Well, friends, for those of you who have been following my soap opera of “trying to make a living in the Redneck Riviera,” here is the latest update (sorry, it’s long!):
(For the whole story, see previous threads,
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11474 “yoga with horses,” and
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12263) “no $$ in yoga”
I have been advertising my cleaning & design company since mid November with zero results. Just a few jobs, mostly painting, for family and friends. All I would really need is 2 or 3 steady weekly customers for house cleaning and I could make ends meet. I will do yet another mass mailing to “upper income households” in the near future and hope for the best.
I continue to work as a “psychic” in lieu of being able to use my psychology M.A. to practice counseling. I did go back to school last year and got my Pastoral Counselor certificate as well as Holistic Wellness Counselor, neither of which has resulted in jack shit. I signed up with a couple of online consulting services, one of which had a $50 application fee, and have gotten no clients. The “psychic” job is fine although I get tired of playing Fortune Teller and again, the work is not steady and it doesn’t pay enough to make a living. So, I went crawling back to one of my previous transcription jobs (not medical, just general like business notes, interviews, etc.) and they said, “Welcome back, we’re glad to have you!” That was 10 days ago and they have had no work for me yet; in any case they only pay around minimum wage or less.
Meanwhile 4 fancy new studios have opened at the beach since December 2011 which offer classes for $5, some for free. I have pretty much accepted the fact that I can’t make a living teaching yoga in this town and decided to offer classes on a donation basis, maybe go non-profit, when my tenant moves out of the house we built in June 2013 and use that for my new studio. But obviously I will have to do SOMETHING to pay the mortgage, insurance, property taxes, etc. I’m still trying to figure out what that will be, since I can’t seem to get work even though I have a Master’s degree and am willing to scrub toilets.
We found a roof leak in our trailer home recently and on going up there over the weekend, discovered that mice had chewed a hole in the shingles (I can hear them happily chewing up the ceiling and walls at night) and while we fixed that spot, it turns out the entire roof is basically falling apart and needs to be replaced, (as does part of the floor), which we can in no way afford. Meanwhile my husband owes thousands in back child support and taxes despite the fact that he works at hard labor, often 7 days a week, and makes so little that he qualifies for food stamps, and if he doesn’t find a way to pull more $$ out of his ass, he will go to jail.
And yet here I am madly in Love, enjoying the Divine Romance, doing my yoga, and trusting that “everything will work out somehow,” while we fall deeper into debt. The ongoing saga is so crazy that it’s almost amusing. In the back of my mind I think maybe I ought to be really worried; however, I can’t seem to get myself too worked up about it and in any case, what good would it do?! I am already doing everything I possibly can, and worrying won’t help. It’s actually kind of exciting and/or freeing from a spiritual standpoint; like, I’m free falling but I know I’m in God’s hands.
Have been following your posts on the situation with it all. It is insightful, and thank you for taking the time to share it and to keep us updated. I do hope the situation gives way to some new opportunities soon!
I too hope you’ll find a way.
If it’s a yoga-place project to host donation classes primarily, then what about crowdfunding it on FB…
Fingers crossed, [OM]
thanks so much! really appreciate your support.
thanks! what is “crowdfunding”? I need to generate at least $800 per month in addition to what I am making now from my various little odd jobs.
Greetings Radharani,
Just wanted to throw an idea in your direction re: trying to get your business off the ground.
When I was in San Francisco area for a while, I actually worked for a roofing company that acquired clients primarily by door-to-door greetings. I was one of the “lead generators” that walked through neighborhoods looking at houses that might need restoration/repair. It was a highly successful company, but I didn’t work there for long because I found something else. But, I learned that, ultimately, face-to-face communication and personal contact is far more powerful than any other form of advertising/marketing.
So, though it seems shameful and low-class to some, that method of “door-to-door” is still used with great success. And people are pleased when they find out you’re not selling magazines or cosmetics, but rather a more fundamental service (like roof restoration or house cleaning).
Whatever happens, you’re in my prayers, and I really admire your honest and persistent spirit.
Namaste. 
Greetings Radharani,
Just wanted to throw an idea in your direction re: trying to get your business off the ground.
When I was in San Francisco area for a while, I actually worked for a roofing company that acquired clients primarily by door-to-door greetings. I was one of the “lead generators” that walked through neighborhoods looking at houses that might need restoration/repair. It was a highly successful company, but I didn’t work there for long because I found something else. But, I learned that, ultimately, face-to-face communication and personal contact is far more powerful than any other form of advertising/marketing.
So, though it seems shameful and low-class to some, that method of “door-to-door” is still used with great success. And people are pleased when they find out you’re not selling magazines or cosmetics, but rather a more fundamental service (like roof restoration or house cleaning).
Whatever happens, you’re in my prayers, and I really admire your honest and persistent spirit.
Namaste.
