S E R I E S
YOGItimes magazine for the modern yogi
THE JIVAMUKTI YOGA METHOD
Practices For Liberating Body and Soul

By Nicole Nichols and Heather Fairfield
Twenty years ago Sharon Gannon and David Life developed Jivamukti Yoga, a style that would become known around the world for its mix of challenging physical asanas and scriptural study blended with music, social awareness and devotion. Driven to communicate something extraordinary about human potential, in 1984 they created the Jivamukti method. The method quickly began to take hold in New York City where they started out with a few students in a small apartment. It has grown to become one of nine internationally recognized styles of Hatha Yoga. The method is taught in Jivamukti Yoga Centers in New York and Detroit, as well as internationally in Munich, Toronto, and London, where thousands of students commit to the study of this powerful transcendental method.

Jivamukti Yoga is a spiritual practice that uses the body/mind in order to transcend the body/mind. The method effectively reintegrates the physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of yoga, which are so often separated in the Western world. Every Jivamukti Yoga class includes the five tenets of the method: ahimsa (non-violence,) bhakti (devotion to God,) nadam (deep listening,) scripture (study of the ancient yogic texts, as well as Sanskrit chanting) and meditation (connecting to the eternal unchanging reality within.) The incorporation of these precepts into an asana practice ensures that yoga is being practiced for its original purpose - as a means to enlightenment and not merely a physical exercise.

The asana practice itself demands that the practitioners come face to face with their limitations - physical, mental and emotional. These limitations manifest as tightness in the body, and negative thoughts and emotions such as anger, jealousy and fear. By devoting every inhalation and exhalation to overcoming these negative tendencies, they step forward on the mat motivated by a commitment to love. In time, students develop the courage to move fearlessly through their own psychological and physical limitations. Spiritually elevating music (from Krishna Das to The Beatles) played in the classroom is a constant inspiration and reminder of the goal, which is yoga, union with the Divine. Together, these aspects work to break down ignorance, selfishness, pride, and low self-esteem, which ultimately hinder the realization of the higher Self. Openness comes to the body as the life force (prana) is allowed to flow freely, and stillness begins to wash over the mind allowing one to sit in meditation and listen deeply for the primal sound, OM, vibrating eternally at the core of all manifestation.

The practice of ahimsa is paramount to the Jivamukti Yoga method. Ahimsa is a commitment to non-harming by placing the welfare and happiness of other beings before your own. In doing this, one begins to develop compassion and humility. With this insight, the student comes closer to understanding the interconnectedness of all beings; what you do to another you ultimately do to yourself. The goal of all yogic practices is enlightenment. What is realized in the enlightened state is the oneness of being. Kindness to others brings about this realization directly.

This is why a vegetarian lifestyle - or even better, vegan - is such an important ingredient in the Jivamukti method. David and Sharon have taken to heart the advice given by the sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras concerning the practice of asana: if ones desires yoga than one must make sure that their own connection to the earth and all her beings is mutually beneficial and not based on exploitation and selfish motive. Ethical vegetarianism is emphasized as a means to raise awareness of the environmental impact of a meat-based diet, as well as a means to as a means to develop compassion, eliminate suffering, and incur good karma. With Jivamukti Yoga, Sharon Gannon and David Life have created a form of political activism as well as spiritual activation, wherein the student has the opportunity for internal revolution. The word jivamukti means one who is liberated while still in the body. From the beginning Sharon and David have believed that liberation is the only reason to practice yoga. As Gannon writes, “When you practice yoga, you open your awareness to the greatest of possibilities: your own enlightenment in this very life.”