Yalla Yoga: Christmas Giving

By Sandra Shama Kaur, Kundalini yoga teacher and founder of YallaYoga

Ever since I was a little girl, I celebrated Christmas with my immediate family: cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, parents and siblings. Like many of us, family holidays trigger all sorts of drama and emotions whether expressed or repressed. Still we all do our best to enjoy everyone’s company and make the best of the time spent together.

One of the things that always got under my skin was the way most people dressed, from the designer shoes and outfits to extravagant make-up, hairdos jewellery and fragrances. When I was younger, I must admit I did try to fit in by dressing in a similar way, but today, thanks to my daily practice of yoga and meditation, I am able to be me, dressing with simplicity and without fear of judgement. Moreover, I am able to exercise tolerance, patience and compassion towards my family members even though we have different choices of dress.

The second thing that bothered me about family holidays was all the extra attention given to food, especially meat-based dishes and lavish dinner tables - when in reality all one needs is a small bowl of food with some rice and vegetables. Today, choosing a vegan diet, my stomach gets really upset by the smell and sight of all the meat-based dishes. So, I always carry my bowl of soup to Christmas dinner.

Thirdly and finally, as I’m sure you will agree, the thing that bothers me still is all the focus on gift wrapping and gift swapping. When I was a little girl, we had a midnight visitor - Santa Claus - who dressed in a red suit, had a big belly and an extra long beard. He always bought me all the toys I had asked for. Now that I’m older, our family collectively decided to buy gifts only for my grandparents. So every year my wonderful grandparents receive more and more gifts they will probably wear only once, if ever.

When I founded YallaYoga, I sought to create a new family.

* A family where everyone can dress with simplicity and feel accepted and loved.

* A family where everyone’s effort goes towards collecting things to donate to charity.

* A family where it's OK to swap an old sweater for a pair of second-hand trousers rather than buy something new.

* A family which exercises non-violence respecting the lives of animals and chooses vegetarian food.

* A family of yoga teachers who give back to the community by offering yoga classes as a gift for all.

* A family who supports local vendors and small businesses.

So this Christmas, I would like to invite you to my new YallaYoga family. On Saturday, December 19, we bring you free yoga as our way to give back to our community. In exchange, we ask you to bring donations for our partner foundations such as JOSAAB, which works with terminally ill cancer patients, and PHASE, which supports women who have undergone domestic violence and sexual harassment.

Today, my perception of family has changed as I celebrate Christmas with my surrounding community and dedicated yoga students. It feels as though my family has expanded four times fold and I don’t even have any children yet!

Join us!