WOYO Studios

“adau bhagavan shabdarashih” – “God originally manifested as sound.”

“O Lord, stop playing Your flute! For when You play Your flute, I am not good for anything! I forget my children. I can’t make myself go home. Lord, I have to go home. Listen! Please stop Your flute just for a moment. Your flute is so enchanting and so sweet that my face and my legs won’t turn toward home. O Bewitcher of the Mind! Please stop playing Your flute. I have to go and feed my children. I have to give my husband his meal. His mother and father must be waiting for me. Have mercy, stop playing Your flute.” A gopi prays to Krishna

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
- William James

I really feel there is a strong bond between the areas of Yoga and Music. I have been exploring this connection during the last six years, and continually find new links between these two worlds. For example:

Take Mantras ( मन्त्रः or मन्त्रं):

The word mantra is derived from the root 'man,' meaning 'to think.' 'Tra' can be considered 'protector,' and thus mantra can be thought of as a mind protector. It means a sacred thought or prayer to be repeated with full understanding of its meaning. It takes a long time, perhaps years, for a mantra to take firm root in the mind, and still longer to bear fruit.

A mantra is a universal practice--it is something that can help to bring a person's mind to a higher plane. Sound has a lot of power; the voice has a tremendous influence. Just think about how an orator can capture an audience just by the way he speaks. They have made use of these same qualities of sound in the Indian tradition. One can use the Sanskrit language, or use a mantra in any other language, as they are all made up of sounds. What is universally true is that sounds can have a powerful influence on us. This has been proven again & again. (Need more scientific proof? Check out some research by Masaru Emoto.)

Most of us would agree that there are benefits to anyone who uses a mantra on a regular basis. Focusing on a mantra--whether internally or externally with the voice--helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. With this response, blood pressure/heart rate decrease, digestive functions increase, the eye's iris contracts (accommodating for near vision), etc. Essentially, the opposite of the "fight-or-flight" response of the sympathetic nervous system.

And more specifically...to musicians, mantras can be very beneficial:
As musicians, we all have a connection, or perhaps fondness, for sound. Mantras can be repeated with the voice, as well as using an internal repetition. Both forms are utilizing vibration of the sound, and yogis would emphasize that the internal repetitions can be more powerful, as the mantra takes root in the mind. Many aspects of yoga can be beneficial to musicians, but mantra can be especially powerful for musicians due in large part to a musician's affinity for sound (and music). We can relate very easily to mantras.

So, if mantras are beneficial for musicians, which ones should we try?... Well, there are many different mantras, and each mantra has a specific purpose. We can use a specific mantra to focus upon a certain area or aspect of our musical lives that we want to improve (or perhaps achieve a higher understanding).

Mantras that I  recommend for musicians:

Om (Aum) mantra:

Om (or Aum)                            (Why Om?)

Ganesha ( गणेश or श्रीगणेश) mantra:
Om Gaang Ganeshaya Namah        (Why Ganesh?)

Saraswati ( सरस्वती) mantra:
Om Im Saraswatiye Namah            (Why Saraswati?)

Shiva [Śiva] ( शिव) mantra:

Om Namah Śivāya                (Why Śiva?)

Gayatri ( गायत्री, gāyatrī) mantra:       

ॐ भूर्भुवस्वः
तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि

धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्

        om bhūr bhuvaha svaha            (Why the Gāyatrī mantra?)
        tát savitúr váren_iyam
        bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
        dhíyo yó naha pracodáyāt

The following articles were written for the Saxophone Journal, and appeared in 2005:

Yoga for Saxophonists
With its emphasis on balance and proper alignment, yoga can be an excellent method to help improve your musical performances by increasing lung capacity, relaxation, and improving blood circulation.
Hatha Yoga (part one) word file (131KB)
The Yogic Breath (part two) word file (61KB)
Yogic Concentration and Eye Relaxation (part three) word file (69KB)

Jason is currently available to teach private, small group, and larger lectures discussing the benefits of 'Yoga for Musicians.'

While becoming increasingly involved with practicing yoga in the past few years, Adams has been interested in how yoga and music can affect each other. Adams has completed a series of articles that appeared in the Saxophone Journal (March/April & May/June 2005 issues). He has also presented lectures at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference in Greensboro NC in 2004 and at the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium in Washington D.C. His series discusses some of the beneficial aspects that yoga—specifically Hatha yoga, breathing exercises, & meditation—can provide to a musician. In addition to his lectures, he is currently working on a book (The Meditating Musician: A Manual for Incorporating Yoga in Musical Practice and Performance) that should be released in 2007.

He is a Registered Yoga Teacher (200-hr, Yoga Alliance certification), with a yogic knowledge base in Hatha, Kundalini, and Raja (Kriya) yoga. In order to mentally and physically assist musicians with musical performance, he combines his yoga training with his musical background. Adams has numerous years of [primarily classical] musical study, including saxophone, flute, clarinet, piano, voice, guitar, and percussion. His yogic training has come from the Self-Realization Fellowship, founded by Paramahansa Yogananda (his SRF Lessons) and through the Shambhava School of Yoga, founded by HH Rishi Maha Mandaleshwar Sri Shambhavananda.

OK, so this sounds interesting. What exactly do you do in a 'Yoga for Musicians' session?
A private session will of course be tailored to each individual, but may include time spent with:
Meditation/Concentration exercises
 
Breathing exercises (Pranayama)
   
Physical exercises (Hatha yoga)
   
Specific work with the individual's instrument
    This is where the two areas of yoga & music really combine.      

A sample Yoga for Musicians lecture

A selected Yoga for Musicians bibliography

To schedule a private session, small group session, or larger lecture, please contact me. Let me know what you'd like to focus on--what you would like to accomplish with a yoga session.

MORE COMING SOON...

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