Dear Bodhi, thank you so much for your input. We do a lot of "face to face" in that my husband gives out my cards to numerous people he encounters in the course of his construction & flooring work. I give them out to everyone, everywhere I go. But as for "door to door," I absolutely refuse to do that, because I f*kin HATE it when people do that to me!! Thank you for your prayers and kind words.
dear radharani,
thanks for sharing. I agree with hatha teacher’s idea of crowfunding.
by the way, do you still keep your 2 horses with you?
have you tried looking for jobs everywhere in the country? perhaps using online job search webs? although it may mean that you have to sell the horses/properties
anyway all the best for you, much love
Please tell me, what is “crowdfunding”??
I still have the horses. I was not able to find a good home for them. I would have to sell my property in order to move someplace else, but I tried for a year and nobody is buying. Anyway the prices here in NW FL are so low, that even if I could find a buyer, I would not be able to afford to move. So I’m kind of stuck here. Plus my elderly father lives here.
As for “jobs” elsewhere in the country, I’m not really qualified to do much other than teach yoga. Also I have a health issue (CFIDS) which would interfere with full-time employment. I was actually deemed “Permanently Disabled” by doctors in California in 1992, but my SSDI was denied when I moved to Florida. I have managed to recover with the help of herbs and holistic medicine (the doctors were amazed!) but I still have some bad days and my immune system is not normal. I certainly would not be able to fly somewhere for an interview or anything.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Hi Radharani,
I am not sure of what hathateacher meant by crowfunding, but what I understood by that is to create a facebook page with your project (i.e. Heart of Yoga by Radharani or whatever you like), share your experiences with yoga and ask for donations and give your bank account details or a way to pay with paypal.
what about teaching yoga via videoconference, with skype? nowadays with tablets /laptops it s more easy to follow an asana or yoga class.
you could advertise it in a facebook page or a web page with the facebook icon “like”, so that it s easily known over the internet. you would ask for a donation (bank transfer/western union/paypal) that would take place after the class. if you ar not paid, then no more classes for that person
keep the moral high, yes we can! 
I am currently in the process of setting up a non-profit corporation which could then accept donations. I’m not extremely optimistic about how successful this would be. I mean, people who WANT to take my classes are not doing so due to lack of money; I guess it is unclear to me why other people would donate money for yoga when there are so many more pressing needs out there (starving children, veterans, victims of violence, etc.), but if they do that would be wonderful.
yes, good idea about the Skype! I do offer yoga instruction via Skype on my website; so far no takers, but it’s a relatively new phenomenon, so maybe…
At this point in time the “steadiest” of my 4 “jobs” is the Psychic line, although it doesn’t pay enough. I think I am going to give Keen another try, a psychic line which allows you to charge and keep higher fees.
Thanks for your encouragement!
Have you ever tried examining the thoughts you have all day long? If you constantly are having thoughts that life is hard and there is not enough money, and you might not make it, those things will manifest in your reality. It comes from the majority of thoughts and feelings combined.
What i did was to catch negative thoughts and turn them into thoughts of faith in God, which brings abundance. It works!
If you are like me, you probably are already a good person taking all good actions, and just need to change one thing- the habit of debilitating thoughts all day long. It’s not your fault; those thoughts seem to come from observing reality. But they are creating the future.
well, I am sure there may be people like me that would like to attend the classes but live too far. I’ve just taken a look to your web and I can’t see the offer for classes through skype. in the contact link I just saw a chat offer to solve questions. Perhaps you should make it more clear. People would pay for a service,like they would pay for a gym.
another idea: why don’t you offer yoga retreats (short and long)? There may be people interested to spend much time in company of an enlightened one
Dear Ether, Thank you for your input. Please forgive my rude and cynical laughter. You know I love you. 
“Have I tried examining the thoughts I have all day long?” um, yes - back when I used to have lots of thoughts all day long. Isn’t that one of our core yogic practices, self inquiry?
Nowadays I don’t actually sit around thinking about how terrible everything is, or “thinking” much at all, for that matter. It’s usually pretty quiet here. Unless I am specifically working on something, my “thoughts” tend to consist of stuff like, “Yeshua, Krishna, sunshine, Love, Love, Love.” And yes, I do have faith in God, totally. As I stated in my post, above:
“And yet here I am madly in Love, enjoying the Divine Romance, doing my yoga, and trusting that ‘everything will work out somehow’ … worrying won’t help. It’s actually kind of exciting and/or freeing from a spiritual standpoint; like, I’m free falling but I know I’m in God’s hands.”
As I said, sometimes I think, “gee, maybe I SHOULD be worried…?!” But I’m not. I generally remain in a blissful, trusting state of mind even as my material circumstances are going to hell in a handbasket. I was quite sure that all of the endeavors described earlier in my soap opera would be very successful, and nobody was more surprised than me, when they fell through. So, no, I really am NOT “creating” the situation by “negative thinking.”
Now with regard to your belief that having positive thoughts “brings abundance” or that negative thoughts will “manifest in your reality”: Actually I believed that very thing when I was young and I practiced it most diligently and with great enthusiasm! Only after many years in the School of Hard Knocks was I eventually convinced that it simply isn’t true. Not only in my own life, but in the lives of some of the most positive, saintly, God-conscious people that I know, all kinds of bad sh*t happens regardless of our thoughts.
