Is Playing Music In Yoga Class Culturally Appropriative?
I believe in being critical about the commodification of yoga because I had blindly accepted the mainstream portrayal of yoga. As I awakened to the inequity in the yoga and wellness industries, I began to see things like playing music in a yoga class or ending class with namaste as examples of a teacher’s ignorance on the issue of cultural appropriation in yoga.
However, who gets to decide if music is appropriate (or not), and what type of music is appropriate are all assumptions that may play into further commodification of yoga in the west.
Drinking the Instagram Kool-Aid: Yoga As Boutique Fitness
Hot yoga was my entry point into yoga and for a long time, I understood yoga was a physically challenging group fitness class. Yoga is not just asana, the physical postures, but it is commonly thought of as a workout. If we understand yoga to be a workout, then the standards of a good workout apply to a good yoga class.
A good yoga class, under the fitness standard, is one where the teachers can get the students to work hard. Students expect their teachers to be dominant. They want a teacher to take charge and be in control over the space in the obvious way. This is a power-over environment where a strong teacher is an absolute ruler and the students happily relinquish any and all responsibility to think for themselves. I have many thoughts on trauma-informed yoga and hot yoga that I’ll be saving for next time, but suffice it to say, hot yoga was my entry-point.
There was no music played in hot yoga. It was just the teacher’s voice with its established rhythm. The teacher’s voice was the song, and it was always the same song. The teachers followed beat for beat the dialogue that Bikram created for the 26and2 set sequence that we refer to as hot yoga in the west. Every awkwardly constructed, albeit strangely soothing, sentence. L like Linda. Like a flower petal blooming. Lock out your knees like a lamppost…
When I began to practice vinyasa yoga, that was when the more obvious toxic New Age spirituality became apparent. Yes, the commodification of yoga is not just in how we limit yoga to asana like in hot yoga, but also in how we perform spirituality.
In vinyasa yoga, music playlists seemed like a big deal when I was a newly minted vinyasa yoga teacher.
And I was that yoga teacher. I spent more time than I probably should have on my music playlist because I genuinely believed that that was what was important. Making music playlists and anatomy knowledge seemed to be the criteria of being a good yoga teacher. Also, having flawless asana photos against natural backdrops.
My music playlists were not “yoga music” playlists. I was very much influenced by the bougie boutique fitness studios that shall go unnamed but put a lot of thought and money into branding yoga as something cool, which was, more often than not, code for urban. My music playlists reflected R&B, electronica, lo-fi, citypop, scores from pop culture - music that I liked to listen to for my own personal play time practice.
Decolonizing Yoga By Not Playing Music in Yoga Classes
When I began to learn from decolonization mentors on how to bring a sense of spiritual humility back into my yoga practice, I stopped playing music in my asana classes. As a teacher, I was worried that I was relying on music as a crutch in class, and I also became retroactively embarrassed that I had spent so much time creating a playlist. Was I using music as a mask to cover up my class? To make up for some of my insecurities as a new teacher? Why was I so excited to show off my music taste like I was a music blogger sharing indie gems like it was the early-aughts?
This debate of playing music in yoga class is not new. A 2007 article published in Yoga Journal asks the question of whether playing music belongs in yoga classes. Of course, it is an article that is a time capsule of its times. Written by a white man who used other white men as interview sources. Implicit references to spirituality lie with the controversial Kundalini Yoga (Riddle me this why white people always bring up Kundalini Yoga when they want spiritual yoga) and any names not English in origin are a mask to cover the racial identity of the yoga teacher or musician who is white. The only reference to a person of the Global Majority is Ramanand Patel and Amerkesh Dasai who were not asked to speak on the subject but only spoken of in passing. In a complimentary fashion, granted, but still in passing. A reference without further exploration into how Patel and Dasai incorporated music to enhance the yoga experience.
Instead, and what I found particularly priceless in this article, was the decision to fall into cultural wars. The majority of the article was more focused on framing the music debate as west vs east where western music is considered modern and not spiritual and eastern music is healing and inherently better. All of this, keep in mind, is discourse held by white men. This is really an apologist article, a take on being contrarian, on why western music can be spiritual in its profane mundanity.
Thich Nhat Hanh talked about how walking is a form of meditation and in fact when we take our yoga off the mat is when we have begun to live our yoga on a deeply integrated level. But this argument tends to be co-opted by positivity nazis that want something to be just like everything else.
