Yoga Studio Owner Gives Back to Local Non-Profit Organizations

Gina Rafkind, the owner of Hope Yoga is giving back to local non-profit organizations during this holiday season. She became the new owner of the business early this year. She wanted to end the year with this fundraiser out of the kindness of her own heart to help those who are currently suffering. Gina always had a soft spot for animals and women and children. She started the With Hope, Miracles Happen fundraiser where anyone who buys a shirt or hoodie, 100% of the proceeds from the merchandise sales will go to 2 organizations Sammy’s Hope and Women Aware

If you are looking to buy a shirt or hoodie to help these organization: Click here to donate

Sammy’s Hope is a volunteer run animal welfare organization that partners with local municipal shelters to help dogs and cats find their forever homes.

Women Aware provides services to survivors of domestic violence. They focus on practical skills while offering intensive case management, including safety planning, counseling, housing assistance, life skills, parenting education, creative arts therapy for children, advocacy, health education and screening, translation services and pastoral care.

The Hope Yoga owner has struggled with anxiety and panic attacks from losing her father when she was 20. This takes a strong person to keep moving forward especially when a serious traumatic event happens like the one Gina experienced. She looked into ways to relieve her anxiety and ongoing panic attacks. She saw yoga as one of the options, it shortly turned into 15 years of practicing yoga. During her time practicing she got a little whisper in her mind that said ‘maybe you want to become a yoga teacher’. She followed that whisper, looked up yoga teacher training, found one happening in 3 months at a studio near her, went to a question and answer session about it and ended up signing up.

When she found Hope Yoga, she started off as a teacher there and from the amazing community there, she fell in love with the space. If it wasn’t for the talented teachers and Client Specialist at Hope Yoga. She would not have taken over the studio without the amazing community there that she has been a part of since the very beginning. She couldn’t do it without every single person who has brought light to the studio from the start.

When asked about where she came up with the quote for the merchandise, the word “Hope” reminded her of the movie “Shawshank Redemption” with one of the characters Andy Defresne. Andy said in the movie, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.”

On the Hope Yoga website, They offer over 25 classes a week both in studio and virtually via zoom. They also do online challenges a few times a year which involve pre-recorded short yet effective practices to supplement the classes that they offer.

Gina also offers training at her studio for teachers and seasoned practitioners who want to dive deeper into their practice. She also finds it always important to give back and help whenever possible. Gina is a part of the Monroe Townships Mayor’s Wellness Campaign committee. One of the events she offered was free yoga classes at the Senior Center of Monroe.

This month, at the studio with 3 brilliant teachers will be doing a yoga class with the special needs kids at Monroe High School. The business even ran a free Post-Turkey Gratitude Flow in exchange for people bringing in food to be delivered to the local food banks in the area.

They are also having a challenge coming up on December 12th. It is called Yoga+Cardio. Her studio also offers series such as Kids Yoga, Beginner Yoga, and other targeted series throughout the year like the Explore Your Edges and Power Up Your Yoga.

I spoke with Gina and asked her “If you tell someone who is struggling right now reading this, what would you tell them? She replied, I would tell them to give yoga a try. And not just once. It took me about 7 yoga classes to find the studio and type of yoga I liked to practice. If you stick with it, you will feel the benefits. But like anything else, there’s no magic pill. It takes a commitment and a willingness to make time and space in your day for yourself. Even if you start practicing just once or twice a week. Just start. That’s the key.”

I look forward to keeping an eye on Hope Yoga to see what they will be doing next!