From Yoga to Home Sweet Home

It is a natural fact of life - we are all different. Gees, we will go nuts if everyone was the same, behaving the same way, and lo and behold listening to the same type of music. Zen to you might be a little more than 'chilling out' and closer to Pearl Jam. No judgment. This is why I promise not to list any tracks in my article. This is my discovery to zen, as much as it is yours. I want to teach you how to fish, instead of giving you the fish. Although you might get a piece to get you started. Read on.

That train ride like journey towards my first ever zen playlist started when yours truly was engaged in her first ever 30 day yoga challenge back in 2016. Common themes started to develop, and quickly.

Let me explain.

When you attend a yoga session, and what feels like tying yourself in knots in some positions; a zen playlist of tunes starts to emerge out of the woodwork. Many of these chill out songs sound alike, yet surprisingly, a few stand out.

If you hear the same song a few times (as you may do, attending the same yoga studio every single day for 30 days straight) it begins to resonate, and then you ask for the title and artist. Bingo, first song added to your playlist. Rinse and repeat.

Secondly, a song just sings to you personally in a tough vinyasa flow, or in a tight yin session. Usually inspiration has been gained from those yoga sessions by the names of "trauma sensitive" or "yinyang" to name, where you easily get drained out for the best. There have been hour long yoga sessions where it felt like that session had replaced ten counselling sessions. No kidding. In such intense birthing experiences, you have to move away from any shyness, and have the courage to ask the relevant instructor for either the title of their entire playlist on Spotify, or for the name of a specific song played in that specific asana (usually when your feet and hips are on fire).

With the above two methods, your zen playlist can easily fill up to a couple of hours of music. Even if you don't go to yoga that often. Then again, if you don't want to bend your body like a pretzel, we have Spotify, YouTube, friends, family, co-workers and partners that can help us along the way in helping us reach our zen; even if you don't know what 'chilling out' really means. In the corporate world I really had no idea on how to really relax, despite being engaged in yoga and meditation on a regular basis. This is despite being introduced to the concept of relaxation in my first year of high school, way back in 1993. Oh dear.

Thirdly, my first ever zen playlist was growing (when it was highly necessary to) during the pandemic, beginning with the letter C. This is because yoga and zoom had to get along well together. With the zoom sessions I was on, the studio would send you a link to a relevant Spotify playlist to play on another device. That is, the zoom session was on my MacBook Air, while the music came courtesy of my iPhone. In addition to the link, this studio (called Egg of the Universe in Sydney, Australia) would also give you the profile name and title of the zen playlist. For example, Kidney Hit by Carly Boscheinen. (You're welcome.)

There is a difference between sharing and stealing. If a yogi offers you a zen playlist of theirs to use and enjoy, then go ahead and do that. By doing this, I have hand picked songs using a combination of asking the yogi, as well as them sharing their zen playlist to me unasked; as well as mustering the initiative to do a YouTube search on the best chill out music out there. Only save the songs that resonate.

Hot tip: do not play one particular song like a broken record. As much as you love the song, the novelty really wears off, and you will be sick of hearing that particular song. This is why zen playlists exist, so to mash things up, like an open buffet. Why an la carte when you can enjoy an open buffet? Just saying.

Furthermore, I even took the liberty to ask a few of my favourite instructors as to how they compiled their zen playlists to share with their raving fans. They say their gut feeling leads them down that rabbit hole, while another said that "I heard a tune from one artist, and therefore my playlist is dominated with songs by that artist alone." Genius.

From there, yoga has led me to live a life according to what my heart is telling me. From this experience, I have found that home is really where the heart is. Based on the eight years of living in Sydney, Australia (six of them in discovering yoga for the first time, and being a yogi); yoga (and my zen playlist) has helped me move house from Narwee to the City. (Hence making me extra cash by turning my Narwee home into an investment property), and now to a cheaper and nicer home in the luxurious Lower North Shore (thank you Mr Milson). Furthermore, yoga (the beautiful zen music along the way) has enabled me to live my dream of being a freelancer working from my home sweet home in delightful Milsons Point, saying goodbye to "the man" just over a month ago, to now being my own boss.

This zen playlist is also played when yours truly is not wearing active wear, and is chilling out at home, whether cleaning, entertaining, or with a cup of joe in hand for a party of one.

Who knew the power of music right? Like that song says "music is my life, because my life is music." Life would certainly be boring without our tunes, and why not make "everything zen" as Bush so puts it in one of their songs.

Maybe your zen playlist (with time and patience) could help you relax at the very least, and even go further by helping you in other areas of your life, and the good news is that you don't have to be a yogi to enjoy the fruits of zen.

Namaste.