It's Amazing What You Can Accomplish Over Zoom
by Jill Duff-Hoppes
For Lisa Schreiber, becoming a published author was never one of her life goals. The Baldwin Park resident was already a yoga instructor for children and adults, a wife, and a busy mom of two boys. But when a friend pointed out the dearth of Jewish children’s books that incorporate yoga, inspiration struck.
So, last year, Lisa whipped up an outline for a book that combines her love of yoga with her Jewish heritage. The charming little storybook, The Promise of Shabbat: Yoga Poses for Happy Kids, was released this spring and is available for purchase through Amazon.
After penning the story, Lisa posted a query on the Jewish Moms of Orlando Facebook page seeking a student artist who could illustrate her words. That post led her to Jacqui Gerber of Altamonte Springs, an enthusiastic artist who is studying sociology and strategic communications at the University of Central Florida.
Lisa and Jacqui collaborated during the spring and summer of 2021, meeting virtually in large part because of the ongoing pandemic. Because neither had written or illustrated a book before, the project proved to be a valuable learning experience for both women.
“I have been asked to do other books before, but I’ve turned them down because I’ve been too scared,” says Jacqui, who decided it was high time to face her fears and say yes to Lisa. “I wanted to make sure the illustrations were everything she wanted and more.”
Lisa, a native of New Jersey, studied health sciences at Towson University in Maryland and moved to Central Florida in 2003. Her previous jobs include serving as the activity director for Kinneret Apartments in Orlando. Currently, Lisa teaches a Mommy and Baby Stretch class at The Roth Family JCC and a yoga class for kids at Baldwin Park Elementary School.
The Promise of Shabbat: Yoga Poses for Happy Kids is a sweet tale about dealing with life’s ups and downs and turning negatives into positives. The yoga moves depicted in the book reinforce the narrative points.
Like Jacqui, Lisa was rather nervous about venturing into uncharted creative waters. But both women – who have still never met in person – are thrilled with the final product and the enthusiastic response from the community thus far.
Recently, Lisa visited Congregation Ohev Shalom’s Hebrew School, where she got a kick out of reading the book to the students and practicing its yoga poses with them. She is planning to do more readings, including one at 10:00 a.m. on July 24 at PJ Library Orlando at The Roth Family JCC.
Both Lisa and Jacqui, who developed a nice virtual rapport, say they’d also be open to collaborating again. That’s a distinct possibility because Lisa now wants to write a series of Jewish-themed yoga books – and she already has an idea for her next story.
“I put this book together because yoga and Judaism are two of the biggest treasures in my life besides my family,” Lisa says. “Those two concepts and practices tie in so nicely because there’s so much overlap. These two gifts that I have in my life really have helped me over the past 10 or so years to find love and peace and happiness, and I wanted to share that with the world.”