Dear gorgeous ones,

In the run up to Christmas I always start thinking about the new year + what changes I want to make. It’s a good time for reflection. In the UK the nights are colder, the weather is wetter + you can just stay in, hibernate + reflect on what’s coming.

As a part of this process I look at a lot of different areas in my life + how these have been going (I’m looking forward to sharing my process with you as a workbook to create your blissful 2015 when LoveMindBodyHeart Life launches! ). One of the key areas I think about is charity.

Charity feels like a difficult area for me sometimes because I am in start-up mode with LoveMindBodyHeart as well as working full time. Due to the business being so young, I don’t have much free time to give to others. There’s also not always funds available to do everything + I’ve caught myself excusing myself from donating or giving to others at times because of it.

I’ll do it when I have more cash flow, I tell myself. I’ll do it when I have more time.

Don’t get me wrong – there are a few things that I always donate to – so in the UK we have Children In Need and each year I make a large (for me!) donation to the amazing work done there for children + their families. I also run a free meditation class as an act of seva – service to others.

But there’s a lot I don’t do + I realised that didn’t sit comfortably with me.

 

Through this reflection process I realised that I was actually unhappy about my limitations in this area + needed to break the cycle somehow. It felt like we had been getting bombarded with requests to give up money or time (what seems liked an inordinate number of charities sending us snail mail asking for donations) + by completely ignoring these to try to focus on my own goals I was actually making myself uncomfortable.

So I decided to experiment. I decided to donate to every cause that I came across. It could be a very tiny amount, but I would still donate. Time. Money. Resource. I was all in. You can have it all, world – I’m ready to help. If I can stretch to it, you can have it.

So I donated £5 to WWF. I donated £5 to a friend’s Movember campaign. I donated £5 to Barnardo’s. I saw an advert for volunteers in the Oxfam window so I’ve prepared items to donate to them (I can’t give them my time on a regular basis but I figured I could ‘volunteer’ by spending a few minutes gathering items we no longer need to pass onto somebody else).

This all mostly happened in the space of 3 days. I started to wonder if this was going to be sustainable + whether websites would take £1 or less payments or if I’d have to start dropping pennies into the charity shops to keep up. Then – it stopped.

I’ve had my eyes open but I haven’t had one more request for my time, money or resource in the last few days.

It made me smile. I think I just needed to be OPEN + I needed to be asked enough times to truly start to let go of the idea that I couldn’t offer anything worth offering on a small scale. I needed not to have the limitations in place. I feel like  the universe will ask me when it needs my help + I’ll offer what I can. It doesn’t matter how big or small. It doesn’t matter if it’s money, time or physical objects.

I realised that I want to be the person that when the world asks me for help – I say YES first + then work out what I’m going to do afterwards. I want to say yes to love, compassion + giving to others. I’ll figure out how to give after that. I want to have an open heart first + foremost + the rest will follow. What a gift to myself that was.

So I’m ready + waiting to receive my next request from the universe to do a little good. + in the mean time I hope I’ve inspired you to do what you can do. Many of you may already be wonderful earth angels with open hearts who offer what they can – in which case I salute your beauty + ask you to please share with me what you do so I can be further inspired by you. If you’re feeling that perhaps you could do more though, then follow that instinct. Find a way. Get creative with it. But don’t stop giving.

 

If you’re reading this on the mailing list then hit reply + tell me what you already do + what you’re planning on doing. Let’s be citizens of the world together, open hearted + active in our love for others.

Love + light to your shining hearts,

Raeeka

xo

 P.S. if you are local to Berkhamsted, UK don’t forget there’s still time to book onto my Candlelit Kundalini Yoga, Gong + Yoga Nidra session – you’ll get a mince pie too :] Why not gift this to a friend who really needs to relax + bring them too? BOOK NOW

P.P.S if you aren’t local + looking for Christmas presents then check out my online products. Or if you know somebody who just needs to chill out + relax then send them my FREE yoga nidra recording.