In an Embodied Judaism class, you can experience Kabbalistic concepts such as the four souls -- nefesh (earth, life force, flexibility, core balance), ruach (uniting air and water, circulation, chi/chai), neshamah (air, breath), and yechidah (spirit) -- by actually learning to perceive them. True Kabbalah is not about blind faith; it is about experience: enabling the self to receive and express its true nature.

Imagine moving your body in gentle undulations, movements drawn from the modalities of pilates and gyrotonic, synchronized with the breath -- this is the place of ruach. Then imagine a shift to breath-meditation based on the three "mother letters" of the Book of Creation: this is a way to experience neshamah. Embodied Judaism is drawn directly from core teachings of the Kabbalah -- it isn't yoga in a yarmulke. But it also is experiential, real, and vital.

Usually, an Embodied Judaism class is a workout! We learn Kabbalah, but we learn the concepts through our bodies, not just our minds and hearts. We bend, breathe, and balance, and although the spiritual nature of the movement practices will be familiar to students of yoga, we are not confined to a mat. At the same time, Embodied Judaism is accessible to persons of all levels of physical fitness, and is especially beneficial for those with injuries or debilitating physical conditions such as chronic back pain.

Other classes may focus on experiencing the sefirot in the natural world, or classes may center around the spirituality of ordinary experience, such as eating or walking. With attention, the thinking mind may become quieted, and the sense of self (the yetzer, or self-centered inclination) can slowly drop, revealing that what you've actually been looking for all this time is actually Who you really are.

Embodied Judaism classes are offered at synagogues, retreat centers, and conferences. They may be incorporated into larger programs -- about the body, or Judaism, or Kabbalah, for example -- or can stand alone. Here is a sample schedule for a four-day sequence of Embodied Judaism classes:

Day 1. Nefesh: The Soul in the Body
We begin with Jewish Integrative Movement Conditioning, joining together the disciplines of pilates and gyrotonic with Jewish kavvanot (intentions) and teachings from the Kabbalah and the liturgy. These practices teach how the body can be made to be a "vessel for the Divine," and will be accompanied with kavvanot (intentions) drawn from Jewish mysticism, literature, and scripture. We will learn about the sefirot not as a chart of abstractions but as modalities we experience in our bodies, focusing on the first of the four levels of the soul, that of nefesh, or life-force, which is not some mysterious "energy" but is directly connected to the earth of which our bodies are formed.

Day 2. Ruach: The Spirit in Circulation
Deepening our practice of Integrative Movement Conditioning, we turn to focus on Ruach, which is connected to the principle of water and circulation. In addition to focused movement pracices, we will experience walking meditation and mindfulness practice, quieting the spirit by quieting the body, and learn about the meditative walks of Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav "Walking in Nature," a Jewish Thich Nhat Hanh. By exercising, walking, and grounding our experience in traditional Jewish text, we deepen our intentions to integrate body, mind, heart, and spirit.

Day 3. Neshamah: Life-breath
Our third session of Integrative Movement Conditioning focuses on breathwork. Neshamah, the third level of the soul, connected to air, is closely related to neshimah, which means breath. We will add in advanced breath techniques, moving through the sefirotic map, and preparing for our fourth and final day together. We will complement our Kabbalistic learning with more traditional Jewish texts thanking God for the proper functioning of the body.

Day 4. Yechidah: Places of Spirit
On our last session together, we experience two critical contexts in Jewish encounters with God: the cave (Zohar, Elijah) and the Mountain (Moses, Sinai). We will learn by doing: spelunking and rock scrambling. We will put our netzach and hod practices to the test as we squeeze through the crevices of the cave, will have an introduction to the Zohar and other texts of Jewish “cave-mysticism," and will practice silent meditation in the cave to experience a physical shadow of the mystical Nothingness. Then we will learn about Jewish ecological consciousness, aspigin to gain a real sense of being-with nature, of integration with the environment in which they find themselves, and a contextualization of Jewish teachings about the body and nature in the real world.

Embodied Judaism can also be taught in the traditional way, in the beit midrash as well as on the yoga mat. Jay and his teaching partners can lead embodied Friday night davening and teach the basics of body-centered meditation. To find out more, please email the Embodied Judaism school for more information.


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