Posts In: Music + Art

Flashbacks from Yoga One founders Amy and Michael Caldwell on how they nurtured a family-owned business and a thriving yoga community.

Back in the early 2000’s, if there was music in yoga class, in our experience, it was often heavy new age or Indian classical. As yoga continued to permeate our lives, the lines that separated on and off the mat kept melting. At some point, we wondered why we weren’t playing music in class that we were enjoying at home. So we tried. All of it.

I [Michael] had a great group of tri-athletes on Thursday nights who were up for anything. We did yoga to Heavy Metal (before it rightly became a thing). We offered a hip hop and yoga class with the wonderful Dina Weldin. We did live music and yoga. Once we hosted a class with the Hypnotic Gurus (drums, sitar and drone). We created many playlists (and I admit, the playlist often influenced the sequence). It was an exciting time, full of musical possibility. 

At a Zero 7 concert at the House of Blues (with Sia singing before she became a household name), it dawned on Amy and me. “If we are striving to find the perfect music for yoga class, others are probably searching as well. Why don’t we create a CD?” 

So that night, I looked at the liner notes of the Zero 7 “Simple Things” CD and found the record company information. The next day I contacted them.

Amazingly, they agreed to meet us at their office on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Bruno Guez, the President, had worked with Chris Blackwell from Island Records / Bob Marley and the Wailers fame (among other artists) so we were in great company.

On the spot, we agreed to work together. Amy and I would select the artists from Quango Music’s roster and our artist friends and put together the sequence. The record company would handle the licensing, production and distribution. We selected an unused image from Amy’s cover shoot with Yoga Journal taken by the amazing and acclaimed dance photographer Lois Greenfield. Lois generously agreed to let us use it and the fun began.*

Hours and hours of selecting tracks, ordering tracks, writing the liner notes and PR descriptions, creating the yoga class sequence that would be included in the CD’s jewel case via tiny figures and intended to accompany the music. It was certainly a labor of love.

Some of the artists included: Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Bliss and Cantoma.

You can listen to the Yoga One CD on Spotify, download it on iTunes and Amazon or get the actual CD (if you still have a CD player).

* fun note, Lois included the cover image in one of her annual dance calendars.

Marketing Text:

Take a journey into tranquility with Yoga One; a collection of world, dub, and chillout meditative grooves, each consciously chosen to remind you to breathe and to help you become one with yourself and your surroundings. 

Chillout masters Cantoma, Bliss, Thievery Corporation, Christophe Goze and Bitter:Sweet all provide a hypnotic soundtrack to today’s modern yoga experience. Get away from the stress of everyday life and slip away into the next level of your consciousness with Yoga One.

Take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy this healing sound bath offered by Yoga One teacher Amy Freeman and her son. They play chakra tuned crystal bowls, hand pan and tongue drums, and a rainstick in the beautiful San Diego, California sunshine. Please also enjoy the unscripted bird calls. 🙂

AMNESIA

Once again
I’ve confused rigidity for strength,
domination for embodiment.

I’ve missed opportunities for appreciation
for acceptance
for love.

We know in our minds.
We feel in our hearts.

And yet we forget.
We get lost,
confused.
Amnesia of the spirit.

What if the only purpose of life
is to communicate love?
Through our breath
Through our body
Through our thoughts
Through our words
Through our actions
Through our relationships
Through our life
Through our being

Begin again.
Every day.
Every moment.
Every breath.
A chance to wake up.

*****

BELIEFS

How do they form?
How do they shape and filter
the way we view ourselves,
each other, the world?

We look to some beliefs
to help guide positive thought and action,
such as Ahimsa (non-violence),
or a vision of sameness,
to see ourselves in others,
or to (radically) love ourselves…

But perhaps any belief
comes with a small weight,
what we should be or do.

Maybe the next step
is to let go of the belief.

To realize that we already are the same.
We already are love.
We always have been.
We don’t have to think it,
or believe it,
we can just be it.
We
Are
It.

Check out Yoga One’s newest class offering with Heather Fenwick, Gentle Flow with Mellow Grooves. Join us Sundays, 4:20pm-5:30pm.

Yoga One: What excites you the most about this class?

