You Don’t Have to be a Big Company to Give Back

The NOW Project, a Los Angeles-based jewelry and apparel company, practices a different breed of “Buy-One-Give-One.” Through Yoga NOW, for every NOW jewelry product purchased, the company is donating one yoga class to an at-risk child.

Initially, the founders had planned to give away 50% of profits to select causes. But rather than wait until they tallied up profits, and then give money away that would go to bureaucracies and overhead, they chose a direct impact approach that could begin in The Now.

Yoga NOW has reached out to students in Los Angeles, with eventual plans to scale the program nation wide. At the inner-city Olympic High School and New Village Charter School, female students have elected to practice yoga once a week for a full semester. More than learning the physical practice of yoga, students are given an outlet for stress and anxiety and a chance to put conflicts aside and come together in a peaceful and mentored setting. See the benefits in the video below.

Yoga NOW works closely with the nonprofit Yoga-ED to bring in certified yoga teachers, a number of whom have a background in education or conflict resolution.

The NOW Project was founded by Robert Richman and Joshua Kagan as a reminder to live in the present moment, also known as The NOW.

Click here if you can’t see the video.