How An At-Risk Youth Transcended and Created a Great Life with MC Yogi [Episode #651]

This week’s topic is: How An At-Risk Youth Transcended and Created a Great Life with MC Yogi

I am so excited to have my very special guest, MC Yogi, who is a world renowned performing artist. From living in a group home for at-risk youth to becoming one of the most well known and beloved yogis in America, MC Yogi is on a mission to bring good music and good energy into the world. Listen in as MC Yogi shares how he knew music was his medium as an artist, how to transition from violent tendencies to peaceful outlets through yoga, the power of mantras and prayers, and daily go-tos for overall health.

[BULLETS]

• MC Yogi shares why he was drawn to music and how he knew this was his medium as an artist…
• Transition from violent tendencies to peaceful outlets through yoga…
• How the power of mantras and prayers create change…
• We discuss tips on how to connect to source that you can start today…
• Daily go-tos for overall health…
• What to do when darkness and oppression takes over…
• Steps to take when you struggle with confidence…

[FEATURED GUESTS]

About MC YOGI 

From living in a group home for at-risk youth to becoming a renowned yoga teacher and musical innovator, MC YOGI is on a mission to bring good music and good energy into the world. His first three records were all #1 on iTunes World music and his collaboration with East Forest titled Ritual Mystical, was #1 on the Electronic Music charts. MC YOGI’s fourth album Only Love Is Real  charted on Billboard heat seekers artist to watch list. He has toured extensively around the world headlining and hosting major yoga and music festivals. When MC YOGI is not on tour, he teaches at his home studio, Point Reyes Yoga, in Northern California.

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MC YOGI’s Interview

• MC YOGI’s Website
• MC YOGI’s Music
• The Cosmic Mellow

Other Podcasts you may enjoy!:

• The Difference Between True Confidence and False Confidence
• How To Connect with the True Self with Brother Satyananda
• Discover Meditation and How to Overcome Anxiety with Kevin Ellerton
• Your Guide Towards Overcoming Your Fears
  

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Transcript:

Note: The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate. This is due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.

Kimberly: 00:01 Hi Beauties. And welcome back to our Monday interview podcast. I am so excited for our very special guest today. His name is MC Yogi and he’s a world renowned performing artist. He is someone that I have been a fan of for so long. You guys I’m gonna say over 15 years. So getting to I him today was a real treat for me. He is so inspiring. He’s so brilliant in the way that his mind works. And today he’s gonna share with us how he is able to move past being an at risk youth and, you know, having a complicated childhood, like a lot of us into being one of the most well known and beloved yogis and musicians in the United States, he is on a mission to really spread love, to create good energy in the world. And again, he’s absolutely brilliant.

Fan of the Week

Kimberly: 01:06 I loved this conversation so much and I can’t wait to share it with you, but before we get into it, I, I want to give a shout out to our fan of the week. His or her name is Health_fan and he or she writes longtime follower. Thank you so much for putting out amazing health information. I have benefited from all of your books and I enjoy listening to your podcast. Well, health fan, my hands are on my heart right now, just feeling the gratitude.

Leave a Review on iTunes

I am so grateful for your review for being part of the community. Just getting this sort of feedback, reminds me of the connection that we have. And I’m not just over here, you know, talking to myself, but that, you know, we’re here as a community to each other. And thank you. Thank you so much my love and for your chance to also be shouted out as the fan of the week, please leave us a review on iTunes, which is such a wonderful way to support the show. Please also be sure to sub, to subscribe to the show that way you don’t miss out on any of these interviews on Mondays or our Q&A Thursday podcast, because we all know how busy life gets.

Kimberly: 02:08 So with subscription, you just get, um, notifications. It just becomes part of your flow. It’s really wonderful. And lastly, I’ll say that if you enjoy our show at all, please be sure to share the show with loved ones, friends, anyone that you think think might benefit. It’s a wonderful way to spread the love. So the last thing that I’ll say what a whirlwind last week was you guys, it was the official book launch week of you are more than you think you are my new book, baby, which is just now birthed into the world. So if you haven’t yet gotten a chance to pick up your copy, ease do so. Now it is available. Anywhere books are sold. I’m really passionate about this one and the teachings and the practices that I know can greatly elevate your life. So don’t wait, get your copy today.

Kimberly: 02:58 And also, if you have gotten your copy besides leaving us a review here for the podcast, I would love, love, love. If you also left us a review for the book on Amazon, which is just a great way to support as well. We live in this world right now, this modern world, which is, um, you know, we’re so connected. And then we also know how powerful reviews are. So please use your heart, your voice, your energy to support. And I thank you so much in advance. All right, all that being said, let’s get into our amazing interview today with a one and only MC Yogi.

Interview with MC YOGI

Kimberly: 00:01:01 I am so excited to connect to you. MC YOGI I like calling you that because that’s how I know you and my phone always listening to your music. This is, this is really special for me. I’m not gonna like fan girl out here or anything, but, um, but I think this is one of the best things about having a podcast is I get to talk to people that I really, you know, love their work, and I’m really interested in, in what they’re doing in the world. So thank you so much for being here. Oh,

MC YOGI: 00:01:38 It’s such a blessing, Kim. I just wanna just thank you so much for, for inviting me and, um, and just acknowledge all the good energy you’ve been putting out into the world and just, I just I’m feeling it. Like I appreciate it.

Kimberly: 00:01:49 <laugh> well, I have to tell you that, um, you know, I’m, I’m sort of, I’m one of those people I’m MC Yogi where I, I listen to the same stuff over and over again. Like I don’t, you know, sometimes I branch out, but the, the two people that I listen to the most and I don’t get sick of it, but I listen all the time to your music and Krishna dos, Kris us was also a guest on here. And then I love the ways you have, you guys have collaborated. So there’s something really, um, first of all, let’s talk about something really special about the vibration of sound and it’s just so intimate. I’m sure people say this to you all the time. You know, you’re with me on my walks, you’re with me in these quiet moments, you know, if I’m changing my son’s diaper or just running around out and I have your music. So, um, so yeah, first of all, I wanna, I just wanna acknowledge that and, and thank you for really putting out this vibration of sound, which is, you know, beautiful and harmonious and inspiring and uplifting. Um, and it’s it. So let’s just talk about sound for a moment where you, um, always drawn to music and sound like, how did you know this was your, you know, as an artist, this was your, your medium. So

MC YOGI shares why he was drawn to music and how he knew this was his medium as an artist

MC YOGI: 00:02:57 When I was, um, this little boy, my, my dream in life was to become a, a comic book illustrator. So I was always a visual artist and I was always scribbling on the wall and writing on everything. And, um, so drawing was really, I, I gravitated toward that from really as, as early on, as I can remember. And, um, music was always in the ground. Um, but it wasn’t until later on, I, I started to get into a lot of trouble. I was sort of considered a juvenile delinquent cause I was writing on everything. We were painting on trains and freeways and overpasses and then tunnels. And I got arrested a bunch of times. And, um, so I was driving my parents crazy and, um, basically addicted to graffiti because I was painting with my, of friends were running around, getting in trouble. And, but around that time, see, I, um, I grew up in the nineties, um, and, and music was, was so amazing.

