Music Healing: An Interview with Steve Gold

As a part of our ongoing interview series, YogiTunes founder Alex King-Harris recently spoke with Steve Gold about the health & wellness benefits of music.


Does music contribute your overall health and well being? If so, how?

Steve: As an artist, music is the meaning of my life. It calms my nerves while nourishing my soul. It excites my spirit and recharges me with hope. It is also the foundation of my life’s purpose and the bridge that proceeds me into the global communities that support my work. The connection and love I receive through music is the best medicine.
Can you speak to any experiences you've had where your music has promoted a sense wellness in others?

Steve: I feel honored and humbled to have received many testimonials from people that have shared their healing experiences with me that have resulted from listening to my music. Mostly to help them through difficult life transitions, including birth and death. Also, a friend recently sent me an article written by a cardiologist that explains the fact that listening to joyful music while exercising improves artery function, lowers blood pressure and reduces anxiety. A recommended song list is included in the article and my rendition of There Is So Much Magnificence is in the top 10 joyful healing songs. I hope the song reaches and heals a lot of aching hearts.
Can you remember a time you experienced a profound moment of healing through music?

Steve: Yes, many times. One of the most heart-rending was when I sang for a close friend at her death bed. We breathed and sang while gazing into each other’s eyes. We knew it was the last time we’d share together and that experience opened us both up to deeper feelings of gratitude and love for each other. In that moment we were altogether healed, resigned and transformed.
What qualities do you feel need to be present in music for it to inspire wellness in the listener?

Steve: In my opinion, deep healing is a result of deeper listening. The healing transmission in music is simply a form of sympathetic resonance that is generated by a musician that is tuned into the wonderful and resounding frequencies that are available to everyone. In order to deliver the transmission, I believe that the maker of the music must be a very good listener and that quality comes by way of being innately sensitive to the needs of others. It is then up to the receiver of the music to be open to the possibility of healing.
Was there anyone, anything or any experiences in particular you've had that impact how you choose to express yourself musically?

Steve: Absolutely! When I was in my youth a friend introduced me to Malcolm McLaren. Malcolm was not only the manager of the Sex Pistols, but he had literally created new music genres and fashion. He was a master of innovation, fusing styles like folk with hip hop or opera with rap and dance beats. Malcolm made me my first cassette tape of legendary bluesmen like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Malcolm and I worked together for 2 years and he encouraged me to listen and learn from these giants by saying, “You’ve got to get your roots boy ~ steal from the best.” I’ve since spent many years soaking up the best American roots music. I know I may never be one of the greatest blues artists because I don’t suffer the blues, but I do have a lot of respect for the wonderful influences that inform my own unique expression. After recording my second full length CD, Let Your Heart Be Known I realized that unconsciously I had employed Malcolm’s method by fusing Americana, folk and blues with Sanskrit mantras. It was like I’d somehow taken the best of the sacred and profane and made them work together.

Do you have any special events coming up you'd like to share?

Steve: I am facilitating two events at Deepka Chopra's Seduction of Spirit 'Music & Meditation' Immersion at The Chopra Center in Carlsbad, CA. November 4 - 10. One will be a Highly Spirited Live Music Performance and the other is a guided music meditation that I call 'Journeying Om' in which we explore the meaning of this most sacred mantra through singing as a group. This is my second year as a presenter at this amazing event and what I love most is witnessing everyone in a state of presence and openness. It is WONDERFUL!

Find complete details at chopra.com


More about Steve Gold:

Steve Gold is a down to earth, soulful singer and teacher. He creates powerful music for conscious living, broadcasting vibrations straight from the heart. His positive message of self love, self fulfillment, and personal accountability heals and inspires. Steve’s practice of more than 25 years combines his passion for singing, songwriting, yoga and metaphysics. Steve travels the world teaching Mantras for Manifestation and Voice of Magnificence workshops and performing at festivals, conferences, and retreats.

