Every since I started attending Vinyasa Yoga four years ago and more recently Kundalini Yoga, I’ve been real curious about the music I hear in class. As a musician, I notice that my flows and breathing naturally align with the rhythms of the music. I adjust as necessary – speeding up – slowing down – doubling the pace – whatever makes me feel that I am in sync with the music. I do not know if every student does the same or feels the need to adjust. In fact, when I play music before a live audience, I’m always amazed at the number of dancers who appear to have no awareness of the beat, whether the upbeat, the downbeat, or somewhere in the middle?
Many questions come to mind – How does the instructor select the music? Does the instructor choose music based on a particular set of criteria? Does the music selection affect the way a student relates to the instructor? Do instructors adjust music based on class experience levels? Does the music selection support an overall air or feeling?
Here’s a call-out to Yoga Instructors across the country. Let’s take a stroll along this path. What’s the scoop?
Great Memphis Music 
The whole sound/music connection can be found in Nada Yoga…I would be curious in hearing from anyone who can comment on this type of yoga and if they incorporate it into other forms of yoga.
Hey John, nice blog! I have problems with music from computers or drum machines, and I’ve noticed when that stuff comes on in yoga class it creates a resistance in my thoughts that gets in the way of my flow. And I know I’m not supposed to resist, but I really have a problem with how many musicians are in need of work versus how many people are ignorant of whether what they’re hearing was played by a person or by a machine. I think it’s very important for me to have music that has breath in it, especially with yoga, and how can a machine breathe?
Correction John: I plan to experiment with using samples as I must remain open to all forms of music.