DJ BHAKTI STYLER WANTS the music he plays to
inspire fun, to strike a chord of recognition, and to support
the breath—always. As a yoga teacher himself, he under-
stands how much music can enhance the practice. “It’s just
like when a teacher assists his or her students in class,” he
says. “If a song’s peak kicks in as students launch out of
Crescent Lunge into Warrior III, it can inspire them to go
for it and be in the moment.”
Bhakti Styler describes his music style as “a roller-
coaster,” since it cycles through everything from ambi-
ent sound to electronica to classic rock. You can find
him teaching his weekly Urban Flow class and spinning
during the monthly Full Moon Yoga event at the Shakti
Shala studio in Aspen, Colorado.
THE IN-HOUSE DJ at Wanderlust’s almost year-
old brick and mortar space located in Hollywood,
California, DJ Sol Rising has a long history with
both yoga and DJ’ing: His mother introduced
him to meditation at age 4, and he grew up
studying the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita at the
Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment
in Fairfield, Iowa. As a teen he became a scratch
DJ, winning national hip-hop competitions. But
Sol Rising wasn’t convinced that he could make
a living as a DJ, so he decided to go to school
to become an accountant. It was his spiritual
teacher, Sai Maa, who encouraged him to return
to his musical path.To create a playlist for your
home practice, DJ Bhakti
Styler recommends search-
ing via hashtags on Sound
Cloud (soundcloud.com),
which offers free downloads
from many artists. Here, his
tips for finding tunes for your
vinyasa flow:Search #ambient.Search #chill for something
loungy.Search #EDM (electronic
dance music) for something
energizing, fun, and uplifting.Search #yoga or #kirtan,
and you can chant back to
the music.End with something
#ambient or a #jazz selection.
Or, you can always try Fleet-
wood Mac’s “Landslide.”FROM TOP: PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSIE CHANEY; PHOTO COURTESY OF NICO NELSON (NNELSONPHOTO.COM)Which came first for you, yoga or DJ’ing?
Yoga. I joined a friend at a small yoga studio in
my hometown of Basalt, Colorado, and I had no
idea what the teacher was saying: the poses, the
Sanskrit—and what the hell was pranayama? But
since I had a first-time-student punch pass worth
three classes and don’t like wasting things, I gave
it another try. The next class I learned Up Dog and
Down Dog, and left feeling something different. My
body was awake; my mind was clear. The practice
changed my life, and it still does every single day.
I would also add that my love of music started
at a very young age. From the time I was a small
child, I used to sleep with the oldies station on all
night. It was mostly songs from the 1950s and ‘60s.
My mom would come in and turn off the stereo
at some ungodly hour. And the first thing I’d do
when I woke up was turn the station back on.
Where do you find your creative inspiration?
I’m a huge fan of music blogs, especially interna-
tional blogs. I find out what DJs are playing in Ibiza
or Australia, and then add some of those songs to
my collection. I try to think outside the box and have
completely different music every week. And then,
I’ll throw in some stuff that people recognize and
can relate to as well. I’ll lay a faster beat over, say, a
Journey song and maybe bring students back to a
memory they associate with it.Do you practice to your own playlists?
Yes! And then, before anybody hears a playlist, I can
figure out what’s not working. Or I might realize,
“Damn, that song was amazing! I want to find more
from that artist.”How can students get the most
out of a class with a DJ?
Use the music as a tool: Use the beat as a reminder
to breathe.