Yoga & Music

by Jano Galindo
Having the right music in your yoga class is essential to the overall experience. As a practitioner, you may not be aware of how much consideration your instructor has put into their musical selections. When all the elements come together there should be a blend of great instruction and music that enhances the transformations that occur in your practice.


The Music in your practice is best related to the breath. Your breathing should have a pattern and a rhythm. This is the best way to keep the thoughts in your mind occupied on the breath. Your job would be to keep these patterns and rhythms consistent throughout your practice. Music is an unseen, intangible element. It draws its force from the atmosphere and is translated in notes, harmonies, vibrations and rhythms. When composed with the intention of healing, it has the properties to touch the highest aspects of the self. It is a sub-conscious direct connection to the soul or atman and it is here where there's healing power. It's here where you have mental, emotional, physical and spiritual transformation. These experiences take place only in the present moment. The beauty of music is that it's designed to immerse you completely in the present and no where else.


When instructing a yoga class my first intention is to create a sequence that challenges you and takes you to a place within yourself that allows change and shift. 

The music selections that I use in my classes have been fine tuned to enhance these shifts and changes. It is moving, inspiring, elemental, atmospheric, rhythmic and full of love. Just like the sequence of postures, the music has a beginning that creates an atmosphere. The song selections create more of a soundscape with natural sounds and less rhythm. This allows you to begin the journey within. All the students that come into the practice are coming from so many different places. The beginning selection of music and postures is designed to bring everyone together, set a personal intention and create a group energy.


As the pace of the class goes from the introduction into moving the body to generate heat and prepare for the flow of the practice, the music has to accommodate these changes. There is percussive rhythms introduced, the tempo is still moderate allowing for a build and there is more context to the melodies and harmonies. I tend to keep to the idea of textural soundscapes and interlude type of instrumentals here. The ultimate focus is to keep the students in a inward exploration.


The intention of the instructor is revealed towards the building and peak of the class, it is essential that the selections do not distract or take anything away from the ultimate goal of union between the breath, body and mind. This is where I find it the most challenging in having the appropriate selections. This is when the instructor has more liberty in song selection, and it can either make or break the class. As in most things in life, less is more. Your tempos can build but you should consider avoiding house or techno type tempos. I tend to keep my choice of songs more in the lounge or chill categories, where you can find steady tempo beats that don't rush but still allow for a great push. If your class has a peak, there should be a peak song as well. This does not imply a peak tempo, but a song that goes with whichever intention there is for the class. For example if I am teaching a balancing sequence as a peak, I don't want to have song selections that may be distracting, but steady and consistent with little to no vocals.


In closing your practice with cool down postures, the idea would be to allow for the attention to re-focus towards the inside. The final postures and songs should be set with the intention of achieving the ultimate experience in savasana. If you think of all your posture and song selections as a preparation for savasana, your experience with putting together a playlist will have a clearer intention and serve a greater purpose. The final song for savasana is the most crucial. In the end you have to trust that your song selections are not going to betray you but enhance and allow for a deeper experience in the asana. 

I have about 10 or so songs that I have come trust, check some of them out here:

Savasana Playlist 
Om Prana by Rara Avis
Featured on the album Beneath the Radar 

Sol. by Ishq.

Featured on the album Orchid

Shiva's Flute by Shaman's Dream

Featured on the Yang mix Bom Shiva 

Claire de Lune by The Philadelphia Orchestra

To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra

Vishranti by Dave Eggar Quartet 

Featured on the album The Yoga Sessions: Dave Eggar Quartet: MOZART 

Awakening by Benjy Wertheimer and Michael Mandrell

Featured on the album Anjali 

Lotus Heart by Desert Dwellers

Featured on the album DownTemple Dub: Waves  

Cave Dwellings by Liquid Bloom

Featured on the Yang mix Prabuddhah Beat

Shanti (Peace Out) by MC Yogi

Featured on the album Elephant Power 

Learn more about Jano Galindo, including his teaching schedule, at janogalindo.com/

Into the Power of Music: An Interview with Deva Premal & Miten

As a part of our ongoing interview series, Yogi Tunes founder Alex King-Harris recently spoke with Deva Premal and Miten. Our goal for this interview was to broaden and contribute the conversation surrounding music as a healing force in the world. Deva and Miten both have a particularly potent and important insight into the power of music.

