Conquering musical anxiety one playlist at a time

Up until this morning, I wanted to write about my musical anxiety, which has not eased up. I've been suffering from extreme bouts of despair about music in class. Ever since I received feedback on music, I have been obsessively fiddling with playlists, hijacking other teachers' ipods to look at their lists (how do they all have dozens of lists?) and feeling a little panicky.

But then I read a quote from San Francisco teacher Janet Stone, whom I adore. She told Yoga Journal that a song doesn't have to be uplifting or happy. "It just has to be moving." I totally dig that idea. I'm not really confident about ramping up the tempo of class with music yet. I also teach mostly at the crack of dawn or intro classes, and a driving beat doesn't make sense. I am settling into the idea that even songs with depressing lyrics can work if the tone and energy of the music is right.

So I changed my approach and this week created a new playlist with artists I had previously rejected for sad lyrics: Ray LaMontagne, Roddy Woomble, The Reindeer Section and Sufjan Stevens. And call me crazy, but I had the best class yet this morning. I subbed for another teacher at 6:15 a.m. and the class of 17 included students who were new to me. I accidentally omitted all balancing poses, so added deeper hip work, and the mellow music seemed to blend perfectly with the early morning mood. Something worked wonders because I got more positive comments today than I ever have, including "excellent class" and regulars asking when else I teach. *Blush.* People, we have progress! It is all kinds of awesome to hear that people actually want more of something I already love to do. Current mood? Happy.

The playlist:
Hold You In My Arms, Ray LaMontagne
Every Line of a Long Moment, Roddy Woomble
Cartwheels, The Reindeer Section
To Be Alone With You, Sufjan Stevens
White Daisy Passing, Rocky Votolato
Heartbeats, Jose Gonzalez
Breathe, Alexi Murdoch