MUGI – My Unique Gift Idea

Money, wealth, and abundance are complicated concepts for the yogi or kabbalist who wants to extend the philosophy of yoga or Kabbalah into their everyday life.

In the name of living the life of our yoga or Kabbalah, we spend more money on organic items, amulets, buy fair-trade and goods made in the USA, and we donate our old yoga mats to those who are less fortunate. But, if we’re really being honest, these are all things that we reap benefits for ourselves, too. We feel like we’ve done our good deed for the day by helping the environment or supporting fair wages for others, and we’ve helped ourselves become healthier, boosted our images as conscious yogis, our spiritual awareness as kabbalists and cleaned out our closets at the same time. Everybody wins, yeah?

At the same time, I don’t think twice about spending $18 on one yoga class. My dog eats better than many of the children living in low-income homes in Oakland. And if I stop buying overpriced organic and fair trade products, I would not have to hurt the environment driving to Whole Foods AND I could afford to donate a lot more than a hamsa to people in Haiti.

With each purchase and donation, we make a choice prioritizing which lives are most worthy of being saved. People or animals? People or the environment? Local or Third-World children?

Could my commitment to being a “conscious consumer” be less helpful to the world, than I’ve been led to believe now for so long? If my intentions are actually to make the world a better place as a whole, would my spending habits change? Is my yoga practice actually inspiring those choices, or am I just allowing myself to be led by the big businesses yoga machine that boosts its bottom line by taking advantage of my efforts to live consciously?