Heavy metal music yoga may sound silly, but it’s an emerging trend. Classes are popping up everywhere from Saint Vitus and Bushwick’s Cobra Club venues to front yards across NYC.
Metal songs can be soothing and relaxing, like Sleep’s drones and doom-metal veterans Pallbearer; post-metal band Cult of Luna also offers slow melodies ideal for meditation.
Mood Targeting
Metal has long been associated with aggression, but recent studies reveal it can also help regulate negative emotions like anger. One such study discovered that listening to heavy metal music enables listeners to calm down more quickly after experiencing a stressful event due to matching their physiological state with that of their listeners – helping them manage how they react in stressful situations.
Metal music provides the ideal setting for yoga practice when trying to address feelings like anger or anxiety, making metal yoga classes increasingly popular around the world as an inclusive way for heavy metal fans and yogis to connect.
Black metal may not be your first thought when planning a yoga session, but bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Bohren & der Club of Gore offer music that would work perfectly for this style of practice. Black metal’s brooding tones and menacing ambience provide the ideal atmosphere for this style of practice; yet its progressive sounds provided by bands like Neurosis can provide both dark moods as well as soothing tones – perfect for an enjoyable yoga practice session!
Metal music in yoga has several additional benefits that may benefit the immune system by reducing cortisol levels and relieving stress and disease, while simultaneously elevating mood – making it a good option for people suffering from depression or mood disorders.
Listening to metal music can also help strengthen bonds among its listeners, studies have shown that metalheads tend to form strong relationships among themselves and feel a stronger sense of community due to its democratic structure; everyone can participate as either musician, singer, or fan!
If you’re new to metal yoga, create a playlist tailored to match your desired moods. Compile a list of your favorite metal bands, along with songs that can help relax but still inspire during workouts.
Strength Training
Death metal may seem at odds with peaceful yoga, but when used mindfully it can strengthen both body and mind. Metal yoga classes typically incorporate songs with blast beats for added intensity during poses; more soothing tracks from black metal act Deafheaven provide moments for reflection.
Metal and yoga may seem an unlikely pairing, yet its popularity has become apparent. Combining heavy metal music with yoga classes attracts a subgroup of metalheads who might otherwise never try classes and makes their experience more enjoyable through including genres they enjoy listening to like heavy metal music. Heavy metal yoga may also appeal to younger generations that don’t identify with traditional hippie culture associated with this discipline.
Since metal music has its own set of themes that lend themselves to yoga classes, they’ve become increasingly popular at music festivals worldwide and regular yoga studios alike. Most classes are led by instructors who are avid fans of metal music who use its themes as the foundation for their classes.
One class at a rock festival was led by a yoga teacher who is an avid fan of doom band Skyharbor and uses their songs as background music during class. Other instructors played songs by Black Sabbath and Bolt Thrower bands; some used music as an inspirational tool while others utilized this genre as an outlet for self-expression, including shouting or air guitar in some poses.
There are also yoga studios offering classes in dimly-lit studios, like New York’s Saint Vitus Bar. Instructor Saskia Thode kicks her classes off with an opening group “Om,” but also adds metal-themed sounds such as banging fists on the floor or shouting out phrases such as “Fuck you!” or “Destroyer 666!” She keeps things lively by making use of shouts like “Fuck you!” or “Destroyer 666! These classes can become loud but there’s also an energetic element present that’s usually not present during standard yoga classes.
Stress Reduction
Heavy metal music may be associated with anger and hostility, but it can also serve as an antidepressant. According to one study, those who listen to metal reported feeling more positive and well-adjusted than those who didn’t listen; so pairing heavy metal music with yoga could provide the boost needed to feel grounded and at peace.
Giaritta Fontaine is one of a select few instructors nationwide offering heavy metal yoga. At Mystical Hug Yoga in Portland, her classes offer traditional poses mixed with breathing exercises set to death or black metal music as background noise. Giaritta says her classes aim to reach “freaks, tattooed people, darksiders and outcasts who might feel alienated in traditional classes. “
Students take part in poses that stretch the sternocleidomastoid muscle and other small neck muscles during a class, including stretching it with drumbeats to soothe agitated muscles and allow relaxation into sound. She encourages her students to “relax into sound”, allowing the music to soothe their discomfort in poses that stretch sternocleidomastoid and other neck muscles. Furthermore, she urges them to keep moving to keep pace with their own heartbeats by paying attention to rhythm drum beats that keep moving them moving with heartbeats of drumbeats playing along side one another during poses that stretch these neck muscles in class.
Metal music helps drown out distracting background sounds that might otherwise interfere with yoga sessions, making it easier to focus on movement and breathing exercises while connecting to its energetic beat – helping reduce stress levels according to Fontaine.
Yoga sessions featuring soothing sounds of death metal music have also been proven to reduce pain levels for those suffering from arthritis or chronic pain conditions, like sciatica or backache. Numerous studies have demonstrated how meditation and music can enhance pain management; for instance, one such study revealed patients whose pain didn’t respond to medication experienced a reduction after participating in an 8-week meditation program featuring relaxing musical accompaniment.
Socializing
Yoga with heavy metal music as a backdrop is an effective way to get a bit of exercise while unleashing your inner devil child. Heavy metal music yoga classes offer an alternative approach that may help ease dark or angry emotions; its music should reflect this mood, with some instructors encouraging shouting or grunting during class in order to help release your feelings further.
Metal fans may be perceived as being rebellious and reckless, but they can also be creative and thoughtful individuals. Their ability to focus on themselves makes them ideal candidates for yoga’s meditative practice; according to Leilah Devi – a kettleball instructor, plant-based chef, tattoo artist, cookbook author and transcendental badass – this new twist on yoga would suit people like Freaks, Tattooed People Darksiders and Outcasts that feel outcast within traditional classes.
Black Widow Yoga, named in honor of Black Sabbath’s female-fronted rock band’s lead singer Black Widow, draws its name from an homage to her. Funded through donations, this class challenges preconceptions about yoga by mixing melodic metal, doom drone and dark ambient music together with it for an immersive yoga experience without focusing on mundane topics or cliches.
Subtracting loud metal music, classes are generally calm and casual affairs. Instructors provide advice about health and wellness as well as explain how certain poses positively impact the body, offering alternatives if someone can’t do an pose themselves. Some instructors even use humor or music as motivators!
Heavy metal music first gained widespread attention in 1968 and since has come under criticism by political and academic bodies for various crimes such as violence against others or despondency and suicide; its proponents however argue it simply explores madness and horror; instructors of metal yoga have even come under scrutiny due to alleged insensitivity or disrespect toward students.