seva / service

Karma Yoga (the Yoga of service) is a beautiful aspect of living our Yoga.

If you haven't heard of Karma Yoga or 'the Yoga of service' (also referred to as 'Seva') what's meant is being in service to other(s). The other(s) being served can be individuals or communities, humans or animals, the land, water or sky. It is all one.

Is that really Yoga? Yes. Yes it is.

One of my favorite Seva projects involves the planting of trees. A percentage of all Yoga teaching money earned goes toward having trees planted. I also have trees planted after each retreat or festival at which I teach, at least one for each participant. And, one tree is planted for every student who undertakes a teacher training I'm involved in. To date, I've arranged for over 1,000 trees to be planted on our beautiful planet. This makes me very happy!!

Other Seva projects I’ve been involved in have ranged from providing free prenatal Yoga to pregnant homeless teens, to making food for hungry people, to raising funds towards organizations doing works of peace.

The beauty in Karma Yoga is in the DOING of the thing and not in the talking about the thing. Because of this, for many years I largely didn't speak about these projects. But after meditating on in it, I choose to share this information here, for these reasons:

1. In case any person reading this learns that Yoga is not just about poses but rather is about varying paths and techniques for creating healing, balance & cohesion. Of which service is one such path.
2. Because I personally would prefer to study with a teacher who is dedicated to the value of service, and so perhaps this page might call to me those who similarly seek that value.
3. In the hope it might lead even one person to inquire of them self, "How might I serve?", and then take action when the answer comes.

Yours on this path,

Juliana