Why Music Matters So Much in My Yoga Classes, and how it helped me heal

When I first began teaching yoga, I knew one thing for sure: music was going to be part of my classes. Not just as a soft background hum, but as a real, living part of the experience.

Sound has always moved me in ways words couldn't. It taps into something deeper, the place where emotions live before they make sense. I truly believe music holds the power to help us heal, to soften the edges of pain, and to create a world of wonder inside us while we move, breathe, and reconnect to ourselves.

Science backs this up. Studies have shown that listening to music can decrease cortisol (your stress hormone), ease anxiety, lower blood pressure, and even trigger the brain to release dopamine, that’s the “feel good” chemical.¹

Music, quite literally, changes the chemistry of our bodies. When paired with mindful movement and breathwork, it becomes a full-body, sensory-rich journey toward healing.

My love for weaving music into yoga really took root years ago when I was living in Bali. I was lucky enough to study under a teacher named Daniel Aaron, whose classes were like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

Daniel had this gift for bringing the ancient depth of yoga philosophy into the modern world, without losing any of its reverence. One day, you’d walk into a Rolling Stones themed class; the next, you’d find yourself in a Madonna flow. It sounds wild (and it was!), but somehow, it worked. His preaching style was heartfelt, a little irreverent, and deeply respectful of the tradition at the same time. He showed me that you could honour the roots of yoga and invite people into it through the familiar language of pop culture.

For me, that changed everything.

Music became another way of opening the door, a layer of sensory input that made the whole experience richer, more human, and a little more magical. It helped me access emotions that words couldn’t touch. It made me feel held, understood, and free to lose myself in the practice, not in an effort to escape, but to remember something essential inside me.

Not every song is slow and serene. Sometimes it's messy, electric, raw. Sometimes it feels like a lullaby. It depends on what the practice needs to be that day. But always, always, the music is chosen with care, a bridge between body, mind, heart, and soul.

So if you’ve ever wondered why I spend way too long curating playlists for each class... now you know.

It’s because I believe that the right song at the right moment isn’t just background noise, it’s a lifeline, a hand reaching out through the dark, a reminder that you are never alone in your journey.

And if you hear a song that cracks your heart wide open mid-savasana?

Good.

That's the magic working. ✨

Dani xo

Psst you can steal this weeks playlists here …