What Is Jivamukti Yoga?
Jivamukti yoga is one of the more modern styles of yoga. While many types of yoga date back hundreds, if not thousands of years, this style was developed in the mid 1980s. It was founded as an offshoot of the more traditional ashtanga yoga practice. The jivamukti style of yoga is a rigorous form of yoga that appeals to people who want a strenuous workout along with the more traditional yoga features, such as chanting and meditation. The term jivamukti is derived from the Sanskrit language and translates into the phrase, “liberation while living.” This style of yoga has at its core an emphasis on awareness and enlightenment. Jivamukti yoga is a unique combination of traditional chanting and meditation as well as the more modern practice of vigorous yoga poses. At the end of a jivamukti class, you should feel both physically and mentally refreshed. This is considered one of the hatha styles of yoga. Jivamukti yoga is similar to many other styles of yoga in that it increases flexibility.
Jivamukti Yoga is one of nine internationally recognized styles of Hatha Yoga. The name Jivamukti means “liberation while living.” It is taken from the Sanskrit term “Jivanmuktih” which is used to describe the state of enlightenment or God realization. Jiva means “individual soul” and mukti means “liberation”. This method of yoga was created by David Life and Sharon Gannon in 1986. They named this yoga practice “Jivamukti” because they wanted the student to be reminded of the ultimate aim of the practice: spiritual enlightenment and awareness. It is a vigorously physical and intellectually stimulating practice combined with an equally strong foundation in the ancient spiritual traditions of Yoga.
The Jivamukti Yoga method is a style of Yoga created by David Life and Sharon Gannon in 1984. It is a vigorously physical and intellectually stimulating practice leading to spiritual awareness. We promote the educational aspect of the practice and give students access to where these ideas have come from. Each class focuses on a theme, which is supported by Sanskrit chanting, readings, references to scriptural texts, music (from the Beatles to Moby), spoken word, asana sequencing and yogic breathing practices. The average Jivamukti student is more educated about the philosophy of yoga than most yoga teachers. The name Jivamukti means Liberation while living. Jivamukti is taken from the Sanskrit term, Jivanmukti, which is used to describe the state of enlightenment or God realization. We named our yoga method Jivamukti because we wanted the student to be reminded of the ultimate aim of the practice. The Jivamukti method of Yoga is one of the nine internationally recognized styles of Hath
