I am happy to celebrate with you today the long awaited release of the Yoga Revolution CD.

Yoga Revolution is the first in a series of benefit albums that bring together musical icons (Sting, Peter Gabriel, Sheryl Crow), international artists (Snatam Kaur, Angelique Kidjo, Anoushka Shankar) and rising kirtan stars (Krishna Das, Deva Premal, Donna De Lory) to raise funds for yoga-based fitness programming for youth. In addition to supporting a great cause, my goal was to use the transformational power of music to inspire and encourage people of all ages and backgrounds, far beyond the yoga community, to experience the positive benefits of yoga. In the sense that the essential meaning of yoga is to connect, I considered all of the artists I selected to be yogis. Many do practice the techiques, but each has created their music from a place deep within themselves, in connection with spirit and with an intention to help each of us, as listeners, become more deeply connected to ourselves and one another.

The impetus for Yoga Revolution began when my friend Johannes shared his vision to bring the power of yoga to the masses by offering free yoga and health education through a program he created called Yoga Month. Through the national Yoga Month campaign, Johannes and his Yoga Health Foundation set out to teach the general public about yoga’s many health benefits and to support in-school yoga programs for youth. I knew from the beginning that music could contribute meaningfully to the cause. I had also long wanted to create a yoga-inspired CD that could reach the far beyond the yoga community, while still having the highest integrity among devotees.  When I shared my vision for a compilation CD with Nettwerk Music CEO and yogi Terry McBride, he agreed to Executive Produce the project and release it, donating the net proceeds to benefit the Yoga Health Foundation’s yoga and fitness programs.

It is an eclectic but universally appealing collection of music that I guarantee will positively affect your system just by listening. I recommend keeping a copy in your car for your next long drive or traffic jam. As quoted in Yoga Journal: “Yoga Revolution merges music by Sarah McLachlan, Michael Franti, Ziggy Marley and Sheryl Crow, along with cross-cultural collaborations between Sting and Anoushka Shankar, Peter Gabriel and Angelique Kidjo and Seal and Guru Singh, while mixing in new material by rising kirtan stars Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Donna De Lory. The CD flows seamlessly through an inspiring and diverse 14-track mix ranging from Irish folk, a rock anthem and bilingual world music to 5,000 year old Vedic chants over hip hop beats, including a kirtan reworking of the Yardbirds 1965 hit:For Your Love.”

You can learn more about the project, order the CD, get a free download or sign up for free yoga at www.YogaRevolution.org, where I will be sharing more music and info about the many amazing artists who contributed.  You also learn about similar projects atwww.EarthTones.org and receive a free Yoga Revolution CD for a donation of $25 or more.

Join the Revolution and enjoy the music!