Yoga of Bass

Comments by YogiTunes founder, Rara Avis
I recently had the absolute pleasure of meeting Darin McFayden and Claire Thompson, who together have developed an amazing practice called 'The Yoga of Bass'. It draws parallels between the spirituality found in the yogic path with that of the musical & artistic lifestyle.


Through my own intensive studies of music history, I also realized that music and art have been considered sacred channels to the divine in almost every culture previous to ours... yet with the modern day commodification of all things profitable, sanctuary has been diluted and often replaced with a formulaic repetition of 'creative' expression that at times borders on the profane.



Darin, more commonly known as Freq Nasty is a prolific, talented DJ/Producer who hails from the UK.  He has been setting the tone of bass oriented music for many years and I for one have been on several dance floors late at night that have been rocked to their spiritual core by the sounds emanating from the speakers during Darin's memorable performances.  Claire is a gifted yoga teacher who aside from studying and teacher various healing arts, also sings with the Dub Kirtan All Stars which is a project created by Darin and our dear friend David Starfire and is aimed at fusing the electronic underground with the magic of kirtan.


The following is an excerpt from their Yoga of Bass Blog:

The Yoga of Bass is a series of workshops led by Darin McFadyen and Claire Thompson which look at the parallels between the ecstatic, life-changing experiences people have on the dance floor with music, and the peak states of meditation as experienced on the path of Yoga. Using personal and musical examples from their lives as DJ, singer, meditation teachers and Yogis alongside explanations from the foundational texts of Yoga and Buddhism they explore how a yogic and spiritual practice can help you bring this feeling of ecstasy, unity and inter-connectedness off the dance floor and into your life.

Darin McFadyen aka DJ FreQ Nasty has been practicing Yoga for 13 years and has studied the great texts of Yoga and Buddhism with Venerable Sumati Marut. Claire Thompson has been practicing yoga for 6 years and massage therapy for 12 years. She travels as a yoga, dharma, and meditation teacher, and sings with the Dub Kirtan All Stars. Both Darin and Claire have completed the 200-Hour Classics of Yoga Philosophy course with the Yoga Studies Institute and the 18 Foundational and 18 Advanced courses in Tibetan Buddhism offered by Asian Classics Institute, Los Angeles.

Audio excerpts and pics  from some of the past 'Yoga of Bass' talks: http://freqnasty.com/yoga-of-bass/

A Dub Kirtan All Stars tune featuring the mighty Rik Shiraj + pix and video of the band ( 13 piece inc. Scratch DJ and 2 ableton setups and live drums/guitar/bass/sita/tabla and singers ( Arjun Baba and Chaitanya, Clairity + 3 backups ) and a VJ -  lotsa fun in the LIB video: http://freqnasty.com/dub-kirtan-all-stars/

Vibe of the yoga, music & art blog post: http://freqnasty.com/blog/music-rebel-spirituality/

Yoga Philosophy audio from our Teacher, Lama Sumati Marut. One of the Founders of the Yoga Classics Institute, a Professor of comparative religion at Columbia NY, and Tibetan Buddhist monk. :http://aci-la.org/teach_marut-yoga_phil.html

Also, stay tuned for some amazing new offerings from Darin & Claire as we pair them up with other teachers for our forth coming 'Ombassador' program that brings together the DJ community and top yoga teachers in support of yoga related non-profits!~

And... while we wait to get some releases from the Dub Kirtan All Stars, check out this:

Jai Uttal: Dial M for Mantra

A selection of Jai Uttal's songs from his last 4 kirtan albums
Remixed by Rara Avis & Shaman's Dream into a dubbed out kirtronica odyssey

Sat Nam!