Connecting with those in need

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — If there was anything in common between two fundraisers held in Elgin this weekend for the victims of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami — aside from the intended recipients — it was making a connection.

At the candlelight yoga and meditation fundraiser Saturday for Doctors Without Borders - Japan, the yoga instructors talked about connecting to one’s own soul and body, and connecting spiritually with the people of Japan.

At the Japanese tea ceremony fundraiser Sunday for the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund, presenter Omar Francis explained how a traditional tea ceremony is about connecting the host to the guest, and all the participants to their history and past.

Bob and Anne Bedard hosted the yoga fundraiser, held Saturday evening at the Spring Hill Xtreme, a martial arts and fitness center connected to Spring Hill Gymnastics. Bob Bedard, an Elgin firefighter, has his Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts school at the center. The yoga event was the brainchild of Anne as well as yoga instructors Boontiva Truong-Quang and Danae Molitor.

“Boontiva has a lot of friends in Japan,” Bob Bedard explained, and he tried to go there himself to help out. But unless someone has a direct connection to someone there, it is hard to find those opportunities, he said. Instead, they decided to host a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, which has set up a separate fund to help survivors of the disaster.

The Bedards and other organizers reached out to area businesses, which donated gift baskets and gift certificates for a raffle. And about 40 Elgin area residents participated in the hourlong yoga and meditation session.

Molitor began the session. “Yoga means union,” she said, adding that the community coming together for a cause exemplifies that. “Only through our connectedness with others can we know the self,” she said.

For about half of the group, it was their first time practicing yoga, and Molitor encouraged those participating to find where they were comfortable first and to stay focused on their bodies and not on the world outside. “Being present is the best gift you can give yourself.”

Even though those affected in Japan likely will never know that someone in Elgin practiced yoga for them, the belief in oneness still can change the world, said Nancy May, who led the meditation portion of the evening. “How does it feel in this moment to be serving others?” she asked. “May your actions somehow and in some way contribute to their happiness.”

Tea about respect

Carin Manbeck spent three years living and teaching in Japan, where she also began learning the Way of Tea. That practice is less about the actual tea one drinks than about the ritual of making and serving the tea — from the vessel the water is heated in to how the utensils are held and the tea is sipped.

Held at Elgin’s Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Manbeck and friends who study the Urasenke tradition gave a presentation about the process. They then offered those who made a donation of $10 or more to experience a traditional tea themselves.

Studying tea is much like studying judo or other martial arts, said Francis, who also teaches others about the art. Those who study these forms immerse themselves to create a transformation in themselves, he said.

The principles of their form of tea ceremony are harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Those who serve tea are much like the grandmother who makes sure everyone eats yet never sits down herself but might grab a bite in the kitchen, Francis said. The guests are there to be guests, he said. They show the host their appreciation not just for the tea but for each other, for the utensils used to serve, and for the effort the host put into the event.

Each serving piece is regarded for the person who may have held it before, and the history it has in a family, Francis said.

Although yoga is Indian and tea is particularly Japanese, they do have a tradition in common, Francis said. “It is an idea of doing something as an impetuous for spirituality.”