An interview with He Came In With It author Miriam Feldman about the immense fallout of her son’s schizophrenia.

The schizophrenia diagnosis of Miriam Feldman’s teenage son, Nick, was the catalyst for an avalanche of turbulence, pitching her family wildly and permanently off course for over a decade, and unraveling any concept of a ‘normal’ family life.

Miriam and I have shared many a yoga room at YogaWorks (Center for Yoga) on Larchmont Blvd for at least a decade. In my capacity as a yoga teacher, I observed her fierce, dedicated, unshakable practice. She was always determined, always focused, fully present, and always wonderfully friendly. In those frequent, but brief, path-crossings before and after class, we’d often share pleasantries and greetings. It was only recently, in the past couple years, when we found we had a mutual friend in author Jennifer Pastiloff, whose writing workshop Miriam had attended, did I learn she was writing a book. And then I learned about the book’s contents…

He Came In With It is Feldman’s captivating and complicated memoir of motherhood inextricably interwoven with unimaginable tragedy: violence, evictions, arrests, drugs, a suicide attempt, a near-drowning, cancer, and a brain tumor. It unapologetically chronicles her struggles with the complexities of her son Nick’s mental illness; and it unflinchingly recounts stories of breakdowns and failures countered with admirably persistent resilience. She illustrates the reverberating familial impact, depicts her discovery of yoga, and ultimately, portrays her journey to acceptance.

Miriam, from the moment I read the book description on the back jacket until I put it down, I was engrossed. At times, I had to remind myself it was someone’s real story. What inspired the writing of this book?

I was leading the typical, busy, working-mother lifestyle in Los Angeles when things started to go terribly wrong. What first seemed like normal teenage behavior ended in a schizophrenia diagnosis for my son, Nick. If you know anything about serious mental illness (which I didn’t) a diagnosis brings no closure. There is no clear path to treatment or recovery. It just delivers chaos and fear and helplessness. Feelings that a Type A control freak like myself did not know how to handle. I had yet to come up against a problem I couldn’t solve, and I was sure I could somehow “fix” this as well. But schizophrenia is like a tornado that rips through your life, leaving everything in shambles, broken or upside down. There was no fixing it. After three years of trying to help my son, take care of his sisters, maintain my marriage, and run my business, I was exhausted, angry, and filled with grief.

In He Came In With It you describe the stress Nick’s schizophrenia was heaping on you and your family. For example:

“I was terrified all the time. I was no longer able to be a good mother, to make good decisions, because I was always in fight-or-flight mode, just trying to keep things from blowing up. Strategies evaporated; promises to my husband to be tougher just melted away.”

It feels hopeless. How did you come back from such a fragile place?

It was a result of a couple things. There came a point where I had to look up at the night sky and make friends with the possibility that Nick might not survive. That there was a chance he’d end up dead. I guess I didn’t exactly “make friends” with the idea, but I made space for it. I came to terms with it. That was a hard reckoning, but it released me from the terror. And while I was looking at that night sky, I also decided to start trusting the universe. This dovetailed with my yoga education. All the ideas brought to me by the teachers started to play an actual part in my life. I changed my relationship with the world. I changed the way I moved through my life. It was a revelation.

Was writing this book cathartic? I wonder about the feelings that the process of writing the book might have brought up?

When I wrote the first iteration it was a pouring out. I just let it all come, all the memories, all the details I thought I’d forgotten. Once I got them out on the paper, I began to organize them. It was all very practical, like building a house, this goes here, this will hold this up. Every so often, it would hit me that this was real, this was my true story. I relived the whole thing, I came to terms with a lot of things in my marriage, I had to face mistakes and bad judgments. One of the most difficult things was realizing how awful it had been for my daughters, the damage done. The feelings this process has brought up are enormous, crushing sometimes. But it’s good, it’s good to be crushed, to really, really feel these things. It hasn’t been cathartic in the sense that it resolved the feeling, they are living things, they continue. But writing the book has made my life known to me in a way it wasn’t before. I had to take this giant pile of experiences and emotions and sort it out. I can see it from outer space now. It has a pattern. It is knowable.

Your strength and resilience were so impactful. I can’t even begin to imagine the experiences you shouldered. I was also touched by your vulnerability in speaking candidly of the challenges this brought on you and your family. Can you talk about your choices around that vulnerability?

