Music and Yoga
Once after teaching a Vinyasa yoga class, I was directed by a fellow yoga teacher to consider the volume of my music during class. I was surprised that the teacher found the music too loud. This is not to speak of whether it was or wasn’t, it was too loud for her, but I’d never personally thought of the volume at all, except during the quieter times a class provides, times of introspection. I was accustom to plugging in my ipod and “rocking out”. The idea that music should be loud, only played softly or played at all during a yoga class is one to consider. It is not uncommon for many teachers to throw out musical accompaniment in order to usher students through directions and into, what maybe for some, a deeper connection to their practice. However, many yoga teachers strive to guide with the use of music and as this becomes a guide, I find it more important to consider the music we are plugging in and then adjust the volume.
No one can say whether yoga is more effective with or without music. It remains a personal need for the teacher and student alike; though, when taking a look at the philosophy of yoga and it’s culture, one thing is certain: Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah. (Yoga is the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff). Pantanjali clearly outlines in the Yoga Sutras the goal for yoga. Yoga is about stilling the stuff that inhibits the mind. So, I believe the question here is not whether music should be played or how loud but what type of music should be played, if any, to calm the turbulent waters of the mind.
Because the musical selections played in any given yoga class are usually dictated by the teacher, the yoga teacher becomes a sort of DJ. This music can and is often yoga inspired via Indian music, chanting, or African drums and singing. Though I am sure many yoga students can validate the effect of this type of music, they can not however, always verbally reassure you of this effect. Often yoga students leave class with a new sense of self. Without music, one can only attribute this to the sequence and structure of the class and it’s direct affect on the student, body and mind union. However with music, another entity has an opportunity to collide gracefully or clumsily into the yoga practice. I can attest to having experienced both the graceful and the clumsy. I have been asked who musical artists are after class as well as if I would consider making a yoga music CD.
The effects of music create monuments through, or rocky barrages in and around the beginning, middle and end of any given yoga practice. A silent savanasa or one with music has no choice but to deliver different effects. It is true then. Saraswati, the Indian deity of music, among many other things, clearly represents a path to grasping the underlying spiritual laws of the universe and through this understanding an attainment of spirit and material power.
Taking a yoga class on Martin Luther King’s birthday this year, I discovered the music in one particular yoga class culturally insightful, as each student was invited into their diversity of practice through a brief walk through the music of his time. The tunes ranged from Miles Davis to Aretha Franklin and celebrated the music of many African American musicians and their contributions. I was rendered speechless as Billie Holiday pressed me deeper into my hips and thighs. The class was rich with sound, and though I was only one of the many students in that class on that particular evening, I understood that evening how music can do more for our yoga practice than we give it create.
This is evident as we learn more about Nada Yoga, The yoga of sound. It is uncovered in this style of yoga that sound is not only for dance floors and theatrical stages but also for our mats and, made use of in the most appropriate of ways, for the sanctity of our lives. Though one can not overlook that Nada yoga is not House or Jazz music or anything of the like, all sound comes from one solid sound, “Om”. Every sound, no matter the intricacies, comes from a collection of “Om”s disseminated in various patterns throughout any piece of music, throughout any piece of life. And the dismantling of all, leads back to this simple audible sound.
It is a personal struggle of mine each time I teach a yoga class to DJ with care, as I believe all yoga teachers should consider “to play or not to play”. Each teacher should ask the appropriate questions of their music, just as they do their yoga sequence: What are we trying to achieve? If we are trying to achieve an opening in the hips, we consider eka pada rajakapotasana. We consider lunges or malasana. If we surge forward to connect to some cultural aspect of the human life, we should, as well, consider the play list that will pulse through the speakers and into the yoga student’s chittam (the sum total of the mind).
If these questions are not asked, students are unconsciously subject to the likings of the teacher. This is not always unfortunate, albeit, unstudied. Teaching in any arena is not random and neither is the teaching of yoga. As the yoga DJ in the shortness of a 1-4 hour practice, yoga teachers hold the responsibility to create, such as we do our asana presentation, a continuum for growth and introspection. Listening to the depressions of one musical artist or yoga teacher does not provide peace in thought but rather creates a reminder of life’s ills. A Sanskrit saying says it best, “Mana eva manushyanam karanam banbha monkshood.” “As the mind, so the man; bondage or liberation are in your own mind.” If music is allowed to settle the mind, which it has the capacity to do, music becomes a tool for liberation, not a distraction. And, if one must consider the volume: play it to be heard, not hollered.
