Yom Kippur Yoga and Meditation

Yom Kippur is the tenth day on the Jewish calendar; it is a day of introspection when we look deeply into our lives to examine the past year. Yom Kippur is one of the most important fasting days of the year. Through fasting and self-denial people are granted atonement after a previous ten days of asking forgiveness from G-d and from the people around them.

Sometimes we don't feel so great when fasting. That's because fasting puts our nervous systems under stress, sending us into spirals of anxiety, irritability, weakness and fatigue. Besides the stress to our nervous systems, our bodies begin releasing toxins, producing symptoms like rashes, nausea, headaches, bad breath, muscle aches, and dizziness. To counteract these symptoms and to deepen your spiritual practice, Beth Emek will be offering restorative yoga and meditation sessions between Yom Kippur services.

Gentle, moderate yoga supports a tough fast and opens the doors to greater spiritual clarity by calming your emotions and sharpening reason. Yoga is said to be about stilling the chatter in the mind to help understand ourselves better, thus gaining a deeper understanding of G-d. Yom Kippur is about not doing, thus the yoga poses will be passive and effortless; held for long periods of time allowing the body to release and stretch deeply.

Meditation (Hitbodedut) has long been used in Jewish traditions to attain enlightenment. Some of the earliest and greatest Talmudists made use of meditation to attain spiritual elevation and transcend the physical realm. Meditation alone, or together with yoga poses (asanas) can calm and clear the mind and help alleviate the symptoms of fasting; thus promoting concentration and deeper introspection. Select prayers, such as the Shema, will be integrated into the program along with informational reading to help with your meditation.

This session is for everyone. All students of yoga—whether seasoned or first time—can put themselves in restorative poses, and meditation can be accessed by all. Props will be provided. If you prefer to bring your own mat and firm blanket, please feel free to do so.

Return to Yom Kippur 5769 page.