MC YOGI: 00:03:49 Like, um, the late eighties, early nineties, it was just such a Renaissance and so many incredible artists and musicians. And, you know, that was, that was my generation. And a lot of friends were DJs, my little brothers, you know, really well known DJ in the bay area. And, um, we were growing up, we were putting together parties. I would, you know, I would MC at the parties and I started to get into like writing music, um, as a, as a really young, like around 12, you know, 12, 13 years old. Um, and I think when the, when I started to get, um, around, sit in stuff for graffiti and, and having to do community service, and I ended up going, living in a group home for two and a half years, cause I was getting kicked out, I got kicked outta like three schools. And so then music became another outlet for me, became a way to, um, really illustrate and express the things that I was feeling, um, in a more legal way. So yeah. Yeah, it was just another creative outlet, but music has always been a really powerful presence for sure.

Kimberly: 00:04:49 Well, what was going on there? You know, M CGI, when you were little, what do you think was driving you to, to do the graffiti, to break the rules? You know, that’s a great question. You’re getting arrested repeatedly. You knew that this consequence could happen. It was happening. What, what was, what was happening and also emotionally.

The influences that caused MC YOGI to break the rules

MC YOGI: 00:05:04 I think for a lot of like the writers and the, and the painters and like the street artists that I used to, um, run with. And I don’t know, it’s, it’s no one’s ever asked me that question, but it it’s really fascinating because I think that a lot of us just wanted to be seen. Yeah. And a lot of us wanted to express ourselves. Um, and maybe it wasn’t in the most mindful or skillful or, or legal way, but there was something inside that just wanted to come out and didn’t really quite know how to do that. So graffiti became a great sort of platform and outlet. Um, but you know, there was all kinds of other stuff swirling around that to drugs and violence and all kinds of stuff that really toxic and negative and dark. And I was going through a lot of depression and, um, you know, just surrounded with, you know, a cl clouds and negativity and music was always a remedy for that.

MC YOGI: 00:05:55 When, whenever I’d put on like a, a song that I really just loved and I’d listen to it, like 10,000 times in a row, it just had a way of kind of calming me down and putting me into a different state. Um, it, it altered my mood and there were certain songs along the way that were, um, like acupressure points. They just, they, there was something about, and they just hit me in just the right way. And it just opened me up, um, to like to, to, to, to a deeper space inside of myself. And, and I think music was really a catalyst for meditation. Wow. And for discovering yoga.

Kimberly: 00:06:28 Wow. You know, it’s, it’s funny you talk about this, this scene, which I think is, you know, across society. So many of us suffer because we do do wanna be seen, we do wanna be validated. We do wanna be loved. Um, for, for me, I used to have this big trigger of, you know, when people would interrupt or they didn’t agree with my opinion, it would feel like this dagger. And then I started looking at it and I was like, Hmm. You know, what’s under that. And then it was this trigger that I wasn’t good enough to be seen and heard. Yes. Yeah. So then when someone interrupted, if I felt that pain and underneath that, it was like, you know, I didn’t feel like I was lovable. So then once I, once I discovered that I went into these practices as well and learned, oh, I can love myself. I can heal. I connect with spirit on the inside. So, you know, in, in, in your case, um, M C talk about these, you external behaviors, painting things, getting into drugs, running around, and then you got into music was like, what was the, um, like the process of, of, of melting these, you know, these violent tendencies or these tendencies outside? Like, what was the transition did when you found yourself kind of going into more, these more peaceful outlets? Do you remember what that was like, what that, what you were going through?

Transition from violent tendencies to peaceful outlets through yoga

MC YOGI: 00:07:43 I do. And, um, you know, I was never really a VI, I was never a violent person, although I definitely found myself in situations, you know, where there were guns and knives and stuff like that. And people fighting. And I, I was always in this awkward position where I would be friends with both sides. And so I was always kind of in the middle, um, and that, and I was also product of divorce. So I was always kind of in this sort of chasm of not wanting to get like swept up in, in either direction. And I didn’t have violent tendencies myself. I was really kind of, um, I always consider myself more like a weakling. You, you know, I was like, I never really consider myself strong or powerful. I didn’t play any sports. Um, I always was super shy, super introverted. I was always just drawing, listening to music.

MC YOGI: 00:08:29 And, but my friends would be like, you know, the big tough guys. And, and I think I gravitated toward them too, because I wanted to feel a sense of like protection and connection and, um, for and comradery. Mm. And, and it wasn’t until I started practicing yoga, where I started to feel like all that hardness that I had built up around my heart started to melt. And it was really through the physical, um, you know, get hitting the mat and just sweating and going hard. And I think practicing yoga for me, I, so I was born in 1979 and I first started practicing yoga in 1997. Okay. And, and at that time I had just left the group home and my dad, who’s just such a beautiful, amazing human being. He had started practicing yoga and he was really changing and transforming. And I just feel, I felt like he was getting lit up from the inside.

MC YOGI: 00:09:25 He was meditating. He was going to stay at ashrams. He was studying with, you know, different meditation teachers. And I just saw like, his presence was really powerful. And so I gravitated toward his practice and I started question asking him about it and he never pushed it on me. He never even talked about it. Hmm. So it was really through his example. And then that’s how I got to the mat was finally, he said, okay, you can come with me and we’re just gonna be silent. We’re gonna practice. And you just follow what we do. And it was just a small circle of, you know, like four or five, really high, hard working guys, like carpenters and, um, you know, just cool guys like, and so we’d be like in this room practicing and be sweating. It was a stronger than ya. Yoga is really intense and hardcore and it just, it challenged every square inch of my body and mind.

MC YOGI: 00:10:10 And, um, and I was just drenched, just sweating. And I felt more ecstasy at the end of that class. And I had ever experienced through any drug. So I felt so much euphoria and bliss and joy and peace and this feeling of space, which I was really longing for. I just didn’t know how to access it. And so the yoga became my, um, it became like a path or a vehicle. And then I, I basically just became addicted to it. Like I was practicing all day long. I start, you know, I shaved my head. I was living like a monk reading scripture.

Kimberly: 00:10:43 Wow. This, when you were like

MC YOGI: 00:10:44 20 years old. Yeah. So I was, you know, and I would go and hang out at, at different monasteries with different SWS and I just really became fully immersed in, in, you know, in the culture and in the practice of yoga. Um, and it really just radically transformed the direction of my life.