Does music contribute your overall health and well being? If so, how?

Deva Premal & Miten: Music in itself is an expression of the 'soundless sound' - meaning, beauty which cannot be expressed in words - but can be heard. Music originally arose as a spiritual experience and as such, contains its own integral healing power.

Music moves all emotionally - whatever style it is played in. We all recognize the different responses to that of a baby's laughter, compared to that of a police siren, say.... so, we agree, all sound has power.

In our case, we use music to enhance the sanskrit texts, known as mantra. Mantras are scientifically formulated sound healing formulas - discovered by the wise ones of ancient india, some 5000 years ago. Refined sound bites, basically.

It's no wonder then, that fusing music with these powerful codes creates a strong response, or reaction. The mantras, fused with the music we play, create a sense of well-being...open-ness...not only in the one who chants, but also, in the ones who hear.


Can you remember a time you experienced a profound moment of healing through music?

Deva Premal & Miten: We experience intense and profound healing every time we sing. If we didn't, why would we bother?

The music deva and i create has practically zero entertainment quality - it is not emotional, it's not going to get us in the charts-it doesn't claim to mend broken hearts or revenge love betrayed. It doesn't protest inequalities and political issues...

This music was created in an ashram. It's another dimension... People don't live in ashrams to get famous or concern themselves with inter-personal relationships, or even matters of the world - at least initially. We weren't in an ashram to plot a career...so the music never had any of that essence in it.

When our spiritual teacher, osho, died, we eventually left india and began sharing something of the way he'd taught us to play music, and what we'd experienced, personally, from playing this kind of music - which we did, with other fellow travellers on the path. Eventually the autobahns had to widen to accommodate more and more of those fellow travelers - there are so many of us now, all looking for our life's purpose - looking to make some kind of sense of this life we're living in the 21st century.

Mantras have a potential. We've heard from people who experienced a shift in consciousness when hearing the music, without even knowing what the mantra was actually saying...so, there's a power, inherent in the sounds. No translation needed. Just to be open to their power seems to be enough.

What qualities do you feel need to be present in music for it to inspire wellness in the listener?

Deva Premal & Miten: Music needs to contain the quality of pure intention. It needs to be free of any sense of ambition. It needs to have the quality of being nothing more than an offering to spirit - a gift that gives and asks for nothing in return.

If that quality is there - if the musician approaches the mantras from this space, he/she will have an experience of well being, themselves - and that's really the point. If the musician is playing from the place of humility and inner intent, then the music will be received by the listener, and it will transmit the healing power of the mantras.

Was there anyone, anything or any experiences in particular you've had that impact how you choose to express yourself musically?
Deva Premal & Miten: Not really...we're not really kirtan singers, but we love kd and jai and snatam especially. We keep our ears open, but we don't consider ourselves proficient enough as musicians to attempt to actually emulate anybody...!

We can tell you that we love the voices of Bombay Jayashree, Bobby McFerrin, the late Jagjit Singh, Bob Marley, and Blind Willy Johnson. The music covers a wide horizon ... we like that, it keeps things open and healthy and without borders, you can experiment unselfconsciously. Which is basically what we do when we record. 'A deeper light' is an experiment. 'Password' was an experiment. 'The essence' certainly was.

Through early November - 2013, Deva & Miten with bansuri maestro Manose and keyboard wizard Maneesh de Moor are on tour in the USA and Canada. Tour details and tickets are available at BrightStar Live Events.

More about Deva Premal & Miten
Deva Premal & Miten began their journey into love and music in 1990 when they met at the ashram of controversial Indian mystic, Osho. Their worldwide concerts and best-selling albums have since introduced millions of Westerners to the joy and deep relaxation found in spiritually based songs and chanting mantras from the Eastern meditation traditions.

