Torah Yoga: Experiencing Jewish Wisdom Through Classic Postures »

Diane Bloomfield is the creator of Torah Yoga and teaches it throughout North America, Israel, and Western Europe. Visit www.torahyoga.org for Diane’s current teaching schedule and for more information about Diane and Torah Yoga.

"The Link Between Two Ancient Teachings"

In Torah Yoga, for the first time, yoga and Torah teacher Diane Bloomfield presents a fascinating approach that combines the practice of yoga with traditional and mystical Jewish wisdom. Torah Yoga is both a unique way of learning Torah (from the Pentateuch and other sacred Jewish texts) and a practical guide that teaches dozens of classic yoga postures. Daily alignment, constant renewal, and expanded consciousness are some of the topics illuminated in this dynamic synthesis of yoga and heartfelt Jewish wisdom. Torah Yoga contains over one hundred beautiful photographs that clearly illustrate the various postures.

"A must-read book for those of us wishing to apply the integrated wisdom of these rich traditions to our own life journey in a host of very practical ways."

–Michael Lee, founder, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy; author, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy: A Bridge from Body to Soul

"To the Jewish ideal of uniting the head, the arm, and the heart, as in the practice of laying on tefillin, Diane Bloomfield has added–from yoga–the spine and one’s breath. The spiritual possibilities of this integration are impressive, and in Torah Yoga one has an able, modest, but sure and confident guide."

–Rabbi Daniel Landes, Rosh HaYeshiva, Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

"Diane Bloomfield’s Torah Yoga provides the link between two ancient teachings that many of us have been seeking."

–Honi Rosen, administrator, Israeli Yoga Teachers’ Association

"Diane Bloomfield’s sensitive writing and the beautiful photographs point the way for readers to integrate mind, body, and soul in a life-enhancing practice."

–Shulamit Reinharz, Jacob Potofsky Professor of Sociology, Brandeis University

Publishers Weekly

Students of Torah may never have considered yoga, just as students of yoga may never have considered Torah. Yet Bloomfield, a yoga instructor and longtime student of the Torah, seamlessly connects the two as she teaches readers how to engage body and breath while meditating on Jewish wisdom. Like any good teacher, Bloomfield carefully lays out her lesson plan and instantly engages her reader. She approaches her seven topics for reflection with a thoroughness employed by the most rigorous yeshiva student. At the same time, her posture instruction is clear and easily understood. Quoting the yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar, Bloomfield reminds us that "Yoga was given for the human race, not the Hindus... [it] is for the culturing of self and that self-culture has no barrier." She universalizes the Torah references and demonstrates a keen ability to unlock the plethora of doors found within the Hebrew language. For instance, Egypt is not only the land of ancient slavery; as she points out, with the change of a few vowels, the same Hebrew letters spell the word for "narrow straits." The center letters of the word, when paired, connote limitations and pain, yet are surrounded by letters that, when combined, spell the word for water "a symbol of unlimited possibilities... a harbinger of new life." Readers of any faith or athletic inclination should do their souls a favor and investigate this illuminating guide. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.