A seismic shift occurs when you stop looking for peace and happiness in the world and instead allow the mind to settle. A meditation revolution happens when you recognize that what you seek is within you, as you.
■
Meditation turns the tables on almost everything that capitalism has trained us to believe: mostly the misunderstanding that happiness and fulfillment are found outside of you. It allows us to reclaim the power that the world is attempting to steal from you, and then you get to decide how to use it.
READ MORE
YOGA MEDITATION offers an inspiring and accessible guide to finding a simple, sustainable meditation practice to support us in our lives.
■
As a queer person who came of age during the AIDS crisis and became a yoga teacher in response to the suffering he witnessed, author Jivana Heyman found healing in meditation. Through moving personal stories and real-life applications, Jivana takes us on a journey through ancient yoga teachings and uncovers practices that are naturally relevant for our modern lives.
The book provides a multitude of meditation tools, techniques, and practices derived from the yoga tradition and honed over Jivana’s 30 years of making yoga and meditation accessible for students around the world.
Chapter Outline
■
PART 1: UNDERSTANDING YOGA MEDITATION
1. What Is Yoga Meditation?
2. Meditation Revolution
PART 2: THE PATHS OF YOGA
3. Raja Yoga: The Path of Self-Discipline
4. Hatha Yoga: Moving Meditation
5. Mantra Yoga: Protecting Your Mind
6. Jnana Yoga: To Know Your Self
7. Bhakti Yoga: The Path of Love
8. Karma Yoga: Meditation in Action
PART 3: FINDING YOUR OWN PATH
10. Self-Practice
11. Accessible Meditation
12. Teaching Yoga Meditation
Praise for Yoga Meditation
■
"A heartfelt invitation for the practitioner to integrate meditation in everyday life.
Jivana demystifies meditation for contemporary practice, bringing his unique lens as a passionate advocate for accessibility as well as vast experience as a practitioner-teacher."
—ANJALI RAO, yoga teacher & author of Yoga as Embodied Resistance
"This diversity of meditation methods serves humanity in ways that are both uplifting and calming.
Jivana shares in a compassionate and clear tone how varied paths lead to the same goal, and how each of us can choose a path that speaks to us.”
—INDU ARORA, yoga teacher & author of Mudra: The Sacred Gestures of Yoga
"Reading this book feels like being in the company of a dear friend who reminds you that your own life is a place to practice love.
Jivana gives us space to discover a practice we can make our own."
—RODRIGO SOUZA, accessible yoga teacher
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
■
JIVANA HEYMAN is a prominent yoga and meditation teacher and advocate for making yoga and meditation accessible to all, while celebrating our individual differences. He is the founder of the Accessible Yoga movement, which aims to create equity and inclusion in the yoga world.
His journey in yoga and meditation began in childhood and later expanded through his work as an AIDS activist in the 1990s. With over 30 years of teaching, Jivana began his yoga career in 1995 with a focus on helping individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses find effective ways to engage with yoga and meditation.
Jivana is the author of three previous books: Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body (Shambhala 2019), Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage and Compassion (Shambhala 2021), and The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga (self-published 2024).
His work has built a global community of teachers and students who are committed to removing barriers to practicing yoga and meditation. His teaching style emphasizes gentle, adaptive yoga and meditation practices, focusing on making these ancient traditions truly accessible for people of all backgrounds and abilities. He has also emphasized the importance of integrating meditation in our daily lives, and to keep meditation as an essential part of contemporary yoga
practice.
Jivana lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his husband, Matt.
