COMMUNITY // Seva

YOGA GIVES BACK

Presenting The Namaste Award to Mallika Chopra
by Fe licia Tomasko

he first time I met LA-based Japanese

filmmaker and yogini Kayoko
Mitsumatsu, I was struck by her
sincerity, her dedication to yoga, and her
gratitude for the gifts of the practice. Kayokos
commitment has inspired much more than
a consistent personal practice; in 2007 she
founded Yoga Gives Back, a nonprofit with a
meaningful tagline For the cost of one yoga
class you can change a life.
She did this to find a way to link people
across cultures: those of us who benefit from
the practice of yoga and those who live in
the birthplace of the tradition. Inspired by
Nobel Prize winner and microloan advocate
Mohammed Yunus, Yoga Gives Back raises
funds to support programs including microloans
as well as educational scholarships for women
and youth in India. Members of a worldwide
ambassador program engage in fundraising
efforts that have transformed communities,
partnering with Indian NGOs, funding micro
loans allowing women to become entrepreneurs
supporting families, and allowing youth
access to previously out of reach educational
opportunities. The YGB Films document the
organizations success stories and can be viewed
on the organizations website.

1 6 L AYOGA .COM

The annual global campaign, Thank You

Mother India, spans September 1, 2015
through January 31, 2016. Classes and
events around the world contribute to the
campaign, including what has become one of
the organizations signature events, the Thank
You Mother India Malibu Fundraiser. The
Malibu event includes dinner, silent and live
auctions, community, and the presentation of
The Namaste Award.
This year marks the first presentation of
The Namaste Award. As Kayoko says, The
Namaste Award was established to recognize
special people who have gone beyond the
practice and teaching of yoga to incorporate
noble humanitarian service, which elevates
humankind and helps make the world a better
place. The inaugural award will be bestowed
upon writer, teacher, and humanitarian
Mallika Chopra, author of Living with Intent.
Mallika Chopra, an outspoken advocate for
the power of meditation for changing lives
and the world, will share how meditation has
changed her life. While its common for many
to perceive yoga as a mere physical exercise,
through deeper study, we learn that the
ultimate goal of yoga is to unite with the Divine
Selfand meditation plays an important role

in achieving this. Namaste, which means

the divinity in me salutes divinity in you
in Sanskrit, symbolizes Yoga Gives Backs
mission, which is to help others, and is the
inspiration for the award, says Kayoko.
In September, Mallika will be presented with
the award itself, a unique piece of art created
by Lakshman Rao, an art student currently
living in Karnataka, India, where he is pursuing
a bachelors degree in fine arts. Lakshaman Rao
is himself a Yoga Gives Back success story. He
is a graduate of the Deenabandhu Trust Home
in Chamarajanagar, near Mysore. The home is
an orphanage and 21 young people there are
supported by Yoga Gives Back. An additional
35 students in the area receive higher education
scholarships supported by the yoga community.
Kayoko says the sculpture Lakshman Rao has
created represents the spirit of unity embedded
within the word Namaste and the unity of
Yoga Gives Backs mission. Kayoko remarks,
I cannot wait to present the award to Mallika
and to share the remarkable story at the event.
For more information about Yoga Gives Back, the Thank
You Mother India campaign, The Namaste Award, to buy
tickets for the Malibu event, host a fundraiser, or become
a member or ambassador, visit: yogagivesback.org.