Everything I write is my truth, for now.
I respect all humans and do not judge their intentions or teachings, ever! This is just a little idea as to why I do not use music in my classes and what you could be missing out on if you always turn to music to fill those silences...
1. It is an internal practice... Krishnamacharya taught that we must not outsource yoga, and to rely on our own internal resources wherever possible. It has never been about the shape of your body, or how close you are to your toes in a forward fold.
2. It becomes inaccessible.... You are less likely to hear the cues and therefore not able to be present.
3. Breath is the most important thing...Music drowns out the sound of breath, this is the key and most important element with all asana and without the sound you lose the awareness, without the awareness injury can occur and again we move away from the present to the fluctuating mind.
4. Overstimulation... Pratyahara is the word Patanjali uses in Yoga Sutra II.54 to describe withdrawal of the senses. During practice our sensory organs can cease to be overloaded with all sorts of stimuli by the mere discipline of silence and internal awareness. They have the space to be pulled back into the mind and then the practitioner is no longer projected in every direction in a compulsive or random manner. In a world constantly on-line, why not go off-line and reach inward?
5. It's a distraction.. . The problem with music is that it’s so incredibly evocative. Whether pleasant or unpleasant music can take us to places away from our direct experience of yoga. Patanjali lists five states of the mind that can be helpful or unhelpful in achieving the first goal of Yoga, 'Yogah citta vrtti nirodhah.' Two states of mind in particular are stimulated by music: Smrti - memory and vikalpa - imagination. Neither help us be present & neither are about our internal practice on the mat.
6. What is your reason for practicing? Escapism? To truly to connect with what is? I think music will help you escape from the now, from what is happening in the moment. Being with silence and the sound of breath will offer space for true connectivity. Sometimes the best thing we can do is sit with it all, the good, the bad and the damn right ugly and be with it to understand it and move through it.
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