Kimberly: 00:11:02 What’s interesting about this is, you know, you mentioned you were in the group home and then after you came out, your dad was in this different place. You didn’t have any resentment at your parents for putting you in the groove home or you didn’t sort of no, at that point,

MC YOGI: 00:11:14 Humanize them. I, I wanted to go because, um, okay. A lot of my friends, crystal meth was getting really bad and, um, VI the violence was getting bad. Um, you know, a lot of my friends were, were drug dealers at that time. Um, I had friends who were on like the most wanted lists who, or just, you know, just, just, just bad stuff, like, um, street stuff, you know, we lived in the, in the, you know, I’m from, from the bay area, but it was kids, the kids I was involved with were painting graffiti and stuff were just involved. It was, everything was kind of sliding downhill. Yeah. And I had friends who committed suicide friends who overdosed on drugs. Um, and I just, I, I knew there was some part of me that knew that I couldn’t keep going down that direction. Otherwise I wasn’t gonna, I wasn’t gonna survive essentially. Or it was just gonna be really bad.

Kimberly: 00:12:06 I just got goosebumps.

MC YOGI: 00:12:07 Yeah. And so instead of, so instead of charging outward, trying to find my F I hung a U-turn and I started to move back inward and started to shine the flashlight of my awareness back inside my own sort of psychic landscape. And just trying to get clear and understand like, you know, what’s going on, um, who am I, why am I here? What is the purpose of all this?

Kimberly: 00:12:32 Um, yeah, exactly. The,

MC YOGI: 00:12:33 A big question, the big questions, you know, what, you know, what happens after death? Um,

Kimberly: 00:12:38 Who are we really? Yeah. Which is the, the title of my new book. You are more than you. Oh, it’s like, well, well, um, well, who do I think I am really like, you know, we, we identify so much with this, this ego, which is shifting and changing and you know, these surface parts of law life. Um, but to, to clarify though, you didn’t grow up with these teachings, your parents weren’t yogis, this happened later, like in your teenage years. And where was your mom in all this?

Getting exposed to Buddhism and its effects

MC YOGI: 00:13:05 Um, she was in the background and actually my mom did something really awesome. When I was in the group home. She gave me a copy of Herman HES’s book called sidharta. Mm. That was right around the time when I was a big fan of, um, you know, artists like the Beastie boys and run DMC and all these great sort of iconic hiphop legends. And, you know, that was my era. And, um, the Beastie boys had come out with this record called bohi Sava vow. And that was right around the time. My mom gave me a copy of that book. So I, I started to get exposed to Buddhism when I was in the group home. And that it felt like a lantern. There was like, it was like a lantern on a dark path. And it felt like it was kind of pointing me in a direction that just to go check out what’s over here. There’s some, you know, interesting teachings and concepts and philosophies and ideas. And, and so I started to explore that and that just, you know, and one thing led, it was like stepping stones, like on a path, everything led to the next thing. Another book that someone, I think my dad had given me was autobiography of VI Yogi by Hanzi yo. And that really tripped me out. That was like super psychedelic and just incredible adventure.

Kimberly: 00:14:15 Wait to MC Yogi, I sent you a copy of the book. You haven’t gotten it yet, but you may not know this, but the new book you are more than you think you are as taking all of yo Nada’s teachings. Oh wow. And applying them, um, for modern life with, with science and with, um, stories. But you can see that every chapter starts with a quote from him. Oh, I love it. Yeah. I’m Oh, you’re gonna love this.

MC YOGI: 00:14:37 I can’t wait. I can’t wait to check it out,

Kimberly: 00:14:40 But what’s, what’s so amazing is I, I go through this stuff. So I’m like you, um, and it’s funny because my husband always tells people he’s like my wife reads scriptures in bed. Like I just love the old text. My wife

MC YOGI: 00:14:51 Reads scriptures every night before bed. We actually read to each other. Oh,

Kimberly: 00:14:55 Amazing. So we, we know that there’s this, this, this richness, right? There’s this incredible information. These teachings in these old texts, and most people don’t have access to them. Right. Cuz most people are gonna go through the, you know, dust off these dense texts. So, so, uh, passionate about, you know, with, with what I do is, is going through and distilling them and making them accessible to people. You know, my medium is the written word I love, I love books. Um, but so one of the reasons I think I was so attracted to your music is, and I forget which album it is and I listen to it all the time. But, um, the, the detail in which you’re putting, wait, hold on. I wanna tell you the specific song. So I have a couple specific songs that I listen to every day. Just, you know, I know it’s sitting on the other side, um, the first one’s prayer wheel. So you talked a little bit about your, you know, your Buddhist influence here and just that the way that you do that Buddhist mantra oh, money pot may own just really is, is so into the heart. I just wanna say that. I love it so much. And then there’s this, this, okay, so this album right here, it’s the rock on Honman

MC YOGI: 00:16:03 Oh, can I just kinda make one little comment? Yes,

Kimberly: 00:16:05 Please.

How the power of mantras and prayers create change

MC YOGI: 00:16:06 So the spine is a series of discs, right? It’s like stacked disc. Yes. So the meditation with that when I was, um, sort of recording and producing that track, um, was turning the spine into a P a pillar, uh, prayer wheel, like spinning everything inside you toward that, toward the so radiating and emanating and really projecting and broadcasting, a powerful signal of compassion and waiting being patient so that the reverb of the universe, the natural reverb. So that, that, that signal can bounce back to you. It’s like sonar, like what you, what you shine out and what you spin out. It will Eva. It’ll eventually bend back in. So the power of these mantras and prayers, it’s such a powerful practice. And, uh, it’s the, it’s the practice of patterns and repetition. And my wife has been in the process. She’s more steeped in Buddhism than I am.

MC YOGI: 00:17:05 She’s been, uh, doing this art project called 10,000 Buddhas, where she went on this journey to paint over 10,000 Buddhism. And she’s almost up to 20,000. Oh my gosh. Yeah, she’s done five story murals. And she does, she does spray paint. So it’s like, there’s an element of graffiti and, um, we’re both artists. And so what I’ve learned through watching and like observing and witnessing her process is how, when you do something over and over and over and over again, it just becomes more entrenched and more ingrained and it gets richer and deeper and stronger and more powerful. And I think that’s really the, um, the promise of these practices is that the more you do them, the more you’ll start to see a, a change and a shift in, in reality and perception. And it really affects the mind, like from a deep, deep, deep level

Kimberly: 00:17:57 Deep. And, and sometimes we don’t even know exactly what the, the, the, the, the, the Sans spirit is. We don’t need know exactly what this word means, but I feel like, you know, the chanting in the repetition and the mantras that you’re putting in hearing them, there’s a special, you know, energy, there’s a special vibration. They come into us and they, they, they shift us. So, um, you know, that’s, I wanna talk about that too. Um, M CGI is, you know, some of the, the, the, the accuracy with which you are, you know, you’re, you’re wrapping, you’re singing, you’re chanting about some of these things. So that song, that, that rock on Honman, there’s, you know, you’re, you’re, you’re saying all these, these details. So that is from your direct study of scripture.

