Jivamukti Yoga: Putting Yoga Together in the West

Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul
by Sharon Gannon, David Life

Creators of the extremely popular Jivamukti Yoga method and cofounders of the New York City studios where it is taught, Sharon Gannon and David Life present their unique style of yoga for the first time in book form. As they explain their intensely physical and spiritual system of flowing postures, they provide inspiring expert instruction to guide you in your practice.

Unlike many books about yoga, Jivamukti Yoga focuses not only on the physical postures but also on how they evolved-the origins of the practices in yoga's ancient sacred texts and five-thousand-year-old traditions-the psychotherapeutic benefits that accrue with a steady practice, and the spiritual power that is set free when energy flows throughout the mind and body. Jivamukti Yoga, which means "soul liberation," guides your body and soul into spiritual freedom, physical strength, peace of mind, better health, and Self-realization-the ultimate goal of any practice. Gannon and Life help you understand each of the practices that comprise the yoga path to enlightenment:

• AHIMSA - The Way of Compassion: choosing nonviolence, respecting all life, practicing vegetarianism, living free of prejudice
• ASANA - The Way of Connection to the Earth: postures and sequences, breathing, transforming energy, understanding the bandhas
• KARMA - The Way of Action: creating good karma, giving thanks
• NADAM - The Way of Sacred Music: appreciating the sacred sounds of yoga
• MEDITATION - The Way of the Witness: how to sit still and move inward
• BHAKTI - The Way of Devotion to God: living with love, grace, and peace

Whatever yoga you practice, Jivamukti Yoga will help you to strengthen and deepen that practice and lead you onto a path of spiritual clarity and self-discovery.

Chapter 1

The jivanmukta is not transformed by pleasure or pain.
Joy does not exalt the mukta, nor is the mukta depressed by pain.
The jivanmukta no longer regards the world as real. . . .
The jivanmukta is pure like akasha. . . .
The jivanmukta is neither subject to attachment, nor to egoism.
The jivanmukta does not fear the world, Nor does the world fear the jivanmukta
The jivanmukta is at peace with the ways of the world.
The mukta is free from worldly-mindedness . . .
Finally, the jivanmukta maintains a cool head.

- Vidyaranya, The Jivan-Mukti-Viveka

Jivamukti Yoga incorporates traditional yoga practices into a modern lifestyle without losing sight of the ancient, universal goal of liberation. We believe that liberation is possible even while living a modern urban lifestyle anywhere in the world. We believe that the ancient teachings and techniques of yoga, as laid out in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, are as valid and exciting today as they were over five thousand years ago.

If you explore yoga yourself by reading the texts, chanting, practicing asanas, and meditating, you will begin to feel that it's not foreign or separate from you. It is not not of you or of your culture. You do not have to be Hindu to read the scriptures or practice yoga, although familiarity with Hinduism and the history of Indian philosophy is certainly helpful.

Hinduism is a religion, based on a way of life called Sanatana Dharma, or the Universal Way. It includes four pillars: (1) vegetarianism, (2) an acknowledgment of the law of karma (the law of cause and effect), (3) a belief in reincarnation, and (4) a belief in the possibility of moksha, or liberation from all forms of suffering. True Hinduism incorporates all religions, because it recognizes that if you have a way that works for you, it is valid-it comes under the umbrella of the Universal Way. Certainly there are many religious, racial, and class divisions in India, but what we came away with from our travels there was this essence of universality.

Yoga is not a religion; it is a school of practical philosophy. Yoga practices, however, are inextricably linked to the development of both Hinduism and the philosophical schools, including Yoga, Vedanta, Samkhya, Jainism, and Buddhism, which developed in ancient India. Their codevelopment in the modern era has commonality in language, myth, root teachings, practices, and beliefs.

When we began teaching yoga, we set ourselves this challenge: to relate the ancient teachings to modern experience without dumbing down the yoga practices or sacrificing their original aim, which was always and only to experience union with the Divine Self. We also asked ourselves: Is there anything in our own culture that could help us in our quest for enlightenment? Let's look at the lyrics in the Beatles' music; let's listen to what Van Morrison is singing about; let's be inspired by the fusion of Eastern and Western influences in the music of John Coltrane and Bill Laswell. What about the essential, idealist nature of the United States? Freedom, liberation through unity in diversity-that's what the Founding Fathers were all about. Teaching yoga based on ancient Indian scriptures to New Yorkers began to seem not only possible, but exciting.

Purusha [pure spirit] without Prakriti [nature] is lame, Prakriti without Purusha is blind.

-Ishvarakrishna, Samkhyakarika1

We had both been drawn to the East Village by our artistic pursuits. Along the way, we had inadvertently crossed paths with each other and with some of our greatest future influences.

In the late 1970s, a Seattle radio station broadcast a serial drama produced by Meatball Fulton, called The Fourth Tower of Inverness, which used recordings of Bhagavan Das singing Sanskrit names for God. This singing captivated Sharon, who was at that time a busy dancer and musician with a strong interest in Indian philosophy. She had a feeling that she would meet Bhagavan Das some day.

David, meanwhile, was traveling around the country with his portfolio of drawings, trying on cities. As his old Chevy Suburban slid into Seattle he caught the last few minutes of The Fourth Tower of Inverness. Seattle didn't grab him, so he headed toward San Francisco. San Francisco, L.A., Palm Springs, Portland, Houston, Austin, New Orleans . . . eventually David limped back to Michigan with a broken trailer filled with soapstone and serpentine rock. A friend invited him to New York City. It didn't take long for him to see that it was the city he had been searching for.

David moved into a dilapidated storefront on 10th Street and Avenue B. The neighborhood's cheap rents were a by-product of rampant drug dealing. To cover holes in his walls, David wheat-pasted covers from old Life magazines over them. He opened the Life Café in 1980.

Back in Seattle, Sharon was dancing, reading poetry, and playing violin and singing for the band Audio Letter. At a sound check she slipped and fell hard on her lower spine. By the time the band left to perform at Life Café in New York, Sharon was in terrible pain.

A New York gig meant a lot, though, and the Life Café audience seemed to really enjoy the show. Afterward, Sharon sat near the piano with a cup of tea. She grimaced as pain shot through her back. Tara, a waitress, noticed and was concerned, so Sharon explained that she had fallen months before and was still in pain. Tara, who also taught a yoga class, said that maybe yoga could help. Sharon had always been curious about yoga; she had studied classical Indian dance and philosophy while earning her dance degree from the University of Washington.

Copyright © 2002 by Sharon Gannon and David Life.