What do you love about yoga?
One of my favourite parts of yoga, is sangha.
Sangha is a Sanskrit word which translates to community. In early Buddhist tradition, sangha referred/s to monks and nuns. Today, I am referring to sangha as the people that I practice yoga with, gym with, work with, people I don’t know and yet we have shared values…people that know my family and friends personally…
Recently, my sangha showed up for me in a big way and for that, I am incredibly grateful and humbled.
Last year I wrote about sangha and the power of healing and community after my sister-in-law died and left earth side, her hubby (my brother) and their 3 children…this year, I am writing about sangha again. Their youngest child was born with a heart condition which escalated to her experiencing repeated seizures in July/August. At this time, we didn’t know how we would get my niece to surgeons in Australia, Singapore, Philippines or India. As a family, we were pretty overwhelmed, shocked and stunned as we tried to navigate the best pathway for Sybil.
My family in PNG madly started fundraising and exploring treatment options, and I set up a Gofundme page. This is the page I set up: Fundraiser by Roxanne Aila : Sybil’s heart fundraiser.
We are no longer receiving/accepting funds as we are so lucky that Sybil (my niece), Margaret (my mother) and Julius (my brother) have travelled to India and Sybil has received excellent heart treatment, and returned to PNG in good health.
I shared with my sangha, my community, that my family and I were seeking donations (big or small), love and prayers to support the family to travel abroad for treatment. And we have been overwhelmed by the support that showed up for us in PNG, Australia, Canada, U.K, India and around the world for this young girl.
As I see Sybil play with her brother and sister and cousins in PNG, and cheeky, running around, I feel immense relief, love and humility, as I remember the people who have showed up for myself, my family, my niece and my late sister-in-law.
So, today I share about sangha, your community. Your yoga practice is not necessarily about how well you meditate, how stretchy you are on the yoga mat, about your vast knowledge…to me, a large part is about people, these connections and love away from the mat. I am beyond thankful for this amazing community, may I never take you for granted.
With love and thanks,
Roxy xo