Bhopal: Yoga means union with god. Yogic exercises unite human beings with god. Music is also a type of yoga. On the eve of the World Music and World Yoga Day, Free Press interacted with the local artists to know what music and yoga mean to them and how helpful they are for the mind and the body.
Some of these artists have an association of more than 30 years with the field of art including dance and music. They were unanimous in their view that music, dance are a means of meditation for them. They don’t have to perform yoga separately as they feel that it is inbuilt in their work. Music is called naad yoga ( or yoga through music). It helps to relax mind and body. It also helps them in managing prolems like depression, thyroid, heart ailments and blood pressure.
Smita Nagdev, 45, Sitarist
The relationship of music and yoga is very deep. Music is called ‘naad yoga’, which means yoga through music. Just like yoga focus is essential for practicing music. It is just like meditation, which keeps our body and mind healthy. In fact, there are many ragas in Hindustani classical music like ‘Yaman,’ and ‘Vihag’ which can protect you from depression.
Not just Indian classical music but also Western classical music of the maestros like Mozart and Beethoven equally help in relaxing ones mind and energising oneself. I started learning music at the age of 4 and now I am of 42 but I never practiced yoga. Music is yoga for me and it gives me mental peace and keeps me away from depression.
Alpana Vajpeyi, 50, Kathak exponent
It is necessary to do exercise or yoga daily as our lifestyle has been completely changed. Indian and western dance forms are also a kind of exercise or yoga, especially when we do chakkar and tatkar in Kathak. Yoga is inbuilt in dance, so, we need not practice yoga separately. I have been performing kathak for 35 years. I am 50 now but I never had to take any medicine for otherwise common ailment like acidity, digestive or hormonal problems.
Earlier, we used to riyaz (practice) for 9 to 10 hours daily. But times have changed now. At present, children have limited time, so we can’t ask them to practice for so long. But we do some warm up exercises for 15 minutes before going for dance practice. This is a special feature of our dance class.
Abhay Phagre, 57, flutist
I think, yoga and music have many commonalities. In our Hindu philosophy, music is called ‘Brahm Naad’. Every material has its own frequency. We do Yoga to achieve something. We do yoga or meditation to get mental peace. And it is same with music. It is also a kind of meditation, which gives us mental peace.
Flute is related to our respiratory system directly. Regulated breathing is done in Pranayam. And it is the same when we play flute. It helps to regulate our whole body. I have been playing flute for 40 years and I never practiced Yoga separately. I am not suffering from respiratory problems till now.
Shruti Kirti Barik, 59, ballet choreographer
I have been practicing ballet for 34 years. In ballet, there are so many exercises from head to toe that I did not feel the need to join any separate yoga class. I feel myself fit, active and energetic at the age of 59 just because of dance. Also, I have no chronic problems like diabetes and blood pressure.
See, dance is a kind of exercise, but yoga helps relax our mind. We may feel tired after doing dance but not after doing yoga. So, both are important these days. I have done PG diploma in yogic science recently and I want to use yoga in ballets now. We are also going to organise a yoga workshop in association with AYUSH Sansthan, Bhopal on World Yoga Day.