I do not want to negate anyone’s personal experience of the sacred, and yet there is a part of me that can’t help but be a critical thinker and see these arguments made within the context of the commodification of spirituality. Taken on its own, the statement that secular music can be moving is an innocent truth. Taken in a pattern, it shows a disturbing pathological need to appease the western psyche on its insecurities and anxieties of their cultural power.
Music Should Enhance, Not Be the Focus of an Asana Class
When I was in Bali, my friend and I took a class at Serenity Eco Guesthouse & Yoga. Diaz, the yoga teacher, taught an incredible Creative Vinyasa class. The creative vinyasa teacher was fully himself. He was enjoying himself and he was aware and watching out for us. With music, I’ve seen many teachers lose control of the wheel. They end up focusing too much on the music and neglect the student. Not this teacher. He also had a wonderful sense of humour. Cheeky but loving. This is so tough to do! To perform while still being you. My friend and I had many conversations about how well Diaz the creative vinyasa teacher held space. I was inspired and in my reflections, I remembered that he played music.
The music wasn’t what white people called “yoga music,” which is often another way of saying something that sounds eastern and thereby spiritual.
The music wasn’t blasting the Billboard Top 50 and making it feel like a concert, either.
The music deepened the yoga experience so that it helped me focus and concentrate. The music did not overpower the class. Before then, I was ambivalent to music. I had not had the moment of going to an asana class that was profoundly moving due to the song played at the right time.
Yet this experience and research into music therapy and healing frequencies led me to soften my perspective. I began to appreciate that the problem of music in a yoga class wasn’t the music itself but how it became a priority for most teachers across the board when it really shouldn’t have.
So Can I Play Any Music During Yoga Class?
Decolonizing yoga doesn’t mean a return to pre-colonial times. We cannot go back. And it’s not as if yoga was free from political agendas before British colonialism and imperialism. Decolonizing yoga is about divesting from capitalistic values in our yoga practice to approach yoga with community and liberation in mind.
There is the argument that asana classes were not traditionally taught with music so if you want to honour yoga, why would you teach yoga with music?
Instead of using music to prove something, whether that is by playing it or not playing it, ask yourself how your class experience improves with it and what specifically is being improved with music.
Instead of directives like “play punk rock music” or “don’t play rave music”, I am interested in asking who it serves when we apply a universal approach to music. You can play any music in a yoga class but should you?
Music is highly subjective and much of modern music in the west is commercial. It is used to sell something. It gets our heart pumping. When we say all forms of music can be transcendent, we are jumping through hoops to justify conflating yoga with a fitness class.
But what about playing music from the east by South Asian musicians? Nada yoga is mentioned in Svatmarama’s 16th century text Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Through the vibration of sound, mantra, and chanting, nada yoga is a powerful meditation technique to calm the mind. Indian classical music is nada yoga. The musician(s), through the performance of specific ragas, can activate our chakra or energy centres. Indian classical music is a great accompaniment to meditative practices. I often play pre-recorded ragas in my asana classes.
In the west, there is music therapy where music has been shown to reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure, and cortisol in the body. The popularity of sound baths speaks to the powerful resonance of crystal bowls and how it can lead participants to reduce distress, anxiety, depression, and pain.
Music that helps us to focus on our practice is the best music to accompany a yoga practice, whether that is for asana or for meditation.
What Music I Play in my Yoga Practice
As a student, I practice Ashtanga yoga, vinyasa yoga, yin yoga, and yoga nidra. As a general rule, I notice I prefer to practice without music and this rule applies whether this is my home practice by myself or if I am practicing an online yoga class or an in-person class.
The exception is when I am creating a class sequence. I will play music because music, as a stimulating sensory experience, is no longer a potential distraction but an aid to help me stay exploring longer. When I am practicing as a student, I want to focus on silencing my mind. I am working towards complete relaxation. When I am practicing as a teacher, my mind has to be on in order for me to think of and to remember what asanas I want to teach and with what transitions. It is not about enjoying the practice. There is a bit of analyzing the practice that prevents me from completely being immersed in it.
The music that I also play is generally music that I personally find keeps my adrenaline going. I have a running playlist of music for my practice time, and I don’t think I’ve played any of these songs in public classes.
Playing Music in Yoga Class Checklist
To recap, here are some considerations before playing music in a yoga class.
What music am I playing and what is the purpose of this music for my students?
Will the music suit the needs of my students?
How can music show my value for honouring yoga? Can I play music from the global majority?
Am I comfortable teaching a silent class? Am I comfortable practicing a silent class?
Written By: Irene Lo