Thoughts on Yoga & Music

Illustration by Boonchu http://www.alliscoming.com

I play music. I practice (and teach some) yoga. But I don't play music when I practice. And I don't make 'yoga music' as an artist. That said, I think yoga and music are exceedingly complimentary, if not the same in many ways.
On an experiential level,  I often find that the act and results of a 'good' yoga practice and a 'successful' session are really the same. To make music with others takes both listening well and holding your own line to play your part well to create something larger than all involved.   Practicing yoga is similar, especially in a Mysore room where everyone is following their own breath, playing the parts (in this case doing the postures) while building a larger energy field than most mortals can do alone.  And if I'm lucky, I leave a performance (or rehearsal or jam) feeling the same as I often feel when leaving a Mysore room: clear, calm, inspired and connected.
Sometimes the progress of my yoga practice suffers from the time spent playing music; oftentimes the early morning practice schedule runs at odds with the 'typical' late musician night (napping is key). But diving into a week of yoga after a three-gig weekend provides a much-needed reset button. And I know my yoga practice informs my writing and playing on every level, from helping to keep my mind clear to feeding my muse.

Read.Eat.Listen: Conditioning/deconditioning

Read: Tax form instructions. Ugh. Cure for that sort of study has been Michael Stone's "The Inner Tradition of Yoga: A Guide to Yoga Philosophy for the Contemporary Practitioner," Mary Beth's Lit on Yoga pick of the month. Stone's words will be welcome to anyone who has stumbled over connecting Patanjali's Yoga Sutra's to how yoga practice manifests in one's daily life. His clear-eyed prose makes the bases for the yoga tradition accessible and relevant. Embracing suffering? No problem:
"Our perception is clouded with preference. Once we can recognize what is happening in a moment of experience, we can accept it, allowing it to unfold without trying to get away from it. When we can accept something, we can investigate it in depth and release our instinctive movements toward identifying with the content of experience. Then pain is a pain, a feeling is a feeling—all aspects of nature, coming, transforming and passing on." —Michael Stone
Bonus: Ashtangis will appreciate the anecdotes about practicing with and listening to Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois.

Eat: According to Epicurious' groovy peak-season map, pretty much everything I love to eat — kale, avocado, chard, broccoli — is in season right now. I haven't branched too far afield from my green smoothies lately (kale, yes!) but this all-green 'Almost raw-vegan broccoli soup' via Cat's World Blog via Peggy Kostopoulos' cookbook looks right up my alley (as well as the season's).

Listen: Holly Williams. Yup another relative of Hank, this time his granddaughter, is sharing their chops. Holly's subjects are true to Williams form — drinking, driving, cheating — albeit with a refreshing feminine take.

Apps for Kids: AzaWhistle & Alphabet Rockers

While I've been busy moving, two friends have debuted fun educational apps just for kids (and adults will likely get a kick out of them as well) over the past several weeks. Check them out!

AzawhistleKids Yogini, writer and all-round ace person Leslie Hendry developed Azawhistle to encourage "clean living in our homes, hearts, backyards, and around the world." The AzawhisltleKids App 'Tejas and Lollipop's Great Clean Up: Everything Has A Home' "uses yoga, meditation and simple acts of cleanliness to teach and inspire children to be organized, responsible, and conscious of their impact on their personal environment." With extra cool illustrations by Boonchu Tanti.
Alphabet Rockers Meanwhile, one of my favorite Bay Area music artists, Kaitlin McGaw, has applied some of her genius to an App she created with her Alphabet Rockers urban pop/hip-hop project. The new Alphabet Rockers app uses music to help kids learn about coins and shapes. How cool is that?
Both AzawhistleKids and Alphabet Rockers Apps are available via iTunes. Let the downloading begin.

Interview: Susanna Finocchi: Rome, Mysore, Copenhagen

During my trip to Mysore, India, in 2008,  I was happy to meet Authorized Ashtanga teacher Susanna Finocchi who co-manages Ashtanga Yoga Copenhagen with her partner Jens Bache as they continued their studies at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. I sat down to talk with Finocchi over breakfast at Santosha about her Ashtanga evolution. Here's an excerpt* of our conversation:
DC: Tell me a little bit of your path. You are an herbalist and were assisting your mom who is also an herbalist with whom you had a shop in Rome. Then you became an ashtangi, coming to Mysore every year…now you're an authorized teacher in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois…
Susanna Finocchi: I just started yoga because I liked it. There was no other reason. I started out of curiosity because a friend said, 'try this yoga, you sweat….'
DC: When did you first come to India?
SF: I was here in Mysore completely as a beginner in '95, not even practicing 2 years and then again in '96. I was very surprised by the atmosphere of people. I was like 'Alice in Wonderland!' People were here staying abroad and far away from family for long periods of time.
DC: What do you love about teaching?
SF: To see people grow. It's like that story of a little duckling becoming a swan and then you can fly.
DC: And I imagine you've taught 100s of people by this time...
SF: Yes, in the school there are almost 50 Mysore students every day.
DC: When you are here in India, do you miss teaching?
SF: Now I start to feel the itch on the hands for teaching. But in the beginning it's very nice to just be a student and not have any responsibility, and to find time for myself and Jens, of course. To find time to just to think.
DC: Do you like doing a lot of [hands-on] adjustments?
SF: Yes, I like adjustments. Every time I come here, I adjust my ideas and my process and teaching approach. Sharath gives me very nice input. On this trip especially I had this thought to have the student try to catch the poses by themselves a little more. I like giving adjustments because I think it's effective but I think it's important also to give the student space.

DC: When students are struggling with that, do you make any recommendations? Do you think Ashtanga practice is a complete package to handle those strong feeling?
SF: There are many, many, many obstacles. I think it's a very personal journey. Somebody could be frustrated, somebody could find it easy, somebody can get sick or have pain and stop because they think yoga isn't supposed to bring this up. Or you can have someone who [does] not have an easy body [who meets] yoga much earlier than someone who has an easy body because they have to find another opening. If yoga is a self-realization path, then these things have to come up. I think there is a lot of justice in this practice.
DC: Justice?
SF: Justice in the sense that, sooner or later, everyone finds obstacles. Maybe you have such a flexible body and do unbelievable things but this doesn't mean anything.
DC: What do you think are the best supporting practices for the asana practice?
SF: Yama and niyama. It's about respect, love for other people, to care about other people, peace, none aggression, internal happiness, not this craving about another asana. And to be pure in our search.

*If you are interested in the full transcript of this interview, please write me at deborahrcrooks@gmail.com