Deva & Miten have released a string of acclaimed CDs with sales exceeding one million, and their concerts have moved from yoga studios to audiences of thousands in concert halls, cathedrals and music festivals around the planet.

Creating from Passion: the Maker of the Bamboo iPhone Case

When I was first turned on to Mantrastyle I was stoked on both how cool the case was, how much it reflected the Yogi Tunes aesthetic.  The magic behind these cases is SF based artisan/entrepreneur Grace Tai.  Grace has created a cool niche and is indeed graceful in her approach to business.

Interview:

What first inspired you to start making the cases?

I wanted to create a business that was a fusion of two things that I love: fashion and technology. I am absolutely obsessed with my iPhone and have never been able to find a case for it that I felt really reflected my personality. I wanted something that made a statement and bamboo not only does that but it's eco-friendly and incredibly sustainable to boot! 

How are the cases made? 

The cases are CNC milled for great precision and detail - people are always surprised at how thin and light the cases are! We get the awesome engravings on the back by using a laser machine that shoots millions of tiny little lasers into the wood to create awesome and intricate designs.

Did you have a specific background that helped you create your business? 

Some sales, some marketing, and a lot of passion!

Do you face any particular challenges in spreading the word about your creation?  

Absolutely - the Internet is a big place! One thing I have noticed is that it's one of those products that once someone sees it, they absolutely love it. I've had complete stranger stop to tell me how much they like my case. It's just a matter of getting the word out!

You seem to have an underlying message that comes through what you've created… if so, could you talk about that? 

Well, I wanted to create something that wasn't just cool, but also something that helped make the world a better place. One of my favorite things about Mantrastyle is  we get to donate a % of our cases to Freedom House,  a shelter that provides safety and rehabilitation for formerly trafficked women who have been rescued. Human trafficking has always been an issue very near and dear to my heart and  it's been a dream of mine to create a business that was able to incorporate this very important issue. What a great feeling to be making beautiful products for an equally beautiful cause!

I noticed you were selling your cases on scoutmob.com - can you talk a little bit about them?  They seem like they have a really cool concept. 

Scoutmob is one of our awesome partner sites - they feature an awesome array of products created by locals. You can search your city and buy stuff from people who walk the same streets as you - how cool is that? It's one of the great things about locally made products - not only are you contributing to your local economy, you are making an impact on the lives of real people, not huge corporations.

Do you have any plans to branch out into other products, or perhaps other phones?  

Absolutely; check out our site, we are already testing some new products out!

www.mantrastyle.com

A Child’s Song - By Alan Cohen

There is a tribe in Africa where the birth date of a child is counted not from when they’re been born, nor from when they are conceived but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother’s mind. And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she’s heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.

And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches that child’s song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child’s song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child’s song. If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.

In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.

The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

And it goes this way through their life. In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when this child is lying in bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his or her song, and they sing—for the last time—the song to that person.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn’t. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well. You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you’ll find your way home.

-
Reposted from:
https://www.facebook.com/Peia.luzzi

Peia just happens to be an amazing singer!!

http://soundcloud.com/peia-1/machi-pre-release-from-four

We hope to have her on Yogi Tunes soon :) 


-----
Alex King-Harris
aka Rara Avis
CEO/Co-Founder

The Hidden Cost of Convenience

Ever notice how with convenience often comes hidden costs?  It seems that with complete innocence we hunger to have our needs met in the most affordable, least time consuming way. However when we take a closer look at some of the services and products that fill our lives, we find hidden costs that put individuals, the environment and our future at risk.

In the music world, this is unfortunately no different.  Take Pandora Radio for example.  Amazing service right?  Right.  Pandora has created something that very few other music services can duplicate... an automated recommendation engine that literally streams endless amounts of music that is strikingly similar to what you already like.  It's free if you don't mind the ads, and very cheap if you'd rather have uninterrupted music.  An excellent way to enjoy listening to and discovering music online and it works well for yoga teachers, massage therapists, and other wellness professionals as an easy alternative to spending time hand-picking music for use at work.

