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have any of you ever been to a yoga class that featured
a DJ?
as a downtempo DJ with a longstanding yoga practice, I am intrerested in hearing your thoughts on this concept.. or especially any experiences....
a DJ?
as a downtempo DJ with a longstanding yoga practice, I am intrerested in hearing your thoughts on this concept.. or especially any experiences....
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Denver
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Fri, March 25, 2005 - 8:34 AMThank you for sharing :)
I can't say that I have taken a class that featured a DJ, and I have never heard of such a thing. So maybe you have a new idea :)
I do not listen to music when I practice asana, and since I base my teaching on my practice, I do not use music when I teach.
Of course, I have taken classes where the teacher played a tape or cd, and I never found any benefit to it. Taste in music is very subjective, so it is too easy to play music that someone will not like. I also find it distracting. While many enjoy music with their asana, imho, playing music during savasana or meditation seems ignorant to the point of absurdity.
I might be intersested in teaching with a DJ, not as a "regular" yoga class, but as a new thing in and of itself. If there was interaction between the teacher, DJ, and students, and the DJ and teacher planned things together and worked towards common goals, it could be a beneficial experence for certain students. More importantly, it might bring in new people who otherwise wouldn't be interested in taking yoga. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Fri, March 25, 2005 - 9:10 AMMark,
I am well aware that music taste is extremely subjective,
and that it *can* be royally distracting... it is something i will have to approach with great care and sensitivty...
But I very much enjoy music for asana and sometimes meditation practice. I listen to both kirtan and "yoga" music, as well as lounge and psychedelic chill ... I am willing to bet that there will be an small percent of the yoga practicing population that would enjoy a synthesis of all of the above, mixed live, at low volume on a small PA system.. (rather than silence, or an instructor playing one medicore CD on a boombox)...
i appreciate your views & honest feedback, and will take it into serious consideration... -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Fri, March 25, 2005 - 5:29 PMHey You,
I've never been on a class that would include a DJ, other than Shiva Rea's TranceDance, yet I'm working (as a Yoga instructor and Therapist) on a technique that mixes kirtan and Trance dance and that will feature a DJ. I will be happy to let you know when it's ready to be shared.
Regarding music in Yoga practice, I use it when teaching and one of the good effects I notice is that it helps busy and distracted minds to isolate from the outer world or from the baggage of things we arrive to a Yoga practice with. It doesn't work for every one, as nothing does, so that is not a suprsise, right?
Be well.
Antonio.\
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Fri, March 25, 2005 - 5:37 PMHey Mark,
thanks so much for such a great initiatinve as this tribe.
I'm working on a technique that mixes Kirtan and Trance focusing on the meditative aspect of repetition. I'll keep you and everyone else posted for I'd love to have you guys participate.
Regarding music in class, I do agree that music, and the experience it promotes, is subjective, yet I want to add that some forms of active meditation use music as an induction to higher states of consciousness. Maybe a great example is the very elaborated 'Kundalini' technique of Sri Bagwan Rajneesh, also other forms of meditation in the form of a ritual performed to induce a state of trance use music as an inductor. I just meant to share this to review the 'ignorant to the point of absurdity' part of your communication.
Once again, thanks for this opportunity.
Antonio. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, March 26, 2005 - 8:14 AMAntonio,
i have mixed feeling about what has become of Osho's organization, but the mans techniques, and teaching...especially the active meditations - have some powerful and effective gems for sure. great idea to refine some for the 21st century and incorporate them into your new practice. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, March 26, 2005 - 1:52 PMIt is unfortunate indeed that the Master's messages and techniques have to go through the filter of the followers, who can do nothing less than adding what's theirs until they are evolved enough to not do so. Yet, in any case, whatever the outcome, is also part of Yoga and the Unity it portraits.
Yes, I am very enthusiastic about creating this technique that will allow some people who would have probably not practice Yoga otherwise, to practice regardless of place and mental state.
Have a good one!
