Where the Pose Meets the Purse: The Yoga of Crowdfunding an Independent Film

So Fare Films
5 hours ago
7 min read

Written by Jenn Lindsay, CEO and Head of Production at So Fare Films

Click here for the yoga mat of Minding Shadows

I returned to my yoga mat last weekend after some days off for busyness and a nasty winter cold. At my side was my trusty downward-dog model and nostril-cleaner, the adorable So Fare Films mascot Neelix.

If you know me at all—even just online—you probably also know that I have been working on a documentary film for a decade called Minding Shadows. It follows the remarkable journey of Olivier Biraro, a Rwandan genocide survivor who has developed a unique teaching practice that blends Jungian shadow work, Buddhist mindfulness, Chinese embodied traditions like tai chi and qi gong, and the African philosophy of ubuntu. The film explores how people heal after violence and how communities might learn to face the darker parts of human nature with courage, compassion, and responsibility.

In many ways, Olivier’s work, and the long process of bringing this story to the screen, have taught me lessons very similar to those I encounter on my yoga mat. That connection is not accidental. I began practicing yoga in 2003, long before I met Olivier in 2016, and yoga is also part of the embodied healing practice he teaches today as a professional instructor. That shared language of practice—both physical and spiritual—was one of the first topics that grounded our long collaboration. And also, a deep love for dogs.

Gathering the Crowds

What you may not know is that independent filmmakers spend far more time fundraising than they do actually making films. Telling stories like Olivier’s requires not only creativity but also persistence in finding the resources to finish the work. In practical terms, that means we are launching what I truly hope will be the final crowdfunding campaign needed to finish the film.

After years of filming across multiple countries, the remaining funds will support the final stages of post-production: music composition, finishing work, archival licensing, and the technical steps required to prepare the film for festivals and educational distribution. Check it out and support us, right here.

Crowdfunding is strenuous work. And in the current climate—especially with the collapse of state support in the United States for public media and for anything perceived as connected to “diversity,” funding for independent films like ours has become almost entirely dependent on private donors and families.

Even though fundraising can be exhausting, I am committed to finishing this film. The story deserves to be told well, and it deserves to reach people.

So yes: we are running another public campaign.

And if you have ever run a marathon, you know this is the right metaphor. Crowdfunding is not a sprint. It requires endurance, emotional stamina, and a willingness to keep going when the road feels long. It requires holding the IMMENSE discomfort of asking for money…and of my fear that I’m seen as that lady who is always about to ask for a donation.

As the launch approaches, I have been feeling a bit nervous about it all.

Putting the Fun Back into Fundraising

This is where yoga comes in.

My return to the mat last weekend reminded me that I have been “in training” for this fundraising campaign. Yoga is more than exercise—it is physical, mental, and spiritual preparation.

One of the reasons I love yoga so much is that it is adaptable to almost any physical or emotional state. If a pose is too advanced or too painful, I modify it. The goal is not to injure myself in pursuit of perfection. Apparently this wisdom applies just as well to life as it does to yoga practice.

When I find myself overwhelmed in life—just as when I find myself struggling to hold a demanding pose—I can modify. I can prioritize sustainability. I can avoid injuring myself mentally or spiritually in the same way that I try to avoid injuring myself physically.

Another thing yoga teaches is how to relax inside effort. When I am holding a strenuous pose—something requiring strength or balance—my teacher often reminds us to breathe more deeply, to soften unnecessary tension, and to find ease even while exerting strength. Because strength, in yoga, is not brute force. It is balanced effort. Strength paired with relaxation. Power paired with flexibility. If I fall out of balance, I just take a breath and step back in place, or wait until we advance to the next pose. Criticizing myself or being competitive achieves nothing; that’s just a habit of my mind. As the great poet Britney Spears once sang, “It’s just so typically me.” But it doesn’t have to be. Because, as with my yoga pose—I can always begin again. As with my breath—everything is always in flux.

That metaphor feels very relevant to the process of independent filmmaking. And exactly what we hope this campaign reflects—steady effort supported by a community that believes the story matters.

To sustain the strength required for a demanding crowdfunding campaign, I have to balance effort with trust in the process. Anxiety must coexist with perspective. And rest is not the opposite of excellence—it is a necessary ingredient of it.

