About Us
Marcus J Freed, President, Jewish Yoga Network
Marcus J Freed - Marcus is President of the Jewish Yoga Network. He has spent 18 years developing authentic Torah approaches to yoga and meditation, and is bestselling author of The Kosher Sutras: A Yogi's Guide to the Torah, The Kabbalah Sutras: A Yogi's Guide to Counting the Omer, The Festive Sutras: A Yogi's Guide to Shabbat and Jewish Festivals, and has shared these teachings in 18 countries. The Kosher Sutras is currently the only yogic Torah commentary and recently won first place in the 2020 International Book Awards for religious works, and The Kabbalah Sutras received multiple international book awards. Marcus received semicha from Rabbi Dovid Ostroff of Yeshivas Iyun Halacha, and Rav u'Manhig certification from Yeshivat Pirkei Shoshanim. He has yoga teacher training qualifications from Tripsichore Yoga and the School of Purna Yoga, degrees in English Literature and Theatre Studies from the Universities of Birmingham (BA) and London (MA), and a postgraduate acting diploma from Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. An award-winning actor, he appeared in the Hollywood movie Saving Lincoln and has toured the world with a quartet of Biblical plays, some of which were co-written with London School of Jewish Studies' Dean, Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum. Marcus' recent writing includes the Satirical Semite column for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. He has lived in Los Angeles for the last decade and is currently on sabbatical in the UK. More at www.marcusjfreed.com and on social networks @marcusjfreed.
Estelle Eugene, Co-Founder, Jewish Yoga Network
ESTELLE founded the original Yoga Mosaic, and is co-founder and co-director of the Jewish Yoga Network. She taught principally at the Yakar Educational Foundation in London which was very supportive of the founding of Yoga Mosaic and ran her own yoga studio. When her husband suffered a stroke she cared for him for ten years. He passed away, though not before writing a beautiful Book of Blessings which Estelle had published after he died. Then fate decided to let Estelle experience a stroke of her own! It has been disabling and limiting, but she adapted her yoga teaching and practice, and continued teaching in two medical practices, the Stroke Organisation and the International University of the Third Age (U3A). Now in her early eighties, having given up her studio because of an area move, she teaches Chair yoga for U3A and provides much encouragement to participants to achieve their potential.
Lisa L. Levine, Jewish Yoga Festival Co-ordinator
Lisa L. Levine is a well known cantor, composer, poet, author, Rabbinic Pastor, chaplain and recording artist. She is the author of “Yoga Shalom” a popular Jewish Yoga and prayer embodiment book/DVD/CD and "Sound of Your Soul" . www.cantorlisalevine.com
History of the Jewish Yoga Network
Estelle Eugene started Yoga Mosaic in the UK in the early nineties. It was named after Mosaic law, the five Books of Moses that make up the Torah. Yoga Mosaic preceded the huge growth and expansion of yoga that we see today and was aimed at Jewish teachers who would have experienced a more in depth exposure to the early Vedic yoga teachings via their training.
She was interested in exploring the roots and the often shared values of both Judaism and yogic teachings, and this inspired many of the sessions taught at the regular seminars. She ran over 20 annual seminars in England and several were in conjunction with JW3, the Jewish community center in North-West London.
Although it began as a UK venture, Yoga Mosaic’s existence was spotted by Reisha Golden, a yoga teacher in Los Angeles, who suggested expanding the organisation into the USA and Canada. Reisha put an enormous amount of work into this expansion as an early pioneer of what lay ahead.
Estelle met up with Marcus Freed in 2004, and he had a far more panoramic vision of what how the community could grow and what Yoga Mosaic could become. Reisha wanted to withdraw to focus more on her own specialised career so the timing was apt. Yoga Mosaic was renamed the Jewish Yoga Network and events continued in the UK and US, and in 2021 began running international seminars reaching thousands of people in over 10 countries. She is absolutely thrilled with the hard work, dedication, talent, wisdom and commitment that Marcus has put into building up the Jewish Yoga Network.
In the early days Estelle was honoured to receive this commendation from Rabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee:
“The Torah is concerned with both our spiritual and physical wellbeing. Moreover there has always been a recognition in Judaism that there is wisdom and there are resources to improve our lives beyond the four cubits of halachah. In addition the art of meditation, both as a preparation for prayer and as the deep state of spiritual consciousness to which prayer should lead, has been an integral part of Jewish practice and tradition down the ages. In these regards there is much richness and benefit to be gained from the ancient practice known as Yoga which uses breath and movement to bring harmony to body, mind and spirit. Whether one sees Yoga as helping recapture Jewish wisdom and practice which may have been lost over time, or as incorporating wisdom from other parts of the world into Jewish life; the physical and spiritual benefits of such practice offer much blessing and enlightenment. I accordingly express my appreciation and admiration to Estelle Eugene for her work and website Yoga Mosaic which seeks to integrate the benefits of Yoga into authentic and committed Jewish life.” - Rabbi David Rosen, CBE, KSG
Estelle said that “it is incredible how the injection of the ancient art of yoga has breathed such creativity and discovery of deep spiritual understandings buried deep within the Jewish tradition. This has been expanded upon by hundreds of dedicated Jewish practitioners who continue in this exploration.” With regular seminars, workshops and an influx of new practitioners, the Jewish Yoga Network community continues to grow from strength to strength.