Nonetheless, more recently in the last couple of years I gave the “manifesting” thing another try with an open mind, thinking that perhaps now that I’m older and more spiritually mature, maybe it would work. Nope. Not one bit. So I’ve pretty much given up on that. Plus it was a waste of energy and a distraction, trying to focus on making things happen materially, as opposed to just keeping my mind on God like I normally do.
I’ve discussed this with some of my older advanced yogi friends who find themselves in a similar situation and we can only conclude that we are burning off LOTS of karma as we get nearer to Home. And that’s totally ok.
Thanks again for caring and again, please forgive me if I seem harsh. 
Will,
The Skype option is listed under “Classes and Links.” Maybe I should also put it at the top of the first page?
Whether or not “people will pay” for the service, I don’t know. Classes here in town are going for $5 now. I thought it was just a local phenomenon here in this little impoverished hick town, BUT the other day a friend in Pismo Beach, CA (a really nice, affluent area) told me classes are $5 there now, too! I was quite surprised. But, since you mentioned Skype, I guess people living in other wealthier countries could afford the service - since there is no geographical limitation.
People here locally are really broke and yoga is a “luxury” that most can’t afford these days. That’s why I am seriously considering going non-profit (as a religious/educational organization), to meet the need for yoga instruction on a free or donation basis. We are already in the process of setting it up.
Re: yoga retreats, I am planning to do that when my tenant moves out this summer, including tantric retreats for couples!
But, where are we going to get “an enlightened one” for them to hang out with?
Radharani,
I am not talking about thinking positive thoughts to “make things happen”. I am talking about letting go of negative beliefs and turning them into faith and devotion. “Bad stuff happens to the most god conscious people regardless of what they think” is a negative thought that manifests. Sometimes this is true, but every time you look at your life and say “bad stuff always happens”, it feeds a cycle that has nothing to do with karma.
But if you catch that thought, and turn it into “God always takes care of me”, you are not trying to make things happen, you are giving up trying to make things happen, and life gets much easier.
Dear Ether,
Thank you for trying to help, I really appreciate your good intentions.
Obviously we are having a communication breakdown. I can only assume that either you did not actually read what I wrote, or my words were not clear enough, or else you simply cannot relate to the perspective I have unsuccessfully attempted to describe. I will try one more time to clarify.
“Faith and devotion” is my life. I know “God takes care of me,” in fact, that is exactly what I said about being “in God’s hands.” No matter what happens, it’s all good.
It appears that you may be projecting your own belief system about how the universe works, onto my “soap opera.” You said:
“If you constantly are having thoughts that life is hard and there is not enough money, and you might not make it, those things will manifest in your reality.”
But that’s just the point: I’m NOT. And I don’t share your belief system, although I did in my youth.
You maintain that the sort of events described in the story happen as a result of “negative thoughts or beliefs” on the part of myself and the other yogis I know in similar situations. On the contrary, we keep our heart and mind in God’s Love, a yogic practice that once required discipline and has long since become our natural state. But according to your belief system, if it were so, then these events could not happen because,as you said,“It comes from the majority of thoughts and feelings combined.”
I do not look at my life and say, “bad stuff always happens.” Those are YOUR words.
Indeed, you are projecting your own negative interpretation onto my story! I merely narrated the events in a fairly neutral (albeit sarcastic) manner; I never said my life was “bad” or “hard.” YOU chose to interpret the story that way. Why?
I described my experience as “amusing,” “exciting” and “freeing.” Everything is perfect for our continued liberation, including the burning off of karma which occurs in the process! Actually my life is easy. It’s all about what is happening inside, not outside.
Hopefully now you have a better understanding of where I’m coming from. I apologize if my “soap opera” bummed you out, but if that is the case then maybe you should just stop reading it.
Do that Radharani & share the link over here.I’ll encourage the proect with a humble amount.I’m sure many other AYPers will do too.
Workwise,I myself feel like a horse who can gallop but yet chained.I always ask God why he’s given me so much mental and physical abilities if I’m not using it nowadays .
The reply I get “Sit still,pray,take care of your birds ,tutor <I private-tutor Mathematics and ICDL > & be happy…that’s all required from you now.”
“Holistic Wellness Counselor”
What is that? anything similar to homeopathy.Is it something you can help AYP practitioner with to soothe overloading symptoms maybe based on donation?
Love
It’s a way of collecting funds for off-mainsteam projects via the web and social media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_funding
(you can even Google crowdsourcing or crowdfunding).
The best source of information are by far any people in your town who have tried it for their project/projects.
You “tell” the community out there what makes the project worth small or large donations, where and how to make a payment, and keep them informed about the progress (pictures, a blog link, etc.).
On looking back over my conversation with Etherfish I realize I kind of rambled and maybe was unclear. So now I will break it down more simply and straightforward:
- My consciousness is not occupied with negative thoughts. Usually my mind is on God.
- I don’t believe that thinking about something (whether positive or negative) makes it happen in the external world. (In psychology we refer to this as “magical thinking.”)
- My happiness is not contingent on external circumstances or the “drama” of life. That’s basically the point. What makes me happy is yoga: the incredible Love of God permeating every fiber of my being.