However, as an artist, to earn a monthly minimum wage in the US ($1,160) via Pandora, I would need approximately 4,000,000 song plays. (Yes, that's four million).  Yet, if I were to sell around 230 albums via Yogi Tunes I'd make the same amount of money.  Now, I can't exactly live on $1,160 per month but there's definitely no way I can expect four million plays on Pandora per month.  If I was getting that kind of air time my name would be Justin Beiber and I wouldn't care how much I was making off royalties because I'd have 9 super cars, 12 houses, a private jet, a super yacht and would make more in one hour than most musicians make in their entire life time.

Yogi Tunes is a music service that has drawn a firm line in the sand around compensating artists and DJ's both for their hard work in bringing excellent music to the yoga community and beyond.  We pay DJ's a fee every time their mixes get published and offer a profit sharing model for both DJ's and artists if their music gets used in our subscription plan.  We then pay them more money for the retail sale of their music and try our very best to support independent artists and DJ's by marketing them and their music free of charge.  Sure, we hope to create a revenue stream that allows us to create financial stability in our own lives, but we're always doing it with the creative people in mind who power our service.

So the next time you're craving convenience, it's always worth looking behind the ease of use to make sure it's genuinely fair trade and good for everyone.  It's not always the case that it's bad - I'm not saying to distrust innovation.  Just asking (myself included) for some awareness around whether or not it's good all the way down the line.

--
Alex King-Harris
Yogi Tunes Co-Founder/CEO

The following graphic is an excellent tool for understanding the current state of affairs in the world of music royalties:

Lookin' for Adventure?

I have the absolute joy of living in one of the nicest, most progressive, chilled out towns anywhere: Ashland, Oregon.

We are up in the mountains about 1/2 hour from the California border and life here is safe, peaceful, affordable, the city has an ordinance against billboards and large scale chain businesses, plus it has one of the nicest city parks I've ever come across.

One of the reasons we moved here was the local Waldorf school that our now 13 year old son attends. It's very low cost for a private school, has the most amazing teachers and a philosophy about childhood development that we resonate with.

One of the many perks at the Waldorf school is our son's teacher Kelly Shelstad and her husband Tom who are very gifted childhood educators. Since our son joined Kelly's class we've seen him truly blossom into a happy, healthy, content, funny, relaxed individual. One of the key things Kelly and Tom do is take the entire class on multi-day hiking trips. The first time they went on one it quite simply transformed the emotional and social dynamics of the entire class within a period of 3-4 days. They came back more themselves than I'd ever seen them, and the long term effects of Kelly and Tom's presence in our child's life has been truly a blessing.

Tom has an amazing company called 'Inner Guide Expeditions' through which he shares his passion for the wilderness and love for humanity in two ways: transformational wilderness trips for teens in the Pacific Northwest and customized family expeditions all over the globe. Through personalized attention, heartfelt connection, individualized feedback, and outdoor adventure they create a foundation for awareness and transformation to flourish. They hike, play, share, reflect, and explore their way through some of the most beautiful wilderness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

"Something astounding happens when electronics are forgotten and an “analog” rhythm of life emerges center stage - wilderness becomes adventure, challenge becomes insight, campfires become council, strangers become family." Tom Shelstad

In 2013, Inner Guide is providing custom family expeditions in Washington, Oregon, and a 105-mile circumnavigation of Mont Blanc through France, Switzerland, and Italy. The trips are custom crafted to meet the unique needs of each family from the design of the expedition, to the level of facilitation and location. These rare experiences, as a family in a wilderness setting, guided by skilled facilitators, with opportunity to connect deeply away from the day to day, are exquisite opportunities to turn towards the people that matter most in your life.

If this resonates with you it's because it's really frickin' cool and you should definitely consider going to their website and booking a trip.

You can do so at: www.innerguideexpeditions.com or call them at (541) 261-4959

--

Alex King-Harris

Yogi Tunes CEO/Co-Founder