To experience Jivamukti Yoga is to have a full experience of the practices that make up yoga. The many varied practices of yoga are all directed towards one aim; to realize enlightenment. These practices are designed to work together and are essentially powerless when practiced independently. Asana, or the physical practice of postures, is what is usually thought of when the term “yoga” is referred to. The asanas, however, are nothing more than stretching without the inclusion of all of the aspects of the practice. Other aspects include meditation, chanting Sanskrit, pranayama (breath work), study of the ancient philosophy and written texts, and the intention of spiritual connection. A Jivamukti yoga class offers the experience of all of these aspects. Its like taking a spiritual bath!
Jivamukti Yoga emerged in 1984:
Now one of the nine internationally recognized styles of Hatha yoga and co-founded by Sharon Gannon and David Life, Jivamukti yoga began in a friend’s basement in the East Village of New York City. Gannon and Life chose the term Jivamukti from the Sanskrit word Jivanmukti which translates, “liberated while living.” The Jivamukti yoga approach combines practices that liberate body and soul.
Jivamukti Yoga stands on five pillars of intention:
Carolyn Yates with her teachers and the creators of Jivamukti Yoga, David Life and Sharon Gannon
Ahimsa (the practice of non-harming in regard to others), bhakti (the practice of devotion), meditation (the practice of one-pointed focus), scripture (study of philosophy and spirituality of yoga), nada yoga (the yoga of sound).
A friend once described her experience of Jivamukti yoga as “a yoga class that appeals to all the senses.” Each Jivamukti yoga class will have chanting, pranayama, asana, meditation, scripture, uplifting music and hands-on adjustments and support by the instructor that ends with a neck and shoulder rub during the final relaxation or savasana. Students often describe a feeling of floating while walking out of a Jivamukti yoga class. This is the feeling of spiritual connection. Let your yoga practice get you to God!
The Jivan-Mukti-Viveka
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.
It used to be that finding clothes to wear for your yoga class that were both stylish and appropriate for asana practice were hard to come by. Those days are gone and now the dilemma is making a decision between all of the wonderful and varied options available. Allow me to help you sift through the barrage of options and come to a place where decision making is easy.
If you’re not familiar with them already, grant me the privilege of introducing you to ActivewearUSA.com, an online store offering more than 30 brands of fitness and yoga clothing that will inspire you to “look and feel your best while enhancing your life through fitnessâ€. Their offering will appeal to any style or mood with brands like Margarita Activewear and Tiempo Libre Activewear that are fun and wild or Alo Activewear and Zobha which are sleek and sophisticated. For the mom’s-to-be there are options like Fit2Bmom Maternity and Born Fit to keep you inspired through your changing fitness needs. And of course brands for your accessory needs such as Sweaty Bands, Yogoco Yoga Bags, Yogitoes Yoga Towels, and Jade Yoga Mats. ActivewearUSA.com also includes a reusable and recyclable 20oz aluminum sports bottle with every shipment! They have it all and delivered with customer service that aligns with the kind of integrity you’d expect to find from a great company servicing the yoga community. Om!
I have been the delighted recipient of a complete yoga outfit from ActivewearUSA.com! This bright and bold set by Tiempo Libre Activewear is easy to love from the look of its energizing purple and orange design. Not only does this set look good but it feels fabulous to wear and move in. The nylon/polyester blend makes it durable and supportive while keeping you dry and cool while you work up a sweat. The pants are truly engineered for a wide range of movements. Designed to sit on the hips without cutting into the waistline or revealing too much below the waistline they give a nice slimming effect. They’re also made in such a way that there is no riding up in unwanted areas while keeping thighs and hips supported. These pants will be a favorite of mine for a long time. The top is very supportive with a thin bra shelf and full coverage of the waist. This is the sort of top you can rely on to keep you “in†when upside down, twisted or folded in half. This set can be worn together for a bold statement or worn separate with black for a simple bold accent. It’s fun, it’s comfortable, it’s versatile!
Whether you are a beginning student, a seasoned student looking to refine the basics of an asana practice, or a yoga teacher seeking inspiration on giving expert instruction on asanas, the Yoga Journal Pose Encyclopedia DVD is an excellent resource for any practitioner. True to the standards that Yoga Journal has set for being the most powerful yoga publication, conference connection and essentially all things yoga, this instructional DVD is superb.
Yoga Journal has used state of the art technology to produce this invaluable tool. The viewer is given a 360 degree view of each of the 35 essential poses explored in this DVD. Each pose is broken down and instructed singularly allowing the viewer as much time as needed to discover and work with each pose in their own time.  The simplicity of this format is brilliant. These 35 poses are not only perfect yoga poses for beginners, but are poses that are continually revisited and refined along the journey of developing a strong and balanced asana practice. The Yoga Journal Pose Encyclopedia DVD is unintimidating and truly accessible for all.
The beautiful thing about prenatal yoga is how simple it can be. With the help of a prenatal yoga DVD, you can begin a safe practice right in the comforts of your own home and the convenience of your own schedule. The question is, “How do I find the best yoga DVD for my prenatal practice?†Choosing the best prenatal yoga DVD is very important so I have several suggestions to help you in your search.
By giving your life and identity to God you attain the identity of God.
At the beginning of each of our individual yoga journeys, presumably, someone offered us the meaning of the word “yoga.â€Â Yoga is a Sanskrit word derived from the root yuj, meaning to yoke. Yoga means, to unite. “Unite what,†we wonder, and someone offers, “…to unite body and mind.â€Â  To be more accurate, yoga means to unite our small-self (or our ego-self) with our true nature, our Big-Self, our God-Self, our Divine-Self.
Not long after our first yoga class and instruction on the meaning of the word yoga we begin to say to each other, “I do yoga,†or “You should do yoga,†or “Do you do yoga?â€Â These are not true statements at all! How can we “do†union? Either we are united or we are not. In actuality, however, we are always united with our Self. We sometimes feel that we are not united because we are temporarily identifying with illusions that tell us we are disconnected. Yoga is our natural state of being. After all, we are human beings not human doings.
So if we don’t do yoga what is it that we are doing since it sure feels like work sometimes in our yoga practice? What we do are practices that reveal to us our resistances. These practices reveal where we are resisting our natural state, where we are resisting yoga. We may find ourselves in bound triangle and that voice of our small-self rises up and says, “I can’t do this! My body just isn’t made for this pose.â€Â This pose then, is offering us a look at how we resist our true nature by way of our misidentification. We misidentify with our inability to accomplish the pose the way we think we are supposed to accomplish it. We may decide to fake the pose instead of going further into exploring it because we don’t like the resistance. We want to run away not go further. On the contrary, this is the moment we should celebrate! This is where we get to clear a new pathway to our Self!
We could define yoga as the state where we are missing nothing! It is the state of I-AM. I-AM not this, nor that. Just, I-AM. Our true nature is perfect all of the time. At our essence we long for nothing, desire nothing, need nothing. The entire lessons of our yoga practice could be summed up in one simple mudra; Chin mudra where the thumb and index finger are joined in a circle and the middle, ring and pinkie fingers are open and directed away from the circle. For the ripe student, the teacher would merely sit before the student in silence and point is thumb up (symbolizing our Higher Self), then point his index finger up (symbolizing our small-self/ego-self) and then join the two in Chin mudra. The student would understand and rejoice, “Aha! God and I are one!â€
“Our whole notion of reality has actually been topsy-turvy. Instead of God being a vast imaginary projection, he turns out to be the only thing that is real, and the whole universe, despite its immensity and solidarity, is a projection of God’s nature.â€
