In January 1999 I began a journey that has been as eclectic and transformative as the name I gave this business. That name was a spontaneous inspiration, I liked the sound of it, Kharma Khameleon. It was only later that I realized the connection to the Boy George 80’s hit which still makes me laugh at the irony of how threads of our life re-weave themselves back around unconsciously. Kharma Khameleon’s initial impetus was to become one of the first online retail shops
to offer products that supported the culture and people of Tibet.
Many years ago I was at a small festival where I had a booth and I decided to have my tarot cards read by a psychic. This guy turned the cards over and said to me, “You are a karmic chameleon.” He told me I was very adaptable and changeable, that this was part of my karmic journey. Yeah, one of those full body chill moments for sure. I felt affirmed.
This little Buddhist website offered statuary, singing bowls, prayer wheels, incense, mala beads and many more products I procured from small companies that went directly to Northern India and had a mission, like mine, to support the Tibetan people living in exile. This was the perfect little cottage industry for me as a stay at home mom.
Those days in order to photograph the product required rolls and rolls of film taken to Ritz Camera to be developed. Then only to discover the lighting was wrong or an image was blurry requiring re-photographing many times until it was ready to be uploaded to the website. This was a laborious and expensive effort compared to our digital world of smart phones today. Customers new to online shopping needed reassurance that it was safe to checkout. Looking back, it really was so much more primitive than it is now and now everything online is so much a part of our daily lives.
Then in 2002 I got certified as a Feng Shui consultant and Chinese Astrologer so Kharma Khameleon went through her first re-skinning to add Feng Shui cures like coins, crystals, statuary, and money frogs. I started to go to New Age trade shows in Northern VA toting my wares in big tubs and spending very long days sharing my love of Buddhism and Feng Shui with lots of customers. By 2005 I had received my 200 hour Integral Yoga Teacher’s certification. For a short time I managed and operated two distinct websites, Kharma Khameleon and Just Be Yoga, while also opening a yoga studio. Eventually Kharma Khameleon became the parent company to my yoga business as it transformed from Just Be Yoga to Yoga with Nitya and then, finally Nitya Living. Part of the most recent re-branding that happened this time last year, was to allow room for all holistic services to be included from yoga to Feng Shui to chanting to astrology to books and camps and retreats and who knows what else might be added over time.
So even though my old girl, Kharma Khameleon is not front and center like she used to be, even though I no longer sell Buddhist and Feng Shui products online, and even though my yoga studio is a mobile studio now, and even though we have been re-skinned many many times along this 20 year adventure, we have ascended and grown in countless ways together.
I cannot imagine doing anything else, I truly adore this work, all of it. It is a service, an offering to the world, my legacy. For all of YOU, I am so very grateful. And I wonder, where this path will take us now, this long circuitous precious path that I share with each of you and love with all my heart.