MC YOGI: Yeah, I needed the discipline and the structure. So when I was young, I started practicing when I was 17, and my first Yoga came from my father, and his first teaching was: Listen to your breath. And that has stayed with me for all these years and continues to serve me. And as I’ve gotten older my practic has matured, so it’s become geared more toward meditation. But the postures are always there for the maintenance. But the main practice now is just Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti Yoga to my guru, to my community. And my personal practice. I have a nice little altar, light candles, say prayers for everybody. It just makes my heart really bright, and I feel really happy, and I feel like all my Yoga has led me to a place where I could see that real medicine and magic is the river of love flowing through the heart.
Petra: Beautiful. It’s like listening to prayer when I listen to you. So you just talked about your very first Yoga class with your dad. What was the one thing that made you come back the second time?
MC YOGI: Oh, my God! The first Shavasana was like…it’s like if you took all the drugs and all the sex, and all the alcohol and all the art and all the music, and all the bliss and all the energy. It’s like God poured it into that first Shavasana. I never felt peace and relief like that in my life. Before I was under so much pressure. I had depression and anxiety. I thought thoughts were real. I thought what I was thinking was the truth. I was lost in my head. I was disconnected from my body. I wasn’t feeling my emotions. I was just a wreck. And so, after that first primary series with my dad I felt my whole mind melt back into my body like a deep ocean, like a reservoir, and I was just in this pool of light. Like a star filled sea, and just like a diamond space, and I was so satisfied and so relaxed, it was like the best drug I’ve ever ever tried.
And after that very first Shavasana I was hooked for the rest of my life. I devoted everything to it. I shaved my hair, became celibate, lived like a monk, reading, studying with different teachers, going on pilgrimage. Like my whole life became dedicated to that feeling of being connected. (Sighs) Ahh, it’s just a beautiful feeling. So the short answer to your question: it was that first Shavasana.
Petra: Of all your songs, which ones would you say are the most personal or mean the most to you?
MC YOGI: My music is my therapy. So I make music really for myself, because it really helps me to channel and direct my concentration. So I do little word games and puzzles in my mind all the time. Using my mind is my musical instrument, my mind in tune with the heart. I structure words, I write a lot of poems. For me poetry is prayer. Music is medicine. I think I’ve done like 5 or 6 albums and I got two more that I’m working on right now – I got a movie that I’m working on with my friend…so all these creative projects like writing the book, it’s really just a way for me to understand myself better. And oftentimes in the creative process, the finished product is less important than the process itself, because the finished product is very rarely ever how you imagined it was going to be. It always turns out different, sometimes better, sometimes worse.
But the more that you practice – you know I have a song „Practice makes progress, let go of the outcome, stay focused on the process“ – it’s just being in that creative process. And then that’s how we learn about ourselves. That’s how we develop skills and abilities. And we become better listeners. And we learn that it’s okay to make mistakes and how to be honest with ourselves, honest with each other, how to communicate better. Especially when you’re collaborating with other musicians and producers. It’s like a dance, finding that happy balance where everybody’s able to be fully expressed.
Sometimes it’s uncomfortable because you have to be vulnerable. You have to get into arguments and disagreements. It’s all about moving in the same direction, it becomes a beautiful synergy, where you, as a team or as a partnership, you know you can have those tensions, but you’re still moving in the same direction, and it leads to something amazing. It’s magic.
Petra: The magic of the creative process.
MC YOGI: Yeah. And that could be a relationship, that could be a friendship. Because everything is a creative process. Everything in creation is a creative process.
Petra: You mentioned a film that you’re working on? Can you give any more details?
MC YOGI: It’s in the early stages. It’s really right now a creative project. A friend and I have been working together for the past 15 years, where we’ve been filming across India, across America, and the whole the thread of the project, is talking to people about the power of sound. About how music plays a real pivotal role. Music and sound is the closest to spirit, because it’s subtle, and it’s close to silence. So sound is a very powerful tool to draw us into spirit, whether it’s listening to the breath, listening to mantras, listening to music, listening to the wind, the ocean, the waves. Our ears have this shape of a seashell and when you press a seashell you hear the roar of the ocean. When you listen to the breath you can hear the roar of the universe. So anytime that we tune in and listen, we’re becoming more open, more receptive, more expansive.
When we think we know the answer, the mind compresses and contracts, and it can become very closed-minded. We can become rigid and dogmatic. So listening is like being a good student. It’s broadening and brightening the mind to receive new information that can be useful and helpful.
Petra: And in order to be a good listener, you need to be in the present moment, because if you’re in your head all the time, you’re not here, and you’re not really listening.
