MahaMondo

Cyndi Lee Q & A :Om Yoga Mix 2

Here's my Q & A with the amazing Cyndi Lee of OmYoga NYC on the what's & why's of her recent CD realease , OM Yoga Mix 2 :

- What inspired this compilation ?

The music, of course!  My husband and his artists just keep making such great music and I love practicing with it and using it when I teach.  We also got incredibly positive feedback on our first

OM

yoga Mix and were getting loads of requests to do another one and so we just thought it was time to do that. 

- Known for her offbeat perspective , true?

Hmmmm....I guess I am known for being a fun, but also somewhat forceful or firm teacher.  I like to challenge students to be clear in their practice as far as alignment and focus.  I am also known for how I connect the yoga asana practice to the dharma practice, imbedding meditation principles of mindfulness and compassion into how I instruct students to work in the practice -- to take a middle path approach of not too tight, not too loose.  Because of my years as a professional choreographer, both in modern dance and for many music videos (Girls Just Want Have Fun with Cyndi Lauper, Rick James, Appolonia, Tangerine Dream, Simple Minds....) my sequencing is pretty creative and at the same time always has a logic to it that is meant to teach students, empower them to own their own practice and properly prepare them for big poses to come.

- Favorite cut ? (Aside from David Nichtern's)

OK, aside from The Beyman Bros. which is my husband, David Nichtern, Christopher Guest (yes, that Christopher Guest) and CJ Vanston, I guess that my favorite is Jaadu by Ustad Sultan Khan.  When David was making the Rare Elements CD with Sultan Khan I had the thrill of seeing and hearing him perform one night in NYC.  He is a rare element, indeed.  Known as one of the greatest musicians in India Sultan Khan becomes the music; there is no separation between him, his instruments and the sounds; and whenever I hear his music it becomes elementable for me, too.  I l love moving to it! -- which I did on my first DVD,

OM

yoga Beginner/Intermediate yoga class.  That DVD offers a class taught by me but at the very beginning I do a little yoga dance to this same music --- love it!

- What is your take on those who are of the opinion that contemporary music should not be used as a soundtrack to yoga practice?

Each to his own!  I do think that when music is played in a yoga class it should be a support for the practice, as opposed to a DJ situation where the yoga class feels more like a dance-a-thon!  But there are many reasons why people take yoga class and often people find that the music helps them to feel comfortable and helps them to open to new things.  I don't think that yoga needs to be heavily serious and soberly sacred although it is good to pay attention in order to get the most benefit from the work.  I also kind of feel that yoga should not just be another thing that we get all opinionated and rigid about it -- it's bad enough in politics, right?  Yoga truly is an absolutely personal thing and each of us can and hopefully will evolve our practice throughout our lifetimes.  We might even find that music is good for our practice one day and the next day we want to practice in silence.  There are many options and perhaps staying open to all of that could be considered a kind of yogic approach to all of life.

- Tibetan Buddhist influence on CD is most evident on ____ ?

Perhaps you could say it has some influence on the Kiss of Bliss track because of the bansuri flute playing of Steve Gorn.  Steve is a long time Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and although he mainly plays Indian music, his whole sensibility of space and sound -- the natural ability to rest in openness with no need to fill space --  is very Buddhist.

- I like the fact that the selected tracks fuse both Eastern traditional music & contemporary engineering. Is this a keynote to OmYoga Mixes? 

Yes, it is a hallmark of

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yoga Mix 1 and 2.  I love world music because of the range of instruments, the highly skilled musicians, the different kinds of sounds and the evocative nature of the singing which is often due to the fact that the singers are singing prayers, songs from their own practices.  But we are who we are, too -- modern day Americans and we like to use all that is available to us which includes electronica, too.  That another reason why it's called a mix!

- Complete this sentence : Krishna Das (Kirtan walla KD) is_______  :

The best known kirtan singer in the

US

today and a really nice guy.  He's not kidding when he is chanting.  It comes straight from his heart and he has shaped his whole life around this practice and sharing it with others.  He's a beautiful cat.

