I have always enjoyed the yoga of sound. Things like chanting, sound baths and flowing to great music. The vibrations are invigorating and joyful. Through some yoga teacher friends, I met Dana (above, with me on left). We collaborated and created and yin and sound bath experience together.
The day of the event, she put a cloth down and set up her bowls, chimes, drums and gongs in a circle in the center of the room. Participants came in and filled in around her, also in a circle.
It was a lovely experience, practicing yin yoga while listening to different sounds created by Dana and her instruments. Just as each note is calibrated or created with an instrument, notes and vibrations register with certain parts of the energetic body. Each chakra resonates with a note on the standard octave scale.
At the end of our workshop, Dana invited anyone who wanted to play any of the drums or bowls to the center or the circle to experience the instruments for themselves. I watched as others came forward, playing singing bowls or asking questions. Then I saw it.
There was a round, shiny purple drum, images of the galaxy were imprinted on it. I picked it up and Dana handed me some soft mallets. "It's a tank drum" she said, "it's made out of melted down propane tanks". I put it in my lap and began to strike the surface, it's cut into different shapes and each shape holds a different note. "Turn it over" she said, "there's another scale on the other side".
The drum vibrated softly in my lap as I played it. Lots of vibration in my legs and feet, so relaxing. The drum is tuned, all the notes work with one another. All I had to do was play a rhythm and land you’re my mallet.
I was captivated. I asked her where she got it, she showed me the bag it came it, "It's a Kosmosky, order it on Etsy, it comes from Russia". It was fall and the holidays were on the way, I have a holiday birthday too. I'm getting one of these. Happy holidays and birthday to me.
Each drum is custom made and shipped from Russia, it took a month to receive it. I was so excited. Then I got it and held it for the first time. It's so beautiful, shiny and blue with a huge mountain on the top. I flipped it over, the ocean and a dolphin on the other side, what a wonderful surprise.
I started playing a little at a time. I practiced and practiced, I put together a short song and timed it. I finally worked up the courage to bring it to a yoga class and play it during savasana. I was so nervous, what if I made a mistake? It was easy and relaxing to play, even during class. Afterwards, a couple of people came up to me and said they liked the music in final relaxation, thinking it was a recording. I showed them the drum and their eyes widened, "Oh, you were PLAYING?" "Yes, do you want to play too?" So much fun.
All of that was about 4 years ago. Sadly, my tank drum has been on a shelf for far too long. I just picked it up again this month. I brought it to our December YTT weekend. Our focus was yin yoga, surrender and self-care. The students paired up and formed a loose circle. They cared for each other by holding space and gentle touch. I sat in the middle and played. I played for nearly an hour. It was so awesome to reconnect to the drum and bring sound into our space without using a recording.
After my book, Yoga Your Life, was released, I thought it would be nice to create some short video practices and make them available on my website. Doing some research, I realized that silence is fine in live yoga classes but doesn't come across well in video. I needed something in the background...my drum! I packed it up and brought it with me when I met Steven at MadLife Stage & Studio for the first time. We talked about my project and what I wanted to do. When we talked about ambience to accompany the script he said "I can bring in some ambient keyboard stuff" or "there are some free resources online". I said "I have one more idea" and I brought out my drum and played for a short time. He said, "there's your answer, right there". I handed it over to him and he played a while.
There's something about live music, so much prana and love in it. I have connected to myself, others and my drum. It has taught me to drop my script and play from the heart.
Yorumlar