Antonio. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, March 26, 2005 - 2:54 PMI find that electronic music is great for free form practice in the company of other teachers and practicioners of yoga asana. I have had amazing experiences along these lines, both planned and impromptu.
I haven't used it in a class context because I have yet to attract a class in which all beings present would realize any benefit from it...
I feel that part of the yoga- the experience of union- with the environment in which we have chosen to practice yoga on any given slice of timespace includes the auditory experiencing of 'what is' without judgement. For that reason, I only feel compelled to alchemize my own asana practice or classes with added sound on certain occasions.
And that said, yoga is a 24/7 affair...when I'm at a trance party, I feel energy activating through my body in the same way that I do when I am practicing asana on an isolated rock at sunrise on Shasta or taking a class in the middle of L.A.
Sometimes, I have noticed for myself, there is an equal degree of challenge inherent to staying centered in the presence of intentional music /sound as there is in the auditory expressions of nature or in the mechanical sounds of a city beyond the yoga studio walls. Thus, they all serve my own yoga practice and my evolution in similar ways, albiet via different avenues.
There are several DJ's who mix kirtan and Sanskrit into their tracks. I really enjoy this and would love to see more of it.
A description such as 'Free-Form Movement' tends to liberate the perception of the type of your experiece this thread is exploring more so than something like, 'Yoga Asana with Electronic Music.' That way, yoga purists don't feel violated ;> and non-yogis don't feel excluded by default.
love and light,
gaiya -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, March 26, 2005 - 4:26 PMGaia,
Cheers to 'Free-Form Movement'! Why not!
Now, for obvious reasons, I'm interested in those DJs that mix Kirtan into their tracks, specially if they are from the SFbay area, any lead?
Thanks.
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Mon, March 28, 2005 - 7:50 AMOh, you are most welcome :)
I wasn't referring to kirtan, or the spiritual use of music to induce trance states, nor was I referring to yoga in the broader sense of meaning "union with the divine". I was referring specifically to the use of music in hatha, especially in savasana and dyana meditation, where one of the goals is to disconnect from the outside world. In savasana is to go inward to be aware of nothing but ones own body, and dyana is to suspend regular thinking to become aware of the divine. So music would be an unwelcome distraction. One of the principles in raja yoga is pratyahara -- withdrawal of the senses from objects. Obviously, music is auditory sensory input, so it contrary to that purpose. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Mon, March 28, 2005 - 7:53 AM
Btw, the post I deleted was my own. I accidently wrote "for the outside world" instead of "from the outside world" -- big difference!!
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Mon, March 28, 2005 - 11:45 PMYeap, you can't strip the 'whole' from one of its parts and yet call it 'the whole'. What would be of Yoga without its 'union with the Divine'..., probably just another religion! Or a good workout.
Fortunately everything is included in Yoga, with and without music.
Cheers to Yoga!
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, April 2, 2005 - 6:33 PMNot exactly, but my friend Victoria would lead classes near the soundsystem at psytrance outdoor parties and a weekly that used to go on here in SF. I think i remember reading about the moderator doing something similar at parties on his email list.
I'm into it. Of course some people wander in, play around, wander out, and its probaby not going to be a focused experience, but just providing that outlet at a party is IMO really cool. At outdoor parties i'll just off and practice asana myself sometimes, and its nice to have the energy of others to do it with. -
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Sat, April 9, 2005 - 10:42 AMYes, I've taught yoga at psy-trance festivals, and I should be teaching 3 or 4 classes at this years Gaian Mind. However, I try to hold classes in a quiet place as possible.
Namaste
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Re: DJ + yoga class?
Thu, April 21, 2005 - 10:24 AMAt an event here in the midwest called Interstellar Dreamfest (3-day EDM/spiritual fusion festival) a DJ Dmitri (from San Fran I believe) taught ecstatic dance while spinning. Close to yoga! Was absolutely amazing and want to do something like that at one of our events sometime :)
One of my friends adds layers of meditation records in the background of his psy-tek set too. Kinda like a constant humm in the background, really neat.
