Yogeswari

Yogeswari, based at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City since the year 2000, is a world-renowned Jivamukti Yoga teacher and is one of the most senior teachers in the method. Yogeswari is featured as one of the 100 most influential Yoga teachers in the U.S. by Sonima. She is Advanced Certified, a Facilitator of Jivamukti Teacher Trainings, and has taken many Jivamukti Certified Teachers through one-on-one apprenticeships towards their 800-hour-certification. Since 2004, she has been teaching around the world. Yogeswari is known for her vigorous, seamless Vinyasa sequencing, and her thought-provoking philosophical teachings. With 20 years of experience in dance and choreography, she brings liveliness and vibrancy to all her work. She holds an MA in choreography and dance from New York University and a BFA McL in dance from Temple University, Philadelphia. Born in Switzerland, she teaches workshops, immersions, and retreats in five languages.

She is the founder and president of AZAHAR Foundation, an international non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding and non-violent conflict resolution through Yoga and the Arts, with special attention to disenfranchised communities, and women and children in conflict settings.

Areas of Expertise and Teaching

Jivamukti Yoga; Vigorous and Seamless Vinyasa Sequencing

Sharon Gannon

Sharon Gannon is a 21st-century Renaissance woman, an animal rights and vegan activist and a world-renowned yogini, perhaps best known as the founder, along with David Life, of the Jivamukti Yoga Method. She is also an accomplished writer, dancer, painter, musician and chef. Sharon has devoted many years exploring the role of diet in promoting physical, emotional and mental well-being as well as spiritual development. She lives in a 125-acre wild forest sanctuary in Woodstock, NY.

A student of Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Swami Nirmalananda, K. Pattabhi Jois, and Shyam das, 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’s book Yoga and Vegetarianism has been called the “seminal” work on the subject, exploring the relationship of veganism to the teachings of yoga.

Sharon is a musician and is a featured vocalist on many CDs including Sharanam, which is her 2010 solo album, produced by Frenz Kallos. She has produced numerous yoga-related DVDs and is the author of several books, including Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body & Soul, The Art of Yoga, Cats and Dogs are People Too!, and Yoga Assists. Her latest offerings are Simple Recipes for Joy: More than 200 Delicious Vegan Recipes, a beautifully illustrated cookbook with recipes that are featured in the Jivamuktea Café in NYC; Magic 10 and Beyond, a guide for simple daily spiritual practice, and The Art of Norahs Nepas, an exquisite presentation of her paintings and drawings over the years.

Sharon’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Toward 2012, Arcana V: Music, Magic and Mysticism, What comes after Money, Semiotexte, Yoga Journal, Mantra, and Origin.