 Restore 2 - south Oxford service for improving mental health and Autism Family Support 2- for series of classes for parent-teen pairs!
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 Ok. So the object of Yoga Quota is to spread the benefits of yoga to disadvantaged groups of people. And at the moment yoga Quotees at the studio in central Oxford are doing a damn good job of coming to the classes, helping me meet my quota of 50 at least weekly and then I'm running charity classes for all sort of groups. The demand is so high! I'm booking more and more 'series'. And the grand plan is to get this UK wide. For this I am scurrying away in the background recruiting yoga teachers who also will commit to a quota of charity classes. I'm applying to be a charity and I'm making the Yoga Quota mark a collective mark which will mean it is a recognisable symbol of a yoga teacher who puts back to society. Watch this space! The grand plan is what is occupying my every waking moment. I'm learning more than I had cared to about IPO and lawyer speak! But it's all for a good cause wish me luck with the application which goes in today! Namaste I was worried that my last charity class blog double whammy didn't get to the true story. I wrote it before doing my classes with Steppin Stones the homeless day centre and just mused abstractly about the link between mental illness and homelessness.
But anybody can muse away about that. I think if you're reading this blog you deserve to know the less abstract problems that have come about since last week. What actually happened last week was less savoury.  I'm sitting in the library, typing away, calling up people to rent a permanent premise and generally getting down to the business of running a charity (or a nearly charity) It's quite easy to become blinded to the real reason you are doing yoga when you're doing it full time. You can easily start to think only in numbers....rent + cost divided by visits equals minimum price....Facebook likes how many, how about competitiors?......followers on Twitter.....unique views on my blog....accounts....eurgggh.... I'm trying very hard to make the numbers go to the back of my mind. What means the most for me is that people discover yoga especially people who have never tried it and who probably would have the opportunity/money to do so. This my homeless classes, my classes for people recovering from illnesses (mental and addictions) and all the other charity classes I do. The numbers I care about are the ones that make this aim happen- my Yoga Quota of 50 people. That's why I was incredibly chuffed and humbled to make 24 in one day yesterday. That's 24 people who enjoyed yoga yesterday at Yoga Quota and pretty much half way towards another charity class. The pressure is on I have set a weekly class at Restore and a fortnightly class at Steppin stones. This is a bookworm blog because at the start of this yoga Charity journey I read the book: the Yogi Entrepreneur which gives guidance about being ethical in business and still getting by. http://entrepreneuryogi.com It is for yogis but I reckon a few other businesses could do with reading it. Win win contracts and relationships are always the way forward my last company knew that too. The yogi entrepreneur didn't go so far as to make it his main business model to give yoga to the wider community but thanks to his guidance I made the best value monthly pass (in probably the UK!) and gave away hundreds of free classes last term. Yoga Quotees are becoming scarily close to having a full quota of 50 to their name alone! Worth a celebration I think! And very soon I'll be introducing 2 Yoga Quota teachers who will be the first pioneers in holding the coveted Yoga Quota badge and also having a charity quota of their own. Numbers, targets, KPIs do fill everyone's day, but let's enjoy the journey and pick the numbers that really make a difference.   |
