"Blissology" Yoga Journey to Mumbai

Here at alive, we love stories about passionate individuals setting out to a make a difference, and today we have one to share with you.

Celebrated yogi and self-proclaimed “Blissologist” Eoin Finn along with his wife and fellow “Bliss” promoter, Insiya Rasiwala-Finn, have taken on a project to inspire children of construction workers in India by teaching them yoga for the Mumbai Mobile Cretches charity.

With an estimated 30 million workers, the construction industry is said to be the largest employer of migrant labourers in India. However, when these workers move to cities with their children for work, they live directly on construction sites. Therefore, their children are often forced to fend for themselves. They live in poverty; many have been affected by malnutrition, injury, or illness; and they may not get a chance to attend school regularly. Even still, Eoin attests that the atmosphere in the community seems “upbeat and even joyous.”

To give back to India and make a difference in the lives of these children, Eoin and Insiya travelled to Mumbai earlier in the year, where they taught a class of 50 children yoga poses such as warrior, crow, and triangle. The class resulted in smiles and laughter, and it raised spirits of everyone taking part—Eoin and Insiya included. Check out a video of their experience here.

According to Eoin, one of the lasting impacts of the project (affectionately nicknamed “slum down dog millionaire”) is how it demonstrated that you can create a community even in unlikely conditions such as the ones in the shanty town.

More about the Blissology Project
The Blissology project was founded by Eoin Finn on the principles that everything we do affects others, and further, how our own joy can affect the joy of those around us. Happiness, they say, is an upward spiral. Learn more about Blissology and the Blissologist project at their website. They’re currently featuring a four-week “Commit to Bliss” program.