Guest Post By Wes Tudor, Founder
Raja Yoga and Meditation Center, is a non-profit, small neighborhood yoga and meditation studio. We fundraise in order to provide yoga to those who might otherwise not have access, such as kids in the Philadelphia school system, and senior citizens in low-income housing. We offer different styles of yoga, including a classical style which is very accessible to beginners, people of all ages, and people with physical limitations. Our emphasis on meditation can help folks bring down stress levels and manage the modern stressful world much more effectively.
In addition, we care about the community, and wish to address the issue of the environment and trash on our streets. This why we have re-launched our Karma Clean-Up Campaign. This is a simple program, in which we provide a 100% bio-degradable trash bag to any student who wishes to participate, once per week. We ask that they fill it up on their block, or spend 20 minutes trying. The cost of these bags is a small price for us compared to the tangible benefit we see in our streets. We especially target sewers, as we know that in overflow situations this trash ends up in Philadelphia's rivers. We also know that cleaning up the streets has a measurable effect in deterring crime. We plan to hold a special event for our participants later in the summer.
As a result of our past experiences, we believe that a weekly commitment to cleaning up the streets is more effective than period block clean ups. When our students are out picking up trash, they invariably talk to curious neighbors, build connections and community, and inspire others. There is snowball effect which gets everyone involved in caring for our environment. We know from our experience, that the majority of the trash on the street results from people putting our recyclables incorrectly in brown bags instead of square blue bins, and our volunteers are wiling to mention this to those we see doing this, as well as use the 311 app to report gross violations of trash procedures. We also would like to support any effort which can be made to provide easy access to blue bins for the residents of Graduate Hospital (available at SOSNA's office, 1901 Christian).
We welcome you to come try out our studio, and join us, and SOSNA, in our environmental efforts. And if you own a business, we encourage you to try a similar approach. The cost is low, the benefit enormous. Please write to me if you have any questions.
A few updates:
1. Raja Yoga offers an introduction to yoga class once per month. Check the calendar.
2. We have a new candlelight vinyasa class on Sundays at 7 p.m.
3. Our Spring meditation retreat is May 3rd-5th at the Himalayan Institute.
4. Kids yoga coming soon, inquire with wes@rajayogaphilly.com