Heather: This class is exciting because we get to listen to awesome music WHILE we’re doing yoga! Oftentimes yoga teachers play soft, background music during class to keep the focus on the postures and breathwork. While this is a really wonderful idea, I also believe that listening to music can be a yoga practice in and of itself – we can tune in to what’s happening in the present moment by getting lost in a song, and let the music guide our yoga journey.

Also, doing gentle yoga on a Sunday evening helps set the tone for a well-balanced, calm transition into the work week – a pretty genius way to enjoy the weekend’s finale.

Yoga One: What are your playlist inspirations?

Heather: Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin got me hooked on proper music when I was in college, but they really just started to blaze the trail for musical inspiration from everywhere. These days, I love the Bahamas, DJ Drez, Tycho, even Thievery Corporation keeps putting out solid tunes… I’m also open to any suggestions from fellow music lovers – please feel free to hit me up on Facebook (Heather Fenwick) or Instagram (recoveringgypsy).

Yoga One: What do you hope your students will feel or experience?

Heather: My wish for these students, and for all beings, is to feel chilled out, happy, and connected. The pace of life around us moves all too quickly… so slowing down and enjoying seemingly little moments is good for our health, wellness, and ability to shine brightly in the world around us!

Yoga One: Thanks Heather, can’t wait to join you for class! You can find our full class schedule here. Ommm.

Yoga One and DTO Music recently collaborated to host Yoga on the USS Midway, where an amazing 800+ yogis gathered to practice together on the flight deck! 

Co-Founder and Lead Instructor Amy Caldwell discussed yoga and music with DTO, you can read the full interview on their site. 

Here are some of our favorite highlights:

Yoga, as we offer it at Yoga One, is non-competitive. One of the beautiful things about yoga practiced in this way is that it always meets you where you are and supports you at your level. 

Although in our modern Western culture yoga has become so much about appearances, the depth of the practice lies within.

In the Yoga Sutras, Kriya yoga breaks down into three key elements: Tapas (to heat, burning enthusiasm or conscious effort), Svadyaya (self-study or reflection) and Ishvara Pranidhana (allowing or letting go, connecting to the Big energy within and around us).

If we remove the elements of self-reflection and letting go, in my opinion, it really isn’t yoga. Yoga is not only what we do, but how we do it.

How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?

Michael and both share a great love of music. In fact, we met at a CD release party for the Jazz musician and film composer Stanley Clarke. I was working for Budd Carr a music supervisor who does all of the music for Oliver Stone. I helped on Twister, Natural Born Killers, Heat, Nixon, etc. Michael was working for BMI which is a performance rights society. We both got to experience first-hand how integral music is to film. A soundtrack really adds emotion and energy. Try watching some of your favorite movies without the sound sometimes.

While yoga is fantastic without music, adding music certainly can help set the mood, the pacing and an overall vibe. Music often adds to any activity and yoga is no exception. We enjoy music with our yoga so much we created the Yoga One CD which was released by Quango Music Group.

Here is a link where you can purchase a copy of the Yoga One CD for your own home practice!

by Amy Caldwell

This piece originally published on Yoga Digest

Dance

We’ve moved four times in the past year.  I’ve packed and unpacked, made hundreds of lists, sorted and simplified.  At times, amidst the chaos, I’ve wanted to drown myself in a good bottle of red wine (and done so).  Yet I’ve also danced, joyfully and lovingly, with each family member; a slow sweet dance with our eleven year old daughter to Sean Hayes in the kitchen of our tiniest rental, merengue to “Suavemente” with my husband, and our seven year old son learned to waltz near the Christmas tree at our final move, our new (very old) home.

At these times particularly, I remember that which we seek is already at hand. Feeling at “home” wherever we are is our true nature. No matter where we are or what we are doing, that which we seek is already inside each and every one of us…and all around us. However, it seems as humans we often forget this essential truth. That’s where suffering enters. Dancing can help us embrace the present moment.

Find Your Space

Special people, places, situations or activities may help facilitate easier remembrance. Some meditation teachers recommend looking at the sky to reconnect to the big energy. Often being in nature or resting in Savasana (corpse pose a.k.a. final resting posture) after a balanced yoga practice can open the doors of perception to the deep peace of what being “home” feels like.

For me, as strange as it may seem, Coachella music festival is one of those places where deeper connection happens. A sea of diverse peoples, sights, smells, and of course sounds – Coachella can be akin to world traveling. Although it’s not far in terms of actual distance from my San Diego home, it is worlds away from my day-to-day experience (caring for a family and owning / operating a yoga studio).

