via Susanna Barkataki

India Aid Organizations

Resources to Research / Learn From / Donate To

Right now India is experiencing an exponential and devastating COVID 19 surge. 

Below are some organizations that do work on the ground with those most impacted. 

This is an open source list created with resources from Indians in India and in the diaspora with the intention of getting as much aid to India as possible so please share. With all the gifts that India has given the world, we commit to embrace, give care, reparations and respect to the roots of wisdom traditions such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Mythology, Jyotish, Tantra and so much other cultural wisdom. We are committed to support communities impacted by systemic oppression and injustice and work to create equity rather than appropriate. To share care wherever suffering and harm exists. 

Covid Aid

Aid India

Www.Aidindia.org

KhalsaaidIndia 

https://www.khalsaaid.org/

Farmers Protest Support and also Providing medical care and oxygen and aid through India where needed

Give_India

www.Giveindia.org

Hemkunt_foundation -Oxygen distribution and humanitarian aid to poor in India 

https://hemkuntfoundation.com/

Goonj 

Full spectrum community focused covid support

https://goonj.org/support-covid-19-affected/ 

Apne Aap Women Worldwide

Food, shelter, aid and legal services to sex trafficked girls and women throughout India

www.Apneaap.org

CPA Project India

Criminal Justice and Police Accountability

@cpaprojectindia

Asha Net Covid Relief - providing healthcare support and oxygen https://ashanet.org/join-us/covid-19-relief-fundraiser/?fbclid=IwAR2ur1DqKW6_RkjqXfa9OYzPsd2TKxh8Y8NW-kACsEx-nd3W6zgF_MSCrHs

Support for Dabbawallas

https://milaap.org/fundraisers/help-mumbai-dabbawala?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=payment_created&fbclid=IwAR3zZ7JZ-HZ7YTJkvIlDrEVXzRxBPI6gumBda6TT6_sk1DIeiowlgYt12qo

Organizations working to end Caste Oppression

End Vaccine apartheid - Equality Labs 

https://www.initiativeforequality.org/

https://indiaculturelab.org/

General Humanitarian Aid in India

Action Aid India—https://www.actionaidindia.org/

Maitri India—https://maitriindia.org/

Sri Lanka - Sarvodaya—Service-Based Social Change https://www.sarvodaya.org/

Yoga-Based Service/Schools in India

Manav Sadhna http://www.manavsadhna.org/

Kushi Yoga Academy—https://www.khushi.org.in/

Craft/Art

Chhoti Si Asha—https://www.chhotisiasha.org/; Support their work through: www.rhope.org

Manzil—http://www.manzil.in/

Anti Caste Oppression Publishing House -https://navayana.org/

original artwork by Tim Snyder + myself

Uncertainty and change are two guarantees in this life. Some situations heighten the level at which we experience those things. And now, the present circumstances have shaken the collective and placed us in what can be referred to as terra incognita- unknown territory.

There is global dis-ease on an unprecedented level and it is a wild ride to be on, to try and navigate and to process.

Self-care and self-compassion are valuable tools for our individual health & wellness. But connecting to the things that soothe our experiences and soften the hard experiences can be challenging, especially when what is challenging is pressed up against us.

New territory is nothing to be afraid of, although that isn’t what our primal instincts instruct us to perceive. Luckily, we are easily adaptable and empowered with a higher awareness & more highly evolved soul that allow us to continuously design our own paths to work through our experiences in ways that align with the best interest of our minds, bodies, spirits and the collective.

I’ve noticed how difficult it is to be confronted by the collective unrest and grief of the current global climate meeting our own personal shadow. All while wanting to do nothing more than help and save those who are suffering more than we are. Somehow in the midst of this heavy experience, those of us who are privileged with the gift of time and space in the comfort of our own homes get to have more opportunity for joy and wellness. Organically produced and yet not easily digested. Our own ability to allow our circumstances to be what they are, to accept the good that comes even in a time of collective despair raises it’s own challenges.

There is enough challenge here. And, at least from my perspective, maybe just as much challenge as usual. We are simply less busy and less distracted to see it and feel it. The limitations have invited us to experience ourselves and the very nature of our existence in a way and at a time that has perhaps never been possible before. No matter how blurred our vision and resistant our energy, there is always a path to clearance.

And in all of this, in light of all this, we find the potential for deep, spiritual work to progress further.

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what is Collective Wellness?