When I started this book, I decided that the only way it was going to work was for me to be honest. I made a specific decision to put it all out there because I really wanted others to know they weren’t alone. The isolation of the first few years, when I was trying to keep up a front, almost destroyed me. One of the things I always say about having a son with schizophrenia is that you become officially “embarrassment-proof.” There just isn’t time for it. That being said, I did have concerns about the other members of the family and their privacy. I gave the book to each of them to read and said if there was anything they didn’t want in there, I would remove it. Surprisingly, everyone was fine with it. My youngest daughter said that there were some things she remembered differently, but that it was my telling of the story and she respected that. Nick knows about the book but hasn’t read it. He is quite proud that they used his painting for the cover.

The book cover is Nick’s painting?

It is a self-portrait Nick did when he was sixteen. I’ve always found it beautiful, and prescient, and I was thrilled when the publisher wanted to use it for the cover.

You and your family have been through so much. Can you speak about trauma? And do you have a sense of how yoga helped with that trauma?

You know, for the better part of my life I’ve been of the “buck-up and deal with it” school. I didn’t give too much thought to trauma. I used to tell my kids to “rub some dirt on it and walk it off.” But now that I am in my sixties, and I have seen some things, I’m much more respectful of the implications and long-lasting effects of trauma. I see my daughters, all adults now, still processing and contending with the damage all this heaped on the family. I see myself blindsided at the most inopportune moments by what a smell or a glimpse of something brings up. The yoga has taught me to stand in the fire without fear, to allow the grief and the memories because they are part of the whole. Without them the love and the joy would not be as deep. It’s kind of an obvious metaphor, but I have always loved mountain pose, it speaks to me. Standing with your feet firmly planted and you heart open, palms facing the future, that is where I feel most at home. Ready and open.

In the book you talk about your inclination to “fix” everything. How did that shift? What did that look like?

This has always been a theme for me. I like to say I’m “pathologically functional” which actually is not a good thing. In even the worst situations, I usually get up, get dressed, and go to work. The problem with that is you are so busy trying to control everything that you make it worse. Coming up against an adversary like schizophrenia made me stop and re-imagine my problem solving and reactivity. I realized that I was wasting a lot of energy trying to fix things that were unfixable, or maybe even didn’t need fixing. It became clear that I needed to adjust myself to the reality, not try and change the reality.

Did yoga inform that shift?

Yes, absolutely. I’d always thought of surrender as a weakness, giving in, giving up. Through the yoga teaching I learned the concept of surrender as acceptance, not “losing”. I realized it took great strength and intelligence to allow for things that aren’t particularly your choice, or pleasant, but that are inevitable. The folly of throwing myself up against brick walls was clear. I had to start operating from a place of understanding, and yoga was the path to that.

What was your introduction to yoga?

I was a shell of my former self. Everything I had previously held as true was in question, nothing made sense anymore. But I had a lot of empty space inside, now that my hardline ideas and opinions had been decimated. I started practicing yoga a couple years into all of it because I decided I needed to get exercise and the yoga center was very close to home. I had never been particularly interested in yoga, it seemed a little slow and woo-woo for me. And then it saved me. One day, I found myself doing a balance pose that had previously been impossible. I swelled with contentment and thought, “I can’t save Nick, but I can do this. Right now, I am balancing on one leg, and that’s not nothing.”

I stopped thinking about it and just stood there. A profound lesson.

This wasn’t about exercise. When schizophrenia turned my life upside down, yoga taught me how to hold my balance.

You describe yourself as a Type A person. What rituals or structures make you feel grounded?

The people who know me would scoff at this, but I don’t describe myself as a Type A anymore. I suppose I still look like what a Type A is, but inside my head I am different. I can let go of things; I am at peace with things. My head isn’t an anthill anymore, so even though I move around a lot, I am different in relation to the world. I have a strong daily meditation practice; I also practice yoga daily. These two things ground me in a life that is manageable, with beauty and joy.

Would you say your yoga practice changed from when you started to now?

