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SHARON GANNON AND DAVID LIFE are best-known as the duo who launched the yoga boom at their New York studio back in the 1980s. But they're not your run-of-the-mill mat dwellers.
Besides being well-regarded artists and musicians, Life founded the Lower East Side's Life Cafe (of "Rent' fame) to nurture the creative community; Gannon is a staunch supporter of animal rights (she's the author of "Cats and Dogs Are People Too"). Their passions are an integral part of Jivamukti, the yoga style they developed. The word means "liberation while living" in Sanskrit. In practice, it means a sweaty workout combined with music, studies of yogic philosophy and an emphasis on political awareness. Confused? Beginners can get a taste with their new DVD, "Transform Yourself With Jivamukti Yoga" ($20, Acacialifestyle.com).
» EXPRESS: How did you find yoga?
» GANNON: had broken my back, so a waitress at the cafe who was a yoga teacher suggested I come to her class. I thought, "Yeah, right." I was a bike messenger in my spare time, I was a dancer, a choreographer, I carried heavy equipment up and down stairs. I wasn't looking for another form of exercise and, in my mind, that's what yoga was. When we went to this class, though, I saw that yoga could take the place of what art and political activism were supposed to do. We started teaching yoga as a path to enlightenment, and we incorporated music and spoken word from the beginning.
» LIFE: The class engages people on many levels. Someone who has a philosophical interest, someone interested in a vigorous physical workout or with a political interest. You don't have to put your foot behind your head. You can be engaged in all of those ways.
» EXPRESS: What about this appeals to people?
» GANNON: We're at a global crisis. Mother Nature is really underneath this resurgence of yoga. Yoga empowers the individual so they feel that they can make a difference. If a spiritual practice is going to take hold in this day and age, it has to address our relationship with the planet — or else we won't have a studio where you can stand on your head or play a DVD.
» EXPRESS: Why do so many gym classes abandon the spiritual side of yoga?
» LIFE: I think it's a tactical mistake on the part of health clubs. We try to make it more inclusive, so there's an access point for everyone. People strip it bare to just the physical, or just as bad is when it gets airy-fairy and new age-y. The balance point is really critical.
» EXPRESS: I'd never seen a DVD with one workout but with two different voice-overs. Why did you do that?
» GANNON: You can experience it with a man or a woman. Some people just vibe better with one or the other.
» EXPRESS: I felt like I was upside down a lot.
» GANNON: The inversions are held for a long time. We do that because they're the most potent of the asanas and help your endocrine system. They actually change your consciousness. And they say you're only as young as your glands are.
» EXPRESS: Is that the secret to how you've managed to stay so young-looking?
» LIFE: A large part of that is the yogic diet, and at this time, that's vegan because it causes the least harm. Sharon's right about the glands, but you need the right ingredients.
» GANNON: When people ask us what we're about, we say, "Veganism, concern for the environment and political activism." What could be more physical than what you eat, where you live and who you live with?
» EXPRESS: And that facial massage you teach on the DVD helps, too?
» GANNON: Instead of seeing a plastic surgeon or using a cream, give yourself a mini face-lift. The simple healing power of one's hands isn't part of our daily life — yet.
» IF THE DVD WON'T DO...
» Although New Yorkers — and folks in Toronto, Munich and London — have entire studios devoted to Jivamukti, Washingtonians didn't have easy access until 2005, when Flow Yoga Center (1450 P St. NW; 202-462-3569) started offering classes in the style. Instructor Jill Abelson says it's a great fit for the city: "People here want an intellectual challenge." Another way she makes her classes unique is by playing a harmonium, a boxy Indian instrument that emits what she describes as "beautiful, resonant, droning scales." Go to Jiva-dc.com for information on local events.
