The Ripple Affect of Yoga & The Grateful Dead
The beginnings
Music and movement contribute to much of the inspiration behind my methodology of teaching yoga. Growing up a figure skater, I was moving my body to music for 12 years of my life, in fact, my success and confidence depended on it. However, as a skater who had a repertoire of triple jumps, I was more concerned about completing all of my jumps and spins than hitting every beat of the music perfectly.
Mid-way through my skating career, I was introduced to yoga as a means of staying flexible, and at that point, also a way to maintain my mental sanity. I will never forget the first yoga class I fell in love with. The instructor’s name was Lisa. Why did I love Lisa’s classes? Because she played music I LOVED! Instead of spa music that felt like it was forcing me into a state of relaxation that I very much so was not in while holding my downward-facing dog for 5 rounds of breath, she played The Paper Kites or The Black Keys. It was in Lisa’s classes that yoga started to become a dance. Not one I had to know, but one I felt. I started to fall in love (and feel okay) with the freedom of movement outside structured routines.
Discovering The Grateful Dead
Though I was raised by two parents who grew up Deadheads and was singing “Ripple” on the guitar with my dad from the age of 2 years old, I found my own love for The Grateful Dead during college. I decided to run a half marathon and became obsessed with “Althea”. I found it equally therapeutic and entertaining, so much so that I ran all 13.1 miles listening to “Althea” on repeat.
I then started going to Grateful Dead cover band shows like Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Dark Star Orchestra in St. Louis. I once again started to feel this feeling of freedom like I was moving to the beat of my drum, not going to the same old bars with the same old music, but dancing with a crowd that had a passion and intellect for music….and dance. Coming from stuffy college bars, dancing at Grateful Dead cover band shows injected a sense of euphoria into me that I had only felt while practicing yoga.
After college, I ended up touring with Dead & Company for their 2021 tour. I slept in gross Motel 6s with too many people, booked last-minute flights to Red Rocks, pulled all-nighters going from show to work to show, sat in parking lots gleefully dissecting the show with friends and strangers, and expressed myself with the funkiest outfits (never forgetting my signature green floral hair tie that I still wear to each show).
Turning to yoga
I received my 200hr-RYT (yoga teacher’s certification) in 2022 and started teaching for a studio in Philadelphia. All the teachers had their regular students, and unsurprisingly, mine drew a crowd that also loved jam bands.
I moved to Brooklyn 8 months ago, and since then I have been in deep reflection of what communities I’m a part of, what I spend my time doing and thinking about, and what my life purpose is. Three themes I keep coming back to that have had the greatest impact on my life: movement, music, and nature.
Founding Ripple. Affect
I am fascinated by the ripple effect that happens on a dance floor. Countless times at a concert I have had people come up to me and thank me at the end of the night for sharing joy on the dance floor. It always starts with one fearless, thoughtless, euphoric soul who is one with the music. Others follow. It’s contagious energy, flow energy. Have you ever seen a dance floor filled with people in a flow state? It’s literally real-life magic.
I see this in my yoga classes, this state of flow people enter when they freely move their bodies in the way that they need but with the structure of the music, tuning into their own true nature of being. However, what keeps this euphoria going, is the accepting and likeminded community that shares the same values and philosophy, yet are able to express their individual styles of dance and interpretations of the music on the dance floor and event playfully interact with each other.
Some fans have a country-like high step, some meditatively spin in circles, some flutter their arms like wings, some weave their way through the crowd in a psychedelic demeanor, yet are so acutely aware of their surroundings and bump into no one, and some are plain old head boppers. It is ALL more than okay. It is all groovy!
This is my long way of describing Ripple. Affect is all about and it really comes down to 3 things that inspired the name “Ripple. Affect”:
The ripple effect I’ve seen on the dance floor
“Ripple” by the Grateful Dead - LISTEN HERE
Nature symbolism
Instead of being the ripple effect , let’s be the affect and actively empower freedom among humankind.
