Jan 5

Jan 5 Tu B'Shevat Yoga & Meditation

Tu’ B Shevat is the New year for the trees, celebrating the ascension of the ‘Saraf’ (Hebrew for ‘sap’) up the tree, infusing the Tree with a renewed life force. Tu B’Shevat is when the trees begin to awaken from the death and coldness of winter. It is the earth’s beginning of health, healing, and wakefulness. The ‘Saraf’ is the heart of the tree that sweetens the tree’s waters, and reveals itself into an expression. The tree’s expression is fruit; our expression is some sort of breakthrough, insight, imagination, word, or action. One lesson of trees is that the more rooted we are, the higher we can rise and express our greatest potential. It says in Devarim, “Man is a tree of the field.”

We both have roots, trunk, branches, fruit.

What are your roots?

What is your trunk?

What are your branches?

What are your fruit?

Twin Trees

Our breathing meshes with the breathing of trees in exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. Our respiratory system is even shaped like a tree! We hold an upright posture and vertical spine like a tree. We even share about 50% of our DNA with trees. The inside of a tree's ring resembles a human fingerprint. Spiritually, A tree stands tall , reaches its branches long, and opens its leaves to receive sunlight. Reflecting the verse, "A man is a tree of the field", we stand tall in prayer, raise our arms to our Creator, and open ourselves to receive the Light from Above.

“Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.”

— Braiding Sweetgrass

Jewish Tale

"He shall be as a tree planted beside streams of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season. Its leaves do not wilt, and whatever it does prospers." Psalm 1:3

When we are dry or hollow, we cannot bring forth fruit. The imagery of the tree here is moist and watery. The hydration and life-giving waters of the tree is what allows it to grow, thrive, and survive droughts. On the verse above, Rabbi Neril teaches that trees are one of the most resilient organisms against drought. One of the gifts of yoga is that when we are 'dried out' or uninspired, we can shift our energy and enter a new state of being. Yoga increases our resiliency: we don't get stuck when we know how to enter that "flow state". When jaded, we can receive the life-giving energy from the Trees to bounce back with freshness and aliveness. A walk through the forest, a meditation under the tree top, or a deep tree-hug can help us resiliently return to our inner chosen state of being.

Kabbalah Taste. For more in-depth learning, join the Jewish Yoga Course.

Full 100 page yoga and meditation manual for Shevat available as part of the Virtual Jewish Yoga Course

Reading Recommendations for Shevat:

Full 100 page Jewish Yoga Manual for Shevat by Jenna Zadaka on the Jewish Yoga Course

Seven fruits of the land of Israel by Chana Bracha siegelbaum

The Month of Shevat by Rav Pinson

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Yoga with Trees by Jenny Garrison

Eco Bible by Rabbi Yonatan Neril

Eating as Tikun by Sarah Yehudit Schneider

Food for Thought - Hazon's Sourcebook on Jews, Food & Contemporary Life by Nigel Savage

Tu B’Shevat Video Practices Below:

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Let’s Connect!

Intentful and Inventive teacher, Jenna Zadaka, MA: CF-SLP, RYT, blends Jewish ancient wisdom and modern mindfulness and movement practices into a feminine, rejuvenative practice. She crafts innovative somatic sequencing to harmonize with the energetic teachings of the Jewish cyclical calendar. Jenna offers specialized prenatal and postpartum yoga classes, as well as energizing Vinyasa flow classes for women. In 2015, Jenna completed her 200-hour certification in Jerusalem with Kinneret Yoga and is RYT-200 certified. Since then, she has taught weekly yoga in many communities including Jerusalem, New York, Minneapolis, and Boulder,CO, as well as at holiday retreats, festivals, events, and schools. Jenna leads workshops, classes, women circles, and meditation series delving into Jewish mysticism, Jewish Chassidic thought, and the inner teachings of the month or holiday.

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