Where the chanting stems from

MC YOGI: 00:18:39 That is from a lot of time spent, um, with the monks and the SWS and spent really, to be honest, I really digging and enjoying a lot of these. I spent a lot of time in India and I, a friend of mine gave me a stack of these, um, comics from India. And I’m such a comic book nerd, and, um, mu so a lot of these songs are like the comic book version. I mean, it’s like an introduction, um, but there’s, the myths are so rich and they’re so symbolic and they speak to the human condition and they speak to our, our minds and, and the journey that we’re on as individual souls and how we’re evolving and growing, and the obstacles that we need to overcome, and the, the things that we need to face within ourselves so that we can really wake up and realize, you know, this diamond jeweled, spark that’s shining of us, and really get in touch with it so that we’re in close proximity with the diamond shining inside our heart.

MC YOGI: 00:19:35 And that’s really like the mantra old money padme home is awakening. The diamond wrapped in the pedals of the flower. That’s hidden inside the center of our life. And when it blooms, when it opens, when it expands, when it stretches at all this radiant, a, um, silence starts to emerge and all this, this feeling of peace and, and compassionate toward every creature and all beings, um, is really fascinating to me. It’s really interesting how it, it it’s like you’re saying it’s, it’s, it’s not rational. It’s not intellectual. I, I like to say it happens automagically. <laugh>,

Kimberly: 00:20:11 It’s, it’s experiential, right? It’s like this, this feeling, um, you know, so, so there’s so much, I want, there’s so many things I wanna ask you I’m see. Yogi. So one of the, one of the things that, um, you know, I think is really interesting. We know as yogis, we have this, like this duality within the oneness, right? There’s this human part of us, that’s, you know, evolving, becoming, you know, making mistakes. And then there’s this divine part of us, which yoga, Nanda calls the true self, like this expansive, this eternal, the, the energy of the heart and the intuition and spirit individualized inside of us. Um, so we’re all doing our best, right? And this, this line though, that, um, I’ve been, you know, fascinated by, I love this line in the rock on Honman song, where, where you, you seeing you chant, you say, um, when you’re separate, that’s when you serve and when you’re connected, that’s when you and rom merge. So can we talk about that for a moment, this, you know, how do we reconcile this? You know, we’re, we’re serving the light. We, you know, we, we see we, we aspire to this, but at the same time, we know that we are merged. We are there, there’s this tree self part of us that is already whole and complete. So we’re, you know, we’re, we’re serving and we’re merging.

Creature, creator and creativity and what this means to MC YOGI

MC YOGI: 00:21:27 So the way I like to, to imagine it is, um, creature, creator and creativity. So creator is, is source the origin of all things. This creatures, we are the CRE, we are creatures. And in creativity, we get a certain and closer to creator, which is spirit. So, um, when we’re in the stream, when we’re in the flow, when we’re, when we’re being creative and we are detached from the outcome, niche com karma, when we’re, when we’re producing, you know, a podcast or writing a book or, or a record or whatever the, the endeavor is, and we’re really turning it into a form of worship and offering, and then we’re letting go of the outcome. So we’re not using it to enhance our own, um, egoic persona, but instead it’s, it’s an offering, right? It’s, it’s like we’re allowing it to flow through the hallway of the heart.

MC YOGI: 00:22:29 Um, we’re, we’re, we’re actually doing it as a practice so that we can stay in close proximity with creator so that we can be intimate with the infinite. So we can be in, in the room with spirit. And I think that’s why for me, the, the discipline of whether it’s doing postures on the mat, chanting in the mind, painting on the canvas, recording into the, like, they’re all forms of practice, that, that if I’m really paying attention and, and doing it well, it’s drawing me closer and closer and deeper and deeper into the true self. And I can relax and I, you know, I can relax and just let it be natural and just enjoy it. Yes. And, um, it just very easy and graceful, and it, it happens quite from that level of spirit. I feel like things just happen.

Kimberly: 00:23:14 Yes, that’s true. It’s that just happens. It’s, it’s, it’s, that’s where we talk about the experiential, because, you know, it’s sometimes when I’m explaining to someone, the power of meditation, the power of, you know, get out of the doing and just the stillness and being, and they, you know, to someone that addicted to the doing, it’s hard to reframe sometimes. Cause we think, oh, I have to push more. Well, I want this goal. So it’s more of this, but then, you know, on the west, that’s what we’re taught, but really, um, it is settling in grounding, connecting to source. And what I found for me is it’s reframed my entire relationship with time. I have a very full life. I have two small children and running the business and the podcast and the books and everything. But somehow, because of my morning meditations and my evening meditations and my practices, I never feel like, um, like I don’t have enough time and I know funny life is full, but it doesn’t feel like this arduous that it used to yeah. To feel, it just feels like I’m flowing, right. The energy is going. And, you know, it’s like when Ramdas talks about this, this moment expanded, that is possible to experience it’s. Wow. I’m

We discuss tips on how to connect to source that you can start today

MC YOGI: 00:24:20 So glad you brought up Ramdas because that was another book that was given to me from woman whose name was big Cheryl. And she was the caretaker to my grandparents when they were in the final phase of their life. And I was actually had the good fortune. It’s one thing I wanna talk about at some point, because, um, I was in the room when my grandfather passed his last breath blew across my face. Um, I was in the room when my grandmother passed. She passed on Christmas day and we were supposed to, um, talk last year. And it was right around the time that my Mo my beautiful mother-in-law Nancy, who’s one of the biggest heroes in my life. And I’d love to share a little bit about her journey because she was, had a wild, amazing life. Um, she became a well-known talk show host in the eighties in Boston, Massachusetts went on to interview some of the most incredible people on earth, including, uh, mahi Mahe, Yogi, who was the group to the Beatles.

