feels to be the recipient of other
people’s pity to be looked at
differently judged scrutinized because
of something that had happened something
that I had no control over and it was
only in realizing that the greatest way
to heal myself was to challenge the very
idea of self and not the greatest way to
give back was well giving up on the idea
that my story was somehow different that
I was different one in three women
across the globe will experience
physical and/or sexual violence in her
lifetime and just like me these women
are more than a number and they’re more
than a statistic I wanted to connect
with them help them but have it so that
it would create a global community so I
thought to myself what is a way in which
I can do this well for one I didn’t want
to replicate the traditional power
structure of most donor and recipient
relationships I wanted to create
meaningful and sustainable relationships
between me and these other women
relationships that were built on
personal connection relationships that
were absent of hierarchy and absent of
pity but so often I think that we find
ourselves feeling very small and very
powerless the world is so big and we are
constantly bombarded by so many problems
be it local or global what can I
possibly do to make a difference well
when we do find causes that resonate
with us often we’re only given very
impersonal statistics such as these 66
million girls out of school globally 33
million fewer girls in primary school
than boys after hearing these numbers
these shocking statistics are you going
to give your money to support girls
education do you feel connected to these
millions of girls that you’ve never met
do you feel a sense of moral
responsibility and obligation to help
after hearing these numbers well
probably not you’ve never met them this
photo i took this when I was a
journalist in Cambodia it’s
heartbreaking this is this photo of Oak
any more empathy maybe a little bit but
these feelings will become fleeting
because once again you’ve never met her
you’ve never had that personal
one-on-one connection with her and
perhaps you will decide to send X amount
of money per month for the next year or
so but what happens when those original
feelings of compassion begin to
dissipate what happens to her after that
final donation but what if I told you
that you could meet her and girls like
her all over the world and then through
that you were able to make a connection
a bond share something that lights both
of you up maybe it’s soccer or painting
now how do you feel this was the very
idea when starting my nonprofit and that
I wanted to create sustainable and
meaningful relationships between the
donor and the recipient so what we do is
we raise money for girls education in
developing countries and in by doing so
well we’re able to help just a little
bit it becomes more than just a one-off
monetary donation with a valence of who
and where your money is actually going
to everyone has causes that resonate
with them and for me it was just that
girls education our aim is to transcend
the role of anonymous donor into active
participant by creating experiences in
which you can have between you and the
girls so for me
I had to find a cause or an experience
something that really lit me up
something that I wanted to share with
the rest of the world that was yoga yoga
has been an integral part in my healing
process it has allowed me to reconnect
with my body to find stillness
self-expression balance poise and peace
because it is when yoga is taken out of
the studio and into the world that the
greatest shift in consciousness occurs
because we end up realizing that we are
in fact all one it’s more than just
poses and breathing it’s this idea of
community our mission is based on the
word Savea which means selfless service
together with and it’s through this idea
of being able to give back to your self
while giving to others in which the
ship’s begins to occur so what we do is
we hold global yoga retreats between
local women and foreign women many of
whom who’ve undergone trauma and by
practicing side by side the healing
begins to start so in order to support
these local girls initiatives what we do
is we include and every retreat a
tax-deductible donation what this does
it continues to build dormitories pay
for housing education school supplies
you name it but it’s so much more than
that no matter how shocking the
statistic or heartbreaking the
photograph nothing can compare with eye
contact of that personal connection of
real face time to realize that well this
is a person in front of me it’s through
this in which you are able to continue
to build a global community one that
goes past our devices in our immediate
community we’re able to pull in what we
care about in order to pull out and
better serve the world around us to be
acknowledged to be respected and to be
loved are our universal human rights
about two months ago I had the privilege
of teaching yoga and a girl
dormitory in Cambodia now as I had
mentioned Cambodia is a place that is
very near and dear to my heart I
originally went there at 19 and did a
study abroad program and that is where
the first seed was planted for me to
create this idea of giving so what this
girl’s dorm does is it pulls the best
and the brightest students from the
outlying provinces girls who’d be denied
access to education otherwise now why
education is so vital and so important
is because it is something that cannot
be taken away undone or untaught it is a
personal asset that creates choices
opportunities and better quality of life
so if that being said I made a very
special connection and bond to one of
the girls her name is tawny and she’s 17
and just like most seventeen-year-olds
she loves music ice cream and is very
ambitious in her studies well maybe not
like most seventeen-year-olds I
certainly wasn’t like that but johnny is
unique tawny grew up in a very
tumultuous on environment she’s
originally from co cab it’s a village
about two and a half hours outside of
Siem Reap province and coca is the
epitome of systemic violence from rape
from the smallest child to marital
alcoholism domestic abuse an untreated
post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD
this is not the place for a bright girl
of all the inclinations for academic
excellence to be nurtured and just like
me Johnny wants to be a journalist she
wants to give a voice for those lacking
and also like me johnny has anxiety so
it was after our first yoga class that
she took me aside and she said Jordan
can yoga help me with my breathing so
what we did is we placed a hand over the
heart and a hand over the belly and just
by allowing her to close her eyes and
reconnect her shoulders begin to drop
her face began to soften we took even
inhales and even exhales
lowing and smoothing down her breath
while I checked in with her a couple of
days later and she said that she’d been
practicing this breathing morning and
night she felt a lot better more alert
in her studies and more importantly her
and the girls had fun during our yoga
classes I will never fully know what
it’s like to walk in shawnee shoes nor
her in mine but just by sharing with her
a few yoga poses some breathing
techniques we were able to create a bond
a bond that I will continue to cherish
and nourish well yoga and girls
education maybe causes that resonate
with my heart it might not be that for
you it can be anything anything that
lights you up anything that makes you
want to reach out and say hi can I help
you because let’s face it giving back is
contagious it feels good to be able to
be helpful useful and it takes us out of
our internal dialogue about what’s wrong
and what can be better because at the
end of the day the question is who is
really giving and who is really
receiving as both parties end up gaining
so much more than what they had
originally expected it’s when we find
these causes that resonate close to our
heart it’s which is when we’re able to
finally begin to break down the wall
between what separates us from each
other it’s the start of a global
community the beginning of creating
unity not hierarchy that should be at
the forefront of any personal
relationship we are more than just
numbers statistics charts and images but
it’s through our personal connection and
which we’re able to come together and
truly see what the human spirit is
capable of achieving thank you [Applause]