Torah yoga series merges body and soul

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Mind-body awareness expands into the spiritual dimension in Jewish Yoga. For the uninitiated, a High Holiday series to be led by Nina Moliver at Ohabei Shalom can provide a unique opportunity to truly immerse oneself in prayerful connection.

The practice is based upon the Torah Yoga system created by Diane Bloomfield, who arrived upon the discipline following years of both yoga practice and Yeshiva study. A Modern Orthodox woman who lived in both Minnesota and Jerusalem, Bloomfield studied Jewish sources, including the Jewish mystics Sfat Emet and Rav Avraham Kook, and discovered a connection between the body and Torah concepts which could be experienced through yoga.

Moliver’s “Body and Soul” class will combine myriad disciplines. “We will stretch, balance, twist, bend, reach, release and rest,” she said. “We will chant, breathe, meditate, learn and rejoice in revelation of the holiday themes of renewal, creation, liberation, peace and forgiveness.

“As we release the body from old habits and unravel its tensions, we allow our soul to journey more deeply in its yearning for the Infinite, as the writings of Jewish mystics guide us in our yoga journey to ourselves.”

The practice of Iyangar yoga in 2000 led Moliver, who had studied Kripalu yoga since 1968, into further exploration of personal growth, power and awareness. She was also looking for a way to merge the physical with Jewish practices. “When the body is not integrated into my spiritual practice, I feel split into two, and very unsatisfied,” she said.

Her series, "Body and Soul: A Jewish Yoga Experience for the Holidays," will explore holiday themes as well as general topics of revelation, Shabbat, exile, and liberation from slavery. The class will also utilize the concept of Sephirot, or Kabbalistic chakras, often referred to as maps of the body. It’s a departure from the usual yoga circuit which, stemming from Hindu tradition, tends to incorporate Indian statues, Sanskrit chants and Hindu deities.

All levels of yoga experience and Jewish knowledge are welcomed; Moliver recommends loose, comfortable clothing and suggests that participants refrain from eating heavily beforehand. Mats, which will be available for purchase at $25, are required.

“I believe that this series of classes is an exciting innovation for the Boston area,” she said, noting that it will fill a need in the Jewish community both for people who have wanted to express their Jewishness in their yoga practice, and for people who may have avoided yoga in the past out of concern for Avodah Zarah (foreign worship).

Moliver grew up in Philadelphia and attended Akiba Hebrew Academy, a Jewish day school. Her son and his family are Chabad Chasidim; she has a grandson, 5; a granddaughter, 3; and a granddaughter, 1.

“I'm not teaching these classes as a rabbi or a Jewish authority,” she explained. “I am just sharing what I know, from my own reading and experience. I would like my classes to open into the mystical core of Jewish teaching, where we can glimpse what Rabbi Rami Shapiro calls the ‘silent Torah,"’ or what Rabbi Tirzah Firestone calls ‘the Torah prior to the birth of words and letters.’ It is in that place of silence and truth that yoga and the Jewish tradition can meet.”

The cost is $60 for the eight-week series, or $10 per class. Classes are eight Tuesdays, 7:30-9 p.m., beginning Sept. 23 (no class Nov. 11, last class Nov. 18), at Temple Ohabei Shalom, 1187 Beacon St., Brookline. Please arrive 10 minutes early. To register (by Sept. 10; please state if you need to purchase a mat), call the office of Ohabei Shalom, 617-277-6610. For more information, call 617-524-9432, email NinaLynn@bigfoot.com, or visit www.YogaNina.net or www.TorahYoga.com.

Nina Moliver guides her students into Yoga postures with gentleness, acceptance, awareness and support. She has practiced Yoga for many years, with extensive experience in Iyengar and Kripalu Yoga and a good sampling of the Integral, Svaroopa, Anusara, and Bikram traditions. Nina is a holistic health advisor, a Yoga teacher and a macrobiotic counselor. She has studied and taught Jewish mysticism in Montreal, in Boston and elsewhere. She has three beautiful grandchildren.

Nina’s classes have been inspired by Diane Bloomfield’s work, Torah Yoga. See www.TorahYoga.com for more information.