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In tune: From chants to Top 40, yoga mixes up the playlist

Sometimes, Aline Marie thinks the day calls for an upbeat mix, a collection of high-energy songs that will get the breath and blood flowing. But then she reads the room. Her students seem to be craving more dulcet tones, and suddenly the playlist is adapted.

There is a lot of thought that goes behind it, Marie says of the songs she compiles for her yoga classes. As teachers, we show up for the students and my agenda for that day might not match the need of my students.

Not every yogi uses music, and there are styles of yoga where music is still largely absent, but as Marie has discovered during her more than 12 years teaching, there has been a shift in the type of music being played. Although the more traditional Indian music, chants and instrumentals are still heard, more contemporary fare has made its way into studios.

Ive used jazz and house music 80s classics, she says. She recently opened Newtown Yoga Center and will be participating in the Newtown Yoga Festival Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Newtown Youth Academy Sports and Fitness Center. Music can take students to a whole other experience; music moves people. It can evoke memory and emotion and trigger neural pathways toward peace and energy. I like to have a playlist that synchronizes with the class but not every teacher does that.

In the last several years, yoga has grown more mainstream, attracting more than 36 million people, up from the 2012 mark of 20.4 million, according to the recent Yoga in America study by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance. As yoga becomes more popular, it is increasingly intersecting with other elements of popular culture, such as music. The Wanderlust Festivals, for instance, which happen throughout the United States, began nearly a decade ago as a way to bring together live music with yoga and sustainable living practices. Musicians such as Michael Franti, DJ Drez and MC Yogi, who tout the benefits of yoga, have performed there.

Traditionally, yoga was not put to music, but as it moved West and became more modernized, music became an element in helping practitioners as they sequenced through the positions and the breathing. Its not surprising to hear Adele, U2, Neil Young and Enya in a yoga studio or class, while digital music services, such as Spotify, have no dearth of yoga playlists featuring Norah Jones, Nina Simone, Buena Vista Social Club, Billy Joel and the Beach Boys.

If music gets people to the mat and the practice of yoga, Karen Pierce is all for it. A longtime teacher, she urges people to pick the music they like when it comes to their private practice. When she is leading others, she will sometimes pick a theme. If I am doing a class that is focused on the legs and hips, Ill find any song with references to legs and hips. Or if the theme is peace, Ill focus on that and will incorporate kirtan (ancient chants).

Pierce, co-founder of the Newtown Yoga Festival, has been known to slip in a 1970s disco song, along with one by Aerosmith, Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake. I try to stay current, she says, adding it can help to acclimate young people to the practice. She avoids music during the meditative aspect of the practice, but has experimented with rattles and drums, as well as a didgeridoo. Im sure people expect it to sound new age or ethereal, but I am open to everything. I listen to the feedback from my students.

When I started, there was more traditional music but as yoga opened up more, you had more contemporary beats and mixes, says Gina Norman, who runs Kaia Yoga with her husband, Stan Woodman. Moving the needle ever farther, the center has hosted yoga raves, which feature black lights and glow paint, along with an upbeat soundtrack, in the centers locations, including Westport, Greenwich and Darien.

Norman says its OK to opt out of a background soundtrack, which she sometimes does. When she incorporates music, she tends to mix it up. Maybe Ive had a rough day and I want to shake it off with some fun music. Its still the same yoga practice that I am doing, that doesnt change. What may change is where I am and how I want to move.

As to building a playlist, Amie Meleshkewich, who runs Flow To Fit Yoga in Southbury, says you can make a meal out of it, considering the work that goes into it. In other words, it should be built with intention. She likes to start gentle and often instrumental, so people focus on their breath and not the lyrics. As the energy increases, the beat gets more lively, with songs from DJ Drez and others.

Its an art, really, she says. It can make or break a class.

chennessy@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @xtinahennessy

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In tune: From chants to Top 40, yoga mixes up the playlist - CT Post