I was almost fifty when I started, surrounded my young, practiced yogis in every class. And in retrospect I spent too much energy proving to myself that I could “keep up.” I just loved the exhilaration of a fast-paced asana practice and being able to do new things every day pleased me. A few years in, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and I had to have serious spinal surgery, and that brought it all to a halt. After two surgeries and recovery, I returned to yoga class to find all my strength gone. I lowered myself into chaturanga and fell to the ground. I couldn’t even hold my own weight. I wept to my teacher who told me the classic, “Come to your mat every day without expectation.” I had to let go of all my pride and accomplishment and start over. And that was the day I really began to practice yoga.

In the book, you outline some of the challenges of the mental health system. If you had the ability to make some immediate changes, what would they be?

I fully realize this answer could likely be its own book. The mental health system needs a complete overhaul. There was a well-intentioned but disastrous movement in the sixties to eliminate the institutions and replace them with more community-based treatment centers. They achieved the de-institutionalization, but it was never replaced with anything. The prisons and the streets have become our de facto mental health system, and it has to change. We need good treatment, good facilities, and family-involved care. With serious mental illness, there is no other way.

I also believe that we, as a society, need to change our attitude about people with mental illness. One percent of the population is diagnosed with schizophrenia; that is a substantial portion of the population. One in four people will deal with some sort of mental illness in their lifetime. That means it touches pretty much everyone. These people are of us, they are part of our society. What right do we have to marginalize them and look away? They have a right to a place in our world, how dare we look away? Creating a viable place in society for those with mental illness is the obligation of a civilized culture. This is their world too.

Would you consider it accurate in describing this book as your third act? That of artist, mother, and now you embark on the journey of writer. After reading all you’ve been through, it feels like you’ve lived lifetimes!

Yes, I do. Since I could hold something in my hand, it was a brush. I have been painting since the beginning of my awareness of myself. To have switched mediums, from paint to the written word, is enormous. I have never been so on fire creatively in my life. I have so many ideas, for painting and writing; at this point I’m going to have to live a long life to get them all done. I’d better take care of myself!

Tell me more about your art.

It’s interesting, until the book, art making was something I really never talked about. It was just what I did, and I felt talking about it was pretentious, or silly. I think that came from my art school days when the people doing the most talk did the least art making. When I was doing my final workshopping of the book with Lidia Yuknavitch in Portland, she called me on that. She said, “Mimi, I know you’ve spent your entire life painting, and that everyone in your family is an artist, but there is no attention to that in the book. You never talk about it.” Somehow, this observation gave me license to really explore the place art making has in my life and the dynamic of my family. It was a revelation, and a relief to actually give it words. My painting is changing right now, it is more simple. I am not worrying about what things mean, or what statement I’m making, I’m simply exploring images that interest me. Nick has started painting again this last year, after many years of coloring in children’s coloring books. It’s very exciting. I do know this, every time I sit back down at the easel after being away for a while it is the same. I take a deep breath and I think: Oh right, this is who I am.

How has your definition of family changed throughout this trajectory with Nick?

Really not at all. The experience of Nick and his schizophrenia has reinforced what I’ve always felt…family is the most important thing. At the beginning I decided that this wasn’t going to destroy my family. I wouldn’t let it. But now I know it wasn’t about my controlling it, it was the fierce love of the members of this family that saved us.

Has your concept of relationship evolved?

I’m fiercely devoted to those I love; it is a lifelong commitment. I have learned to have acceptance in my relationships the same way I do in life, now. I don’t spend a lot of time trying to change people.

What do you want people to take away from the book?

I would like them to remember Nick O’Rourke. It’s a simple intention for I book, I suppose, but when you watch your child basically disappear in front of you, priorities emerge. I had a fundamental fear that no one would know who he was, is, I wanted to document this. In addition to that, I wanted to document this extraordinary experience. And I choose my words carefully here, I don’t say “tragic’ or “horrible” on purpose. Of course, I never would have signed up for this, and I would do anything to relieve Nick of his schizophrenia, but it has been extraordinary. It has revealed depths of emotion and understanding of the human condition that I never imagined. I want this story out there in the world to illustrate the condition of the margins, a place where so many people feel isolated and alone. I believe that the margins are well populated, and we need to share our experiences.

