Most yoga teachers in North America are looking for ways to keep their classes relevant to their students’ daily lives, and also to more successfully integrate their own practice on the mat with their other pursuits and roles. There is a surfeit of magazine articles discussing how to be a better parent through yoga, a better caregiver, a better life partner, even a more successful business person. Which is all very grownup and mature [pron.: "maTOOR"] and appropriate, and I can dig it.

I have, however, noticed a dearth of resources about how to use yoga to release my inner rock star. Jeez. When I first started to practice I’d find myself mumbling Eminem lyrics under my breath, and felt not only guilty [for being mentally unfocussed] but also sort of sly and subversive [for introducing such apparently non-yogic material into this sacred space]. Since we’re ostensibly in the quest for greater UNION, this division provoked some fascinating questions: Can the yoga space BE sacred and retain its sense of consciousness and reverence, and also totally kick out the jams? Does one cancel out the other? Does rocking out mean you’re not doing yoga anymore but some crazy post-millenial hybrid? And is there ever going to be room for the wildness in my heart and my voice and my head on this little mat-space?

All you need is love.

It took a couple of years and a big leap of faith but I finally started to lead a vinyasa flow class that [I think, I hope] successfully integrates these seemingly polarized styles: yoga and ridiculously loud music. Sometimes it’s Big Rap Fridays, sometimes Big Funk Fridays, but it all started with Big Rock Friday, and to Big Rock Friday we shall always return.

When you visualize Shiva on Mount Kailash, dreads whipping in the alpine wind, he seems more like a wild headbanger than a quiet meditative monk. And Kali could make the move from battleground to a member of L7 effortlessly. It’s true that for many the yoga studio is their refuge from the noise and craziness of the world and I definitely can groove on a deep, silent practice as well, but to be in the middle of a long, grueling Utkatasana and hear the opening riff to “God Gave Rock and Roll To You”, or to practice ones’ Pete-Townsend-esque power-chord thrashing from Virabhadrasana II, and see everyone just smiling and sweating onto their teeth…man, it’s fantastic. We laugh, we roll around, we try new things, we go big and then we go home. I’m glad I finally cultivated the courage to bring the powerful rasas of these other styles of music, and I’m grateful for all of the students who are enjoying the classes and support our sonic adventures.

Oh, and I take requests and am always looking for ideas, so post ‘em in the comments….SKYNYRD!!!!!!1!1

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January 19th, 2009 An artists’ lifeline « Heavy Metta Says:

[...] have been plagued in recent years with a bit of a disconnect, one that has partially given rise to Big Fridays and one that I’m constantly trying to clear up and see with greater focus exactly where the [...]

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