Honky Tonk Yogi

About a month ago, I attended a yoga class with my best friend Tracie. The class was completely above my experience level, but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway. Tracie is what I consider to be a yogi. She attends a class (sometimes more) almost every day. Needless to say, the Vinyasa 3 class we went to was appropriate for her experience level (she was definitely pulling off a head stand split flawlessly).

To my surprise,I actually enjoyed this class. It was challenging, instructed well, and most of all, had killer music. This guy was playing rap, pop, rock, and everything in between. Even when I couldn’t do the poses, I sat in child’s pose motivated and rockin’ out. For me, the music made a huge difference!

Flash forward to now. I recently have been taking a few classes at a nearby yoga studio. This is quite a different scene: a 98 degree room that smells of incense and b.o. and ZERO music being played. The class lasts an hour and 15 minutes…but it seems like an eternity since all I do is check the clock.. Don’t get me wrong, I leave the studio feeling good and am usually sore the next day….but it’s hard to motivate myself to go because frankly, I get bored. The solution? Music! I put together a list of suggested music for yoga classes…if any of these songs were played during yoga, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

• “Fat Bottomed Girls” -Queen. Just imagine yourself in downward dog hearing, “fat bottomed girls you make the rockin’ world go round!” 🙂
• “I Gotta Feeling“-Black Eyed Peas. I wasn’t totally in love with this song when it came out. I grew to like it when running the Chicago Marathon in 2009. It was the official “power song” of the marathon. So, it was played all throughout the course. Now, I love it and it never fails to pump me up!
• “Enter Sandman“-Metallica. I know it’s pretty heavy for yoga. But it’s just so badass how can this song not motivate you? Besides, I’m willing to bet Lars himself practices yoga on a regular basis…
• “I’m Shipping Up to Boston“-Dropkick Murphy’s. Even though this song really makes me want to hit the pushups hard like Leonardo in “The Departed”….I could definitely do some strong yoga pushups in its place.
• “Witchy Woman“-The Eagles. Kind of a weird, but sexy song. Perfect for those kind of weird, sexy yoga moves.
• “Paralyzer“- Finger Eleven. This song always makes me want to move. What better place then during a yoga class?
• “Let It Rock“-Kevin Rudolf. Always a mover and shaker!
• “Human“-The Killers. I know the great Yogini, Tracie, doesn’t like this song….but there’s something about it that’s so nostalgic to me. Every time I hear it it’s bittersweet for some reason (I’m thinkin’ the lyrics)…but always makes me smile in the end.
• “Sex on Fire“-Kings of Leon. You can definitely fist pump to this one…or tree pose.
• “Teeth“-Lady Gaga. This song really makes me want to go dancing..but I’ll settle for yoga. Just imagine yourself doing the dancer’s pose looking in the mirror….showing your teeth! (I listed “Teeth” here…but for all those yoga studios out there, I would be ok with basically any Lady Gaga).
• “Go Girl“-Pitbull. I had to throw some rap on here. It’s just so awesome to do yoga to rap (the first class I mentioned actually played Tupac!). This song is totally motivating too just read the title! 🙂
• “Honky Tonk Woman“-The Rolling Stones. Everyone loves this song. People of all ages, shapes and sizes. This one is a win win.
• “Bottoms Up“-Trey Songz. The first yoga class I spoke of played this song too. It was a great moment in yoga history. Perfect for downward dog (among others) when your bottom is up!

These are just a couple suggestions I have for the yoga studios out there. Music can motivate and set the tone for any workout. It really is a powerful tool. I realize some genres, like rap, can be a little appalling to some. But to others, it can energize and excite their yoga spirit. Because nothing says “namaste” like a little Tupac. 🙂