Collective Wellness is an inspired gathering that celebrates the process and the findings of this work. Inspired by the complex duality of our sacred, Divine selves while human, Collective Wellness is an offering of space to connect, navigate and process the real, the material, the beautiful and deep humanness of our experiences and circumstances. Through communal sharing and offering of insight and challenge, we stay tethered to reality while also having the room to expand it and shift. What we choose to share, what we open up to, listen to from others in this weekly, virtual gathering becomes the energetic trail-blazing through the unknown all based on what we do know. Our own experience. The truth that we allow to guide us and become the tools for practice and insight into refining our being.

Life and all of it’s circumstances are the truest practice grounds from which we are able to apply all of our truths and learnings to unfold in whatever way our hearts desire.

Our intention here is to choose the work that shifts us out of functioning to survive and opens us up to a higher existence and purpose that not only elevates our being, but also supports the collective as a whole. With our devotion to looking at our own experiences with openness, love, compassion, and grace we move toward and into the doorway that leads to giving that to the world through support and service. We organically learn to unlock and free all of the chambers that have long been locked in fear of the unknown, in fear of going into the dark.

In the words of the one and only Ram Dass:

I can do nothing for you but work on myself! You can do nothing for me but work on yourself!

We want for the good.

We want for the best.

We want for peace.

We want for suffering to end for ourselves and the collective.

Collective Wellness is one small space and circle where we holistically tune into how to do this - together - even when (especially when) we find ourselves in the darkest and murkiest territory. All inspired by the idea that we are all one and that within each of us are Divine, therapeutic tools and potential to support ourselves and each other. As we work on our own wellness we shift the collective into wellness. As we decompress, we create clearance and clarity. We change the tide as we work through what we go through. As we change the tide together, we make waves.

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You are invited to join our weekly, therapeutic gatherings.

I’m curious to know what you believe it means to be strong.

What is strength and where does it come from?

What does strength feel like to you and what does that feeling give you?

All month we’ve been exploring strength (again) and the different ways we can connect to the idea and feel it in our bodies. t’s a quality we spend a good amount of time exploring in practice, something I have always valued in my own personal life and philosophy since before the yoga practice became an engrained part of my life and existence. This month we exercised our perspective of strength by peeling back the layers of ourselves until we got to the core and source: inner strength.

It’s a wonderful idea to be strong. But what exactly is strength to begin with?

The dictionary is full of confusing but simple definitions- most of which align with the physical. Strength in connection to our literal physical ability to create and withstand force. This understanding shortens the potential for strength and limits our potential because it only connects to what is already possible in that respect.

On a deeper level, strength is a dynamic and powerful quality we each have that aligns us with our potential and expands it and all of our capabilities. It is the sustaining energy not measured by what we can already do, the quantity of things we can do, or merely the physical appearance. It’s beyond that. At least according to what the yoga practice teaches us in a variety of different ways and what I’ve come to understand.

Inner strength is an endless well of everything we are made of, already made for and designed to do- overcome obstacles, challenges, and sustain life- paired with the ultimate source of strength each of us house - the belief that it exists.

The mantra for practice is such a simple and even kind of silly one:

Yeah. I can. | Yes I f**king can!

Read and repeat.

Read and repeat while working through a challenge and observe the difference.

The difference between trying to build strength in the body and connecting to strength within is huge. Adding to that the actual belief that strength exists; truly embodying the strength within you and feeling the energy switch on to support your efforts so that you can both sustain and exceed. That is powerful.

The definitions of inner strength all connect to character and will. “Integrity of character; resoluteness of will”, and my personal favorite, “mental resistance to doubt or discouragement”. Sustaining power and an attitude, not of force, but of faith.

When we focus on the physical as being the main arena of experiencing our strength we often look to feel that we are clearly and almost easily capable of something or we look to feel ourself use as much force as possible to “make” something happen. Rarely do we connect our experiences with real challenge, a roadblock or with being confronted with an impossible situation. Those are often the times that weakness, lack of strength or disbelief arise. Maybe you’ve had this experience? Doubting who you are and what strength you have because you cannot do something or what you’re going through is so difficult that it feels like a wall between you and whatever is on the other side of it. But in those moments is this glorious environment which gives us the ability to experience our strength in a way that we never otherwise would have. We gain the process of cultivating strength. None of which would be possible if not for the challenge or wall of difficulty that tests the level of capability we already have and activates our power.

If everything came easy, we’d never know what strength felt like and we’d have no reason to do anything, practice or apply our effort. It is because we are met with challenges that we meet ourselves more fully and get to know the strength we embody- no matter what it looks like on the outside or how it manifests physically.

If strength were to be specific and particular to the point of being based on physical appearance or measured by the physical, I imagine it would be a really impossible end to find. Physical strength is a limited supply and is always relative to the physical application. Someone who is the physically strongest in their class and sport may be ranked far lower in a different sport because the strength for that may not crossover and translate directly. Meanwhile, inner strength has the power to translate and cross over boundaries that elevate who we are in ways beyond the limitations the physical binds us to.