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Acceptance: A Journey of Mental Illness, Motherhood and Yoga appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

The title Awakening evokes some of Hathaway’s own practice. At the end of his daily prayers, he includes the intention or pledge, as he says, “To use my gifts, assets, and abilities to be an agent of change and to facilitate awakening of the planet.” Additionally, he feels that he has gone through a personal journey of awakening through the practice of chanting, especially as he’s been sharing the practice more publicly by singing in yoga classes, through leading kirtans, and via this album. Hathaway says, “I feel that I’ve awakened to an authentic expression of myself and my soul purpose. My hope is that this music supports the listeners’ journey as well.”

Hathaway was introduced to devotional chant at the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas in the late 1990s and it became a dedicated personal practice. While living in NYC, he attended his first Krishna Das event, which illuminated his path – propelling him headlong into the NYC kirtan community, and affording him the opportunity to sit with the likes of Jai Uttal, Bhagavan Das, Shyamdas, Krishna Das, and others. These potent musical and spiritual experiences laid the groundwork for his path.

Photo of Christopher Otazo, Michael Hathaway, and Manohar Gurung by Bill Kennedy

The album features the talents of Christopher Otazo and Manohar Gurung with an array of guest performers including C.C. White, Arjun Baba, Tulsi Devi, Malia Kulp, Ena Vie, and Sangeeta Kaur, who appear on whimsically lush and layered arrangements of compositions including “Gayatri Mantra,” “Lokah Samastah,” “Om Tryambakam,” “Shakti Ma,” “Saraswati,” and “Jaya Bhavani,” among others.

Photo of Michael Hathaway by Brian Bowen Smith

The devotional intensity soars throughout the album, peaking with the epic, 15-minute “Waking Dream,” an energetic ride that dances the listener through multiple rhythmic and emotional peaks interspersed with reverent, contemplative spaciousness, vibrational lifts, and ecstatic joy.

Awakening is an album for both kirtan lovers and the kirtan curious. Michael Hathaway’s robust musical offering travels the listener from sweet and dream-like hypnotic yearning, through fierce and heartfelt intensity, to joyful, reverent, celebration of spirit.

Join Michael Hathaway for an album release event on July 22 at Bhakti Yoga Shala.

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Awakening by Michael Hathaway appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

“Playing music is my yoga, it’s my bliss. When I play, I get lost in the music, my mind stops, I am in the moment, and I am free. This is a place I never want to leave.” This quote from acclaimed singer Donna De Lory illustrates the energy captured on her new album Live from Kula Space. The 14-song collection (recorded in the intimate private studio Kula Space) gives the listener a sense of being in the room during one of De Lory’s soaring live shows, complete with uplifting soul jams, mantras, and songs bathed in authentic source connection.

The creative arrangements are the cornerstone of this collection, which features many of her beloved recordings: “Hey Ma Durga,” “Be The Change,” “Ganapati Om,” “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu,” “Om Nama Shivaya,” and “My Sweet Lord,” among others. The songs work so well in a live environment which provides a foundation for expansion. For instance, this live version “My Sweet Lord,” (from her recent studio album, The Unchanging), rises to new heights, climaxing with a joyful, kirtanesque, sing-along session of spirit.

The 14-song collection (recorded in the intimate private studio Kula Space) gives the listener a sense of being in the room during one of De Lory’s soaring live shows, complete with uplifting soul jams, mantras, and songs bathed in authentic source connection.

De Lory surrounds herself with high-level players; her talented band weaves the musical fabric of a bhakti groove drizzled with pop sensibilities while simultaneously dipping in and out of a multitude of genres, rhythms, and energies.

Experience this musical spirit feast at Donna De Lory’s album release party at Full Circle Venice on April 7. Live is available digitally in April and as a two CD set in May.

Buy Live from Kula Space here. 

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Live from Kula Space Music Review appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

EarthRise SoundSystem latest album features musical guests Vishal Vaid and MaxZT.

(Black Swan Records)

The acclaimed production duo, Derek Beres and Duke “Mushroom” Schommer, aka EarthRise SoundSystem (ERSS), have combined their musical expertise to mix dozens of international and electronic artists. Additionally, they’ve released three acclaimed albums—two of their own music, and one featuring their remixes of artists including Femi Kuti, MC Yogi, Eccoedek, and Nickodemus.