MC YOGI: 00:25:14 And yeah, you know, she met with mother Teresa and presidents, and first ladies and, and prime ministers. And, and so last year when we were supposed to have our call, um, Nancy was going through her cancer journey and we ended up flying down to Palm Springs and we were there while she took, um, her last breath. Um, and that was one of the most phenomenal experiences I’ve ever had in my life. It was a masterclass in dying. And, um, there there’s just, I, I wanna share it because it not, everyone gets the opportunity to be by someone’s bed when they’re taking their last exhale, what that’s like, oh,

Kimberly: 00:25:58 There’s, um, you know, Ru dos and, um, and Krishna Das. Talk a lot about that transition. And, um, I know you haven’t gotten the book yet. M C Yogi, but in the love chapter, I described that I was grateful enough to hold my mother as she held her last breath about four years ago. Wow. And my experience was it blew my heart completely open because I felt like you said your grandfather’s breath was on your cheek. I felt her take her last breath. My dad was that like across the room. So it was really just the two of us. And then I almost felt like her, her spirit just like moved. Yeah. So at the same time that it was like, you know, cause we’re, so we, this, we hold on that the, the grief of it’s gonna transition our relationship, of course. But at this time there was like, this, it, it doesn’t end, you know, it just takes, it’s amazing. It’s and I dunno if you felt this too MC Yogi, but it felt like, um, it was this like huge expansion of the heart energy because of the letting go. Right. Cause I had to say, mom, it’s okay. I’ll take care of daddy. You can go. And so it just is this ultimate, you know, it’s, it’s hard to put into words, but this ultimate like real understanding of, of love and the presence and we don’t control it. It doesn’t have to be a certain way. It just grows and grows.

MC YOGI: 00:27:15 It’s so interesting to me because when, when we were there and thank you so much for sharing that, because wow, it’s like, it’s such a, a Rite of passage, especially to be there when like one of your parents passes is so it’s so deep. Um, and I, you know, I’ve been really talking to my wife a lot and, and we’ve been processing it together and it’s been such a profound time for us. And there was such a high frequency, like right around. So when she was in the hospital, my mother-in-law Nancy I’ll show you a picture of her. Yeah. I is, this is, this is Nancy. This is a picture at our wedding. She was just a joy. Yeah. She was, she had such an open heart. She was so fearless. She was so down to earth, she was a school teacher. And then she ended up going, getting on the TV, no experience at all. It just like, it’s a crazy story. Um, and if you ever get the chance to talk to my wife, she, she, I love to meet her. Yeah. She’s

Kimberly: 00:28:15 Well, when you guys come to LA, you’ll definitely have to come

MC YOGI: 00:28:17 Visit me now. We’d love to, yeah. Amanda Amanda’s I can’t say enough. Good things about Amanda. She’s like one of the most incredible beings that, that it’s just, there’s no words. So, so with, when Nancy was passing, she told the doctor, she says, I’m gonna live for five more days. She passed on the fifth day.
Kimberly: 00:28:38 Wow. So she actually, that was her intention.

MC YOGI: 00:28:42 She it’s like you were saying, like, we’re not totally in control, but we can conduct. Yeah. And we can orchestrate some things on that side. So I felt like her spirit was so strong and she was sort of, it felt coordinated. It felt like the, the, the exact people who were there, the exact time, the song that was playing when she left her body, um, it was, it was it supernatural, it was otherworldly and, and the frequency was so high. I can’t explain it, but it like when the VE I’ve never been there for a human birth. Um, but I imagine it’s a very similar experience. Oh,

Kimberly: 00:29:21 I mean, birth is, it’s different when you’re the watching, but yeah. These transitions right. Is, yeah. I mean, random thought, uh, random question of CGI, but do you, would you like to be a father one day?

If kids are on the horizon

MC YOGI: 00:29:38 You know, I, for the longest time, um, we, we talked about it and because, you know, up until 2020 before the lockdown, I was pretty much traveling. Um, there was times where we were doing like two, three cities a month and I was basically, you know, a road warrior. We were traveling all the time, performing teaching. Um, I wrote a book a couple years ago too. And we, we did the book and it was really fun. Um, the book’s called spiritual graffiti, which is sort of my, my, my life journey, the first early phases of it. And, um, I love being on the road and because we were on the road so much, we decided that, um, it just wouldn’t be right to, you know, to, to have a child for just our lifestyle. And right now I got a little fur baby because I, I adopted my mother-in-law Chihuahua and he’s in here somewhere. Hey, bam, <laugh>

Kimberly: 00:30:30 Love the fur babies too.

MC YOGI: 00:30:33 Yeah. So, um, and I think that’s, you know, that’s just the, how it, how it worked out for us. And I think, um, you know, I’m just really grateful, um, that we get to pursue what we’re able to do. And, um, I just kind of take it, take it as it comes.

Kimberly: 00:30:49 Well, you know, you, you used the word creativity before creature. What did you say? Creature, creativity and creator. And I think we create so many different ways. Like the creative power gets channeled, whether it’s creating children or creating music, creating art. So, you know, I don’t think I have so many friends that have consciously chosen not to have kids. And then I have, you know, parents or, you know, friends that are parents. I, I think it’s just beautiful to be open to, like you said, all the ways the creativity comes

MC YOGI: 00:31:16 Out. Yeah. And I get to be the, the fun part is I get to be a really cool uncle to my nieces and nephews. I get to WAM and, you know, have fun and hook him up with all kinds of cool stuff. So that, that’s a, that’s a fun part.

Kimberly: 00:31:29 So let’s talk about your, your, your practice for a moment. MC YOGI, you know, when I was, when I was interviewing Krisna Dos, you know, he’s very clear to him, his chanting is the practice and he’s like, I go into despair. I don’t think that’s like his regular meditation. It’s not like for you, you are sitting, you’re doing, um, meditation, a chanting. Um, can you share us, can you share with us a little bit about your daily go-tos?

Daily go-tos for overall health

MC YOGI: 00:31:54 So my, one of my practices is, uh, constructing patterns with words, and it’s oftentimes most time in English. And so that takes the form of poetry. Um, I write, uh, I, my day I sit, you know, chant all those internal practices and then external practices do postures. Um, I really love going for walks that has been such a good vibe lately. Uh, just getting outside, getting off the phone, getting vitamin D you know, just moving the body. <laugh> moving the body, connecting with nature. Um, getting fresh air has been just a, um, that’s lately been like a strong calling, but, um, I’ll share with you just like one of the things that I wrote recently, if, if that’s okay, please. Um, so what I do is I, I, I try to like really study and what I study is I try to study, um, nature and life and myself and my mind and what’s going on. And I, and I, and I process that through my writing, um, and the way that I construct it, <laugh> Krishna Das used to gimme a hard time because, well, anyway, I won’t go, I won’t go there, but, you know, you’d leave me funny messages. And he, he used to always say, when are you gonna get it through your miserable rhyming brain that, you know, just, just gimme a hard time, but I’m always rhyming. I’m always looking for the way things rhyme.

Kimberly: 00:33:19 It’s incredible. Your music is, you know, you can see it. I say this word without ego, the, the genius of how you’re

MC YOGI shares his creative process

MC YOGI: 00:33:26 Putting it together. Well, I think all of us have the ability. I think that, um, all of our innate intelligence is about creating context and figuring out how things work together. Yeah. And I think the body is like the, I think everything in nature is like that everything is filled with intelligence. Um, and I think yoga meditation just allows us to get more in tune with it, more in touch with it. Um, it’s like tuning an instrument. Yeah. So there’s a little piece that I wrote recently that I’ve been sort in the process of memorizing. It goes, um, escape, the net. Don’t let yourself get tangle, twisted mind, tied up in these knots, trapped in the web spread across the head, following the thread of the breath. Ient fro by desire caught up in the wire. More struggle, more the ropes grow tighter. Not this, not this, not this detached.

