every cent.
Once I complete this training, I will get my sea legs as a teacher by offering yoga for free through a community yoga project, which brings yoga to domestic violence and children’s shelters in Austin. I will also connect with a few local teachers who are bringing yoga to kids in after-school programs.
Details
The training costs $3000, which I intend to pay forward as outlined on the right. For every dollar given, a connection will be made, a gesture of support, strength and healing.
The inspiration to help others comes from my own experience. I understand. Its as if I have found a flashlight in a dark tunnel. It shines on a pathway that leads out into the light. I want to share that path I have found to standing in the sun, connected to a strong self, to others and to life.
How You Can Help
Donate if you can, and you will be rewarded by the knowledge that you helped someone somewhere achieve a little peace in a difficult world, or at least gave your energy towards that end. You can also share this campaign with people you know. I will honor every gesture of good will sent my way.
Thank you for your time spent reading this, your support and encouragement.
Sincerely,
P.A. Hastings