Sharon Gannon and David Life are the creators of the Jivamukti Yoga Method, a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings. They have been recognized as innovators worldwide, and are pioneers in teaching yoga as spiritual activism/activation.
Sharon and David have been featured on the Today Show and PBS as well as in numerous in-person and print interviews and articles around the world. They have been recognized as “innovators in yoga” by Yoga Journal. Vanity Fair credits Sharon and David as “making yoga cool and hip and Time magazine named Jivamukti Yoga one of the important forms of hatha yoga taught in the world today. Sharon and David have traveled extensively, teaching and presenting at American, European, Canadian, Asian, and South and Central American conferences.
Sharon Gannon and David Life have co-authored three books on yoga: Jivamukti Yoga, Practices for Liberating Body & Soul (2002), which includes a foreword by Sting and has been translated into Italian, German and Russian languages, and The Art of Yoga (2002), which includes a foreword by Ravi and Anoushka Shankar. Their newest collaboration is Yoga Assists.
The Jivamukti Yoga method emphasizes asana, scriptural study, devotion, prayer, music, chanting and meditation as well as animal rights, veganism, environmentalism and political activism. There are 12 Jivamukti Yoga schools around the world, in the USA, Canada, England, Germany, Russia, Norway, Switzerland and Australia.
Individual Author Bios:
Sharon Gannon is a 21st century Renaissance woman who excels in many spiritual, artistic, and social mediums. Sharon is best known for creating, along with David Life, the Jivamukti Yoga Method—a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings.
A student of Brahmananda Sarasvati, Swami Nirmalananda, and K. Pattabhi Jois, she is a pioneer in teaching yoga as spiritual activism and is credited for making yoga cool and hip—relating ancient teachings of yoga to the modern world. Sharon is a musician and is a featured vocalist on many CDs including Sharanam, which is her solo album. She has produced numerous yoga-related DVDs and is the author of several books, including Jivamukti Yoga, The Art of Yoga, Cats and Dogs are People Too!, and Yoga and Vegetarianism. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Toward 2012, Arcana V: Music, Magic and Mysticism, What comes after Money, Semiotexte, Yoga Journal and Origin. She writes a monthly essay called the Focus of the Month.
She resides in a 125-acre wild forest sanctuary in upstate NY, USA.
David Life:
David Life was born on the 1980 Summer Solstice in New York City after living 30 years with a different identity. He has a university degree in fine arts and became an influential performer, artist and spokesperson in the political and social foment and lively arts community in the1980's Lower East Side of New York City. In New York City he created Life Cafe – an artists/poets cafe featured in Newsweek, various international arts and literary magazines, and in the Broadway play "Rent" as the setting for “La Vie Boheme.” Near Life Cafe, on Avenue B The Jivamukti Yoga Society was the first of many yoga schools that he and Sharon Gannon have created since 1986, with the current amazing school and cafe located on Broadway in New York City, and a 120 acre wild sanctuary and ashram in the mountains of upstate New York.
Together with Sharon Gannon, and through the blessings of his gurus Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Shri Swami Nirmalananda and Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, David has participated in the creation of Jivamukti Yoga. He has taught Jivamukti Yoga throughout the world since his first trip to India in 1986.
