Local yoga teacher Holly Meyers joins us again for part 2 of her series on the upcoming Off the Mat Into the World Intensive Workshop coming to DC later this month. Enjoy!
(For part 1, scroll on down…)
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I hear there are about 10 spots left in the Off the Mat Into the World ® (OTM) Intensive here in DC. If you’re still wondering whether this training is for you, please consider how my experience has shaped my life…
I never imagined, after participating in “Yoga, Purpose & Action” at New York’s Omega Institute last June, how much inspiration and support I would continue to receive from the OTM team – plus, from their regional ambassadors around the world.
When I arrived at the OTM Intensive last June, I had a pretty clear idea of my “purpose” – to establish an organization that decreases violence in families and among youth, by passing on the healing tools of yoga and related practices. Today, as teens and young adults in my urban neighborhood murder each other in the streets, and as families in the suburban neighborhoods of my childhood hide their troubles behind closed doors, I remain committed to this cause.
To start this organization, I will need help. I will need collateral. I will need collaborators. I will need community support. Through ongoing involvement with and mentoring from OTM, I am learning what it takes to develop this help. I am getting some practice in all of these areas.
Participants in the OTM Intensive have the option to continue working with the organization as “ambassadors” in their local regions by coordinating Yoga in Action (YIA) events. YIA is the grassroots initiative that brings the Off the Mat experience to the local level.
For example, last fall, I lead the Yoga in Action DC campaign on Facebook. OTM introduced this fund/awareness raising initiative worldwide and asked local ambassadors to help spread the word. For me, the campaign was a small effort (compared to the fund-raisers and events that more experienced OTM ambassadors held); at the same time, it helped me continue to come out of my shell and incubate the OTM presence here in DC. Until that activity, I felt a little shy about reaching out to Washington-area Karma Yogis. I’d been practicing yoga in the city since 1993, but only started to feel linked-in after my teacher training in 2008 (to no fault of the community; just my own self-doubt). Coordinating the YIA-DC campaign pushed me to seek and connect with fellow yogis who are devoted to service. It also forced me to embrace Facebook! As friends point out, I went from 0 to 60 in no time on the social network! I now love connecting with and being inspired by yoga and other mindful pals around the world.
There are infinite ideas, inspiration and motivation out there.
When OTM announced their DC Intensive, I offered to lead a “bridge event” that would raise awareness about the style of OTM trainings. “Chill Time with Yoga in Action” was held last December at Past Tense Studio in Mt. Pleasant. In the two-hour class, participants built an altar, shared about their service-related jobs, family roles and community activities, then practiced yoga collaboratively. This community-building class will continue at Past Tense quarterly, so additional Karma Yogis can join the circle for rejuvenation in their lives and sustainability in their work. The best part was – I didn’t have to invent the concept. OTM leaders and ambassadors helped me shape the Intensive elements to meet the needs of DC’s active Seva community.
Collaboration is a huge part of OTM and YIA work.
In fact, I am looking forward to meeting potential Yoga in Action co-facilitators at the March “Yoga, Purpose and Action” Intensive! All three of the DC yoginis who attended the Omega training last year moved away from the area soon after, sadly. My next hope for YIA activity is to lead the 7-Week Small Group curriculum, which unites a finite group for a journey of peer-supported self-inquiry, collaborative exercise, and yoga practice (of course!), leading to a unique Karma Yoga project for our DC community. OTM’s vision is to seed these YIA small groups of change among local communities, to inspire collaboration and connection among yoga activists.
I have been deeply inspired seeing the amount of noble service work accomplished by YIA facilitators and other relationships that have bloomed out of the Intensives. Last year, past OTM Intensive participants cheered-on each others fund-raising efforts for OTM’s Global Seva Challenge. And as the emotional stories from that recent South Africa Seva journey currently saturate the walls of Facebook, this year’s fund-raising Challenge for a 2012 Haiti project is in full swing. Here is another way that OTM’s mentorship can support my own vision to start an organization – by participating in the Global Seva Challenge, I would get great fund raising experience!
Since the Omega training, regular conference calls with Off the Mat Into the World mentors – including Hala Khouri, Claire Williams, Kerri Kelly and Davian Den Otter (all of whom you will meet next week at the DC Intensive if you attend) – have infused me with creativity and confidence. Off the Mat Into the World is committed to investing in their Intensive participants’ leadership growth – as regional OTM ambassadors, and, toward their own visions and purpose. Hearing the experiences of others who participated in the 5-day Intensive around the world has been immensely fortifying – for my YIA work, my yoga teaching, and, my life.
We all support each other as brothers and sisters who experienced the intensely deep journey of self-inquiry, connecting to our purpose and each other, and activating into the world.
OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Peace, Peace, Peace.
Learn more about OTM’s Yoga in Action initiative, the Global Seva Challenge and future “Yoga, Purpose & Action” trainings here.
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Yoga teacher Holly Meyers is a DC ambassador for Off the Mat Into the World ® (OTM), a nonprofit that uses the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and ignite grassroots social change.
OTM’s 5-day “Yoga, Purpose & Action” Intensive – coming to DC March 10-14 – guides participants through a deep, transformational process of self-inquiry and skill building facilitated by yoga, visioning, lecture and group process. There are still a few slots left for this amazing journey. Visit Flow Yoga Center’s website to register.
