Living and breathing music, vocalist Barb Jungr tells OM that yoga is her go to practice for
relaxation and inspiration. By David HolzerWhy have you stuck with yoga?
For a start, I love the utter, relentless
deepening of focus that comes with yoga.
You suddenly realise you’re in this moment
and everything has worth.How does that relate to performing?
When I improvise in jazz, I absolutely have
to be in the moment and yoga has helped
me learn how to get into that mindset.
Also, I choose tricky songs – Dylan’s ‘Mr.
Tambourine Man’ is a good example –
and I need to really give the words their
full weight. It’s a bit like a Vinyasa. You
can’t be at the end of a Vinyasa when you’re
at the beginning.How about learning all those words?
I learn words through body memory and
repetition, in the same way as we’d learn
a yoga asana. After a time, your body will
naturally go to where it’s meant to be, even
with the most complex and challenging
asanas. You know where you want your leg
to be before you move.om body
When and where do you practice?
I practice a little every day: Sun Salutations,
core work and breathing practice. I also
meditate and do some visualisation. If I
don’t do my practice, I feel I’ve missed out.
When I’m travelling, I take my mat. I also
go to classes wherever I can, to practice
with teachers I find especially helpful and
inspiring. Any good teacher will always teach
you something new. You’ll find something
challenging that you find easy in another
shala. I like that.Is there anything you won’t do?
I follow the principle of one of my Aikido
teachers who tried every single dojo in
Japan. He always asked himself: ‘Is this
safe?’ If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t go back.Do you feel yoga has particular benefits
for creativity?
For singers, definitely. When I teach singers,
I ask if they have a physical practice. If they
don’t, I always say try yoga. I know from my
own experience that you get something fromS
he’s been called, “Possibly our
best interpreter of Dylan’s songs”
by singer-songwriter Billy Bragg.
A New York Times reviewer wrote,
“The only word to describe her
dramatic interpretations is revelatory...I was
open mouthed with astonishment.”
Born in Rochdale to Czech and German
parents, Barb Jungr took up the violin and
mandolin at an early age. She sang in folk
clubs while still at school, then blues bands
in college and London. Her recording career
began in the late 1970s, but really took off
when she began performing on the London
circuit of the early 1980s.
In her four decades as a performer, Jungr
has toured the world, made successful,
critically-acclaimed albums and also worked
as a lyricist and composer. Most recently, she
wrote the songs and music for the show How
to Hide a Lion.
A veteran of radio and TV, she is currently
featured in an hour-long performance for
The Kate, an arts series on the US Public
Broadcasting Service showcasing ‘bold
performers with something to say’.
As well as being possibly the most
respected interpreter of Dylan, Jacques
Brel, Leonard Cohen and other legends
of songwriting in the world, Jungr is a
dedicated yogini.
She has practiced yoga for 20 years. Apart
from the physical aspect, yoga has helped
her with breathing and relaxation, especially
beneficial when performing on stage or TV.
But, as she’s said, “stage fright doesn’t only
mean on stage. It can apply to anyone in
daily life...and yoga can really help.”
Jungr and I chatted by phone. We share a
love of yoga and Dylan, which got us off to a
good start.When did yoga first come into your life?
I was still at school and I went with my friend
to a class in the local mental hospital. We
did three or four classes of Hatha, but it was
wrong time, wrong place. I did Aikido up
until my mid-40s to brown belt level
but practicing every day and being thrown
about takes its toll on the body so I thought
it was time for a change. I started with
Ashtanga and then got into Vinyasa Flow.
I’ve also practiced Iyengar and Yin and,
in New York, Jivamukti. My teachers have
included Stewart Gilchrist in London and
Diane Long, who was taught by the great
Vanda Scaravelli.“Yoga is a gift we’ve been given that has such
beneits across every part of your life.”