Bras Around the World
By Sunaura Brown
As a psychotherapist I work with core beliefs all the time. These are beliefs that we develop at a young age when our subconscious mind is ruling and the information we receive about ourselves and who we are in the world is imprinted as a core belief – something that cannot be easily altered. As an adult child of Auroville, one such belief that was imprinted upon my subconscious mind and those of my fellow kin was…
“You can do anything you set out to do!!!”
It was with this certainty that I woke in early November, 2022 with the idea of collecting bras to take around the globe. Hear me out before you think me crazy…bras were on my mind for two reasons.
The first reason came from a conversation with a dear Tamil girlfriend of mine who mentioned the bra I had given her when we were in our teens (I am 50 now) was “passed down” to her daughter a year ago! Another Tamil girlfriend who is active in sports had confided in me that she had to wear two or three bras to be comfortable enough to play.
The second reason was that as an avid secondhand shopper, I had noticed over the years an increase in the number of bras and workout clothes – new or almost new – being sold at every local thrift shop. Most of these bras do not get bought and end up in our landfills…and clogging up our oceans.
So, on this early morning last November I suddenly decided I would take bras to India with me on my trip home in January. Not sure how it would unravel, I jumped on my phone and sent a message out to my community asking for bra donations…knowing that many of us in the western world buy bras that we end up not using and they sit in our drawers collecting dust until we haul them to the next Goodwill store…
I also got on the internet and browsed bra exchange ideas. I was delighted to find a non-profit in Seattle, WA, USA called Bras for Girls. Bras for Girls receives and donates brand new sports bras to girls and young women who can’t otherwise afford them. I was surprised to see how many here in the US alone do not play sports because they lack the chest support and the money to buy any. So, I wrote to the CEO of the non-profit (another core belief of an AV child = “we are equals – you can talk with anyone”) and was delighted when she responded within 20 minutes! “Yes” she said “let’s do it”. This as well as the overpour of basically brand-new bras from the community around me (I literally had to tell them to stop donating at one point as I had too many to carry!), had me set up with 300 + bras in very little time!!
And around the world I went with suitcases full of bras…taking them back home to Auroville where I wanted to share them with the local sports teams as well as any women who wanted new bras. Although sports bras do exist in India, the features, fabrics and materials featured in the collections from Bras for Girls are invaluable for the young athletes. It was a success! Many young sporty women received some high-end sports bras. At the end of the day, it’s these small successes and community outreach projects that help our world go round! It is my belief that we as humans have so much to share and help each other along the way…another core belief from my Auroville upbringing…”It’s better to do it as a community”.
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About the Author
Sunaura (Sunny) was born in Auroville and has continued to maintain her connection throughout the years. She currently lives in Ashland, Oregon, USA, is a practicing psychotherapist and divides her time between work, her family, painting and staying connected to her ‘heart’ home community – Auroville.