Lessons from my Yoga Teacher

In a class I recently took with my longtime favorite teacher Jackie Casal Marou, she quoted the yoga teacher Donna Farhi:

“In truth, it matters less what we do in yoga practice than how and why we do it.”

That line landed hard for me. Because while Minding Shadows is incredibly important to me, and to the hundreds of people who have contributed to the film over the years, it is not the most important thing in the history of the world. And there would be no point finishing this movie if doing so required burning out relationships, exhausting collaborators, or creating more suffering than inspiration.

The how and the why matter. From the beginning of So Fare Films in 2020, it has been important to me that the company operates primarily on good vibes, meaningful collaborations, and positive relationships—alongside whatever funding we are able to attract.

I am proud to say that, for most people involved, it seems to have been a positive experience.

So Fare Films has been an intense balancing pose.

For me personally, though, the journey has sometimes been physically, spiritually, and relationally demanding, even damanging at times, when I don't respect my own bandwidth. So I am reminding myself that the intention behind this film matters as much as the finished product itself. The process should reflect the film's message of metta, loving-kindness, for all living creatures.

Sacred Text Messages

This brings me to another teaching that has been guiding me lately: a verse from the Bhagavad Gita (2.47), often translated as:

Neelix, however, is entitled to the fruits of his actions.

“You have the right to perform your duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.”

This teaching is known as Nishkama Karma Yoga—the yoga of selfless action. It encourages us to act fully and wholeheartedly while releasing attachment to outcomes. In other words: do the work. But don’t cling to success or fear failure.

As I prepare to launch this crowdfunding campaign, that teaching feels particularly relevant. It will not be easy. There will be long nights. There will be moments of exhaustion. There will almost certainly be moments of doubt. In past campaigns, I sometimes coped with the stress by leaning a little too heavily on intoxicants to dull the anxiety and fatigue that come with public fundraising.

Not this time. This year I decided to move through the entire process with a clear mind. Which means I am feeling everything—the jagged edges of uncertainty, the late nights, the vulnerability of asking people for support, and being thought of as the perpetual fundraiser.

But if yoga has taught me anything, it is that growth often happens in the moments of strain. When I hold a difficult pose long enough, something interesting happens. The shaking settles. The breath deepens. Strength emerges. And sometimes ease appears right in the middle of the effort.

That is the spirit I hope to bring into this crowdfunding campaign:

Focus on the work.

Release attachment to results.

Avoid the temptation of giving up.

And remember that none of us are the sole authors of what unfolds.

Setting the Intention

When I start to feel overwhelmed by the small anxieties of crowdfunding, I remember that the person whose story we are trying to bring into the world survived far greater trials…and somehow still chose a life dedicated to healing. Olivier’s life reminds me that the real work of yoga is not performed on a mat, but in the courage to transform suffering into compassion.

I am deeply grateful to my teacher Jackie for her guidance on the mat, and to the extraordinary team that has helped bring Minding Shadows to life. Most of all, I am grateful to the protagonist of the film, Olivier Biraro—a soulful practitioner whose life and teachings have inspired me for more than a decade. Olivier has shown me what it looks like to hold the pose of life with elegance, kindness, and patience, even in the face of immense hardship.

So as this campaign begins, my hope is simple.

May I stay balanced during the process.

May the work be done with clarity and integrity.

And may the fruits of this effort carry our beloved film across the finish line—so that we can all, at long last, achieve a little moksha from the filmmaking process on this particular project.

Carrying the Message Forward

If you would like to be part of helping Minding Shadows reach the finish line, you can visit the campaign page here: https://www.supportmindingshadowsfilm.com/. Independent documentary films exist because communities of people decide that a story matters. Whether you choose to support financially, share the campaign with others, or simply send a few good wishes into the universe, your encouragement means more than you might imagine.

In fact, for those who support the upcoming campaign at the pledge level of $100, we will even be sharing one of Olivier’s recorded yoga lessons as a small thank-you—an opportunity to experience directly the practice that has shaped so

much of his philosophy of healing.

As a child of the 80s, I always think of this during the final *namaste* moment of yoga practice. Artwork: Care Bear Stare by PwahLaLa on DeviantArt

In closing, as we do at the end of yoga practice (after sealing in the benefits of the practice with a long, restful moment in corpse pose)…I place my hands on my heart and cultivate a condensed burst of goodwill and gratitude to all beings in the world, wishing them, regardless of their actions or inactions, nothing but peace and well-being. Namaste.