10 Best MC Yogi Songs to Add to Your Yoga Playlist

Music has a way of hitting directly into the soul. It’s tough to listen to a song without feeling a particular emotion. Listening to music can even help inspire and motivate you to achieve a specific goal. Many athletes listen to music during a hard workout for this particular reason. And although yoga might not seem like an intense sport on the surface, listening to music during yoga has many benefits.

In today’s world, there are more than a few famous artists in the yoga genre. One could say this genre is vast because nearly anything can be considered yoga music. As long as it’s chill, high-frequency, or helps induce a meditative mindset.

That said, there is one artist in particular that is well-known in the community. His name is MC Yogi, and he’s known for promoting Hindu philosophy and making bhajans. Bhajans are devotional religious songs in the Indian religions.

Debut album “Elephant Power” dropped in 2002, so it’s safe to say to only pick 10 of his songs is a difficult task. Before we go into the ten best MC Yogi songs to add to your yoga playlist, here is a little more information behind the man himself.

Who Is MC Yogi?

Real name Nicholas Giacomini, MC Yogi It’s over 320,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, with his most popular song hitting over 15 million plays. Many of his songs are what he calls “omstrumentals,” but he raps too. When it comes to yoga festivals, he is one of the most anticipated artists on the line-up. That’s not all; the man even wrote his own memoir!

His resume doesn’t stop there, though. He is also a devoted yoga practitioner, teacher, and studio owner.

Those that have met Giacomini find his presence endearing, wise, creative, innovative, yet peaceful.

ParaYoga founder Rod Stryker stated, “To know MC YOGI is to love him; to hear his music and see him perform is to celebrate life and be swept up into spirit’s vital pulse.”

He may not fit the physical description of someone writing music about ancient Indian culture and religion, which could be another reason why he’s so greatly loved in the yoga community. He transcends all stereotypes. His persona alone reminds his fans that the ego only exists in the logical mind. He asks you to let go of past societal programming and to live in the Here and Now because, after all, that’s all there is.

It is as if his very being asks you to question everything you think you know about yoga. As yoga sweeps the Western hemisphere of the world and becomes modernized in Western culture, some say it is a remix or a colonized version of traditional Indian yoga. Much of the western world has adopted yoga in the ego-sense of the word. That is to say, much of Western culture has made an identity out of yoga.

It’s fair to say that most people in Western culture have heard of or own a pair of Lululemon leggings and a brand-name mat, even if they’ve never done yoga. In America, yoga is a full-blown fashion trend. A trend in which MC Yogi challenges with his every creation.

For those wondering how MC Yogi got involved in Hindu Philosophy, you may look to his wife, Amanda Giacomini. She is the founder of the 10,000 Buddhas project, after all. However, MC Yogi found his interest in yoga much earlier from none other than his father. He also grew up in progressive San Francisco, CA, which could have something to do with it as well.

Regardless of how it started, hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners are sure glad it did. For a closer look into some of MC Yogi’s best songs and playlists, continue reading!

The 10 Best MC Yogi Songs to Add to Your Yoga Playlist

• Give Love

This track is uplifting and can be used as a heart chakra activation as well. The lyrics ask the listener to give love without fear, for it is all we really have. To “unlock the cage, turn the key, and break the chains,” guarding the heart.

Society hardens the soul as a means of protecting the heart. This track challenges that mindset. It promotes the idea that it’s the perception of society that can change, that love is the answer to that change. Love is the all-powerful frequency to banish all fear!

• Ganesh is Fresh

If you are going to be a yoga music producer, you better have a hit about good ‘ole Ganesh. MC Yogi knocks it out of the park with this tribute to the elephant-headed Hindu god. If you ever needed an anthem, this one is it.

The track hypes up Ganesh. Not only that, but it even explains a bit about what Ganesh is known for as well. So not only are you calling upon this brilliant being during your yoga practice, but you get to learn all about him in the process. 

• Sun Light

We all have to do our bouts of shadow work from time to time. It is how we stay on top of our growth and ensure we continue our progression. “Sun Light” is a track of encouragement for those feeling overwhelmed by darkness and past trauma. It encourages the listener to let go of the darkness. Choose to feel through the emotions and let them go in the process.

It promises the warmth and positivity of the sun’s light are just on the other side, behind where most are scared to look. Those that listen to this track during yoga can experience symptoms of energetic purging during the practice. 

• Shanti (Peace Out)

The word Shanti is a Sanskrit word for peace, bliss, or tranquility. The track, “Shanti (Peace Out)” is essentially an invocation of peace. In turn, it is naturally a great song to practice yoga. A still mind goes hand-in-hand with finding and cultivating peace. It doesn’t have lyrics as much as just vocal sounds throughout the peaceful instrumental. This one is a hard one to listen to and not fall into a natural trance state.   