MC YOGI: Exactly, well said.
Petra: So let´s talk about your upcoming projects. Obviously, you’re going to India now. And then you´re doing your Super Sonic Yoga concerts, that just look like so much fun and joy!
MC YOGI: Yes my friend Dj Taz Rasheed, who’s an amazing musician and producer, he’s got these super lightweight headphones. And we have these beautiful experiences where I teach Yoga and we do live music. I told Taz the other day, it’s my absolute favorite way to perform music, because I don’t have to push and I can hear myself. I’ve had people come up to me who said they’re partially deaf, and it helped them. And people said that they have ADHD and it helped them to focus. So there’s something about like just having the headset where you could really like be in your own world, feel connected to community, and everyone who’s sharing the experience with you. So it’s one of the most powerful experiences that I’ve had teaching with the headphones.
Petra: Well, hopefully you´ll bring the Super Sonic Yoga events to other parts of the world in the future.
MC YOGI: We would absolutely love to! We´ll be doing a bunch of the Supersonic Yoga events in Florida. Florida is amazing, the energy in Florida is just so beautiful like the weather and the people are really laid back.
Petra: So coming back to your projects, I saw that you’re launching an app.
MC YOGI: Yes, I’m very excited about the app, because it’s going to be one place where you can access a lot of guided meditations, my music, Yoga and conversations. So I’m getting ready to launch it in, probably the next month. It´s called the „Mc Yogi Yoga and Meditation App“ and the vision is to also have live classes. It’s always been my dream to be able to have one platform to house all videos, all my songs, all my albums, my poetry. It’s very exciting.
Petra: It does sound very exciting. So thank you very much!
MC YOGI: And the only thing I want to share before we finish is back to your very first question. If I had a couple of minutes at the Super Bowl, and I could communicate to everybody. Then I would encourage and invite everybody to just take a few minutes every day, just to breathe, relax, melt, let go, empty or dump spill. Give everything back so that you’re not carrying anything. There’s nothing over you.
I think there’s a beautiful way through Yoga and meditation that we can really lighten our load and make our life easier and better and brighter by not taking ourselves so seriously, by not putting stuff onto other people, judgments, expectations, worries, concerns. And just tending to our own heart, and I think the more we do that, the more we water the heart, the more we let that river flow through us, the more everything has a way of opening up, and then life becomes very miraculous and magical. And everything becomes a blessing, and everything becomes infused with the energy of grace.
Grace means, that which you did not earn. You can’t do anything to get Grace. Grace just comes.
We can do a little bit of work and relaxation to make ourselves ready for it. There’s a great saint in India and he says: „The winds of grace are always blowing, but we have to do the work to open our sail so that it can blow through us.“ So it’s always here. We just need to relax and open up and let it work its magic on us.
Petra: Beautiful, such an important reminder. And another thing I heard you say on stage at Bhakti Fest, that is also important for all of us to remember: „Life is a miracle.“
MC YOGI: Yes, we need to make bumper stickers! And some little buttons. And sticky notes.
Petra: That would indeed be a great way of reminding everyone.
MC YOGI: Well, the best way to remind people is just by being it. And you know, when you are embodying something you don’t have to say it. It is communicated on a much deeper level.
Petra: So thank you for being the embodiment of Bhakti, of creativity, of joy and bringing it all into the world, and actually making these teachings accessible in a language that is easy to understand.
MC YOGI: Well I’m not doing it (laughs).
Petra: Ok, you’re the channel for everything that God wants to bring into this world through you. Thank you so much for taking the time and for your valuable sharings.
MC YOGI: Well, it is a pleasure to talk with you, Petra, and an honor and a blessing to be able to connect and to hang out. Make sure you drink water today!
To learn more about MCYOGI – follow him on his instagram HERE
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About the author:
Petra is a seasoned communications and marketing professional, driven by a love for storytelling, creativity, and human connection. With a foundation in journalism and TV production, she quickly rose through the ranks of entertainment, media, and advertising, excelling in leadership roles across top-tier organizations.
Beyond her corporate success, Petra is deeply passionate about the human experience and the pursuit of well-being. Her personal journey led her to explore the transformative realms of yoga, meditation, energy healing, and Ayurveda. As a certified yoga teacher, she is committed to helping others find balance and peace in today’s fast-paced, uncertain world .She continues to explore new ways of integrating holistic practices into everyday life,believing that well-being starts with nurturing body, mind and spirit.
Petra currently resides in Munich, Germany and amongst other assignments serves as the editor and content creator for Places of Healing.
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