Music during yoga class? Some people love it. Some people hate it.
We talked about the use of music in a class during my yoga teacher training. My teacher told us a story about a class that she taught using music. When it was over, someone came up to her and said “You know I really didn’t like the music and found it distracting. I would much prefer to have class without music.” A minute late someone else from the class came to her exclaiming “Wow that was really great! I loved having music during class!”
In a class situation with so many different personalities, preferences and tastes it can certainly be difficult to please everyone. I have practiced both with and without music and enjoy both. For me, I hear the music at first and then it eventually drops into the background.
When I was teaching classes for my practicum, I found it very distracting (as the teacher) to have music playing. I actually created a playlist for one of my classes but when it came time to teach, I didn’t use it. I didn’t have complete confidence in my selections and it seemed there were just too many things for me to focus on already! Perhaps this will change after I have a few more classes under my belt.
I love music but am one of those people who can never remember the name of the band or song for that matter… “Who’s that by again?” is my refrain. I decided to look around a bit and to see what other yogis listen to. I came across some yoga class playlists as I was wandering around the web and thought I’d share those here.
Marjie at Yoga Mama Rama Mama talks about how she loves to use music to create the right mood for a yoga class and shares one of her favorite playlists here.
On her blog, Everything Flows Onward, Jen says “I love good music for yoga practice and when I teach I try to make playlists that inspire grace, movement and flow.” Beautifully said. Drop by Jen’s blog to find a list of the songs she loves to play for her yoga classes.
Over at Daily Cup of Yoga, find a playlist put together by Kyle Miller, a Manhattan yoga teacher.
Yoga Journal publishes a new playlist each month created by various yoga instructors.
Do you have any favorite yoga music? Or do you prefer to focus on your breath without outside distractions? Feel free to share in the comments!
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Another music recommendation to check out. Sent to me via twitter from @whollyyoga Thanks!
http://bykyi.tk @CharlotteB my fav yoga practice music
I have always found music during a yoga class to be distracting, useless, and counterproductive. The entire point of yoga asanas, usually forgotten by most students and even by many teachers, is to prepare the body and the mind to sit in meditation for extended periods. In fact, the yoga asanas ARE a form of meditation, and meditation is best done in silence. Asanas require concentration to align oneself correctly, to maintain even breath flow, and to get the most benefit out of the experience, and I never cease to be slightly distracted by any music being played. This concern is outweighed if I really like a particular teacher, though, so I have to take the bad with the good. One of the main, little-discussed advantages of Anusara yoga is that classes are usually held without music.