Get Out of the Rut

While perhaps one might think, “Ah, yoga teacher, her life must be fancy free…” I encounter the same responsibilities as many adults. I pay bills, aim to conscientiously raise my children and maintain a healthy relationship with my husband of 20 years while managing teachers and staff, growing our business and making it a priority to maintain my own yoga practice and self-care.

In our day-to-day lives, there is often a routine, a rhythm that becomes like a groove on a vinyl record (“samskara” or “samsara” aka conditioned existence or stored mental and physical aversions).  When we step out into a new or different situation or environment, there is no blueprint. This phenomenon can provide an opportunity to be connected to our child-like, open presence. So for me, an out of the ordinary experience such as Coachella is like a reset button, reminding me to wake up and truly embrace the moment.

Listen to What Speaks to You

One of my first yoga teachers advised, pay attention to that which speaks to you. I agree it is essential question to ask our selves, “Where do I feel connected to the ‘big energy’? What helps me feel at ‘home’?” Then equally important, is to really listen for your unique personal answer.  Another technique to arrive in the present (where, of course, we already are) is to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and fully pay attention to the complete inhale and complete exhale – why not give it a try and notice how you feel (so simple but effective!).

Yoga practice is a useful tool to help us recognize our connectedness to each other, all living things and ourselves.  It isn’t about changing anything or adding anything. And, we definitely don’t need to constantly try new things to feel enlivened. But we can fully enjoy the many journeys of our life while remembering the comfort of our inner “home”.

So whether at Coachella with your best friends immersed in a sea of 90,000 plus pulsating, dancing, smiling fellow humans, on your yoga mat, or even driving your car, as my favorite teacher Diana Beardsley says, how wonderful “that every moment is an opportunity for ecstatic reunion.”

– Originally published at: http://yogadigest.com/ecstatic-reunion-tips-remembering-connectedness-present-moment/#sthash.oIfcgqjc.dpuf

 

Head Yoga Teacher and Co-Founder of Yoga One, Amy Caldwell has dedicated herself to the practice, study and teaching of yoga since discovering its joys and benefits in 1997.

by Monique Minahan

I don’t teach you yoga.
You are yoga.

You are that sweet exhale,
that expansive inhale
that pause in between.

You are that unified breath,
that connected mind and body,
the observer and the observed.

What I teach you is how to remember
because we forget.

I forget.

So I invite you back to your breath
back to your body
back to you.

You accept my invitation
but it’s not me you are saying yes to.

It’s you.

You say yes to you.

Yes to your inhale,
Yes to your exhale,
Yes to your tight hamstrings,
Yes to your aching heart.

Yes to your wobbles,
Yes to your strength,
Yes to your past,
Yes to your Now.

Yes to your failures,
Yes to your triumphs,
Yes to your hopes,
Yes to your dreams.

Yes to your anger,
Yes to your peace,
Yes to your fear,
Yes to your courage.

Yes to you.

You say yes to you. I see that happen before my eyes and that is why I bow to you.

It is my privilege to witness your return every time

to your mat
to your heart
to you.

Namaste.

Monique Minahan
Contributing Writer

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. 

Read more from Monique on her blog, mindfulmo.com

Looking for your next set of yoga tunes? Check out the newest musical offering from Jennifer Tipton, I Have Finally Seen the Light, available on iTunes, at the Yoga One studio, as well as in our online store.

Running just over an hour in length, I Have Finally Seen the Light is a yoga-inspired collection of songs and beautiful Sanskrit chanting. The tracks combine to provide an enhancing complement to your yoga practice. The last song is even appropriately titled “Savasana.”

The relaxing nature of the tracks is also ideal for grooving and lounging around the house.

I Have Finally Seen the Light would be a great stocking stuffer for the yogi in your life. Get started early on your holiday shopping and support local San Diego artist and yoga teacher, Jennifer Tipton. Order a few copies today!

Jennifer writes: This progression gets me into the zone and ready for flow! The songs are not typical ones that I would listen to in my car or while hanging out at home so they don’t bring forth specific thoughts or memories outside of my yoga practice. The flow starts slow for breath and spatial awareness. Then the music becomes faster and increases in rhythm for more movement. Towards the end, the playlist winds down to allow for deeper stretching and longer holds on the floor. The slow tunes on the end allow everyone to relax in a nice savasana.