Now, however, with the release of Rising: EarthRise SoundSystem Remix Project, the paradigm has been flipped. It features a selection of ERSS’s music remixed by other talented artists. The first of four releases in an ERSS remix EP series, the seven tracks on Rising begin with the mesmerizing “You Love Me (Kuzma Remix)” featuring Camille Armstrong and Srikalogy. Producer/keyboardist Pete Kuzma gifts the listener with a sway-inducing sound reimagined by layering a delectable taste of R&B/hip hop sensibility to the tune. Next, “Canamo Medico (The Spy From Cairo Remix)” features Metsa Meni and Chonon Quena. Their dancehall groove is masterfully seductive: You simply must get up and move!

The “Earth To The Sun (Srikalogy To The Earth Remix)” features Vishal Vaid and Max ZT for a transmutation that transports the listener to a late night after-party dance floor. “Makyen Ghrir Allah (Desert Dwellers Remix)” features Hamid Boudali; the track has a spacious Middle Eastern vibe and a behind-the-beat percussion that conjures a sexy and ecstatic arrival of dawn’s first rays.

The collection is available as a digital-only download for $5. And after thoroughly enjoying this collection, I’m highly anticipating the rest of this innovative EP series.

Buy Rising: EarthRise SoundSystem Remix Project here.

Reviewed by Joe Kara, who enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Rising: EarthRise SoundSystem Remix Project appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Dub Mantra Sangha is the aptly titled new release from musician and producer Joss Jaffe.

Sangha is the Sanskrit word for community, and this release sees Joss bring together 15 guest musicians, representing five languages and three continents, to form a multi-cultural jubilee of mantra, musicianship, and creativity. Some of these languages are represented in Sanskrit chants such as “Ganesha” and “Gayatri,” as well as a vibrant Hebrew “Elohim,” joyous Hawaiian “Aloha,” and a soulful English language “Body & Mind.”

The musical bed on each track is an exploration in dub with smoky beats, laid-back vibey bass lines, classic horn arrangements, and vibrant percussion. These backbeats all create the foundation for energetic, celebratory songs and laid-back jams as well as more spacious and meditative numbers. 

Multi-instrumentalist Jaffe’s personal creative mantra and mission is for his music to unite people through spirit, love, joy, community, and consciousness. It is apparent that this is woven into the very fabric of this project, as he has assembled quite a group of collaborators for Dub Mantra Sangha.

The album features stellar artists including Jai Uttal, Shimshai, Silvia Nakkach, Masood Ali Khan, Sheela Bringi, Aco Takenaka, Dave Stringer, Suzanne Sterling, Jaya Lakshmi, Karnamrita Dasi, Donna De Lory, Wah!, Sophia Mae Lin, and Mykal Rose (Black Uhuru). Joss Jaffe and these musicians have together created a unique, joyous, and festive musical carnival of love, community, spirit, and sound. Press play and join in the festivities.

Dub Mantra Sangha CD Review

by Joss Jaffe

Tataouine/BMI

Reviewed by Joe Kara, who loves his double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. And he plays bass, too. Facebook/ Twitter. @JJKara

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Dub Mantra Sangha Music Review appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Songs for The Sangha

White Swan Records

Deva Premal and Miten, partners in music and life for over 20 years, return with their new release Songs for The Sangha– their first since 2014’s Mantras for Peace. This new album showcases their reverent interpretations of sacred mantras, along with the blending of those mantras with western-influenced song structures with vocals in English – all laid over the foundation of complimentary musical exploration.

Sangha sees them work with frequent colleague and Nepalese bansuri flute master Manose, who lends vocals and the delicate and playful weaving of his bamboo flute sounds into many of the tracks. This album introduces the musicality of producer, bass player, and drummer Joby Baker and keyboardist Spencer Cozens, whose grooves integrate effortlessly and hypnotically with ancient mantras.

The songs offer the listener musical variety, from sparse percussion to percussion-free musical beds that offer the space for Manose’s flute and Deva’s angelic and reverent vocals to soar. The album showcases playful, sway-inducing reggae beats that support the alternation between Sanskrit mantra and English chorus without veering off the pulsing groove. This band sounds like they are long-time collaborators – infusing beautiful textures from a variety of cross-cultural influences to create spacious, ethereal, soothing, and hypnotic music for their Sangha – the spiritual community. This album is definitely a worthy celebration of spirit.

