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June 4, 2004
A "Judaizing" of yoga practice
Jewish history is filled with different spiritual and mystical
movements.
WENDY SCHNEIDER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
During the last several decades, thousands of Western spiritual
seekers have looked to Eastern religions and disciplines to satisfy
their thirst for a more accessible and gratifying form of spirituality.
For an entire generation of Jewish seekers, Judaism was perceived
as a religion "preoccupied with social and political issues,"
whose adherents were "embarrassed by expressions of spirituality."
Eastern religious practices, on the other hand, were seen to offer
opportunities to experience union with God through direct experience.
The majority of these "wandering Jews" would most likely
have been astonished to learn that Jewish history is filled with
examples of movements that have taken a more spiritual and mystical
approach to Judaism. Among them: kabbalah, Chassidism, mussar and
the modern Jewish Renewal movement. To a great degree, this is due
to the fact that, until recently, much of the kabbalah and Chassidic
literature was inaccessible to ordinary Jews, and the study of kabbalah
was traditionally considered to be forbidden to any male under the
age of 40 and out of the question for women.
The late 1960s ushered in a new era, as religious leaders slowly
awoke to the fact that institutionalized religion was sorely deficient
in responding to the needs of an entire generation. In the early
1980s, the publication of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's groundbreaking book
Jewish Meditation responded to a longing by many Jewish seekers
for a Jewish context in which to frame their evolving spirituality.
A dramatic increase of Jewish Renewal congregations and communities
throughout North America, as well as a proliferation of classes
in kabbalah, Chassidism and other topics of a spiritual nature in
mainstream synagogues, educational institutions and Jewish community
centres throughout the world, are sure signs that, over the last
20 years, a huge transformation has occurred in the world of Jewish
worship.
Jews, Judaism and yoga
Yoga, promoted as a practical, spiritual discipline that does not
require its practitioners to accept a prescribed set of beliefs,
has had widespread appeal to Jews in the West. Evidence suggests,
however, that many secular Jewish yoga students feel uncomfortable
in settings where Sanskrit chanting, altars, and pictures of gurus
and Hindu gods are present. As for Orthodox Jews, for whom the prohibition
against idolatry is taken with great seriousness, they have, for
the most part, kept their distance from any spiritual practice that
may bring them into contact with such forbidden objects.
In recent years, however, many Jewish yoga students have been asking
the questions, "What are our equivalents? What does Judaism
have to offer that parallels the experiences and teachings I am
finding in my yoga classes?" The search to find a Jewish context
for one's yoga practice has created a new phenomenon: Jewish yoga
teachers beginning to explore and experiment with "Judaizing"
their classes by substituting Hebrew words and phrases for Sanskrit
chants and Torah study for Patanjali's yoga sutras.
Hanna Sara Zeller was raised in a non-religious, secular-Zionist
Jewish family in New York City. She discovered yoga in the 1970s,
to seek relief from long hours of sitting studying calligraphy with
Suzuki Roshi in California. Yoga not only provided relief from physical
discomfort, it answered a deep yearning she had carried throughout
her life for peace and spirituality. Eventually, her journey brought
her to study with world-renowned teacher Sri Swami Satchidananda,
founder of integral yoga, best known for his teaching "Many
paths – One truth."
"He used to say, wherever you're going to be, dig a well and,
if you can't dig it deeply in yoga, then go be a Jew because that's
how you were born," said Zeller. "He sent a lot of people
home."
Zeller became one of those who were "sent home." She became
a "ba'al teshuvah," the term used to denote those
who "return" to Orthodox Judaism. But she never abandoned
her yoga practice, which had become an essential part of her life.
Still deeply attracted to spiritual realms, she immersed herself
in the study of kabbalah. Inevitably, as the parallels began to
emerge, her personal yoga practice became quintessentially Jewish.
Today, Zeller lives in a religious settlement in Israel with her
husband and children, where she is bringing the world of yoga to
an Orthodox clientele. She teaches in religious high schools, seniors
centres and at Yakar, a study and meditation centre in Jerusalem,
where her husband is resident rabbi. Deeply grounded in both Jewish
tradition and yoga, she has found that integrating the two has been
almost effortless.
"The more I live it [Judaism], the more I practise it and make
Shabbes and do the holidays and learn and read the parashah, it
integrates [with yoga] naturally," she explained. "It's
like if you had a beautiful tree and a beautiful vine that were
planted next to each other and they just happened to grow up together,
growing into each other and all around each other."
In recent years, Zeller has noticed a shift in Orthodox Jewish attitudes
towards yoga. Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, she said, has had
to come to terms with the fact that a life based on strict observance
of the commandments does not necessarily immunize their members
from issues found in society at large, such as addiction. As a result,
many have become more open to exploring disciplines like yoga, which
they are recognizing can help people deal with stress and the harsh
realities of life.
Diane Bloomfield is somewhat of an anomaly among teachers of Jewish
yoga, in that she had attained a thorough grounding in Jewish study
before coming to yoga. Bloomfield, who lived in Israel for 20 years,
spent much of that time studying and teaching Torah at the Pardes
Institute in Jerusalem. But she had always felt a need to pray and
understand Torah with her body. So, when she began taking yoga classes
at the Kripalu Centre in Massachusetts during a hiatus from her
studies, she felt an immediate resonance and connection. She also
sensed that, on a very deep level, the yoga she was doing was an
experience of Torah.
"When I would learn teachings from the different yoga teachers,
I would always know where they were in the Torah – and when
they would quote text or talk about some yoga philosophy, I would
absolutely translate it in my head into Hebrew and into Torah."
Intrigued by the high number of Jews in her yoga classes, Bloomfield
began to share her insights with other Jewish students who, she
noted, were "thrilled to have any idea that this yoga path
had anything to do with their Jewish roots."
As the connections between Judaism and yoga became more and more
obvious to her, Bloomfield realized that she was ideally placed
to integrate the two and before long, she was teaching Torah yoga.
Her approach is theme-directed. Her classes begin with a 10-minute
warm up, a 15-minute lesson from a Jewish text, a meditation based
on a theme chosen from the kabbalah or a Chassidic teaching, and
an hour-long series of yoga poses.
Laurie Wolko, a New York-based yoga teacher, came across ophanim
during a visit to Israel and has incorporated some of its elements
into her Jewish yoga classes. Her workshops include elements from
the Chassidic tradition, kabbalah and traditional yoga. She will
often begin her sessions by leading students in the chanting of
a niggun or a Hebrew verse. She finds that repetitive chanting has
a similar effect to the repetition of a mantra in the way that it
takes students beyond their thinking minds. Following this mood-setting
exercise, she will give a lesson in Torah, teach a selection of
yoga poses and end with meditation.
Jewish yoga classes are appearing in communities throughout Israel,
North America and Europe. While these classes are as diverse as
the individuals leading them, they share one essential quality:
the intention to use the spiritual practice of yoga as a gateway
towards a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Judaism.
Thousands of disenchanted Jews are seeking a way back to Judaism.
For a significant number of them, Jewish yoga is a legitimate path
that can lead them to reconnect to the richness and depth of their
heritage.
Wendy Schneider is director of community planning and
communications, UJA Federation in Ancaster, Ont., and editor of
the Hamilton Jewish News. She recently received yoga teacher certification
from the Yoga Centre of Burlington.
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