Yoga and Rap Music
Are you East Coast, West coast or Midwest rap?
If I had to rank it, I know where I stand. But the thing is, music is a huge connector no matter what genre you’re into. It brings so many people together, literally 12,280 ppl came together this month, ‘a gathering of the masses that come to pay respects’ to beats and lyrics that have been in play for nearly forty years!
It’s what I wish for yoga, even in the midst of the divisiveness and the whitewashing, the racism that seeps in because of the long-standing sickness of the culture we live in. I still hope for acknowledgement of source, reparation for harm and material loss, authentic community-building and inclusive approaches to organizing, training, and teaching.
Join me as I share more on my hope for yoga
When I get stuck on this path and feel like each movement forward results in excessive and overreaching backlash, I need to ground in my hope again and the music gets me through. ‘In these times we gotta take one step forward. Put one foot in front of the other’. Slow and steady, bit by bit, intentionally pausing to remember why and how we do the work that we do.
This ‘poetry’s deep it never fells me’. Catch a glimpse: https://youtu.be/q8DfOT98jis
Wu-Tang at Fivepoint Ampitheater, Irvine, CA
Whichever style of music is your thing, it truly does not matter, if at the end of the day what you listen to is:
sourced from lived experience
made from the heart
offered with authentic and honest means
The message will come through. ‘All in together now. Things are getting good looking better now’.
After the concert, I was buzzing. Alive with energy, seeing Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Busta Rhymes together, showing up for what they love, showing up for the people that support them and whose lives have been forever changed by their infallible and groundbreaking efforts to tell their stories and change the game. It left me buzzing with this strong inquiry:
Who’s world is this? It’s mine, it's mine.
Who’s world is this? It’s yours, it's yours.
Here’s the question then: what brings you hope for yoga, for life, for us, for the 🌎?
Hear more on the hope that gets me through on October 14th as I'll serve as a keynote speaker at the Accessible Yoga Conference online. Join my talk on The Audacity of Hope for Yoga, and join in a whole weekend of amazing talks and practices with dedicated yoga teachers from around the world!
Community check-in:
What lyrics help move you through and keep you buzzing and alive with hope?? Is it an East Coast, West Coast or Midwest rapper? I’m super eager to know so leave the lyric and song name here: tejalyoga.com/thoughts
Take care and hope you’re off to a great week!
Warmly,
Tejal
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Lyrics Referenced from these songs:
One Step - Killah Priest
Triumph - Wu-Tang Clan
It Ain’t Hard To Tell - Nas
The World Is Yours - Nas
