by teacher Chris Reed
The answer to this question is as varied as the many styles of yoga itself. Some may say that the best soundtrack to any yoga practice is just the breath. And to an extent I do agree. However, the use of music can help deepen the experience or help a teacher touch on a lesson through the many range of emotions that music can make us, as humans, experience. I personally have used music to help deepen my teachings by using key tracks at critical times within a class.
For me, the process for building a new playlist beings with what teaching I’m looking to focus on (i.e. patience, letting go, love, growth, etc). Sometimes things such as the changing of seasons or a waning or waxing moon can help influence the selection process as well. And so beings the searching process for the perfect songs to build the perfect playlist.
Like most things there’s almost a formula for the building process, for example I generally try not to have loud or upbeat music until later in the sequence. Teaching vinyasa style yoga, you want each breath to be linked with a movement. I’ve found that if I’m playing more upbeat music during sun salutes it causes students to move the breath quicker which in turn speeds the entire class up.
So first thing is first, some mellow yet building tracks for sun salutes. Then during standing and balancing I find you can throw some more upbeat tracks in. Sometimes, if a track causes students to want to dance or move within the standing sequences I will often encourage it. One of the main things with yoga to me is, IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN PRACTICING, CHANCES ARE YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. So now we’re done with standing and balance and chances are we are going to work our way down to our bellies for some back bending but first we might try an arm balance or inversion. Its quite fun to play something about being upside-down at this time or even something light hearted to take some of the seriousness out of room. Let’s face it, we are all here practicing yoga and yes at the core we are all searching for enlightenment, no need for our egos to ruin our path towards that by not being able to laugh a little. Embrace the inner child and have a good laugh. After all the laughter and a much needed childs pose it’s time to wind down the energy and our bodies so the music follows. Much like the beginning of class only opposite. I try and find tracks that begin to mellow out to lead towards an ultimate dreamy and enjoyable savasana. Mostly for final relaxation I use the MOST mellow track on the list, one that’s sure to deliver peace and quiet within the body, mind, and breath (little to no lyrics/mostly soundscape/dreamlike). So there you have it, the types of songs and length of the list will vary from teacher to teacher and even from class to class, sometimes I break away from this formula for holidays or just to change things up and have a completely different experience (motown vinyasa, punk rock asana, new wave halloween) however I’ve found this is generally what works best for me.
Here’s my Valentine’s Day playlist.
Air - Space Maker
Bit Funk - The Long Road Ahead
AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love
The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love (pional remix)
Giraffage - music sounds better with you
The High Wire - leave me in love
Silver Swans - Sean of Love (Grant Cutler Remix)
Daft Punk - the game of love
Art of Noise - moments in love
Tora - Calming Her
David Newman - Love Belongs to Everyone (Krishna Venkatesh Deep Dub Remix)
DJ Shadow - I’ve been trying
Cat Power - Metal Heart
Black Sabbath - planet caravan
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