Chapman, Jnani (born Jane E.) 67, of San Francisco, CA, formerly of Dedham, MA, died suddenly on December 14, 2017, in Irvine, CA. Daughter of the late Joseph A. and Teresa E. (Martin) Chapman, she was predeceased by her brother Joseph A. Chapman of Auburn, CA. She is survived by sisters Teresa L. Chapman of Hyde Park, MA, and Joanne M. Chapman of Portland, OR; brother John M. Chapman and his wife Lorri of West Hartford, CT; and sister-in-law Janette S. Chapman of Big Bear City, CA. She also leaves behind eight nieces and nephews, and seven great-nieces and great-nephews.
Jnani travelled frequently between coasts, always making time to visit family and friends. Her beautiful smile and abundant energy brightened spirits when she arrived. Over cups of tea, conversations were far-ranging and substantial, and she would often return hospitality with a massage from strong, caring hands.
Jnani lived in service to people with cancer and other serious illnesses. A gifted massage therapist and yoga teacher, she went on to receive a BSN from UCSF in 1994. She founded YCat--Yoga Therapy in Cancer and Chronic Illness--developing a curriculum now in use worldwide. Jnani taught YCat in association with the Integral Yoga Institute where she was a yoga instructor for decades. She was a cherished senior staff member at the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, and previously at the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. She was a founding clinician for the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, as well as a nurse case manager and stress management specialist for Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease. At both UCSF and St. Mary’s Medical Center SF, she consulted on integrative medicine. A gifted writer, she authored chapters for books on yoga and integrative medicine. She was a co-founder and past president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Through her “Hands on Health” practice, Jnani provided yoga, massage, and practical and spiritual support, often living-in with clients and friends facing terminal illness. Many considered her to be a “midwife” to the dying. In 2002 Jnani gave the “gift of life,” donating a kidney to her brother. An avid swimmer and sailor, she loved being in, on and by the sea. In 2016 she embarked on a sabbatical adventure cruising around the world as a passenger on a container ship.
This compassionate healer blessed us all; she is deeply mourned and will be dearly missed by the countless lives she touched.
Visiting hours will be from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday January 4, at George F. Doherty & Sons Wilson-Cannon Funeral Home, 456 High St. Dedham, MA. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary’s Church, Dedham, at 10am on Friday, January 5, followed by internment of her ashes at Brookdale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be considered in Jnani’s name to either a scholarship fund that has been established by her loving friends at Commonweal (https://commonweal.morwebcms.com/Jnani-Chapman) or to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (www.pkdcure.org).