Reviewed by Joe Kara, who loves his double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. And he plays bass, too. Facebook/ Twitter. @JJKara

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Music Review: Songs for The Sangha appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

By: Peter Sterios and 

Gravity & Grace 2—Yoga for Longevity is the wonderful follow-up to Yoga instructor and Manduka founder Peter Sterios’ critically acclaimed first Gravity & Grace DVD. Directed by Elevate’s Mikki Willis, it features unique customizable sequences set amongst the peaceful backdrop of the Esalen Retreat Center on the famous Big Sur, California, coastline.

This begins with Peter Sterios voicing his thoughts on the importance of a personal practice, self-observation, letting go, presence, family, and stillness. Then in the Opening section, set in the early light at ocean’s edge, Sterios leads a grounded sequence designed to stimulate digestion and prepare the body’s joints for a safe practice.

The Flexibility section features Sterios and three practitioners (one of whom is 70!) amidst another serene Esalen landscape in a creative sequence to warm up all areas the body. This flows into the Strength, a breath-based, fluid practice incorporating weight-bearing, standing, and balancing poses. The Closing sequence features Sterios, again alone at ocean’s edge, at dusk, moving through cooling poses, primarily seated and on the back. His choice of practicing alone here, like in the Opening, subtly reinforces his introductory reference to the importance of a personal practice.

Peter’s creative and effective asana sequences simultaneously open multiple areas of the body. Gravity & Grace 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Practicing this offers the user an expert perspective on yoga for longevity. It is one I highly recommended for anyone looking for more variety in their personal practice.

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Gravity & Grace 2 by Peter Sterios Shares Yoga for Longevity appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Steven Chesne with The Luminous World Orchestra

Brahmasong Records 

Listening to this CD, you feel as if you are ensconced in a film. Musical swells and orchestral instrumentation are layered to create cycles of tension and release.

What strikes me upon my first listen of Moments from the Life Stories of Strangers, Part One by Steven Chesne with The Luminous World Orchestra is its poetic ebb and flow, an experience that defies labeling. Be it the ethereal, hopeful instrumentation of songs like “Invocation,” the grounding, deep tones and sometimes soft qualities of, “When The Love Will Rain Down Upon You,” or the somehow classical-Americana feel of “Yorkietown,” this album takes on the qualities of a soundtrack that seamlessly explores a plethora of musical directions. Additionally, there’s a Native American quality to “Glory Story #2” and some Asian tonal texture to “Change, Your Only Friend.”

When one learns about Steven Chesne’s background, it all makes sense. Chesne has put forth much more musical work than his four critically-acclaimed albums with The Luminous World Orchestra (of which he is the primary conductor/music director). He has also scored multiple films and over 300 episodes of primetime network TV shows, and recorded concertos, orchestral suites, tone poems, and more. That sensibility weaves its way into these recordings, as they offer soothing, picturesque tracks that convey deep emotional qualities, seemingly woven into stillness and spirit.

Reviewed by Joe Kara, who loves his double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. And he plays bass, too. Facebook/ Twitter. @JJKara

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post CD Review: Moments from the Life Stories of Strangers, Part One appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Donna De Lory Honors Spirit

Spirit and devotion have always been prominent aspects of Donna De Lory‘s music. On her album The Unchanging, she beautifully builds upon this foundation. Crafted in honor of her late father Al De Lory, the album is heartfelt and touching, while also carrying an uplifting and spirited quality.

This eleven-song album builds on and solidifies Miss De Lory’s musical spirit. She injects dance-infused grooves and pop sensibilities into many of the songs. Conversely, she offers a softer, more personal delivery on others – accented by sparse instrumentation that inspires reflection and emotion. As a result, she has created a dynamic, full, and rich body of work.

Celebration through Song

On “Gayatri Mantra,” De Lory’s unmistakable voice soars over trance-inducing beats. She intersperses repetition of the ancient Sanskrit mantra with her own heartfelt English verses. Upbeat grooves lift songs like “The Offering,” “Be The Change,” “Amma,” and her joyful take on George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” (the first chant she learned as a child) to a place of movement and celebration of Spirit.

