Yoga Practice and Music

The post below is video of MC Yogi, a musical artist that has become quite popular, especially around the San Francisco area. He was featured recently at the Yoga Journal Conference and frequently participates in workshops with one of my Anusara teachers, Sianna Sherman.
While looking through a catalog to order music yesterday (a task I often set aside for as long as possible) I came across his video. There are so many kinds of influences and genres in yoga music now that it is staggering. Yoga Hip Hop?
Music has become such an integral part of a typical class that Yoga Journal has started a monthly play list column which incorporates all kinds of musical influences.
It brings up an interesting conversation regarding yoga practice and music.
We all know that music can arouse emotional states within us. It creates mood. It can jog memories and bring old experiences to the surface. Music ends up earmarking new experiences.
A yoga practice will do just the same thing if performed consciously. Music with your practice can either create a conduit of sorts where you can plug into these experiences and find release or they can alter your mood altogether which makes practicing with music a tricky thing.
I have had all kinds of musical experiences in visiting yoga classes, some moving and profound, and some downright humorous. Example...An Anusara class in Las Vegas where we were exploring the role of pelvic tilt in Warrior II and the instructor had Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" playing in the mix.
Jivamukti teachers David Life and Sharron Gannon mix contemporary with traditional; from Kirtan devotionals to the Beatles, in their classes all the while providing occasional social commentary as you move through your practice.
Finally, at my last training, a musician was among all of us and played a guitar accompaniment he had created to the simple mantra "Om namah shivaya" which was so beautiful and moving it left most of us a little glassy eyed.
Many styles of practice, especially the more traditional like Ashtanga and Iyengar recommend practice in a quiet space. We spend so much time in external stimulation that the space we create for a yoga practice should be without distraction.
The opinions and options are seemingly endless in a culture of yoga that is ever evolving within our society... So what is the answer?
My thoughts will sound a bit like a cop-out, but I think that as with most things, the answer is to be non-dogmatic. Music changes the experience of a practice and that can be positive and negative. It is also easy to treat music like a crutch and become too dependent on having it in the background. In my personal practice I try to mix it up and most importantly be aware of how the different choices effect my practice and how I feel after. Awareness is key. Our true yoga practice is building awareness in all parts of the self. So I experiment. I invite you to do the same. While you might not hear MC Yogi in my next class, music (or the lack thereof) reflects style in the class and mood and is consciously used in that way.
If you have any ideas about music feel free to share.

Yoga Inspired Hip Hop...

MC Yogi - Give Love (Giving4Living Mix) from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

John Friend

“As soon as you start to lose the integrity, it’s over,” John Friend says referencing a yoga posture. But, of course, it could and does apply to life and business and love, as well.

Partner and Thai Yoga Workshop

SATURDAY MARCH 6TH ~ 4-6PM
In this workshop we will move through playful sequences of partner-assisted poses where one helps the other, and double yoga poses where each reflects the other in dynamic and balanced symmetries. This workshop will also incorporate aspects of Thai Yoga in which partners will assist each other in stretches which allow for greater opening and release. This workshop is for all levels. You can come with a friend, sibling, romantic partner, etc. The only prerequisite is the ability to giggle and have fun.