• Prayer Wheel 

“Prayer Wheel” is off of MC Yogi’s “Mantras Beats & Meditations” album. This track has a mantra within it. The mantra is known as “Om Mani Padme Hum.” this mantra is a Sanskrit six-syllable mantra to create a path of an indivisible union of method and wisdom. Essentially it helps to natural syn the hemispheres of the brain to induce higher states of consciousness and oneness within. 

• Jai Sita Ram

This track is a devotional chant to the god Ram and the goddess Sita. It evokes a feeling of present awareness within. In turn, this inevitably leads to stillness of the mind, which is why this song is so great for yoga! 

• Rock On Hanuman

Another great anthem track for a Hindu god is “Rock On Hanuman.” Hanuman is referred to as the monkey god in Hinduism. Once again, MC Yogi does an impeccable job of describing the god while also expressing his appreciation for all the god is.

It ends with a short mantra, which seals the power within the track. Whether you use the song to call upon Hanuman is up to you. Still, it helps to aid in finding stillness of the mind.  

• Heart Sutra

“Heart Sutra” is another track from the “Mantras, Beats & Meditations” album. This track has a little more of a hip hop vibe to it. It isn’t as outwardly peaceful as some of the other songs on the list. However, the bass kicks end up sending the mind into a peaceful trance state by the song’s end. 

• Shedding Skin (Beloved Friend)

Those using yoga as more of an exercise to remove blockages or karmic debts benefit from this song. It’s a little faster than other songs, which is why it’s recommended for faster moving yoga sessions. However, like most of MC Yogi’s songs, it can double as a way to encourage relaxation as well. Really, this song is a win regardless of your yoga preference. 

• Om (invocation Dub) Omstrumental 

The Om frequency is one that is found in all things of nature. It resonates at 432 Hz frequency and can soothe and heal the physical and spiritual side of us all. This track invokes that frequency within the brain and encourages natural sync between you and the rest of the universe. You’ll be surprised what this track can help you see within yourself.

Spotify Playlists That Feature MC Yogi

That’s right. Click on Spotify and type in “MC Yogi” to the search bar. Not only will his profile and popular songs come up, but so will the popular playlists, including Spotify’s “This Is MC Yogi” and “MC Yogi Radio.”

Another good place to look is YogiTunes. They feature many different artists in the industry, including MC Yogi. They also have playlists of yoga teachers. It’s a streaming service. Basically, you pay a monthly fee and can stream all they have to offer from artists in the music industry, unlike Yoga Download, where you pay for the song or playlist. Both options are great, depending on your needs.

Regardless of what streaming or music platform you use, you are likely to find MC Yogi.

The Benefits of Listening to Music During Yoga

At its core, yoga is a practice that encourages the ability to find stillness within the mind. Many people translate this to yoga, being a silent practice. However, stillness doesn’t necessarily equate to silence. Sometimes noise can help induce the stillness one looks for in silence. This is especially true when the sounds or music is at a higher frequency because it encourages relaxation and peace.

To continue, the first benefit of listening to music during yoga is that it can help someone achieve mental stillness quickly and maintain it for longer periods of time. Those that are ADHD or prone to overthinking can greatly benefit from listening to music during yoga. It gives the mind something to focus on, which then leads to brainwaves matching that frequency and encouraging relaxation in the brain. Once the brain is relaxed, the stillness of the mind can happen.

Another benefit is it can help guide the body into a natural flow state. Yoga is all about finding the flow as well. The main goal is to learn not to grasp onto things in life or to push them away. Rather, the goal is to flow freely between these two polarities:

• Mentally
• Physically
• Emotionally
• Spiritually
• Energetically

It depends on what kind of music the teacher plays too. Heavy metal rock music isn’t something one thinks of when they think of the different types of relaxing music. High-frequency tones are great because they help encourage a naturally meditative state. These frequencies are also used in binaural beats, which have proven that the brain produces brainwaves that match the frequency of what it hears. This means that when listening to high-frequency music, it helps guide the person to create high frequency and relaxing brainwaves to open up the mind.

The Benefits of Yoga Music

Perhaps the best type of music to listen to during yoga is yoga music. That is, music is deeply rooted in yoga culture and history, MC Yogi being a prime example. A lot of this type of music utilizes high-frequency tones within the music, which is why it feels relaxing to listen to.

It is coming for practitioners to repeat mantras during their yoga practice. These mantras date back to the beginning of yoga and are a way to help the mind create those same relaxing brainwaves.

The main benefit of yoga music is that it acts as a combination of the high-frequency beats, as well as the historic yogic mantras. Some yoga artists include the mantras themselves in the song, enhancing the properties even further.

Regardless of who you listen to or how often, it can be collectively agreed that yoga music has its benefits. These benefits can be felt whether one is currently practicing yoga or not. MC Yogi is someone that continues to touch hundreds of thousands of lives each month. This fact alone speaks volumes about the efficacy of his work.

The next time you practice yoga, give it a try! What’s there to lose?