Music is a form of Yoga?
It has been my desire for decades to spread healing vibrations through my music. The healing power of sound and music has been known for centuries, and I’ve been aware of how supportive music is when used together with healing and relaxation practices such as yoga, meditation, reiki, and massage.
It just came to my attention through some reading that in India music is considered by some to be a form of yoga in itself (many conservative Hindus, however, will claim that music is to be avoided if one is to achieve liberation, the final goal of yoga), so to marry yoga asanas (postures) with music can be quite appropriate. Yoga music flows to the rhythm of the asanas (yoga postures).
Yoga practitioners and teachers have found Celtic music, American classical, and East Indian classical to be most useful. What, if anything, makes yoga music special? The answer is mostly subjective, but the goal of yoga music is to support students in difficult poses and help them to relax in held poses. It helps keep practitioners focused on the present moment. The music inspires the movement.
Yoga music helps create a positive, healing environment that allows yoga students to go deeper in their practice. Music calls our awareness to the present moment and calms the senses. It allows yoga students to release tensions and anxiety. They are then more able to generate feelings of compassion towards themselves and others.
Some yoga classes offer live improvisational music that intuitively builds or lowers the energy as is needed. Teachers can selectively choose recorded music to do the same.
An interesting musician’s blog discussion caught my attention as well:
“…the musician is in the same category as the yoga practitioner, in that we are both seeking for that connection with the Higher Mind (cosmos, God, whatever…). The difference is that the yoga practitioner takes that energy into him/herself, while the musician immediately shares it with everyone present. This makes the path of the musician much riskier, because we have to deal with the risks of ego and fame.”
A response to this comment was that perhaps the musician should practice some yoga, since dissolution of ego is part of the practice. Food for thought, for sure!