Author: chikriyoga
Length: 05:15
Itunes Music Store: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObj... Hop and Yoga? Christ and India? Rapper and Yogi? In 1975, my mother introduced me to yoga by becoming a yoga teacher. In 1983, she introduced me to Christ through the teachings of her guru, Yogananda. At the same time I was alerted by friends to the Hip Hop and Electro scene coming out of New York City. In 1986, I started to spin records as a DJ, and in 1988 I wrote my first rap track. In 1991, I taught my first yoga class, and in 1995 I formed a Hip Hop band and yoga company called Chi Kri. By 1999, I had recorded 12 CDs of Hip Hop music and, and, by 2008 I had been teaching yoga for 17 years and rapping for 20.My life has been dedicated to these two great arts...they are who I am, and who I will always be. To me, Hip Hop and Yoga are like my right and left arm - both vital and both harmonius with each other. In my life, I fought the high and mighty who thought a yoga teacher should not be associated with rap, and I fought the ignorant kids around me who dared mock that I should not be doing yoga! I stood my ground because I saw a day when the two would come together...Welcome to my vision. Hip Hop survived out of basic instinct for expression. It began in the ghettos in NYC when African Americans had no power and no voice. Now the world dances to Hip Hop. That is it's power. It is poetry, nothing more and nothing less. Poets talk about everything from pornography to murder, and from love to hatred. But contemporary poets are not judged - it is considered "art", well rappers should not be judged either...Hip Hop is more than art, it is a whole gallery!Judge each rap song and rapper on their merits if you wish to be respected by me for starters...I always used rap to express my own frustrations at life, I couldn't always tell people how I felt. Yoga relieved me of much of my confusion about life. Now I can rap about what I found...not what I was looking for. I am in a very fortunate position.I want a world where people understand each other, but I know I need to technically explain how that is possible. I will use my classes and charity to teach this, but I will also use hip hop. Christ's message sits in this song. The origins of Yoga are explained briefly here too. And the parallels between two of the biggest spiritual paths are drawn upon here as well. The track was filmed on location in Temple Church London on a budget of £250. Skilled friends helped me film and edit. To them I owe this production. The Church of England were guided to open their doors to me by the Universe, I don't think they knew what had happened after the event, but they were very curious....to say the least. A phone call from the heads of the Church the day after the shoot displayed their concerns about the material and references to Christ. But history was made by this point.The Da Vinci code was filmed in the same Church. You may recognise some areas of the church from the movie if you look closely enough. I refer to the film in the verses because I dispute the meaning of the Holy Grail as you will hear. Everything in life is up for discussion, and in the end, there will be only one Truth.Press play to hear it./ Neil Patel*To hear more about The Key, Neil Patel, or Chi Kri Yoga, sign up for the exclusive newsletters at www.chikri.com or call 0208 427 77 55 / 07956 60 88 99 for more information on the teachings, music, and charity work of Chi Kri Yoga