Music in Your Asana Class - Muse or Misstep
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Sunday, Sep 22
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” ― Aldous Huxley
How do you use music in asana class? Do you turn it on and forget about it? Do you spend countless hours looking for just the right track for savasana? Do words in a song matter in your choices and if so, why? Do you use traditional chants in your classes? Are you transported or offended or indifferent to music or chant in the classes you take in community?
In keeping with our goal to help yoga teachers develop and refine their own teaching philosophy, Yoga=Union has invited a distinguished panel of local teachers to discuss the issue of music in asana classes. Each teacher has a considered and thoughtful point of view – all are creative innovators using music or silence in their classes. All are finding an approach which opens the practice up to new students and communities. Come with questions and an open mind, ready to listen, move a bit, and be in community.
Panelists include:
After receiving his yoga teacher certification and continued education in Ashtanga Vinyasa, Brandon Copeland (RYT 200) founded of Khepera Wellness in 2013. At an open community class, Brandon used the music he regularly sought in his home practice and saw the profound way in which people who felt uncomfortable in yoga studios were able to connect with themselves and the practice. Brandon continues to teach asana to Trap music and encourages teachers at Khepera to use music as a way to connect and inspire.
Gopi Kinnicutt (E-RYT 500) brings 10 years of lessons she learned in a Bhakti Ashram to the local area as the founder of Bhakti Yoga DC. She is focused on bridging the philosophy of yoga and the authentic traditions coming from India, making them accessible to the modern 21st century yogi. Her classes combine dynamic fluid yoga sequences, infused with deep spirituality, mantras, breath work and kriyas to release untouched energy and Prana.
Kim Weeks (E-YRT 500, CIYT) has practiced yoga for 22 years and taught for 17. Voted three times DC’s Best Yoga Teacher, she founded Boundless Yoga in 2001 and closed it in 2013 to raise her small children and support her husband’s international development career. She continues her teaching practice at YogaWorks and Unity Woods. Kim believes that the purest benefits of asana come from the correct alignment of bones, breath and steadied mind.
Yoga = Union | 641 D St. NW, Washington DC 20004