fuel for the fire

Jivamukti Yoga Toronto was founded on the idea that freedom is achieved through serving all beings. The studio’s two directors, Jeannine Woodall and Vanessa Kennedy, are passionate about sparking social change through spiritual practice. They make a point of tying their day-to-day community service initiatives to their students’ asana and meditation practices in order to show yoga’s ability to transform individuals and, in turn, change the world.

“The aspect of using our practice and our business to connect our students to the wider world was always part of our vision for the studio,” says Kennedy, who worked on social action campaigns for The Body Shop for many years before opening Jivamukti Yoga Toronto. “Being active in the world is the basis of what we’re doing.”

The idea that social change can start with a small spark of inspiration and spread through a community on the momentum of that passion is something that Kennedy and Woodall have been nurturing since opening their studio in 2002. “Your practice can serve all beings,” says Kennedy. “Once you put a little effort in and you see the results, it has that upward spiral effect that inspires you to do more.”

Over the past five years, Jivamukti Toronto has given over $12,000 to organizations such as The Asian Classics Input Project, which hires women and monks in Southeast Asia to input and preserve classical Buddhist texts in an electronic database, and War Child, which aims to help children around the world who are affected by war, giving them whatever support they need to cope and to heal.

“At our studio, we’re running on the goodwill of many people – it’s constant Karma Yoga,” says Woodall. “Raising money for different organizations is our way to give back.” To find out about these initiatives or to get involved, please go to www.jivamuktiyoga.ca.