No one can say whether yoga is more effective with or without music. It remains a personal need for the teacher and student alike; though, when taking a look at the philosophy of yoga and it’s culture, one thing is certain: Yogas Citta Vrtti Nirodhah. (Yoga is the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff). Pantanjali clearly outlines in the Yoga Sutras the goal for yoga. Yoga is about stilling the stuff that inhibits the mind. So, I believe the question here is not whether music should be played or how loud but what type of music should be played, if any, to calm the turbulent waters of the mind.
Because the musical selections played in any given yoga class are usually dictated by the teacher, the yoga teacher becomes a sort of DJ. This music can and is often yoga inspired via Indian music, chanting, or African drums and singing. Though I am sure many yoga students can validate the effect of this type of music, they can not however, always verbally reassure you of this effect. Often yoga students leave class with a new sense of self. Without music, one can only attribute this to the sequence and structure of the class and it’s direct affect on the student, body and mind union. However with music, another entity has an opportunity to collide gracefully or clumsily into the yoga practice. I can attest to having experienced both the graceful and the clumsy. I have been asked who musical artists are after class as well as if I would consider making a yoga music CD.
The effects of music create monuments through, or rocky barrages in and around the beginning, middle and end of any given yoga practice. A silent savanasa or one with music has no choice but to deliver different effects. It is true then. Saraswati, the Indian deity of music, among many other things, clearly represents a path to grasping the underlying spiritual laws of the universe and through this understanding an attainment of spirit and material power.
Taking a yoga class on Martin Luther King’s birthday this year, I discovered the music in one particular yoga class culturally insightful, as each student was invited into their diversity of practice through a brief walk through the music of his time. The tunes ranged from Miles Davis to Aretha Franklin and celebrated the music of many African American musicians and their contributions. I was rendered speechless as Billie Holiday pressed me deeper into my hips and thighs. The class was rich with sound, and though I was only one of the many students in that class on that particular evening, I understood that evening how music can do more for our yoga practice than we give it create.
This is evident as we learn more about Nada Yoga, The yoga of sound. It is uncovered in this style of yoga that sound is not only for dance floors and theatrical stages but also for our mats and, made use of in the most appropriate of ways, for the sanctity of our lives. Though one can not overlook that Nada yoga is not House or Jazz music or anything of the like, all sound comes from one solid sound, “Om”. Every sound, no matter the intricacies, comes from a collection of “Om”s disseminated in various patterns throughout any piece of music, throughout any piece of life. And the dismantling of all, leads back to this simple audible sound.
It is a personal struggle of mine each time I teach a yoga class to DJ with care, as I believe all yoga teachers should consider “to play or not to play”. Each teacher should ask the appropriate questions of their music, just as they do their yoga sequence: What are we trying to achieve? If we are trying to achieve an opening in the hips, we consider eka pada rajakapotasana. We consider lunges or malasana. If we surge forward to connect to some cultural aspect of the human life, we should, as well, consider the play list that will pulse through the speakers and into the yoga student’s chittam (the sum total of the mind).
If these questions are not asked, students are unconsciously subject to the likings of the teacher. This is not always unfortunate, albeit, unstudied. Teaching in any arena is not random and neither is the teaching of yoga. As the yoga DJ in the shortness of a 1-4 hour practice, yoga teachers hold the responsibility to create, such as we do our asana presentation, a continuum for growth and introspection. Listening to the depressions of one musical artist or yoga teacher does not provide peace in thought but rather creates a reminder of life’s ills. A Sanskrit saying says it best, “Mana eva manushyanam karanam banbha monkshood.” “As the mind, so the man; bondage or liberation are in your own mind.” If music is allowed to settle the mind, which it has the capacity to do, music becomes a tool for liberation, not a distraction. And, if one must consider the volume: play it to be heard, not hollered.
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Much love!