One Love Movement’s 6th Annual Charity Yoga Event

There’s nothing quite like giving back and with The One Love Movement, a San Diego organization that aims to raise awareness for under-privileged youth, doing so can be as enriching and relaxing as waterfront yoga in sunny San Diego.

The One Love Movement is hosting its 6th Annual Charity Yoga Event on Saturday, August 19 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in downtown San Diego at the Waterfront Park. Kim Bauman, founder of The One Love Movement, and four other local yoga instructors will lead a yoga session with live music followed by a wine and beer garden. This annual event connects more than 600 participants each year through yoga, the act of giving back and music.

The One Love Movement supports underprivileged youth by hosting public charity events throughout the year. These events connect people from all over the world through the shared belief that no child should suffer wondering where they’ll sleep, get their next meal, or live at risk of being sold into trafficking. To date, The One Love Movement has raised over $150,000 for underserved women and children locally in San Diego, San Francisco, and globally in India, Tanzania, Haiti, Uganda and the U.K. with future projects being created for 2017 in Ghana and South Korea.

At the San Diego event, Kim and four volunteer local yoga instructors Beth O’Reilly, Mandy Burstein, Amy Opielowski and Chelsea Koehnen will lead the yoga session with live music from Dub Sutra, a local group known for their eclectic mix of electronic dub downtempo with harmonizing chant and live instruments perfect for yoga and moving meditation. Participants are encouraged to enjoy the wine and beer garden following the yoga session and peruse the food vendors including Kashi, Indo-Love, Suja Juice, Mush and many more. Children can even get in on the fun and join the “Kids Helping Kids,” initiative, started by volunteer yoga teacher Chelsea Koehnen’s daughter, Ella. Ella learned what her mother was doing to help The One Love Movement, and asked if she could, “help get kids to help kids.”

“Every year this event brings together the people that enjoy the spirit of yoga both on and off the mat by practicing kindness and compassion,” said Bauman. “It’s a beautiful thing to see so many people share a common goal in helping others.”

All proceeds from the event will support local San Diego nonprofits including Refugee Tutoring, Just in Time for Foster Youth and RISE to Empower as well as The One Love Shelter in India, which currently cares for 19 children. The One Love Movement has raised and donated an estimated $100,000 to San Diego homeless and under-privileged youth programs and projects in addition to another $50,000 globally. Funds from past events have been dispersed to several organizations in San Diego including Monarch School, San Diego Youth Services, and Outdoor Outreach to assist with education, resources for foster youth and opportunities to grant outdoor excursions for youth who would otherwise not be exposed to the benefits of the mindfulness of the outdoors. Funds have also been donated to assist with human trafficking in San Diego.

“I started The One Love Movement after I went on a humanitarian trip to Haiti where we volunteered at several orphanages. It was when I was connecting with teenagers at the orphanages that it dawned on me my circumstances—I was an orphan as a baby and adopted into a life of opportunity,” said Bauman. “For the first time in my life I had realized how blessed I was. I am not better or any more special than these kids, but I got picked for a better life. The One Love Movement is all abou t helping kids who may never get the blessed life that I get to live.”

The One Love Movement’s 6^th Annual Charity Yoga Event will take place on Saturday, August 19 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in downtown San Diego at the Waterfront Park (1600 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA 92101.) The event opens at 8 a.m., with instruction beginning at 9 a.m. The yoga practice will be held for an hour and 30 minutes on the lawn, and the wine and beer garden will remain open until 1 p.m. Children of all ages are welcome. Tickets are currently available for purchase and start at $27.

For more information on The One Love Movement, to purchase tickets or donate to the cause, please visit www.serveyourheart.org.