IMPACT
Kripalu Donor Newsletter FA L L 2 0 1 8
“I’m happy and I can’t explain it!” Your gifts bring inexplicable joy to life. Look inside for more.
From Mat to Forest You’ve launched a new school!
Your Magic, Our Thanks Again and again, you tell us that Kripalu is not only a retreat center for you, but a community, a place that feels like home, a place where magic is possible at any moment. We’re both privileged and honored to hold this space for you ... for the truth is, you make it all happen with your love and generosity! Day after day, our dedicated faculty and staff love welcoming you, and do everything they can to make your Kripalu retreat the most caring experience possible. Recently, you might have noticed Kripalu’s installation of a new registration system that created some challenges. We are working through the glitches. Please accept my apologies if you were in any way inconvenienced during this transition. If you haven’t been on campus recently, I hope you’ll come see us this fall. At a time when our world is stressed out and polarized, we remain a place of refuge and reflection, committed to the deep-rooted and most relevant teachings of Swami Kripalu. Thank you for your enduring, loyal, and generous friendship. You keep Kripalu Center thriving, and make the magic possible. With gratitude,
Barbara Vacarr, CEO
MISSION DRIVEN, DONOR SUPPORTED Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to empower people and communities to realize their full potential through the transformative wisdom and practice of yoga. To find out more about Kripalu’s mission, please visit kripalu.org.
Your gifts have opened a new frontier in the world of yoga and mindfulness: the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership. The benefits of spending time in nature are just like the benefits of your yoga practice—reduced stress, increased emotional resiliency, and more compassion toward the living world around us. Thanks to our donors, yoga and nature are coming together as never before. To learn more or to help, click on the Kripalu Schools tab on our website, or contact Micah Mortali at 413.448.3206 or micahm@kripalu.org.
“Dear Trusted Adult ...” A Kripalu Schools graduate helps young hearts to heal. Leila Kubesch laughed when she read the salutation: “Dear Trusted Adult.” She’d assigned her eighth-grade Spanish students to write a letter to their parents. When one kid asked if it had to be a parent, Leila gave in: “Any trusted adult,” she said. Then she read the letters, and she wept. Many of her students had been orphaned by the opioid epidemic. Norwood, Ohio, a Cincinnati enclave once powered by General Motors, had succumbed in the wake of the plant’s closure. Too many parents had passed away. Or were imprisoned. Or just gone. Leila, a seasoned child advocate, recognized the trauma in her kids’ silence and solitude. She started looking for therapeutic remedies she could apply.
As a gift to Leila, her students inscribed their names on her yoga mat. This story barely scratches the surface of what you’ve made possible at Norwood Middle School. For a fuller account of Leila’s story and the exponential benefits of your generosity, visit
kripalu.org/leila
She found Kripalu Yoga. And, last summer, you made sure she got here. By giving to the Rachel Greene Scholarship Fund, people like you made it possible for Leila to come to Kripalu for 200-hour yoga teacher training. You gave her a gift to bring back to her kids. Come September, Leila’s administrator let her turn an unused classroom into a yoga studio. A few months later, a seventh-grade girl ran up to Leila after school one day and cried out, “I’m happy and I can’t explain it!” “Señora Kubesch,” a boy confided, “my heart feels not compressed. I don’t cry now.” This is yoga. You practice. You share. And you make all the difference. Thank you.
Why I Give to Kripalu Every Month It is my pleasure to contribute to Kripalu’s mission to bring yogic lifestyle and practices to young people who could otherwise not afford to come to Kripalu. I am an educator at a college and if I could create my own college, it would be just like Kripalu! It is a great holistic model, an insightful and truly supportive environment for teaching and learning. To write a large check at the end of the year is not in my budget, but I can give a small amount every month. If everybody does that, we give Kripalu the ability to do things of great value. —Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj, New York, New York
Your recurring monthly gift makes an impact. Visit
give.kripalu.org today!
Kripalu Donor
She rode 300 miles. You can help, too. In July, Lindsey Hunt, a Boston-based adventurer, cycling guide, and mindfulness facilitator, bicycled 300 miles through New England promoting mindfulness as an effective tool for social change. Lindsey’s ride raised money for organizations serving youth and underserved populations, and Kripalu was honored to be one of the beneficiaries. We are grateful to Lindsey, and to every one of you whose generosity helps create a more compassionate world through yoga. Thank you!
PO Box 309 Stockbridge, MA 01262-0309
kripalu.org