707 Delight (Kirtan Mix) – Rara Avis
Ohm (Transfix Mix) – Shaikh
Mustt Mustt – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Akwaba – Tya
The Love Supreme – from Buddha Sounds Vol. 2
Supreme Illusion – Thievery Corporation
Snow Desert – from Buddha Sounds Vol. 2
Bolo Hari (Instant Pudding Mix) – Dharma Dogz
Sangit Dub – PFL & Sangit Family
Tibet´s Sun – from Buddha Sounds
?-Nagi – Ubud
Kaja Come From – Jalan Jalan

What’s better than an invigorating Vinyasa Flow to kick off your Saturday night? A Vinyasa class with a live DJ and the perfect mix of deep, euphoric beats!

Hosted by Prema and DJ Germer
Saturday June 22nd at 5pm
All levels welcome!
Drop-in $17 or use your package.

Grab some friends, plan an after-yoga party and we’ll see you there!

Heather writes: This mix is called the Funwick Flow because it’s inspired by my family, the Fenwicks – when we get together it’s good times all around! This mix wraps me in the warmth of my loved ones and instills good vibes to anyone who hears it – I can literally see the happiness seeping into my students as the songs roll on! Paul Simon is a family favorite of ours since childhood, and I love how the idea of “Hearts and Bones” actually relates to the practice of yoga in the physical body and in the yogi’s heart.

My brother Will acquainted me with “Heart it Races” over Christmas break and it’s a fun, pop-y, motivating happy tune to start getting the gears shifting. My partner Will introduced me to “Space Walk” by Lemon Jelly, which inspires an uplifting, heart-opening vibe. My brother Matt has influenced my music findings for years and brought me to The xx, The National, Wilco, Local Natives, and Groove Armada, which ends the set with a salty-dreamy-floaty retake on an old jazz tune.

Nina Simone’s “Here Comes the Sun” is a tribute to the newest member of the family, my nephew Jack, whose innocence and ridiculous cuteness has melted all of our hearts and brings a ray of sunshine wherever he goes.

It’s not your typical “new age yogi mix,” but I love playing this set at Yoga One because it’s a place where anyone who enters can be footloose and funky!

Hearts and Bones – Paul Simon
Change of Time – Josh Ritter
Intro – The xx
Tides – The xx
Secret Meeting – The National
Heart it Races (As Played By Dr Dog) – Architecture In Helsinki
Jesus, Etc. – Wilco
Space Walk – Lemon Jelly
Stranger Things – Local Natives
Sweet Child O’ Mine – Luna
Bermuda Highway – My Morning Jacket
Here Comes the Sun – Nina Simone
At the River – Groove Armada

You’ve been there before – it’s the middle of class and an awesome song starts playing, you try to make a mental note to ask about the song title or artist after class but the bliss of savasana wipes your short term memory clean. So we decided to share our instructors’ playlists on the blog – Ta Da! problem solved. You’re welcome. 🙂

Amy writes: I absolutely love this playlist, I’ve been refining it for about a year! “Orange Sky” has been on there the whole time and is one of my favorites. Snatam Kaur and Wah! never fail to soothe my soul, I love playing them during cooling poses or savasana. Mixing in modern music is fun and unexpected and I often play just the instrumental versions, like with “HeyHo” and “Dust in the Wind.” And The Lumineers’ songs are great to instantly lighten the mood, especially if we’re working on a challenge pose, or holding pigeon going on 4 minutes!!

Om – Soulfood
Orange Sky – Alexi Murdoch
Shree Ram – Wah!
Hari Om Shiva Om – Deva Premal
Dust in the Wind – Fred Benedetti & Peter Pupping
Stubborn Love – The Lumineers
Flowers in Your Hair – The Lumineers
You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones
Ho Hey – Piano Tribute Players
Origami Crane – Trevor Hall
Hey World – Michael Franti & Spearhead
For Your Love – Christophe Goze
Mahamrtyunjaya Mantra – Reema Datta
Sita Ram – Krishna Das
In My Life [Album Version] – Sony Wonder
By Thy Grace – Snatam Kaur
Akwaba – Tya