- Lastly, your next trip to LA & perhaps

Santa Monica

will be in ? 

Not sure yet but stay tuned....!  I'm contemplating offering an

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Yoga teacher training in LA -- do you think that's a good idea, Peter?

Thanks & much love.

Thanks to you, Peter.  It was great to work with you last December and I appreciate you including

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Yoga Mix 2 in your blog.

Cyndi

Cyndi Lee : Om Yoga Mix 2

I received a  preview copy of Cyndi Lee's Om Yoga Mix 2 a couple of weeks back. It has been my soundtrack as I drive to and from our new  office building on Robertson Blvd.in BH. The space has been wired with an amazing IPod driven sound system ,so we do not lack for tunes during work. And as it is a French owned company, every Buddha Bar / Cafe del Mar / Thievery Corporation compilation is loaded on it along with Carla Bruni ( their  new First Lady) , Edith Piaf & Johnny Depp's wife (Joe Le Taxi).

So Om Yoga Mix 2 serves as my in-car prep or respite from all this Gallic groovieness. Cyndi Lee intended the mix as a soundtrack to a vinyasa class ;so it takes off slowly, peaks and softly lands by the last cut into SAVASANA.

The tracks I have on heavy rotation are Devi Puja ( Prana & Krishna Das), Freeze ( Kodomo ),Hasret ( Omar Faruk Takbitek) & MANTRA (Krishna Das). Nobody can OMMM like Krishna D., so listening to him on the last cut really takes me beyond.

Produced by Cyndi's husband David Nichtern on his Dharma Moon label, the CD is a MAHA aid to keeping the YOGA RASA flowing, whether it be during practice, driving or walking. When I met Cyndi last December, I  got to learn more about her focus on the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness & compassion. Best summed up by the DEDICATION OF MERIT :

"May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.May all beings never be parted from freedom's true joy.May all beings dwell in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion."

Sting's Macrobiotic Yoga - Heavy Life on the Road

Riffing on my previous post regarding balance while "on the road" is this bit via the Huffington Post :

"Yes, indeed, things have changed. Sting, you see -- not a regular vegetarian -- is on a strict macrobiotic diet. His personal chef makes him mock tuna wraps and "crunchy" soup.

Since The Police's wildly successful reunion tour began on May 28 in Vancouver, he's eschewed liquor and just about everything else that rockers of a certain era might have embraced or delighted in as a reward for having 20,000 fans stand through an entire concert cheering, screaming, applauding and singing along to nearly all his lyrics by heart.

At almost 56, Sting's most decadent pleasures are being turned into a pretzel by his yoga instructor  ( DANNY PARADISE) an hour before show time and taking post-show pictures with four of his six kids (the youngest two are in school".

Bittersweet Symphony

This tune is a version of a modern Holiday carol as it always brings me back to the winter trips I took a couple of years in a row to Toronto. The visits were occasions to hang out with my Mom's youngest sister , a favorite aunt of all time, who was wasting away with cancer. She was the OG bohemian in the family , with incarnations in Corfu , New Haven, London & finally TO. I credit her with broadening my horizons and always emphasizing that life was not always about money (though she did like to spend it, heh heh). Missing you terribly - It was great to leave LA and have a "white Christmas & New Year's" then head back once the snow started to get old. This version of Bittersweet Symphony is RARE as it pairs up Richard Ashcroft of The Verve with Coldplay -

Beautiful : Snoop Dog & Pharell

As some of my co-workers get ready to embark on their holiday break ( Paris , Phuket , etc.) , I will be holding the fort down here in LA . My trip to Ipanema is booked though for New Year's 2008 , c/o MK & GK AKA my parents, muito obrigado. With that in mind & keeping with the theme , here's Snoop & Pharell's classic vid shot in Rio.

