ashtanga yoga Ashtanga Yoga and Music

[Guest guest]

I love Music, especially chanting

I love Yoga

I love Yoga w/Music

Bhakti Yoga is the quickest path to the divine

Narayan

\

Maqqaioz <m_ats wrote:Good morning

 

I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for the first time in August

2001. I have, ever since, maintained a regular practice of twice a

week, which I hope to make more frequent.

 

Lately I was subjected to an Ashtanga yoga class during which pop

music was being played all through.

 

Here are the things I can outline from this experience :

-less breath/movement synchronization, since the music made it harder

for me to hear my ujjayi breath

-more discursive and scattered attention, due to the music and the

personal memories or thoughts linked to it.

-more persistent thoughts that had nothing to do with what was going

on in the room (here and now) or in my body.

-more inclined to go through this class in a lazy way by 'blindly'

following the instructions and letting go of the concentration, since

my mind could be fed by the music

 

I would like to know if anyone of you once experienced doing Ashtanga

in a group while music was being played through from within the room,

and how you did experience it.

 

I agree that there is room for creativity in teaching yoga, and I

have seen and experienced very good results with a hand-drum pacing

through an Ashtanga class, helping to establish a rhythm for the

breath. But pop music didn't do it for me.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

ashtanga yoga

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take care of your Blessed Selves Narayan \

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[Guest guest]

I was not talking about chanting, and not about the kind of music

sung during bhakti yoga, but thanks anyway, I didn't know that there

were other people out there who loved music.

ashtanga yoga, narayan <dcyoga> wrote:

>

> I love Music, especially chanting

> I love Yoga

> I love Yoga w/Music

> Bhakti Yoga is the quickest path to the divine

> Narayan

> \

[Guest guest]

As a previous post intimated, it depends on the type of music being played.

Of course any type of music during a Mysore class is very untraditional. As

for music during led classes, soft music that is in keeping with the spirit

and essence of yoga can be very nice. (For example, I've taken led classes in

which the opening Ashtanga chant was played throughout the entire practice,

and I really liked that.)

 

As for pop music during a led class, well... I guess that's a matter of

preference. Since I personally love lots of international music from

different parts of the world, traditional Indian music doesn't seem "weird"

or "foreign" to me. But I know some practitioners who feel that Sanskrit

chants and Ravi Shankar tunes during a class alienate them from the practice.

So, of course, different teachers try to bridge that cultural gap in

different ways. Pop music during an Ashtanga class, or any yoga class for

that matter, will resonate with some practitioners, and not with others.

 

As for the volume, no music--pop or otherwise--should be so loud that you

can't hear and connect with your breathing. Next time simply ask the teacher

to turn it down.