Post by Danielle Marie Robinson, YogaEarth Ambassador & Chicago-Based Yoga Teacher
For more from Danielle visit Yogis Can Help and You Me and Yoga Makes 3 on Facebook.

I am gifted the opportunity to teach Yoga 10-15 times a week. I meet new souls everyday and watch friends grow in their practice. We breathe and move together, not one better than another, with no sense of competition or comparison, we practice to empower ourselves, as one. I love my job.

Every week, despite the schedule and routine, is different, new, full of wonder and learning. I truly love every class and all the moments in between. Every once in a while, I get to teach special events, workshops and benefit classes. And this just takes the joy of teaching to another level.

On Saturday, March 23rd, I taught a special candlelight slow flow for what was my second year teaching on Earth Hour, a global celebration of our planet and spreading awareness to take better care of it. Something about gathering a group of yogis for a cause bigger than ourselves, inspiring small change within individuals to affect big change for many, is so invigorating and uplifting, I am still overjoyed from the experience.

What made the class that much more special was the fundraising element we were able to attach to the event. Not only were we powering down, showcasing a small commitment to our planet and each other, but all funds contributed went directly to Yogis Can Help, a philanthropic effort to bring Yoga to those underserved around the world.

Back in January, myself and my YCH partner, Veronica Rottman, visited the exquisite country of Haiti, whose inhabitants are somehow more resilient and beautiful than even the country itself. We visited Port au Prince, Jacmel and Cange. The rural mountain town of Cange is where we focused most of our effort, teaching cancer patients and staff at a Partners in Health clinic.

We met some truly spectacular people, many women courageously caring for their bodies as best they could (benefited hugely by the love and dedication of oncology nurse, Jessie Stoop, who was instrumental in bringing Yoga to them as well); with few opportunities and even fewer dollars to cure their very dire circumstances, they practiced Yoga (first time they were even exposed to this practice), breathed and engaged with gratitude, enthusiasm and joy. They had such a profound impact on us that we immediately began working on a plan to return.

This time, we not only plan to teach our patients and staff again, to expose more deserving humans to this life changing practice, but we also intend to hold a one week intensive teacher training for a few promising Haitian women we met on our first trip. The stand-out was a young woman named Mellisah, a translator for PiH, she took the classes we held for staff and was a complete natural. She fell in love and continues to keep us posted on her practice and progress.

We want to empower people all over the world to connect to what still feels good and healthy in their bodies, to take ownership and responsibility over their happiness and strength, and to spread the positive and loving messages Yoga continues to give to us on a daily basis. And through special events like Earth Hour and other benefit classes, we are gradually and patiently earning our way to do that.

YogaEarth has been a tremendous support system from the get go, providing bars and goodies to not only fuel us through this journey, but to reward our students for their hard work after class. We’ve been able to share the superfood snacks with students in Chicago and Haiti, selling them at studios to raise funds, and collaborating with YE as a powerful tool affecting positive, incremental changes around our country and planet.

This year, we celebrated Earth Hour at Namaskar Yoga, one of my favorite studio homes here in Chicago. We had a mandala style mat layout, allowing everyone to practice in a circle together, all with the hypnotic sounds of the djembe, played by renowned Chicago musician and purveyor of love and soul, Davis Haines. The room was full of students of all ages, levels and backgrounds, breathing and moving for oneness. It was a profoundly rewarding experience, as was teaching in Haiti, and I cannot wait to keep growing and contributing to this amazing place we call home.

The goal of Earth Hour is to empower individuals to make small changes in their own lives, to make more conscious choices day to day. And my goal, beyond conserving energy and contributing positively to this planet, is to gather amazing minds and hearts more frequently for common goals like this.

What movement speaks to you? How can you collaborate with loved ones and conscious businesses like YogaEarth to create a healthier, happier environment for yourself and many around you? The issues facing Haiti and our planet seem daunting, overwhelming and almost impossible to solve, but I feel monumental hope when I meet new and old souls through small efforts on and off the mat.

We can all commit to small change. Progress or perish, evolution begins within and expands with gradual steps in a positive direction. We simply must believe in ourselves and keep a resounding hope for us all moving forward.

I wrote a short poem for this event and read it during svasana:

Home
A planet that breathes
As one
Absorbs and reflects light
To live
Revolves and evolves
To progress
A kaleidoscope of variety
In species and in landscape
What is now a human playground
Is also our Kingdom’s livelihood
Like the human body, we marvel
We shape
We explore, excavate
But how do we elevate, transcend
Radiate that same light with which we depend
And choose to suspend
Our stagnation, deflation
Our human separation
Can we be the solution
Move beyond the cause of our pollution
To find symbiosis, harmony
Know that each living thing is also apart of me
We’re not separate, alone
We’re meant to thrive, together
Alive, we can endeavor
Reverse the effects
Of planetary stress
And find the truth from the start
There is no Earth, no change, without Heart