Downward Facing Blog

David Life and Sharon Gannon are among the most well-known and respected yoga teachers in USA today. Despite the sensationalism in regards to their current popularity, the founders of Jivamukti Yoga are very down-to-earth.

Adrian and I first met David Life on the night of our arrival. My first impression of David: he  is stunning for a 63 year-old. I would never have thought he has passed his 50s. When we met Sharon the next day at the conference, Adrian was mystified  by her blue hair; kind of reminded him of “those days”.  As I found out in the next few days, Sharon was a huge fan of ———— “SLEEPING”. Just as I was concerned she might be having jetlag, or asking if she had plan for the evening, it was always “I think I’ll go back and sleep” She even chirped in her girlie tone  “I just LOVE sleeping”. I should look into it. Perhaps that’s the real secret to their roaring success.

Unless you have studied with them before, few people know what drives the Jivamukti couple. In the beginning , they were artists who were also political activists. They tried to shift the values of their culture through their art. Soon they recognized that the ethical percepts of yoga are in line with their activist views and aspirations, especially ahimsa and aparigraha.

Nowadays, Their students teach all over the world and have created centers in New York, London, Berlin, Munich, Toronto, Vancouver, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Sharon is particularly fond of animals and environment. She sees the space yoga can provide for this type of activisms. As she was talking about feeding garbanzo beans and lentils to cats, it reminded me of one of my favorite teachers - Dharma Mittra - , who tricked strayed cats into vegetarian by mixing ground green peas in their diet.

We wish we could have spent more time with this lovely couple. Adrian was getting more and more attached to them as days went by.  Although nothing concrete was agreed upon, David and Sharon were certainly enthusiastic about coming to Bangkok. That would be fun J