jivamukti + nada yoga: music to move you

For those that haven’t had the pleasure of practising with Durga Devi, this Sunday’s online Jivamukti workshop is the perfect opportunity to dive deep with a beloved triyoga teacher. Read on to learn more about her lifelong passion for music – from listening to The Beatles in the basement to fronting punk rock bands in NYC – and how this fascination with sound now plays a powerful part in her life as a Jivamukti yoga teacher. Plus, she shares some of her go-to tracks to evoke inspiration on the mat.   

Music has always been a big part of my life. I’ve always been drawn to good music for as long as I can remember. As a young girl, I used to sit in my parent’s house in the basement and play loads of records on our old school turntable. I would listen to anything from The Beatles to Bossa Nova to The B52’s for hours on end and never get bored. Little did I know that years later my great love for music would forever change my life.

Starting from hanging out in New York City in the hardcore punk rock scene to working in the hottest bars and nightclubs which inspired me to begin a journey as a musician. I created several bands within 12 years in NYC and loved every minute of it but to make it in that world was highly unlikely. My last band dismembered in 2000 and at that time I was already six years practising yoga. I then decided to take a yoga teacher training to become a yoga teacher.

I have been teaching the Jivamukti yoga method now for 20 years and my teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life have deeply inspired me. We teach five tenets (or elements) which are sacred and ancient:

• ahimsa – cultivating a compassionate, non-harming and non-violent lifestyle
• shastra (or scripture) – study of ancient yogic scripture such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
• dhyana (or meditation) – a state of abiding calm
• bhakti yoga – love and devotion
• nada yoga – the yoga of sound and deep inner listening

So when a student takes a Jivamukti yoga class, they will experience all five elements.

The practice of nada yoga is all about refining and perfecting ones outer listening skills to refine and perfect one’s inner listening skills. Listening to clear verbal instructions throughout the class, chanting devotional, sacred mantras through call and response and listening to uplifting music. It’s probably my favourite bit! As a singer for so many years it’s very special to chant with a group and create a special vibe within the class. We all resonate at different frequencies and these change according to what we are doing and thinking. When we are all doing the same thing in a Jivamukti yoga class (chanting, breathing and moving to the same rhythms) our vibrations begin to synchronise and the resulting experience can be very powerful.

The world is made of sound, nada brahma, or infinite vibrations of one primal sound. Listening to uplifting music in class is another way to tap and tune into the practice of nada yoga. I love to compile a playlist in class with all sorts of styles of music ranging from classic Indian to house music. A few of my favourite tracks include:

• “Traveller” by Talvin Singh – love that the words “the world is sound” is spoken throughout the track
• “Tuning in” by Groove Armada – all creates an uplifting mood and energy which helps to keep the students moving!
• “Ancient Lights” by Uniting of Opposites – friends of mine including Ben Hazelton who will be part of the workshop on Sunday!
• “The Novel Sound” by Llorca – very groovy sounds here
• “The Way You Sound” by Organic Audio – a go-to / upbeat / feel-good kind of tune

If you break it down… the practice is basically a moving walking meditation allowing us to connect to the inner nadam or cosmic energy tuning into our intuition, supreme awareness and consciousness. Life is music and music is life.

Join Durga Devi for a special online Jivamukti workshop focused on using the power of music to enhance, inspire and elevate your asana practice. Expect uplifting tunes, inspired asana, sacred chanting and so much more. Click here to book your spot for ‘music to move you: asana + the practice of naha yoga’ happening Sunday, 23rd August 2020.