Ever been to a party that doesn’t need influencers to get you high? Something that is only hinged on music and wait for it…yoga? Say hello to the Yoga Rave that’s making its way to the city for the first time! Unlike the usual raves, this interactive entertainment experience is a jamboree of asanas, kicked to a start by high energetic music and a bar full of exotic fruity punches and gourmet vegetarian food and will be held on March 2 at blueFROG.
“Our mission is to generate recreational environments free of drugs, alcohol and smoke where people can experience true joy. This is also to introduce people to the Art of Living Foundation’s mission of ‘creating a stress-free, violence-free society’, while allowing them to have their first experience with meditation,” explains Akshai Sarin, founder of TTogether, organisers of the event, who also doubles up as a musician.
With its roots in Argentina, the movement has seen a wave of appreciation across Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa and the USA.
The Bengaluru edition will also feature artistes such as the exciting So What Project from Argentina and India-based Gurbax, Raka and Sabrina Price. These musicians aren’t your usual artistes who want you to have a good time and wake up the next morning to no recollection of the previous night. They are passionately driven to destress you!
“We’ve done a lot of research on music and its psycho-physiological effect on the human mind and body. Trance music was originally called trance music for a reason. Because it did the job!” say the boys at So What Project, a band that’s leading this movement head on.
The Project’s Argentinean duo Rodrigo Bustos and Nicolás Pucci have been practicing yoga for over 16 years now and work with mantras, aiming to expand its cleansing and energising potential by combining them with electronic music, rock and pop music, for instance.
After yoga retreats at Cubbon Park, city folk are excited about it too, and for the right reasons. “It’s alarming, the number of people who think they cannot have fun without intoxicants. As opposed to a regular rave, party or a concert which promises you a good time by shutting out your brain and dancing all night, this one connects your body to the music. It focuses on one thing and that’s you,” says Alisha Varma, a yoga enthusiast who has previously experienced this feat at The World Culture Festival in Delhi. “It all starts with silence and meditation and this is kicked off by a party with regular asanas.
Then comes the dancing, followed by more stillness, a bar of fruity drinks and a sumptuous vegetarian meal – all while creating an inclusive environment to connect with the humans around you,” explains the 27-year-old. Roll out your mats, this one’s going to give you a healthy high!
