Author Archives: alexandra.bauer

The charity I would like to donate the money is to the Pakistan Flood victims via UNICEF and this is why. This year as I started to watch the news more, I realized that there was very minimal coverage of the devastating flood that occurred in Pakistan. I, honestly, cannot fathom the thought that this wrath of Mother Nature’s brought more destruction than Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti and Chile – combined.  Yet, it is still not on the cover of every magazine or newspaper; it is simply being swept under the rug.  From this, it made be realize that the reason why it was not covered in the United States as much is because it is an Islamic nation and unfortunately there is a sort of prejudice towards the nation due to the horrific events of 9/11. However, I know that even though it isn’t getting the media coverage that it deserves, we have to do something and we can make a difference. By donating this money it will make a difference to the 15,000 children whose schools and homes were washed away down to the thousands of countless families who cannot even receive clean drinking water.

Alexandra Bauer

“Health is wealth. Peace of Mind is Happiness. Yoga shows the way.”- Swami Vishnudevananda.

In June, I was confronted with a black and white question, no not physically between chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but whether I should go through an rigorous 200 hour teachers training course to become a yoga teacher or not. I knew that physically I would be prepared to deal with the asanas, from my eight years of experience, but I really did not know if I was ready mentally. The fact was, I did not know if I was able to address questions such as “who am I?” and “what is my purpose in life?” or even defy those ideas. How is a seventeen year old person supposed to answers these kinds of questions if I do not even know what I am going to wear tomorrow or what I will be doing ten years from now! I knew I was one of the youngest to complete this course because as I sat there in that gargantuan hallow hall and saw that the youngest person there was twenty-eight, and the oldest was seventy-four. This was going to be a journey, and it was a journey that is now a perpetual part of my life.

As I learned through many mind-boggling lectures with a Swami, I realized that Yoga is not just a theory, but a practical way of life. It is a tool, an instrument for me whether it is used to mitigate some back pain with a certain posture or to calm my mind from the chaos that envelops me on a daily basis. As I continued with my practice in yoga, there became elusive changes in my life such as small glimpses into a state of inner peace. I became much more cognizant of my surroundings, my actions, and my thoughts. Even from the thirty minute mediations twice I day, I began to become much more concentrated, even in my approach to life.

In today’s society, more than at any other time in history of humanity, people are facing stresses and tensions that are beyond their control. While I may not know who I want to become, or even “who I am,” my one objective right now is to try and give back to individuals the beneficial methods I have learned through this yoga experience.

Alexandra Bauer