Your Playlist is Part of Your Personality (Mini Series Episode 3/3)

In this week's episode of Yoga Insider, we're talking about how to stop choosing music based on what you think a yoga class is “supposed” to sound like, and how to start choosing music that genuinely reflects your personality, the way you teach, and the atmosphere you want to create. 

I hope you've enjoyed this 3-part mini series on using music skillfully in your yoga classes!

Instagram: @alexandria.waycott

YouTube: @yogainsiderpodcast

Website: www.alexandriawaycottyoga.com

Send me an email! alexandriawaycottyoga@gmail.com

Music & Production by Kyler Pierce

Photography featured in cover art by Colton Muma

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back to Yoga Insider Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Wakott. If you're new here, I've been a yoga teacher for over 14 years and I've built a completely independent yoga business that doesn't rely on studio classes. I offer pre-registered yoga series in my community as well as continuing education for yoga teachers who want to refine their skills. Over the years, I've learned a lot about what it takes to build a yoga business that's actually sustainable. And part of my mission is to have real and honest conversations with yoga teachers around the world about what it's actually like to work in the modern yoga industry. That is what Yoga Insider Podcast is here for. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and let's dive into today's episode. Now, this week on the podcast, I am sharing part three, so the conclusion episode of our three-part mini podcast series all about using music more intentionally in your yoga classes. In week one, we discussed how to create music playlists using the same structure that you use to sequence your class. We looked at how creating a playlist that builds gradually and follows the natural arc of your sequence can feel really cohesive and supportive for you and your students. Last week, we talked about organizing your music library in a way that allows you to find your yoga playlists and reuse them with ease. This week, I want to explore how to choose music that genuinely reflects your personality, your teaching style, and the atmosphere that you're trying to create in your yoga class. Now, maybe this is like a little bit of a hot take, but I think that some yoga teachers are afraid to have taste and are afraid to use music in their classes that they actually like. Now, this is kind of an interesting conversation because I feel like it reflects how homogenized modern yoga culture in the West especially has become. I feel like, and again, like this is myself included sometimes. Um, I feel like we can feel like we need to dress in a certain way. We can feel like we need to participate in certain activities or even play certain music in our classes. Um and I feel like there's a difference between say, like keeping your music playlist simple intentionally versus having a music playlist that is like completely void of any shred of personality. And so maybe you'll relate to some of these things, but perhaps you find yourself like defaulting to playing just generic spa music in your yoga class. And maybe that kind of music has a time and a place. Like, I feel like, you know, we can be so creative when it comes to using music in a yoga class. Um, but maybe, you know, when I say this, like you're just finding yourself using music that you don't necessarily resonate with, or music that just like doesn't mean anything to you at all. Um, maybe you just don't know what music to play in your yoga class, and so you find yourself just like defaulting to playing the music that other yoga teachers are playing. And I think that this is so normal, especially like if we're newer to yoga or we're newer to teaching yoga. Um, I remember back in the day, like a lot of the times I was just playing music that I had heard my yoga teachers playing, and there's nothing wrong with that. Um, but one example of this that's a little bit funny is that like back in the day, artists like Trevor Hall and East Forrest were super popular in my yoga community. And I would play that music in my classes because that's what other yoga teachers were playing. And, you know, when I reflect on it, I feel like that type of music is popular in a certain branch of like North American yoga culture, especially. And it's kind of like this folky, like Burning Man adjacent kind of music. And to be honest, like that is not my vibe. Like, that's not my personal vibe. Um, it doesn't mean that the odd song from these artists doesn't make its way into some of my playlists from time to time. Um, but from teaching for a long time, like I've just realized personally I'm more aligned with a different type of music. There's certain types of music that I'm more drawn to. And so in my classes, you will sometimes find music like RB. You're gonna find instrumentals that feel a little bit more cinematic. Um, music that is atmospheric, but not necessarily inherently spiritual or like trying to be spiritual. And I know that all of these things and you know the way that we feel music and interpret music is very subjective. Um, but that really just comes down to personal preference. And I think it can take a lot of experimentation and a lot of time to get comfortable with who you are as a teacher and to feel comfortable choosing music that reflects a little bit of your personality. So one way that you can start to play with bringing a little bit of yourself into your playlist is to choose music that matches your teaching style. So you could either reflect on this personally and ask yourself, or if you have someone that you're close to that, you know, they attend your classes, like maybe you ask them as well to kind of reflect back to you. Um, but ask yourself, what does my class feel like? What is the mood of my class? Like, are my classes generally more spacious? Are they devotional? Are they athletic? Are they moody? Is my teaching really precise? And then ask yourself and reflect on how you might start to choose music that supports that atmosphere. So, what is the atmosphere that you naturally bring to your classes? What is your personal approach to teaching? And I mean, all of this is like, it can feel a little bit abstract, right? So you