FUELING THE BRAIN WITH SOUND:

Over the years, music has become a buzzing topic for yoga instructors. Should I or should I not play music in class? If I’m going to play music, what genre is best? Is there a formula for the perfect yoga playlist?

 

As teachers, these questions pose an interesting challenge. For one, we feel the pressure to adhere to teaching “best practices” or rules, which vary widely by type of yoga, instructor style, and studio culture/region. More importantly, though, we have the responsibility of understanding how music affects our students’ experience, and the mental and physical impact of using sound to complement our instruction.

 

And that experience starts with the brain. Here are a few facts to consider about music and its effect on brain activity to help inform your stance on the music-yoga debate:

 

1) Music has gone viral. It’s everywhere. With the growing presence of both live and digital music, we have access to the art of sound 24/7, whether we seek it out or not. It is playing at retail stores, in our gyms, at concerts and festivals, in movies, and, most prominently, through our own headphones as we walk down the street.

 

Why has music grown so much in popularity? Well, in addition to technology...

 

2) Music elicits a strong emotional response. Most of us have experienced excitement when our favorite song comes on the radio, or perhaps felt sadness triggered by a song playing during a dramatic movie scene. Long before the days of Titanic, Coachella, and Spotify, our sensory cortices -- the organs responsible for processing input from our senses -- evolved to emit emotion in response to sound.

 

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin talks in depth about this emotional response, specifically the pleasurable type, in his book This is Your Brain on Music.

 

“Listening to music (causes) a cascade of brain regions to become activated in one particular order...a network of regions--the mesolimbic system--involved in arousal, pleasure, and the transmission of opioids and the production of dopamine, culminating in activation in the nucleus accumbens...Music is clearly a means for improving people's moods” (Page 191).

 

No wonder we’re constantly seeking out music! When our brains get flooded with dopamine, the neurotransmitter that makes us feel pleasure, we learn quickly that we should repeat that action to keep feeling good. And this is why…

 

3) Our positive emotional response to music has a strong influence on our behavior. Retailers, marketers, television producers, and fitness instructors are well-aware of the power that music has on behavior. These professionals use music strategically to motivate us to take action, whether that means pedaling a little bit harder in a Soulcycle class or pulling the trigger to buy that new big-screen.

 

So how does this behavioral motivation apply to a yoga practice? There is an element to yoga instruction in which you’re motivating your students to persevere, (i.e. holding chair pose for one more breath). Music can enhance that motivation, helping students feel more determined and focused.

 

At the same time, music and the associated emotions can be distracting, whether the emotions are positive or negative. For example, say you’re knee deep in pigeon pose, and you hear a song that reminds you of your ex-significant other. Immediately your mind moves away from the sensation in your hip and onto your last interaction with that partner.

 

So knowing music’s impact on emotions, motivation, and mindfulness, is there an answer to our yoga-music debate? To use, or not to use? What kind? And when and how to use?

 

My answer is, if you choose to use music, do so with education and intention.

 

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