“Jivamukti Yoga is a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings. Jivamukti is a Sanskrit word that means to live liberated in joyful, musical harmony with the Earth”

- Sharon Gannon

The Roots, the Branches, and Future Flowers

Jivamukti Yoga is one of the nine internationally recognised yoga methods. A relatively modern school, Jivamukti Yoga was co-created and founded by New Yorkers David Life and Sharon Gannon in 1984. However, Jivamukti Yoga has deep roots in the ancient Indian, rigorous classical Ashtanga Yoga method. 

We recognise the radical teachings of Swami Nirmalananda, affectionately known as the “anarchist swarmi”, and Sanskrit Master Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, both of whom David and Sharon received direct teachings from in the 1980's.

In 2017, Sharon and David retired from public life and entered into the vanaprastha stage (forest dwelling), in order to deepen their yogic sadhana (spiritual practice). They entrusted the Jivamukti lineage into the hands of certified Jivamukti Yoga teachers, Camilla Veen of Norway and Hari Mulukutla of the United States and created a new partnership with them called Jivamukti Global. The legacy of Jivamukti Yoga endures as a global movement for peace on Earth, and you can be a part of it - right here in Geelong.

Jivamukti Yoga is a Path to Enlightenment through Compassion for All Beings

The name Jivamukti, where ‘jiva’ means individual soul and ‘mukti’ means liberation, means that we believe that through compassion for all beings one can be ‘liberated while living’ (opposed to in the afterlife). 

There are five tenets of Jivamukti Yoga:

Ahimsa (non-violence) is the primary ethic (or yama or restraint) of our yoga practice. The Jivamukti Yoga method promotes ethical veganism and animal rights, and social and climate activism, as these choices, actions, practices and social movements are the embodiment  of ahimsa.

Shastra (study) is the study of ancient scriptures such as the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. We also study the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit and the Focus of the Month (FOTM) essay, written by a senior Jivamukti Yoga teacher around the world on a particular interfaith teaching or topical global issue. The Focus of the Month keeps us engaged in dharma and diverse wisdom teachings, and renews our commitment to our sadhana each month.

Bhakti (devotion) is the acknowledgment of God/Self-realisation as the ultimate goal of all yoga practices. Devotion is an interfaith and interreligious phenomenon. Kirtan (devotional chanting) and the use of altars are common devotional elements of Jivamukti Yoga.

Nada (sound/music) is used in Jivamukti Yoga classes to refine hearing through listening to uplifting music during the asana practice as well as to the sound of silence. Sharon and David are artists and musicians, and Jivamukti Yoga classes have a reputation for being curated to an exuberant, eclectic playlist. Music has an integral role in every class: you might practice to a shifting soundtrack of ragas, mantras, contemporary beats, timeless cultural anthems and inspiring spoken word.

Dhyana (meditation) is an essential part of every Jivamukti Yoga class. Meditation in our method is taught as our teachers (Sharon Gannon and David Life) taught us - a mantra form of meditation. Meditation is guided in three steps: Choose your seat, be still, and focus. Mantra provides the focus; with the mantra “let-go” the practitioner is invited to align the silent repetition of the mantra with the inhalation and exhalation. It is a practice of connection with our Self and our interconnectedness with all of life.

By having our foundation on these tenets, we soon learn to approach yoga practice as so much more than competitive stretching. We come to realise that the FOTM study (shastra), chanting (bhakti), enjoying the spoken word and music (nada), asana (postures), dhyana (meditation), chatting with others after class (satsang), the soy lattes and vegan sandwiches before attending the climate justice march (ahimsa) are actually all integrated elements of our yoga practice. This approach to yoga practice unifies our goal — enlightenment through compassion for all beings.

My Path and Practice

I became a vegan for health reasons after watching Forks over Knives in 2013. This choice coincided with my second year of university. A uni friend, recognising my poorly managed study-related stress exclaimed: “You need yoga!” She took me along to my first ever class - a Jivamukti Open class at Yoga Dojo in Geelong, taught by my enduring teacher to this day, Adrienne Stephens. Adrienne shared a challenging and inspiring sequence and spoke about the koshas, including how annamayakosha (the physical or “food body”) could be purified by following a plant-based or vegan diet. I cried silently in recognition that the proceeding six months of loneliness and isolation in feeling like the only vegan in the village was over and I had found my people. Over the following years I continued to practice diligently at Yoga Dojo, with Adrienne and other Jivamukti teachers, one by one as the method slowly grew in Geelong. I moved from Malop Street to Melbourne Road with the new studio, and became the karma cleaner - cleaning the studio in return for classes whilst I put myself through my postgraduate studies. At some point - I was encouraged to take the teacher training myself. I set off to Mumbai in March 2018 with the sole intention of training to deepen my personal practice. What happened to me there, changed the course of my life. As I understand it, my teacher training was the last that Sharon herself would teach in full residency. The lectures, classes and conversations over meals that I shared with Sharon, the teaching faculty and mentors, as well as fellow practitioners and teachers from around the world, transformed me. By the time I got back to Melbourne airport, my feet still hadn’t touched the ground, and my love and devotion to sharing the magic has never left me.

As it turned out, I missed my postgrad induction day, as I was still in India. I returned and taught three classes per week at Yoga Dojo whilst I completed my postgrad studies throughout 2018-19. Yoga Dojo was my sanity preservation during my studies, which included a research thesis exploring the experience of combining yoga therapy with CBT for anxiety and depression treatment. Spoiler alert: The yoga therapy supercharged the psychological treatment.

After almost four years of teaching at Yoga Dojo, when the studio sadly closed following the gruelling season of COVID lockdowns, shortly afterwards I started teaching independently of a studio - so that I didn’t have to water-down the method. I have been teaching weekly classes independently for almost four years and have extensive experience in supporting diverse needs within my public classes. Our Jivamukti Yoga satsang in Geelong continues to thrive, and I get just as much out of teaching Jivamukti Yoga, as I give.

You can read more about the types of Jivamukti Yoga classes I offer on this blog post, as well as view my monthly teaching schedule here.

With love,

Meg