have to think outside the box, but is there a type of music that like supports the way that you teach? So I'll give you a couple of examples. And one example that I can think of is maybe you are a very alignment-based, like Hatha yoga teacher. And you might choose to go forward with music that has more spacious instrumentals, music that doesn't have a lot of distractions in it. And I feel like this kind of music is probably gonna work quite well because your cues and your precision as a yoga teacher are going to be the heart of your class. And you're probably the type of teacher that likes to give a lot of details when you're teaching. You're probably asking your students to approach things in a very specific way, maybe it's a very meticulous way, and you want music that is going to give you space to do that. So if your music is like really fast and it's loud and it's got a ton of lyrics, and like you're quite verbose, and like you talk a lot in your class and you give a lot of detail in your class, that can be a lot for your students to try to manage. If like the music is just really overwhelming and then you're giving them a bunch of information. So we want to think about music that like complements our teaching style. So if you're talking a lot and filling the space with your voice a lot, then that's why I would suggest those more spacious instrumentals in your class, because that's gonna give you room to like fill that space with your voice, and it's gonna be really complimentary to your teaching style. Maybe you teach a really playful, kind of community-centered class. You know all your students, you know their names, you banter with them, um, you know, nobody's taking themselves too seriously. Maybe you play music that's a little bit brighter, it's familiar. You are trying to create like a sense of warmth and a sense of familiarity in your classes, and your classes might be focused on the joy of moving our bodies together in a group, and you want your music to reflect that feel-good environment that you're creating. So ask yourself: Does my music reflect how my class feels? You can also take a look at your non-yoga playlists. So look through your music or just reflect on your own and ask yourself, what kind of music do I naturally listen to? Like when I'm not teaching yoga, when I'm not practicing yoga, when I have the oxcord, what am I gonna choose? Um, what atmosphere are you naturally drawn to? What do you enjoy? I feel like leaning into your real taste in music can actually be more useful than forcing yourself into, like, I'm using air quotes here, but yoga music. Um, and it can sometimes be a little bit more fun than just like playing the music that you heard in other classes. And obviously, of course, like if you heard music in other yoga classes and you really like that music, by all means play it. But if you are just playing music because you think that's what yoga music is supposed to be, or you think that you know people will think you're not a good yoga teacher if you don't play a certain type of music, like that's crap. Um, so again, like it can be tricky to choose music that you really like, especially if you feel like your personal preferences in music are like totally unsuitable for a yoga class. Um, but I feel like there's always a happy middle ground somewhere. So, for example, maybe you love rap music, um, but you don't think it's the right vibe for your class. There might be like an instrumental version of a song that you like and something that can actually work really well in your class. And I feel like that can be a way to incorporate your own flair and your own personality without taking away or distracting from what you want to teach. And that's just the really cool thing about like how much access we have these days to covers of songs and like slowed down versions of songs. Like, I feel like you can find something that you like that also works in a yoga class. And I genuinely believe that music can be an extension of your teaching voice. Um, I'm always talking about how your voice is your most powerful tool as a yoga teacher. Your words are so powerful. And the music that you play in your class, if you choose to play music, is part of the environment that you create. And some of the most memorable, like impactful yoga teachers that I've ever had in my life, are not memorable because they tried to fit the mold. They're not memorable because they did all the things that everybody else was doing and they played the music that everybody else played. They are memorable because of how authentic they are. And they're memorable because their classes felt like an extension of themselves. And I think that that type of confidence definitely comes with time and it comes with age, um, which is really cool, right? Like hopefully the longer we keep teaching, the more we're able to kind of step into like that most authentic version of ourselves. Um, but if you've been choosing music that is based entirely on what you think yoga classes are supposed to sound like, then maybe this is your um your invitation rather to experiment a little bit more. So just see how it feels to trust your instincts, pay attention to like the atmosphere that you are creating with sound. So be really, really intentional about it. And don't be afraid to share a little bit of you and your personality and your personal taste through music in class. I feel like this is honestly one of my favorite things to do. I always get compliments on my playlists, and I feel like it comes from a lot of experimenting. It comes from making a lot of bad, weird playlists that totally miss the mark earlier in my teaching days. And it comes from still making playlists that like aren't always, you know, gonna hit the way that I hope that they will. But I feel like that willingness to like take a risk and just like play music that I like and I think is gonna work really well in a class is what builds eventually into just kind of like having your own signature sound in the music that you play in class. So if you enjoyed today's episode of Yoga Insider Podcast, please share it with another yoga teacher and make sure to leave a rating or a review wherever you are listening. Thank you so much for tuning in and taking the time to listen to this mini podcast series. And I'll see you next week.