MC YOGI: 00:34:14 I stick it from the surface. Draw the mind back back track through these scents hallways, eye of the needle, slip the, the crawl space into the place where the walls fall away. Everything is made of particles and waves. The light of a million sun shines in the all at the mind, drop back collapse and fall into a light. So bright, the mind just dissolves, remove your shoes into the temple. And then it goes road made of diamonds traveling this minded path that leads back into the BLI that exists feel shine deep inside us, snakes uncoiled oil. They don’t strike us taking re underneath the holy IUs Lotus thrown known by the P pure awareness abiding in the silence. The only prerequisite to enter it is kindness to enter the treasure hidden in the center balance, both sides, effort, and surrender, steady practice to strike the matchsticks, incense it, to, to stretch the fabrics, open every door and draw the cabinet, draw the mine back to the central magnet, ancient science for pys discovering the BLIS that exist behind these eyelids. So what I, what I try to use. Wow, amazing. I, I really work on like structuring the words into, uh, and for me, it’s graffiti because the way words, bend and inner lock and the way they pop with the 3d and how you color and create texture, um, it’s all just verbal. It’s like a verbal graffiti, or it’s just how we grew up. You know, this is what we did growing up and, and it’s just, it’s still there, you know, at the practice. It just, no, I got

Kimberly: 00:35:38 Goosebumps again. I love hearing about your creative process MC OK, so you’re, are you saying that you have this like, feeling of, oh, this energy, this is what I wanna write about and you’re seeing it like visually and then the words are coming. Yeah. I see

MC YOGI: 00:35:53 The auditory. I, I hear, I hear melodies. I, um, I hear drums. I hear strings. I hear horns. I hear harmonies and I have no formal training. So my job is to is, is figuring out how to translate that to my collaborators, which has become really easy and fun, to be honest. Yeah. How do you even

Kimberly: 00:36:12 Communicate that?

MC YOGI: 00:36:13 Well, I’m really lucky and fortunate to, to have friends and, and, you know, producers and people who I, uh, fellow musicians and artists who I work with, who understand that it’s the language is really about feeling. And, and, and when you get into a vibe in a creative space with someone, there’s almost like a mind Mel and a psychic connection where you can kind of get on the same wavelength and, and, and find that same sort of space together. And it’s interesting, it’s a dance it’s, it’s always different, but somehow it’s, there’s some similar elements that always have to fall into place.

Kimberly: 00:36:46 You’re, you’re touching on a lot of UNIV. You say you you’re tuning into the feeling and the energy, um, and the emotions, which is why I think your music resonates so deeply. Like for me, I can listen to it over and over again. The cuz it’s, it’s so clear that you’re tapping into this energy. Um, another song <laugh> fan girl, another song I listen to daily is all the will love in the world. Oh, thank you so much. And it was my husband’s birthday is in July and it was the theme song of his birthday party. All these people came and we just played that song over and over again. And it was like this, you know, love cuddle at the end. And everybody was like singing this song. And it was like, not this surface, but I, you know, you can feel that you’re tuning to, you know, what yoga, Nanda calls, the underlying energy matrix of all things, which is not just, you know, the density of the form, but you’re, we’re touching these big universal feel and energies you’re going right in.

MC YOGI: 00:37:42 I think, um, you know, I didn’t know it at the time, but I was writing that song for my mother-in-law and we played while she was passing. And, um, wow. Music is, music is so mysterious. Um, I, I, you know, you talked about earlier in this, in this conversation about not being good enough and not feeling loved or feeling like inherently bad yeah. About yourself. Um, and these are all things that I struggle with in my life. And I was really lucky and fortunate that I had a teacher early on when, um, so my wife, Amanda and I, we met in, at the Dawn of the millennium in the year 2000 and January. And we were both studying yoga and we became fast friends, fell in love. I, I talk about it in the, in my book, spiritual graffiti, I’ve gotta read this. <laugh>, it’s pretty fun.

MC YOGI: 00:38:28 It’s an easy read. It’s like people say they devour that book in like three days, because it’s just the way it kind of, it’s like a song the way I wrote it, it just kind of rolls. Um, and so early on, I was really lucky that I was, I met a woman named Dorothy Dak who became like my guru, my mentor, my teacher, and she’s originally from Harlem. And I spent a lot of time with Dorothy and Dorothy was a big, um, student of a course of miracles. And she was cuz she considered herself a life coach. Although I, I felt like she was much more than that. She was enlightened. I mean, she was the experience of being in the room with Dorothy was like being in, in a small room with, with a lighthouse. Like it was her, her presence was so bright and radiant and fun and joy and overflowing with just, just love and laughter.

MC YOGI: 00:39:19 And I was really lucky because my teacher, Larry, my first yoga teacher who my dad brought me to, who was the teacher of the grateful dead, he brought me to, to Dorothy. So every time I would study with someone, they would bring me to their teacher. Yes. And it would just lead me on this path and Ory. Um, when she was passing, we went, when she was in hospice in the Bronx, Amanda and I made a pilgrimage journey to go be with her in the last phase of her life. And I wrote this song a few years ago with this artist named modest Yahoo and it’s called heaven is here. Oh

Kimberly: 00:39:51 I know modest

MC YOGI: 00:39:52 Yahoo. Yeah. Modest is great. And so when, when hair with Dorothy and she was, she was just cracking me up. That was another interesting thing that I experienced with my mother-in-law, the humor and the joy that she, she had no fear of death. I didn’t even know that was possible. She had no fear of death. She would take a nap and she’d wake up like a couple of days before she passed and she’d look around and she’d sit, look at all of us and say, okay, now, which one of us is gonna die first? And it’s like, she was so lucid and she was, she was cracking us up. And my teacher Dorothy was that same way. And I really think that’s a Testament to someone who was, who, who was awake and realized something that, that the fear is disappeared and there’s just joy and laughter and, and the, and the recognition that we’re all here, we’re all on this journey.

