Sound of Silence
A few students have asked me lately why I don’t play music in class anymore.
Is it because I don’t want to subject them to my musical tastes? I mean country music and 80’s rock does scream yoga. Or is it because whether pleasant or unpleasant a song can carry people to places away from their direct experience in the moment? We all have different music preferences and what one person loves, the other person may hate. Truthfully, it can be challenging to be both a yoga teacher and a DJ. But none of these are the reasons why.
Frans Moors puts it nicely: “The sensory organs cease to be overloaded with all sorts of stimuli.”
Many of us are probably unaware of how much background noise is part of our life. Most people are so used to and addicted to the stimuli, practicing yoga without music can seem boring or uncomfortable. We want to keep being stimulated. It’s what we know. Constant stimulation is where we primarily live. Let’s face it, our cell phones alone are like Times Square with all the apps, notifications and social media outlets ringing, dinging and lighting up 24-7.
Aadil Palkhivala said “My teaching is designed to help the student find his or her own nature—the divinity within,” Palkhivala continues. “And that cannot be done while music is playing. Music becomes an impediment—a distraction. Many people need that distraction because they’re so caught up in their own minds. But I would ask, why are we so afraid of silence?”
Why are we so afraid of silence? From the girl who likes her music so loud the cars next to her are shaking or hotel security is called- that’s a story for another time. Let’s just say MTV called the show headbangers ball for a reason. Is it not better to go through the silence and discomfort and come out the other end relaxed and extricated from the constant go, go, go energy of daily life and the constant whirling and swirling of the mind? Is it worth it to try?
Yoga can be an opportunity for quietude. An invitation to shut down the sensory stimulations, vanquish distractions and turn inward. Imagine trying to do yoga in Times Square? How challenging would it be to hear your breath? Yoga asks the breath to be the soundtrack. Music can dictate the breath- we often speed it up or slow it down unwittingly with the beat or in some cases makes the breath and the instructor difficult to hear.
I believe playing music in class is an individualized choice. It’s not wrong, it’s not right, it’s a preference. When I turned the music off a different soundtrack emerged. I’m better able to hear everyone’s breath which offers me greater insight into effort, pacing, rhythm, and the overall energy of the class. While it may make me less popular, I feel the silence has made me more “in tune” with my students and the class as it unfolds.