Sharon Gannon - Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul

Jivamukti has been a big influence in my life. Ive read this book twice and expect to read it many more times. Its the bible of my spiritual practice.

R USSELL S IMMONS
CEO of Rush Communications and cofounder of DefJam Records

David and Sharon are great teachers in the fullest sense of the wordas guides and mentors they challenge and inspire. Their book gives readers a glimpse of the power of yoga to transform lives.

T RUDIE S TYLER
Cofounder of the Rainforest Foundation

Sharon and David sing the essence of yoga in their new book Jivamukti Yoga. Their book is amazingly accessible without being compromising to the tradition of yoga. In the same breath I applaud them for their courage to be creative and daring in expressing their unique and gifted voices.

R ODNEY Y EE

Sharon and David have been able to touch so many people through the dance of life. Embracing the true sense of yoga: the union of mind, body, and spirit. They have the unique ability to create a space in New York and for New Yorkers where one is able to balance the outer craziness with the inner calming world. At the same time, they are able to captivate and enhance their own creativity and share it with so many others.

D ONNA K ARAN

David and Sharon have given us a profound gift in this very readable, tangible road map that provides a means to experience our own unlimited potential, our true selves. It also allows us to see god, even if just a glimpse. May all beings go on to experience these gifts, and apply them to every facet of their lives. God bless.

M IKE D
Beastie Boys

If youre not fortunate enough to study with David and Sharon, heres perhaps the next best thing. A book filled with their personal reflections and philosophy. The knowledge expressed in this book instructs and inspires.

W ILLEM D AFOE

Sharon and David make a great gift with this book; they open up the world of yoga in a personal and down-to-earth way that makes it live for today, while bravely sharing their holistic vision of yoga as transforming union with absolutely everything, bringing together body, mind, loving spirit, society, all beings, the divine, and the divinely human.

R OBERT A. T HURMAN
Author of Inner RevolutionTranslator of The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Purifying, liberating, uplifting: the gentlest, most knowing guide from two most gentle, knowing gurus. They clear away all the tangly bits from the path to pure joy. Can you imagine: enlightenment made easy for anyone who wishes to discover the best in themselves and the hidden happiness in life!

I NGRID N EWKIRK
Cofounder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

This wonderful book, the Jivamukti method for the ancient art of yoga, is the next step in an authentic and living lineage, from two great teachers who really care about their tradition andmost importantabout their students.

G ESHE M ICHAEL R OACH
Director of the Asian Classics Institute
Author of The Garden and The Diamond Cutter

Jivamukti Yoga is a treasure-house of insights and information that can be of great help to anyone seriously following a yogic path.

J OHN R OBBINS
Author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution

David and Sharon aim to teach yoga for liberation, in all ways, and this book is their manifesto for liberating yoga from the fetters of the humdrum, the predictable, the conventional.

D R . R OBERT E. S VOBODA
Leading Ayurvedic scholar and bestselling author of Ayurveda: Life, Health and Longevity

Also by Sharon Gannon and David Life

Cats and Dogs Are People Too!
The Art of Yoga

Caution: The yoga practices in this book are to be undertaken only under the guidance of a certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher. Consult your physician before beginning this or any yoga program. The instructions in this book are in no way intended as a substitute for medical counseling. The authors disclaim any liability for loss, personal and otherwise, resulting from the procedures in this book.

A Ballantine Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
Copyright 2002 by Sharon Gannon and David Kirkpatrick
Unless otherwise noted, photographs copyright 2002 by Martin Brading
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine and the Ballantine colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:

Alternative Tentacles Records: excerpt from Baghdad Stomp, False Prophets. 1986 Not for Prophed Music. Alternative Tentacles Release.

Baba Bhagavandas Publication Trust: excerpts from THE TEXTBOOK OF YOGA PSYCHOLOGY by Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D. (Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati), pages 409 and 205, Baba Bhagavandas Publication Trust (Monroe, New York). First published by Julian Press (New York, 1963); TERRESTIAL & CELESTIAL MAGNETISM by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati (Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D.), pages 4, Baba Bhagavandas Publication Trust (Monroe, New York, 1996); NADA YOGA by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati (Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D.), pages 16, George Leone Publication Center, Ananda Ashram (Monroe, New York, 1989).

EMI Music Publishing/Magnetic Music: excerpt from Fragile music and lyrics by Sting. GM Sumner (1987), published by EMI Music/Magnetic Music.

Jowcol Music & US Copyrights: excerpt from liner notes for A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. Reprinted by permission of Jowcol Music & US Copyrights.

Meta Records: excerpt from H.H. the 14th Dalai Lamas quote from the liner notes of Life-Space-Death, Meta Records 2001.

Roderick Romero: excerpt from the lyrics of Chickaboom Cocktail, Seeds, Collective Fruit, by Sky Cries Mary. Reprinted by permission of Roderick Romero.

Triloka Records: excerpt from the liner notes of One Track Heart, Krishna Das, Triloka Records, 1996; Live on Earth, Krishna Das, Triloka Records, 1999;

www.ballantinebooks.com

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002090184

eISBN: 978-0-307-48664-6

v3.1

To all Jivamukti students
past, present, and future

T he middle of the night, somewhere over the north Pacific in the back of a DC-10 at 35,000 feet

The plane is empty but for my band, the crew, and meforty tired guys sleeping off too many working nights in a row. Each night a different city, sometimes a different country or even a different continent. None of us has slept in our own bed for months, but nine hours in a DC-10 is as good a place as any to catch up on some sleep.

Only Im not sleeping. While my crew and bandmates are snoring and dreaming of home, Im standing on my head between the bulkhead and the empty economy section.

The stewardesses have been giving me strange looks since I began my yoga practice an hour ago. Now, dont get me wrong, Im as tired as everybody else is. But when I saw that space on the floor, I knew how I wanted to use my time. I wanted to practice yoga.