MC YOGI: 00:40:45 We’re all gonna pass. We’re all gonna go. And let’s just enjoy each other’s company and presence while we have the good blessing of being with each other. And that one’s like an echoing thing that I felt with Dorothy. And so she had me play heaven is here over and over and over. And she, she just really loved that song. And sometimes I think I’m writing these songs just so that my teachers can, you know, can enjoy these, these sounds and these feelings. And boy, I really miss a lot of ’em I’m, uh, really lucky. I got to be with some of these and incredible people. Mm

Kimberly: 00:41:21 Well, and so MC Yogi know, we, we talk about this. Um, you know, I think for all of us, we dip in and out of the true self and the ego and absolutely. What do you do? What do you do personally, when you feel a lot of darkness coming in, you know, it’s, it’s just like that, that oppression, you

What to do when darkness and oppression takes over

MC YOGI: 00:41:43 Know, and as much as we have our practices, so sometimes we just, you know, we’re an ego or yeah. It, it’s hard to see the light. What, um, what do you do personally? So that’s when the mind gets dry. So that’s when the intellect gets dry. Um, and it starts to fabricate and create Phantoms and shadows and illusions, um, which is just a sign that you’ve drifted, that I have drifted away from my center, from my source. And so that’s the time to dip the pen back into the ink. So that’s the time to close the eyes and go into the darkness that I need to travel through in order to touch the mind back into that space shining in the center. Um, and I think that’s a, that’s one of the byproducts of, you know, I’ve been practicing for 20 plus years, which feels like a drop in the bucket.

MC YOGI: 00:42:36 But I think that the, the benefit of staying with the practice over a long period of time and being consistent is that you start to create these pathways, these neural pathways, these, um, these pipelines, these rivers, these, these avenues inside yourself that lead back in. So it starts to become on a default setting so that whenever it, you know, things are getting crazy or weird, which they always do. Um, cuz we live in a crazy, weird, wild, chaotic, amazing, magnificent, totally trippy universe multiverse that is filled with everything you can ever possibly imagine and more and whatever you focus on, you can have that in experience cuz there’s everything. So for me, <laugh>, you know, having tasted the bliss and the ecstasy in, in, in the piece of like, like a modified some, some odd like a, a, a state of being free and detached and, and connected and clear, knowing that that exists through yoga.

MC YOGI: 00:43:34 Now I can navigate back in because I know how to do it more well. And I think that’s just technology. That’s just a product of the practice. You have to get involved, you have to do it, you have to discover it for yourself and you have to create that own direct experience within yourself. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and then you’re gonna forget, and then you’re gonna get lost and then you’re gonna drift and wander and then you’re gonna go back in. And then eventually this is just my imagination. My perception is I think you do that enough times until you no longer have to leave anymore. And you just become established.

Kimberly: 00:44:05 Yeah. Wow. Yo Nanda talks about, um, I was just rereading the commentary on the Bova GZA over the holidays and he talks about, you know, everything comes from God. So God has created light and God’s created the dark. And then he says, you know, the reason the dark is there is because it provides contrast and we wouldn’t really know what the light is unless the dark is there. So it’s this, you know, through this experiential, our practices, we’re living life. Then we learn, oh, it feels expansive. This is my true nature to be in the light. And so, you know, it’s part of this, this duality, the funness of creation, but there is, you know, there’s gonna be the, the dark and it’s up to us. Like you said, to find the, the pathways, which strengthen the ener, the energy builds more and more as we go into, you know, the daily rituals, the practices to keep us centered because we’re all gonna mind is so powerful. We dip in and out all the time. Don’t we? Yeah.

MC YOGI: 00:44:56 And I think, you know, the philosophy is really helpful in that sense too, because another way to look at, um, darkness is, uh, lethargic, heaviness, stagnant, um, stuck. Um, so this is like from the philosophy of Iveta and, and you know, the, the una, like the Tamasic yeah, very Tamasic yeah. Which is so important. Like we need that in nature. There’s places where we need to have that energy life would not exist without it. And then there’s the dynamic movement of, you know, the Rajasic energy, passion activity, you know, caffeine. Um, and then, you know, there’s the, the stillness, the, the spaciousness, the purity of the softic state, like that third quality, these are the three qualities of nature. And I think we’re, they’re always fluctuating they’re cuz everything is made of waves. So everything is particles and waves. Everything is dancing and moving and within all this movement, there’s the backdrop of stillness and, and BLIS the witness, the observer.

MC YOGI: 00:45:54 And when we see the darkness without identifying with it and just knowing that it’s a part of us, but it’s, it’s only a portion of us. Yeah. And then we see the activity and the dance and we don’t identify it with that. We’re, that’s just a portion of us. And then we see the bliss and the joy and the piece and we identify that, but that’s still only part of this bigger thing. And I think when we, when we sort of are able to drop back a little bit and create some space, then all the waves can happen and we can actually enjoy the spectacle of reality without taking everything as personally and, and being able to have a little more joy and appreciation for how magnificent this temporal world is. It’s never gonna be like this day ever, ever, ever, ever again, this day will never happen again, this conversation will never happen again, this is it. This is our one shot for this moment. And then we’ll move on to the next moment, which will be complete unique. And I think if we become skillful at becoming a seer and a witness and, and really listening and tuning in, we can enjoy nature and we can celebrate that beautiful dance that is nature and spirit and, and just be in awe of it. And I think that kind of opens the, the awe sound is the first, so, but really opens the mind, um, opens the heart.

Kimberly: 00:47:16 Wow. In, in daily life, M CEO, you know, as, as we’re talking, um, you know, one thing I get asked about a lot as you can imagine in this world that we live in, which is so visual it’s so, you know, everything’s out here is people today really struggle with confidence. Yeah. And they struggle with not feeling good enough. Right. And there’s a chapter in the new, in the new book, I wrote about confidence where there’s surface confidence for like, here’s what I’m doing. People, the seeing this right. People really like my book. They really like this song like out here year, but then underneath it all, is this the real base of confidence, which is, you know, when Moses asked the almighty, what, what is this, what are you? It was that statement. I am that I am. So in the, in the deepest sense, I am this unique living, breathing creation of spirit and I’m here.

Kimberly: 00:48:05 And I can’t really compare myself. I can’t, other people can’t really compare them, helps to me, but in our world <laugh> and CEO, Yogi people do compare. Right. And so people feel competitive. So for you, you just, you know, what would you say to someone that’s really struggling with confidence with, with comparison, with competition because you, you feel really at peace yet at the same time, you’re this artist where people are at where you are on the charts and how other artists are performing. So it’s like, how do we reconcile that? And at the same time, one thing that is true about you is you’re very collaborative. You know, if you look at your music on Spotify, you’ve collaborated with all sorts of other people from Ja Utah to Christianna dos to Eastern forests. I think their name is whatever it is.

Steps to take when you struggle with confidence

MC YOGI: 00:48:51 Yeah. A lot of, I collaborate with a lot of great, um, artists in India as well, Rita Saha. And, but, but what I, yeah. So how

Kimberly: 00:48:59 Do you do that without feeling competitive or feeling I am unique and they’re unique too,

MC YOGI: 00:49:04 So, okay. So my, this is how my brain, this is what my brain goes to my mind. Yeah. Is I go, go to the word and I look at the word and I start to like inspect the word and investigate the word, confidence, confidence, confidence, confidence. Okay. Confidence. The first thing that comes up for me is what am I confiding in? And confiding means like where, where, where do I go to for my security? Where do I go to for my, um, intimacy? Where do I go to for my, um, inspiration? What am I confiding in the source of that will determine if my, the, the density of my confidence. So confidence. So, and wow. I

Kimberly: 00:49:49 Think your line works in real time. This is incredible.

