Several years ago I visited Rishikesh, India to attend the International Yoga Festival.
While the festival was wonderful and life-changing, the memory that touches me most was my experience at Ramana's Organic Cafe. The cafe is part of a school and home environment for India's most neglected and impoverished children.
They go to school, learn languages, help cultivate food and create the amazing food offered at the cafe. You can learn a bit more about it here:
My yoga girls and I spoke with this young man who talked about his experience as an orphan, who lived there his whole life. He spoke perfect English and was talking about how excited he was to attend university soon and become a lawyer.
We were all on a holiday, and this moment was a poignant reminder of the blessings in our own lives, as he spoke about feeling blessed and grateful for the opportunities he has in his.
It was walking home from the cafe, our arms full of items we purchased to help support the cafe, that I realized I wanted to do more. I am donating 10% of profits from my mandala art sales here to Ramana's Garden Children's Home.
If you'd like to learn more about this organization you can visit their website here.