Traditionally, music hasn’t been included in Yoga.  Yet, with an intentionally curated playlist there is room for the option.  Honoring the roots of Yoga when deciding to add music keeps Yoga’s brilliant essence and lineage alive.  

Listening to music while practicing Yoga has the potential to soften ruminating thoughts.  In some cases, this can provide more presence and connection to the body.  On the other hand silence can bring an introspective quality to deepen self awareness.  If the music playlist becomes more distracting than enhancing it’s preferable to go inward tuning out external sounds.  It takes time to determine what type of music can enrich the Yoga practice.  The best indicator of whether or not a playlist works requires actually being in the Yoga session.  So it is often trial and error. 

Teaching and attending classes without music has extraordinary value.  With less external stimulus, noticing the busyness of the mind is inevitable.  This leads to awareness and growth.  When choosing to add a playlist it should be secondary to the main purpose of the class.  A compliment to an already meaningfully sequenced Yoga session.