Another musical dimension of The Unchanging is one that is soft, open, and expansive. “Amazing Grace” is a spacious rendition of the traditional melody, laid over a downtempo beat. The a cappella “Kinder” delivers angelic harmonies and lyrical beauty. “Luciana,” a touching song about De Lory’s daughter and motherhood, accents lyrical poignancy with piano supported by a graceful string section. The final song on the album, “Life Without Boundaries,” also backed by piano and strings, carries a deep emotional quality.  “Luciana” and “Life Without Boundaries,” along with the title track “The Unchanging,” feature Donna playing her father’s piano.

Musicians on The Unchanging

In addition to vocals and piano, De Lory plays a variety of instruments on this album and works with long-time collaborator Mac Quayle. She has assembled a top-notch group of artists. Their credits speak for themselves. These include album mixer Kevin Killen (U2, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello), bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, John Lennon), drummers Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney) and Dave Allen (Michelle Branch), and guitarist Jerry Leonard (David Bowie). She also collaborates with bhakti go-to musicians like tabla icon Girish, bansuri flute master Manose, and bassist Mark Gorman. All are respected and talented masters in their chosen fields.

It is fitting such talent has assembled for an album paying respect to De Lory’s father. Al De Lory was a noted music producer who produced two Grammy-winning albums. He was also a session pianist who worked with The Beach Boys and Phil Spector, among many others.

“I’m honoring him with this album” says Donna De Lory. “It’s about how my father’s death affected my whole spiritual path.” She speaks of him as one of the most important people in her life and embodies that statement in The Unchanging‘s liner notes.  “This CD is dedicated to my beloved father Al De Lory who showed me the way to follow my bliss.”

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

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“Music is the universal language, literally rewiring the brain, resonating way past intellect into the chambers of the heart; and it’s my way of connecting with and giving love to the world.” –Lili Haydn

Called “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” by George Clinton, Lili Haydn has performed with, collaborated with, played with, and/or opened for artists such as Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Roger Waters, Herbie Hancock, Sting, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Josh Groban, to name but a few. Yet to profile her solely as a performer would be a gargantuan understatement. Expanding that description to add composer, humanitarian, activist, thinker, radio host, philosopher, and spiritual seeker would begin to offer a more accurate picture of Lili Haydn.

Lili Haydn on Music and Humanity

Can you talk about your album I Am A Man? It’s a unique title.

I was asked to perform for the Civil Rights Museum where I came across that iconic image of the sanitation workers wearing the placards that said, “I am a Man,” when they marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. They weren’t asking for higher wages or better working conditions; they were simply affirming their humanity. It just devastated me. This really is the essence of every movement. “I am a human being and I matter.” This is what they are saying in places like Turkey and Brazil, and Syria.

That is what matters most to me: human dignity and treating each other with respect. Every issue on the planet, every crisis, could be solved if people really saw each other’s humanity and looked out for each other. That’s what “I am a Man” means and is what my music is about. The more we can see the outer world as a macrocosm of our inner world, the more we can change the world.

Music and Message

Perhaps it will inspire people to dig a little deeper and find your message.

That’s what I hope. Although I think the more intense things get, the more there is a separation of people who gravitate toward substance. Then there is the other part of the world that wants to tune out and is not interested in looking deeper. I think most media caters to that portion of the world. So it becomes harder and harder to find one’s place.

You also compose music for films.

I got my film start by being part of Hans Zimmer’s team of musicians. He would have me improvise on violin and perform to the movie he was scoring. It came very naturally. Then people started asking me to score their films. I was the solo violin for both Pirates of the Caribbean and The Town.

Music, Spirituality, and Yoga

Could you talk about your connection with Yoga?

Because playing the violin is so rough on the body, I have no choice but to practice yoga every day. Every 20 minutes when I’m playing, I’ll break to do a pose or exercise. It’s part of my survival. My ability to play depends on how mindfully I stretch to counterbalance the ridiculous rigors of holding a piece of wood with your neck for 30 years.

I think of yoga in the same way that I think of spirituality and God in general. God doesn’t exist in one house for me, but has been thoroughly integrated into every moment. Yoga, in that same way, is about mindfulness, paying attention, and slowing down. Those are the same tools that apply to my playing, my composing, and the way I try to relate to the world.

How did you come to Yoga?

