Art of Living DC Center

Building lasting relationships with neighbors, one breath at a time

New Here?

Start with: North Star Vision → How to Volunteer

Two Stories

Sarah, 28, brought her daughter to the pocket park. "Nature Does Yoga" on the banner caught her eye. QRious, she scanned → intro session → Sattva app → course. Three months later, she's an ambassador bringing her coworkers.

Peter, 32, felt out of place at the center — the entrance didn't signal "people like me." Then meditation came to his rooftop — professional, peers who vibed like him. Six months later, he's in the Art of Living t-shirt at Meridian Hill Park, cleaning up with the community as part of Saturday seva.

Two paths. One outcome: community that grows itself.

This Week

Priority	Action	Owner
Mega Course registrations	Push Jan 23-25 course — tiny.cc/SKYDC2026	Campaign Lead
WMD follow-up	Contact Dec 21 attendees within 48hrs	Volunteer team
Intro sessions	Daily intro talks available until Jan 23	Outreach Lead

Active Campaigns: - World Meditation Day — Dec 21, 2025 - Mega Course January — Jan 23-25, 2026

→ Full priorities

Find What You Need

🌱 Volunteer — I want to help

Getting Started

I want to...	Go here
...start volunteering	How to Volunteer
...understand terminology	Glossary
...stay engaged	Volunteer Engagement

What to Know

New volunteers: Start with How to Volunteer — it covers what we do, how to plug in, and what to expect
Questions? Ask in the WhatsApp group or reach out to your team lead
Knowledge in Action sessions happen regularly — great way to learn and connect

📋 Lead — I'm running or proposing an initiative

Active Campaigns

Campaign	Dates	Playbook
World Meditation Day	Dec 21, 2025	WMD Playbook
Mega Course January	Jan 23-25, 2026	Mega Course Playbook

Playbooks

Playbook	Use for
Ways of Working	Coordination norms, handoffs
Communication Systems	Channels, tools, workflows
Neighborhood Presence	Outreach, partnerships, events
Center Operations	Materials, branding, setup
Center Design	Garden, kiosk, entrance vision

Reference Materials

Resource	What's in it
Messaging Templates	Email, SMS, WhatsApp copy
Contacts Directory	Property managers, venues, partners
48hr Retention Flow	Post-event follow-up
Library Strategy	Library partnership approach
Events Calendar	Booth opportunities
Mega Course Strategy	Repeatable course playbook
Webinar Strategy	Webinar specifics for DC
Garden Project	Nature Does Yoga garden

Propose or Start Something New

I want to...	Use this
...propose a new event or initiative	Event Initiative Template
...start a new campaign	Campaign Skeleton

The Event Initiative template helps you structure your idea with assumptions to test, target audience, and how it feeds into courses — ready for team review.

🎯 Admin — Strategy, governance, and systems

Strategy

Document	Purpose
North Star	Vision: Now → 6 Months → Future
Operating Principles	How we operate — traceable to all docs
2026 Calendar	Month-by-month strategy
Board Presentation	Board proposal
Domain Brief	Market positioning

Governance (Meta)

Document	Purpose
Priorities	What's now, next, backlogged
Assumptions	What we know and don't know
Lessons Learned	Campaign retrospectives
Ideas Backlog	Future possibilities, Sakhi concept
Operational Resources	Rooms, assets, roles, budgets
Demographics Research	Target audience analysis
Strategy Matrix	Strategic overview
Sprint Execution	Current sprint plan
Final Approach	Clarified approach

Technology

Document	Purpose
Technical Setup	IT reference
Metrics Framework	Success criteria
IT Wishlist	IT roadmap

How It All Connects

  HOW WE SHOW UP       →  Consistent heart, rotating fresh energy,
                          guided by operating principles
         ↓ informs
  WHAT SUPPORTS US     →  Playbooks, guides, tools, templates —
                          momentum doesn't depend on who's energized
         ↓ enables
  WHAT WE OFFER        →  SKY, Sahaj, Retreats — the journey
         ↓ serves
  WHO WE SERVE         →  Sarah, Peter, neighbors in 20009 & beyond

Layer	Key Docs
How We Show Up	Operating Principles, How to Volunteer, Ways of Working
What Supports Us	Communication Systems, Technical Setup
What We Offer	Mega Course Strategy, Campaigns
Who We Serve	Domain Brief, Demographics

Traceability: Operating Principles lists which docs depend on each principle. When a principle changes, review all linked docs.

Why This System Exists

Today	With This System
Fewer than 200 neighbors in two years	Consistent neighborhood presence builds awareness
Single-digit course sizes	Predictable pipeline from events to courses
Creative differences consume hours	Shared playbooks reduce debate, preserve energy
Each new volunteer starts from zero	Institutional knowledge persists across transitions
Campaign momentum depends on who's energized	Momentum comes from system; personalities add flavor
Firefighting leads to burnout	Proactive planning, sustainable pace
Knowledge walks out with each volunteer	Templates, retrospectives capture what works
Center feels like a place to take a course	Center feels like a place to belong — all races, all faces

The system holds the base — so people bring their flavor. Playbooks handle logistics. Volunteers bring warmth, creativity, fresh energy. Rotating leads means no one burns out, everyone gets chances to grow.

Thousands seek balance in DC. This isn't a marketing problem — it's a sustained connection problem. We've done the million-strong World Culture Festival. Scale isn't the issue. Coordination with a unified system is.

Note: This is an opinionated framework with working assumptions. See assumptions.md for what we're betting on — and where to refine.

Documentation Map

volunteer/       New & regular volunteers: onboarding, glossary
lead/            Campaign leads: playbooks, campaigns, reference
  campaigns/     Active event playbooks
  playbooks/     Infrastructure guides
  reference/     Templates, contacts, execution guides
admin/           Central team: strategy, governance, tech
  strategy/      Vision, board materials, positioning
  meta/          Governance: assumptions, priorities, lessons
  tech/          IT setup, metrics, roadmap
archive/         Old versions

What Lives Where: Docs vs Data

The Indra Principle

Indra is commonly known as the name of the king of gods. But Indra is actually a post—whoever holds the position is called Indra.

Similarly, our docs describe roles and responsibilities (the post), while data files track who currently holds each role (the person). The role persists; people rotate through it.

WHAT (in these docs)

Processes, steps, checklists
Session formats, course structures
Templates, messaging frameworks
Policies, guidelines, norms
Historical context — names that document past events (e.g., "Jan 2026 Mega: taught by Ajay & Chris")

WHO (in data files)

Current facilitator assignments
Volunteer rosters, availability
Property manager contacts
Event-specific role assignments

Type	Lives In	Example
Processes, playbooks	`volunteer/`, `lead/`, `admin/`	"Follow up within 48 hours"
Current contacts	`assets/data/`	"Andy - andy@email.com"
Historical names	Process docs	"Jan 2026: Ajay, Chris taught"
Venues, events, dates	Process docs	"MLK Library - 2nd Saturday"

Why separate? - Names change; processes don't - Data files are easy to update; docs need review - Multiple people can edit data simultaneously - Codes link docs to data (e.g., COORD-CTR → lookup name in data file)

Example: - Doc says: "Saturday Long Kriya (FU-SAT) needs a facilitator and backup" - Data file says: "FU-SAT | 2025-12-28 | Andy | andy@... | TBD backup"

→ See Facilitation Codes for the full code system. → See Data Files for available data files.

Last updated: 2025-12-25