The act of compassion and care for others above oneself is referred to as Seva: Selfless Service.
Within the Bhagavad Gita selfless service is encouraged as a way to develop spiritually; and it's close to the concept of Karma yoga. The yoga of which westerners are most accustomed is asana; postures to transform the physical body, however performing seva is said to transform one's true nature. Performed a number of ways, Seva usually refers to work that is done in order to contribute to the community for the benefit of others, its for this reason it's considered a devotional practice.
Within our 350 hour teacher training program at Bloom Yoga, the final part of the journey trainees take to becoming qualified yoga teachers is to complete a set number of hours teaching yoga within the community. Trainees on the 350 hour program have undertaken more than 24 months of practice, study and integration to share their yoga journey with others.
Graduates and trainees of our yoga teacher training program are encouraged to share yoga in not-for-profit settings within organisations and community groups who may not have access or be able to afford yoga classes. Trainee yoga teachers volunteer their energy, time and expertise within diverse populations and communities offering slow flow yoga, restorative and meditation as well as specialty classes of pregnancy yoga and postnatal classes for new mums and dads.
If you know or are connected to a not-for-profit organisation or community group and would like to share yoga - we would love to hear from you! We are always looking to diversify our offerings and bring yoga out of the studio and into the world!
Within the room, we offer Community Yoga classes where trainees can teach, all proceeds from these classes are donated to a charity of the teacher's choosing. We believe this allows trainees to reap the rewards of giving back to the community while gaining valuable teaching experience in a yoga studio or community setting where students and participants know up front the teachers are new, taking off some of the stress and expectation from the trainees too!
At the very core, yoga is about service: service to oneself, service to one's community, and service to the world. As a community that recognises the value of yoga for everyone, we have a duty to carry out these core values of yoga, and are proud to have such dedicated passionate yoga trainees and teachers.
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