My mom, Lotus Weinstock, was a standup comedian. Lotus is a name that she was given in the Brotherhood of the Source. The guru of that spiritual organization was friendly with Yogi Bhajan, and he brought Kundalini yoga to this community, so I was kind of raised with Kundalini yoga as the backbone of my spiritual life. I bonded with Yogi Bhajan a little bit before he died and I gravitated toward Gurmukh because there was a resonance. I wrote a piece based on a mantra we used to sing in yoga class. It was called “Seek” and it was on my second record which I did with Bill Laswell [Light Blue Sun]. The record was number one on the New Age charts for a while.

Collaborations, Genres, and Music

Musically, you don’t really fit in any one genre.

I grew up only really playing and listening to classical music, so I hear all music now just as an extension of that, and don’t really relate to normal boundaries.  I like to use genres as a touchstone to tickle the ears in a way. There are certain intervals I enjoy that are found in India rock or alternative. I like the playfulness in a Gotye, Kate Bush, or Bjork, the harmonic and sonic richness in Radiohead, the groove and soulfulness of Stevie Wonder, and the expansiveness of Pink Floyd. I’ve been lucky to be able to collaborate with many artists, which has come very organically because I wasn’t a prisoner of genre. I ended up bringing a fluidity and freedom to their music, I think, from not being limited by genre.

I’ve never fit neatly into a category, musically or otherwise.  I think this may also be because both of my parents (who were introduced to each other by Mama Cass) experimented with psychedelics. In particular, my father was infamously called The Acid King.  He was the first person to mass produce LSD. He did some 10,000 hits and survived – at least for the time being. I don’t get high but I think I got some of the benefits of psychedelia epigenetically (the behavior that affects your genes).

Lili Haydn and her Approach to Music

Fascinating. How does this inform your approach to music?

I am in a constant state of aspiring. I aspire to the complexity of richness that I’ve been describing. That is what I aspire for my music. I want to be clear that the time that I’ve spent traversing this musical terrain has humbled me greatly. I feel my smallness and participation in the larger picture. While I think bigger and bigger,  at the same time it’s with an increasing, hopefully, dose of humility.

Perhaps some closing thoughts on how you describe yourself?

I know this sounds vague or airy-fairy, but I would say I am made of heart and earth and wood and clouds and tears. My mission is that I try to tune into the human experience and turn it into song. I am equal parts grit and beauty. And I try to love both parts equally. I love so many types of music and I think that it’s important to embrace levity with gravity. So I will play my heart out and then I will play something to tickle you. I will write a bass line to make your toes buzz and your ass shake.

Images by David Young Wolff: Davidyoung-wolff.com

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Lili Haydn: The spirit of yoga in the bow of a violin appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

A Deeper Light

By Deva Premal and Miten

White Swan Records

On Deva Premal and Miten’s album, A Deeper Light, they are going in a new direction with down-tempo dub reggae bass lines that permeate many of the eight songs. Relaxed grooves result, holding space for the mantras Deva Premal’s stunning voice offers. Miten’s spacious production and guitar support the songs beautifully, while Nepalese bansuri flutist Manose and keyboardist Maneesh de Moor lay their special touch on the music.

On “Om Mantra (The Cosmic Yes),” de Moor’s keyboards, combined with Manose’s accents, give the song a distant, almost epic feel. Another notable song is “Om Triambakam Mantra (Healing).” It’s the same mantra as ‘Maha Mrityunjaya’ which appears on Deva’s album Into Light, albeit in a vastly different arrangement. It is a striking inclusion on A Deeper Light because, unlike the rest of this album, the song has no percussion or bass, only sparse instrumentation. It begins with Miten’s solo voice, then Deva Premal begins harmonizing. Her voice continues to grow stronger until both voices intertwine beautifully. At this point there is no lead, nor harmony, only a stunning blend of these two voices that dance so well together.

A Deeper Light may be a different direction for Deva Premal and Miten, but is in no way a departure from their course — that of devotional, reverent music combined with exceptional talent and creative performance.

Joe Kara

Joe Kara enjoys a double life working in music and teaching Yoga in Hollywood and the Valley. He plays a little bass, too. @JoeKaraYoga

www.joekarayoga.com

The post Deva Premal & Miten: A Deeper Light appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.