After posting my article on structuring a 30-minute yoga practice, I decided that I couldn’t possibly leave you hanging without a plan for music. Not everyone wants or needs music to accompany their yoga poses, but if you’ve been racing around all day (like most of us), it’s not always easy to suddenly settle down and clear the mind for yoga. Music can help set the mood, help you focus on your breath, and then help set the pace for your practice.
When I create playlists of any length, I make it a point to pick music that mirrors the ebb and flow of my practice. Like a wave, a yoga sequence builds, reaches a peak, and then dissipates into peacefulness. It’s important for the music to follow suit.
If you randomly string together a collection of your favorite songs without giving thought to the mood and tempo provided by each selection, the flow of your postures will not match the flow of your playlist.
Fortunately, a 30-minute playlist is fairly simple to organize because of its short length, and I recommend getting the hang of creating a 30-minute list before moving on to create a 60-minute list. If your songs are roughly five minutes long, you only need about six songs to create your own half-hour playlist.
0:00 – 5:00 minutes
During the first five minutes of my practice, I like to close my eyes, shut out the world, and focus on my breath. My mind races all day, and this is my opportunity to shut it down. After a few minutes, I open my eyes and do some light stretches. For this period of time, I make sure that I am playing instrumental music. I cannot tune into my inner voice if the bass is pounding or if I hear someone else’s voice singing in my head. I recently downloaded an amazing collection of music from Ben Wisch. The gentle sound of the piano is perfect for this part of my practice.
5:00 – 10:00 minutes
It’s time for sun salutations! Maybe the first time through, I am moving gingerly and stretching my tight muscles, but by the time I’m on my second round of sun salutations, I’m building heat and moving at a reasonable clip. I’m no longer interested in slow instrumental music. I want music that reflects the increased pace of movement. The song that you play during this time doesn’t have to be your quickest tempo, but it should signify that you are no longer sitting on the floor breathing deeply and stretching. I’ve been listening to music by Enigma for 20 years, and I’ve found a number of their songs to be the perfect pace for this part of my practice.
10:00 – 20:00 minutes
This window of time is the peak of the wave. I’m flowing continuously, and my muscles are stretching and working hard. In my opinion, it is perfectly appropriate to insert your favorite hip hop or dance music right into this part of your practice. There is a time and a place for everything. Do I recommend club music for a restorative or yin practice? Of course not. But for a heart-pumping, energizing flow… sure. Feel free to insert any genre of music that makes your spirit soar and your body happy. She Knows (J.Cole) and the Finally Moving remix (Pretty Lights) are two suggestions for you from one of my own 30-minute playlists.
20:00 – 30:00 minutes
During the final ten minutes of my practice, I like to sit on my mat and do a little floor work. Now that my muscles are warm, I can focus on a particular body part and hold each pose a bit longer. The pace is slower, even if the effort feels just as great.
During this time, if my hips feel particularly tight, maybe I will practice lizard pose for a minute with my back knee down on the mat. Once I feel a bit looser, I might lift the back knee and spend another minute or two in lizard, rolling onto the outer edge of my foot and then back down onto the sole of my foot. After that, maybe I’ll sit in pigeon pose for a minute or two and then take a deep squat (Malasana Pose) to stretch the groin muscles and hips even more.
The main idea here is that you are down on your mat, holding poses. You are no longer flowing. It’s time to slow the tempo of your playlist. You’ll notice that my playlist includes Wicked Games by Parra for Cuva and Fade Into You by Mazzy Star.
With a 30-minute practice, I rarely include a savasana, but when I do have the time to spare, I just put my playlist on repeat mode and use the first song on my playlist to serve as the soundtrack for my savasana. I don’t mind hearing the same song twice— it reminds me that I’ve come full circle in my practice, and there is beauty in that. Lie back and enjoy a few moments of peace if you can.
My 30-Minute Playlist
