About Jivamukti Yoga
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Sharon brings a rare blend of scholarly study, artistic pursuits and a highly disciplined asana and meditation practice to her offerings as a teacher. Sharon is a renowned teacher around the globe. She has taught yoga and meditation throughout the United States as well as Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada, England, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Turkey, Israel, India, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Bali, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. Her high profile students include Sting, Trudie Styler, Russell Simmons, Gabriela Bozic, Mike D. Donna Karan, Michael Franti, Geshe Michael Roach and Christy McNally
Since 1993 she has presented annually at various national and international conferences hosted by The Omega Institute, Yoga Journal, Asian Conferences and others. Each year, along with David Life she teaches a one-month intensive Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training course which is offered in the US at the Omega Institute, Rhinebeck NYwww.eomega.org and in Germany, 100 km from Berlin in Lychen, www.schluesshof.ee
Artist- As a poet, musician, dancer and producer, Sharon views art as a means for uplifting the soul and her artistic pursuits seek to enrich the community by being both inspirational and educational. She holds a BA in Dance and has studied ballet, modern, classical and various forms of Indian Dance; as well as music, poetry, painting and alchemy.
During the 1970's & 80's first in Seattle and then in NYC she was the vocalist and violinist for the jazz/rock band Audio Letter as well as directing and choreographing for the dance company 'Moon-Food'. Her choreography is featured in the Video: Asana: sacred dance of the Yogi. In 2003 she produced the CD Neti-Neti, a remix of the 1987 Audio Letter album of the same name, receiving rave reviews and critical acclaim from Billboard Magazine, Rolling Stone, Yoga Journal and others. She collaborated with Janet Rienstra of Meta Records to create the cd: Chakra, seven centers. She collaborated with Raven Recording to produce Sundari, music for a Jivamukti Yoga Class. In 2004 she co-produced with White Swan Music Records, the CD, Jai MA, a collection of divine women singers. Sharon is a guest vocalist, appearing on CDs with innovative world-beat musicians including Bill Laswell, Mike D., Sean Dinsmore, David Newman, Shyam Das and DJ Cheb I Sabbah.
Animal Advocate- Sharon is an animal-rights activist and outspoken advocate of ethical veganism. She was nominated for the "Gutsiest Woman of the Year 1999" by Jane Magazine. She is the author of Cats and Dogs are People Too, an investigation of the corporate profit-driven insensitive attitudes that result in commercial "pet food" and the health risks to companion animals who eat it. Together with David Life and Janet Rienstra, she established the Animal Mukti Free Spay & Neuter Clinic, which was the first free spay and neuter clinic in New York City, at the Humane Society of NY in 1999. In 2004 she was recognized as "Friend of Ferals" by the Humane Society of New York and Neighborhood Cats. She is a long time vanguard member of PETA, working with them on various projects and campaigns to help make this world a kinder place. In 2003 she appeared on a video screen in Times Square behind the New Years Ball advocating Yoga and Vegetarianism as a step toward world Peace. Along with Life she has established a 76-acre Wildlife Forest Sanctuary in upstate New York.
Author- Sharon has co-authored two books on Yoga with David Life, Jivamukti Yoga, Practices for Liberating Body & Soul and The Art of Yoga. She is the author of Cats and Dogs are People Too and the newly release Yoga and Vegetarianism . She contributes the Focus of the Month, a monthly essay, focusing on yogic topics, which can be read on www.jivamuktiyoga.com. She is the compiler and translator of the Jivamukti Chant Book. She has contributed essays and short stories to Semiotext(e). She was a past editor of Patio Table Magazine. She is a member of the Woodstock Poetry Society. A collection of her poems and essays are complied in the book Freedom is a Psycho-Kinetic Skill. She is currently working on three soon to be published books, The Yogic Art of Assists, a book of Poetry as well as a Vegan Cookbook.
www.jivamuktiyoga.com David Life - Deva Das
David has been recognized by Yoga Journal as an "innovator" in yoga in the U.S today. Together with Sharon Gannon, and through the blessings of his teachers, David has helped create the Jivamukti Yoga method, which focuses on teaching and practicing yoga as a means to enlightenment.
Jivamukti Yoga - Vanity Fair, in an article titled Planet Yoga featured David and Sharon, calling Jivamukti Yoga "a bridge between the East and the West." The Jivamukti Yoga Method is taught worldwide in Jivamukti Yoga Schools in New York, Berlin, Munich, London, Toronto, and Detroit. The Jivamukti Yoga method is recognized by TIME magazine as one of the nine major methods of hatha yoga taught in the world today, and is featured in the acclaimed documentary, "What is Yoga?".
Yoga Master- David's gurus are Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Shri Swami Nirmalananda and Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. David is a certified Advanced practitioner of the Ashtanga Yoga method of Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, which he began studying in Mysore, India in 1988. He spent several years as a sannyas (renunciate) initiated by Swami Nirmalananda in 1989. He has received Kalachakra and Bodhisattva initiation from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. His interest in yoga is supported by his artistic, literary and metaphysical studies. He imbues his classes with metaphor, musicality and spirituality, spiced with humor, vigor and spontaneity. He is considered to be a "teacher's teacher" and he is a respected, popular, and in-demand teacher around the globe. He has taught for more than twenty years throughout the United States, and in Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Italy, India, Turkey, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Australia, China, the Caribbean, and Israel. Since 1993 he has presented regularly at national and international yoga conferences. Along with Sharon Gannon he teaches a one-month intensive Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training course offered at various locations. He has written articles as well as being featured in many articles in Yoga Journal and is featured in Yoga an encyclopedic collection of asana by Linda Sparrow. - His high profile students have included, Trudy Styler and Sting, Madonna, Russell Simmons, Christy Turlington, Donna Karan and Geshe Michael Roach.
Influential Artist & Founder of Life Cafe - David Life was born in a small town in Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors.
He has lived in New York City since 1979. When he created Life Cafe in 1980 it was a coffeehouse with vegetarian chili, and espresso made one-at-a-time on an electric hotplate. Life Cafe featured jazz, art, and poetry. David became an influential performer, artist and spokesperson in the political and social foment and lively arts community in the1980's Lower East Side of New York City. Life Cafe has been featured in Newsweek, and in the Broadway play "Rent" as the setting for "La Vie Boheme."
Author & Teacher - He has been a contributing writer for several publications including Yoga Journal and Yoga International, and together with Sharon Gannon has co-authored two books, Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body & Soul and The Art of Yoga.
Animal Advocacy - Together with Sharon Gannon and Janet Rienstra, he established the Animal Mukti Free Spay & Neuter Clinic in New York City at the Humane Society of NYC in 1999. He is a long time vanguard member of PETA, working with them on various projects and campaigns to help make this world a kinder place. Along with Gannon he has established and maintains a 76-acre wildlife forest sanctuary in upstate New York.
Friends of Jivamukti
Shyamdas
To my beautiful friend and scholar Shyamdas who has inspired me so much with his sweet music and brings the Vedic literature of India and the Bhakti Yoga of Vraja to life in the West. He has written and translated more than 20 books on Bhakti Yoga and the Path of Grace. Shyamdas specializes in classical Dhrupada music and the mystic poets of North India.