The more we believe we are strong, the more we power the body with the fuel of the soul and the focused mentality that moves us in the direction we want to go instead of the direction we don’t. And the more we do that and work through the variety of life challenges, the more versatile our strength is and the deeper we connect to possibility rather than doubt or discouragement.

Inner strength is the love-child of will and faith. Discipline and determination with an equal amount of soul and grace. There is less focus on what is being done and more on the substance fueling the doing and even further, the experience of the nature of our being put to the test and always (at the very least) surviving. The organic process of evolving and experiencing the infinite potential of our spirit.

The further this practice takes us, the further it guides us to simply experiencing and understanding that strength is not apart from us. Strength is already within us and is a part of the fabric of our being. We are strength and with each push and obstacle we encounter along the path may we not only remember it, but truly realize it.

I can't believe I got to bring my teachings to this magical festival with a community full of very special teachers and artists. Desert Daze is a music and art festival that also includes something very special called the Mystic Bazaar- a group of mystics, spiritual guides, healers and more who come together for this event and others throughout the year to create a Healing Village. And this year I had the absolute honor and privilege of being invited to share my magic and teachings in this community to the collective.

It was a total immersion. There are very few photos and none (that I know of) of the meditation circle I led on Saturday morning. It was a full gathering with beautiful, open souls ready to and willing to connect and practice.

It was really special to be able to offer the teachings from the Anusara practice and the deep, ancient unifying wisdom it is tethered to in a whole new environment. I taught elements from the Non-Dual Tantric philosophy- a philosophy of Oneness-and invited everyone into full interaction with each other in a practice called “See the Good”.

The Connection & Intention Circle was both a class & an experience. We sat and found our way into honoring our highest intentions and meeting them with action. Everyone practiced seeing the good in others and experienced others seeing the good in them. There were tears of joy and release. There was love. There was a heightened sense of connection and so much beauty in the tent radiating from each person.

Beyond this one meditation circle, there were other amazing and expansive offerings being led and guided by other healers and teachers. We gathered to practice asana together, there were sound baths, ceremonies were held to honor the sacred - cacao ceremonies, moon ceremonies. We danced until the early hours of the morning freeing our spirits and unlocking pathways in the body that have contracted, tightened and forgotten their freedom. We studied breathwork and learned about plants and herbs. There were community members offering body work and energy readings. There was so much being offered in this Healing Village. And to top things off there was a rad music festival and a beautiful natural environment being lent to us in this state park so we could enjoy the mountains, a lake and and an open playground filled with art and music.

There was so much connection and the Mystic Bazaar held space for people to connect to consciousness and leave with a bigger heart than they walked in with.

___________

One of the reasons I chose to lead this meditation circle instead of a straight forward yoga practice was because I find myself continuously inspired to create and hold space for people to truly and purely get in connection with each other.

More often than not it can be so challenging, intimidating, and scary to truly and openly connect with others- especially strangers. Motives and intentions are frayed and blocked by fear and insecurity. But I believe, and this practice teaches us, that at the very core of who and what we are is the purest, brightest essence, made of pure love. We all want to connect with each other and know somewhere deep inside that we are all connected to one another. So this circle- this gathering- was a special opportunity to create a safe, healing space for everyone to be with one another in deep connection while letting go of fear, insecurity, doubt. It was a space where everyone had a chance to experience their hearts being offered and connected to first.

It was really beautiful to feel and to see.

I'm hopeful that I get another opportunity to be a part of the Mystic Bazaar again.

And in the meantime, I'd like to bring the community together for more of this. I want to invite you to sit with me and others and get closer to yourself and those around you.

And until I put that together, I invite you to make the time you do have with others more full and intent. Put your phone down while you're eating with your friend, partner, co-worker. Make eye contact with the person ringing you out at the register. Be mindful that the next person you are interacting with is a human being with thoughts, feelings, emotions, and a story that you don't and may never know, and never fully. Find a way to connect rather than distance just by being present and coming from your heart as you interact.
It may not change anything dramatically. But it does create an impact that can be felt on both ends.

Yoga continues to teach me, us, that we make progress slowly through continued, conscious effort and mostly subtle shifts. And in the yoga world we believe that the practice can and does extend beyond the mat, the classroom, the workshop and the special, ceremonial gathering spaces.

Can we connect with each other In bigger, more positive and impactful ways? Can we heal our damaged bonds, our social dynamic with each other and become agents of healing?

Yes.

I'm here for it. And I'm absolutely here to help.