Ana Carolina e Seu Jorge :E' Isso Ai

This post is for a couple of my teachers, Ashley Turner ( bhakti ) & Jerome Mercier ( asana) who I have not been able to practice with because of my intense work schedule. The weekdays used to be comprised of at least a couple of classes with them. Ashley had a Brazilian immersion retreat last year and collaborates frequently with the amazing Carioca yogini Lygia Lima. Jerome is a Brazilian @ heart ( from the state of Bahia, heh heh ) .We both share a love for Seu Jorge and his rasp " em Portugese". So with this vid , I hope to be able to see them both shortly -

Dust : Bombay Dub Orchestra

Here's the new vid of DUST from BDO featuring the beautiful Waheeda Rehman. Pure magic-

Kirtan with Dave Stringer : Ganapati OM

Here is kirtan wala Dave Stringer chanting Ganapati Om@ Kirtan. Ganapati is one of the names of GANESHA, the elephant headed deity, son of Shiva & Parvati. This bhajan is a prayer to him who purifies & removes obstacles. The Metropolitan Museum in NYC has a room dedicated to representations of Ganesha in their Indian statuary wing; that to my mind is why they never lack funding -

NIYAMA : No Media & NoTalking

MATI is the development of a spiritual will & intellect with a teacher's guidance.I've been on the path for a quarter , and the monthly LISTS that my MENTOR has created serve as a road map for Patanjali's ASHTANGA (eight fold path). Had the opportunity to go for a walk in Santa Monica with my teacher on a glorious afternoon in order to rehash Sept. & generate October's list.

NIYAMAS involve self-purification by self-discipline. And as I remarked to my teacher, I had just paid lip service to the YAMAS & NIYAMAS over the past 5 1/2 years of practice , believing in the notion that ASANA was everything.

Observances encompass fasting, no media days and yesterday, no talking or silence (MOUNA). Patanjali lists 5 NIYAMAS :

Saucha : Purity

Santosha: Contentment / Gratitude

Tapas : Discipline / Resolve

Svadhyaya :Self-reflection

Ishvarapranidhana : Surrender / Devotion to the Divine

In comparison to my first No Media Day, this time around , I felt no need to fill my hours reading or practicing @ classes; no compulsion to seek a diversion or plan pleasure. I was able to relax , surrender & drop into the stillness of going within. As a student, the observation of the yamas & niyamas has proven LIBERATING as it re-inforces the truth that EXTERNALS ultimately are irrelevant, even in the 21st CE.

Kanye West's "Graduation" has been on heavy rotation in the office & the car (except yesterday,heh heh). So please excuse me Mr. West as I borrow your line when peeps ask me WHY ( like this morning, Katy asked ,"Why haven't you been @ Musha?" ) and I reply, " I do it for the GLORY ".

And  KWest gives props to his MENTOR Jay-Z on the cut "Big Brother". You def can't FLOW without a BIG BRO .... ( Rhymes better than "Goyard, so hard". K waddup, my mom can rock the Goyard, not you  ) Image via CD Baby : Jesse Hozeny's Niyama Vol. 1& 2.

Saul David Raye : Ananda Ritam Kirtan

Ananda is bliss in Sanskrit & ritam is the cosmic rythm , the basis of yoga and all flows of energy. Exhale Venice's kirtans are  MAHA events. I've attended previous ones with Bhagavan Das & Dave Stringer , and the river of BHAKTI always flows freely in the Surya room.

Last night, Saul David Raye, along with members of Shaman's Dream had an inaugural event to benefit Shanti House LA. It is a non-profit Seva organization whose goal is to empower and involve the local healing community to provide food, healing services, education & yoga to the homeless, at-risk youth and those in need in our community.

Saul has incredible energy & depth as a teacher, kirtan wala & healer; and @ the kirtan he got everyone to open their hearts & minds. The MAHA MANTRA never fails to unlock the anahata chakra.Haribol ! It is appropriate that Shiva Nataraj lords it over the Exhale Studio space as teachers like Shiva Rea & Saul affirm the cosmic dance.

To sign up, you can email your contact info. to seva@shantihousela.org .