For those of you who aren’t aware of it, I decided that this year, in order to celebrate turning 60 yrs old and also my 20^th anniversary as a full time Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher, I would participate in a Yatra, or pilgrimage being organised by Namarupa magazine. This pilgrimage is with my Paramguru R. Sharath Jois and starts with 5 days of yoga near Rishikesh followed by visiting 5 ancient temples in the Himalaya. For me this is a dream come true.

However, I was stuck with the issue of finding a way to fund the trip as I can’t afford it myself. Someone suggested crowd funding to me, and to cut a long story short, I set up a PledgeMe campaign. My target amount was $3800 as this would pay for the Yatra part of the trip and I felt I could manage to pay for airfares and other sundry expenses.

Well, thanks to the generosity of our Te Aro Astanga Yoga community and my family we far exceeded that total and in fact raised $5125! This means that not only have I been able to pay for the Yatra, but have covered my airfares as well. I want to thank all those who contributed from the bottom of my heart. That includes not only the people who pledges so generously, but also the people who helped in so many other ways.

There were various rewards offered as part of the campaign and I want to especially thank Kate from “Papa Ora” who contributed some “Kate’s Kombucha” and also Danny from Valka who donated some wonderful products as well as offering 10% of store wide for all his products. Visit Kate’s FaceBook page here. Visit Valka Yoga here.

I also need to give a huge thank you to Fatimih Linz of Innereyes Film who made the fantastic video that is at the top of this blog. Part of the reason the campaign was so successful was the quality of this video. Have a look at what else Fatimih has done here.

The Yatra is in October this year and when I return I will be giving a photo presentation and talk at Te Aro Astanga Yoga about the trip. Keep an eye on the web site if you would like to come to this event. Below is the full list of the winners of the rewards from the campaign. If you haven’t received an email from me about it, please get in touch with me via info@astanga.co.nz

Valka Copper Bracelet:

• Miranda Baker
• Nikki Goodman

Valka Copper Neti Pot:

• Nick Potter

One on One Yoga session with Mike:

• Lisa Whittle
• Caroline West
• Martin Taylor
• Lisa Oakley
• Shelley Cox

Kate’s Kombucha:

• Eva Duric
• Jane Thurlow
• Alex Bartley Nees
• Juliet Jacka
• Paul Clarke
• Roopali

One Year Membership at Te Aro Astanga Yoga:

• Siobhan Costigan

Valka Copper Tongue Cleaner:

• Shona Reeves

Printed TAAY Singlet or T Shirt:

• Tula Brannelly
• Sarah Pearson Coates
• Stu Birch
• Jeanne Balding-Weinstock
• Melissa Grouden