“Are you a huge fan of yoga, but wish you could hear the motivating, uplifting and driving sounds of melodic Deep House to keep you following strong through yet another gnarly Chaturanga?”
By: Corey McComb
It’s a typical Sunday morning at Mission Bay in San Diego. Old men and their grandchildren bait the lines and cast out, while sailboats catch a light breeze past morning joggers on the shore. The sun is slowly waking up to a clear blue sky.
But on this particular morning, the water ripples in time with the rhythm of a bass drum beat. The grass, still damp from the morning, is covered by a myriad of colorful yoga mats, and under dancing palm trees 150 yogis salute the sun.
“Are you a huge fan of yoga, but wish you could hear the motivating, uplifting and driving sounds of melodic Deep House to keep you following strong through yet another gnarly Chaturanga?” –That’s the first thing the organizers of Yoga Out Loud want to know.
Developed in 2015 out of a passion for bringing people together, festival organizer and local DJ Adam Davis and yoga instructor Jordan Tyler combined what they each knew best. Yoga Out Loud has become the one stop shop for those that crave yoga, the outdoors, and house music all in one.
So why Deep House? Yoga Out Loud may not be the first group to combine live music with the practice, but they’ve succeeded in making the soundtrack of their classes an integrated enhancement and not just a blanket of background noise.
“With house music one can convey a very wide variety of moods, emotions and energies… This allows us to create an emotional journey for the yogis to get lost in, all the while being supported physically by the consistency of that 125 bpm rhythm.”, says Davis.
Watching the Friday night feet drag across the lawn before laying out their mats, it’s clear that Yoga Out Loud’s uniqueness is more than just novelty. Tyler cheerfully leads the class through poses that welcome all levels of yogis. Instead of strict breathing rigmarole, she encourages the class to laugh out loud and to, “Just relax.”
As the pace of the class increases, Davis is already orchestrating the perfect mix to match. With the palm trees swaying along to vinyasa flows, dance move can’t be resisted as the yogis shake out between warrior poses.
Yoga Out Loud is a side project for both Davis and Tyler, but its immediate success has them both looking ahead. Davis says, “We plan on taking Yoga Out Loud on the road across California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. We’d love to tour and take classes to festivals and beautiful outdoor locations worldwide.”
With growing social media engagement throughout San Diego and hundreds of people showing up for each class, Yoga Out Loud is becoming an underground movement. Davis releases previous class mixes over Facebook to get the group excited, and only releases the location of the next class a few days prior; keeping the underground, speakeasy feel alive.
The class is an open invitation for anyone wanting to improve their yoga practice as well as for those looking to shake off the night before. According to Davis, their message is simple: “Get out and experience your life. Our existence here on this planet is short, making the best of each day is key. Music, friends, yoga, the outdoors: these are all very wonderful things, so why not enjoy them together, all at once?”
As the beat slows to meet the resting heart beats that cover the grass, the sun is fully awake and the class ends. Hugs and donations are exchanged and Sunday chakras are aligned. The water and trees return to their normal rhythm and appear to be just as rejuvenated as the rest of us.
To learn more about Yoga Out Loud join their Facebook group and subscribe to their newsletter for updates.