Yoga and Music: go or no-go?

There are many opinions about the role music can play in a yoga class. Often one gets to hear the following:

A
I simply cannot understand practicing yoga with music. It is too much of a distraction.

B
I tend to have one playlist which I am always playing in the background or sometimes I simply put an internet radio on but I do not really pay so much attention to it.

C
Music plays an important role in my practice/classes.

📸 by Efe Kurnaz

Personally I like to think of music as an extension of myself. It might sound a bit cliche but as far as I can remember I always had it on my side throughout the different stages of my life. As a kid learning to dance samba on some old Bossa Nova record, as a teenager discovering languages and trying to sing unknown lyrics when no one would listen, as a student finding refuge from exam stress in ambient music or as a young adult discovering the mesmerising effects of live performances.

Like a lot of us out there when I started to practice yoga I went to numerous studios, trying different yoga styles. Quite quickly I realised that music played for me an integral part of the experience in a studio. To me it did not necessarily belonged to the lounge area, but it would definitively have a reassuring presence when I would be on the mat. It helped me to less focus on my challenges while trying to get into the poses, I felt empowered by it and often it helped me to get an insight into the the teacher’s personality which made me at ease.

Off course I had some experiences where I wondered why music was even being played. It was sometimes more impersonal like some elevator music or quite mainstream which would bring back memories associated to the track while trying to follow the class. But I got lucky enough to meet teachers who shared my love for music, having themselves worked with it during decades and transmitting their understanding of it.

So I quickly started to create my own playlists inspired by a broad spectrum of music genres. The more I was working with music, the more I felt overwhelmed by all this input. It felt like I was falling into a bottomless pit of creativity and inspiration. And I must admit it still feels this way today. It’s just that by now I am less trying to grasp the complexity of it and I am more letting my emotions take over. I often get the question how I curate a musical background for the classes. And it's all about listening to my mood and trying to tell a story, one at a time.

But enough about me! I would love to hear your thoughts about the topic so do not hesitate to drop me a line here. And if you are curious about how I integrate music into a yoga class, I let you discover the first playlist I ever created.

Happy listening!