Ira Shirel with help of her daughter Sheli Shirel and Leza Gordon created non-profit charity “Yoga Tales” which seeks to expand teachings of Laya yoga as a permanent alternative therapy for children in hospitals.
There is a lack of knowledge, research, and understanding of the meditative concentration of chakras as a therapy.
We wish to give this knowledge of Laya yoga to children who are willing to learn about it and regulate their rich inner world to feel well.
“I dream that children all over the world fall asleep easily and be happy and healthy listening to my musical yoga tales”… eight year old Liya said to her yoga and music teacher, Ira Shirel, who promised to make her last dream come true.
Our Story
Yoga Tales were composed by Liya and her yoga teacher Ira Shirel and they are recorded to the accompaniment of ethnic musical instruments.
Ira Shirel says: “I introduced Liya to the ancient teachings of Laya Yoga in a form understandable to a child. For two years we regularly practiced musical meditation in my studio or at her home. Characters-symbols that Liya met became part of her imagination and participants in her games. Based on her previous knowledge of Laya Yoga, the creatively gifted Liya told me about an Antelope who traveled in the magical world of her fantasy. After each meeting, I recorded an audio story and music. So in two months, we came up with 44 fairy tales, each of which lasts five to ten minutes. Liya said that Yoga Tales balance her and help her fall asleep and sleep peacefully.”
Aliza Keren, Liya’s mother, says: “Ira sent us an audio recording of a story that had just been invented on our phone, my daughter and I, embracing, listened to Irina’s new Yoga Tale performed by Liy`s and calmly fell asleep to the magical sounds of musical instruments from Irina’s studio. All this supported us, and made it possible to live another, next day.”
Yoga Tales are meditation fairy tales about the Antelope that lives in the heart of each of us.
Readers and listeners of Yoga Tales touch on the ancient teachings of Laya Yoga. During her adventures, Antelope meets the White Elephant, the Beautiful Peacock, the Mysterious Dolphin and other characters who live in the energy centers of the body (chakras).
The tales are about love, friendship and overcoming obstacles. With the help of fairy tales, children enrich their inner world, learn to relieve tension, dispel fears, balance themselves and fall asleep easily.
Our goal is to help children learn to manage their emotions and feel their inner strength through meditation in an accessible, interesting, playful and easy way. Meditations based on the ancient teachings of Laya Yoga will help children relax before going to bed, fall asleep easily, have pleasant dreams and wake up cheerful and cheerful.
Yoga tales based on the symbols of Laya Yoga can especially help children who are being treated in hospitals.
What are these stories about?
Our team
LIYA ISAKOV
Liya Isakov, from Mevaseret Zion (Israel), was a very special little girl who composed beautiful, original musical yoga stories for children with her teacher and close friend of her family, Ira Shirel. She loved music, nature, and was concerned with all the details of how the world works. She was curious, she wondered about everything, and was always smiling. More than anything Liya loved to sing, dance and was known for her smile. She was interested in everything that had to do with nature and people. She began to love yoga, music and meditation at the age of 5 because the more time she spent in these activities, the happier she felt (as told by her). She felt all the elements of the world inside of her, like the moon, sun, stars, and loved to dream about them and balance them within herself.
For two years, she practiced meditation with Ira and her two daughters, and on the basis of this knowledge within two months created Liya’s Yoga Tales together with her teacher Ira Shirel. These stories helped her sleep well and feel balanced. Even when she was going through challenging moments with her health, she radiated inner joy and love to everyone around her.
Liya passed away in August 2016, when she was just 8 years old, after four years in which she dealt in a highly admirable and inspiring manner with leukemia. Up until the very last moment of her life, Liya was filled with creative ideas and positive thoughts. Liya wanted her yoga stories to be translated into other languages to help children all over the world sleep better, feel peaceful and well. This was her dream.
Author of Yoga Tales
IRA SHIREL
A yoga teacher, music therapist, and musician with over 25 years of experience working with children. Ira has a bachelor’s degree in music from Tel Aviv University and is a certified children’s yoga instructor from Reidman College.
“I had the privilege of being the closest student of Noa Blass, a well-known music healer educator, and writer, and have worked with her system of music and yoga therapy for many years and continue to use it in my own work in my music studio in Bat Yam, Israel. I taught Liya Laya yoga and meditation over the course of two years and together we created these 44 therapeutic stories based on yoga and music together. She dreamed that meditation would be accessible to all children going through challenges and I created this project to make her dream come true. I am the loving mother of 3 children, two of which were Liya’s best friends (Maayan and Sheli). I love the ocean and swimming it in. I also believe in fairies, magic and that life is wonderful! “
Co-author, creator and sound of yoga tales
SHELI SHIREL
Daughter of Ira Shirel and Liya’s best friend. Sheli and Liya learned about yoga and meditation together for two years and Liya asked her to draw the pictures for her book, When she was 9 years old, Sheli drew and painted the illustrations for each chapter of the “Antelope in her imaginary world” book and Laya yoga book with a charming mandala and all the symbols of Laya yoga. She is creative, musical, and has a special talent for connecting to every animal and child. Sheli plays the hang drum, helps her mom work with special needs children, and loves doing yoga.
Book illustrator
LEZA LIAT GORDON
Leza came from Boston to Israel to translate and record the English version of Yoga Tales. “It is a great honor for me to participate in this charity project. While working on the project, I got acquainted with the teachings of Laya yoga, which changed my life. I want Liya’s dream to come true… ”
Leza is a doctoral candidate in psychology in Hawaii, studying to be a clinical psychologist for children. She is completing her dissertation on the relationship between spirituality and Yoga Tales.
Translator and voice of the english version of Yoga Tales
Our goal is to give these magical Yoga fairy tales to as many children as possible to support them in difficult times, help them sleep well and be healthy.
