Source: The Toronto Star
TORONTO, CANADA, June 29, 2002: At a recent event at the popular downtown yoga studio Downward Dog, local musicians performed their unique blend of ancient Sanskrit prayers and modern Western music to a small crowd of yoga enthusiasts who sat cross-legged on the floor singing along in the ancient Hindu call-and-response tradition. While most Westerners know yoga to be the form of deep stretches known as asanas, or poses, as an aspect of Hindu religious tradition, it also encompasses other forms of practice, including chanting. As yoga has become popular among active people looking for a more deeply satisfying form of exercise, so is chanting slowly becoming a bit of a trend among those looking for a more satisfying way of experiencing music. Over the last two years at Downward Dog, music has gradually been creeping into yoga classes and workshops. Other yoga studios are also getting into the act. “It’s just the local extension of a North American trend toward the more spiritual aspects of yoga,” says Clea McDougall, the editor of the Montreal-based yoga magazine Ascent. “The first things we picked up on in North America were the physical forms of yoga, and that’s been steadily gaining in popularity,” she says. “Now people are sort of interested in the things that surround yoga, and music is one of the main things.”