MC YOGI: 00:49:51 Well, the density is gonna be, you know, the frequency is gonna be determined on, um, how deep does it go if you’re, if you’re deep, if you’re, if you run all the way down to the well of your being, which is where we get wellbeing from, if you go all the way down and into your shining center, your source, then your confidence is gonna be in your get terminology would be called. Uh, if I get this right TMA, uh, Viva, which is divine confidence. So your confidence flows from the source, not your persona, which per persona means mask in, in the ancient Greek, uh, persona persona is where we get Sonic sound. Um, so the persona is the, the mask of our persona is the mask with the whole so that you can per perceive and sound can come out. <laugh>. So this is the mask of our persona, and that’s our ego and ego.

MC YOGI: 00:50:45 I was thinking about this it the other day, because we all have a ego and we want a healthy ego because that’s how the energy the E can go. So the ego is like how we direct and drive our, our, our gifts, our energy, our focus, our feeling, um, healthy ego, like going, bending back to what you’re saying earlier about Haman. Haman is the embodiment of, of the ego as servant humble ego as a servant to the higher power. Um, and I think that creates a really good earlier. We talked about the wheels of the spine. It creates a, a, a clean hub. There’s an old saying that if your wheel, if the axis of your wheel is slightly off, you’re gonna have a very bumpy Rocky ride. But if the center of your wheel is fastened into this place, that is true and real and solid and timeless and eternal, the wheel will turn very smoothly.

MC YOGI: 00:51:39 All the spokes point in all the school created eight out. And so I think, um, confidence stems from our ability to concentrate and connect, um, to that, which is, which is true. And if we’re, if our confidence stems from ego or personality, it’s gonna fluctuate, it’s gonna be very up and down in and out. It’s not gonna be steady or consistent, and it’s gonna be fabric. It’s gonna be manufactured. And, and we know that when you have something that’s fabricated or manufactured, it needs to be maintained. It needs to be redone. It needs to be painted. It needs to be, you know, all these things, which are great. You wanna have a house that can stand the test of time, but if your foundation is built on spirit, then your house is gonna, you know, it’s like the three little pigs it’s not gonna get blown down. Um, and so I think that shelter, that refuge of building a life that’s rooted and connected to something that’s eternal times and truth, that’s not subject to, um, trends. Yeah. The, the

Kimberly: 00:52:44 to Richie is the mind stuff. The fluctuation. Exactly.

MC YOGI: 00:52:47 You got it. You, you you’re right on it. Yeah. That’s it.

Kimberly: 00:52:50 So again, I think for maybe the 10th time during our conversation, I’m getting these goosebumps

MC YOGI: 00:52:56 And you should turn your heater on. It might be too cold in there.

Kimberly: 00:52:59 No, no, this is energetic. <laugh> well, you know what, MC I don’t think it gets better than that. Giving us, uh, just a little, um, like this, like we’re just like the flies in your, on the wall in your brain, just showing how this creative genius comes, breaking down that word in a million years. I wouldn’t have looked at that in that way. Um, so I’m just so grateful for you being here. And I know for you, it’s just sharing, it’s just your service. It’s the way that the energy is flowing through you, but it as this incredible byproduct, this beautiful, um, yeah. Byproduct is that we all get to benefit. We all get to hear this vibration that comes from, you know, through your body.

MC YOGI: 00:53:44 Byproduct is a great word, because if you really wanna be supportive, you can buy the product. And I think the, the byproduct that I, that we have just put out recently, which is the thing I’m most excited about is I started a band with my wife, Amanda, and it’s called the cosmic mellow. And we created amazing. Yeah, we created this band lockdown because instead of getting sort of depressed and, and stuck in like this mental loops that are just not healthy or helpful, we, we just, we made a pack and we’re like, let’s utilize this time and let’s sing together and write songs together so that we can be productive and not spin out and go insane, which, you know, that’s what the human mind tends to do. I, I know mine does. And so we said, let’s create something that can be super, like, just super, uh, low-fi super chill, super relaxing, calming healing, just put as much love and joy into these songs. And so we created this band called The Cosmic Mellow. We just launched it. It’s like a month or so ago on Spotify of, and that’s the thing that I’m really excited to share right now, because I feel like it’s, it’s, it’s the new, a new offering, a new chapter, a new phase. And I’m looking forward to seeing where, where it’s gonna take us. Well, is

Kimberly: 00:54:56 It just you and your wife, or is there a third person? It’s

MC YOGI: 00:54:58 Me and my wife and then my good buddy, Robin Livingston. Uh, who’s an old time friend. I’ve known him since his first girlfriend was my cousin. So I’ve known him from way back. Oh. And, um, yeah, just the three of us got together and he has a recording studio on a bus. He, he took a school bus and flipped it and turned it into a recording studio and it’s just super cool. And I think it was just getting back to that sort of psychedelic, um, kind of laid back easygoing, being it really being in nature and then really just writing songs from that place.

Kimberly: 00:55:32 Incredible, um, and loves. We will link directly in the show notes to some of my favorite MC Yogi songs, as well as cosmic, uh, mellow. So you can check them out on Spotify or iTunes or wherever you hear music. And if you haven’t had the pleasure yet of listen to M C Yogi’s music, you’re in for a real treat. If you have heard him before, but you haven’t heard all of these tracks or his new music, please check that out. As you’ve heard here, it’s just, it’s so authentic. It’s, it’s feels useful. It’s just, you know, you’re just doing what you’re meant to be doing. You’re, you’re letting these gifts come through to really support at the vibration here. So thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and share, you know, this, this beautiful.

MC YOGI: 00:56:14 Oh my God. It’s so much fun. Thank you so much. And I, and just like what I said in the beginning, I’m just, I just wanna acknowledge you and appreciate just the energy you’re putting out into the world and just the, the, the way the teachings are flowing, the way you’re synthesizing them and, and sharing them in such a simple, easy way to digest. I just think it’s such a beautiful gift and offering that you’re sharing with us. So I, and I just wanna thank you for, um, for inviting me on, and it’s such a, such a pleasure to talk with you.

Kimberly: 00:56:40 Oh yeah. It’s it is my pleasure. Sure. I’ve, I’ve been wanting to have you on for a long time, so thank you so much for taking the time and yeah. Nama day. What a pleasure Nama day.

MC YOGI: 00:56:50 Yeah, actually we’ve been doing, um, one of the silver linings in this whole process has been, uh, we started doing, uh, yoga classes on zoom and I oh, amazing. Every weekend, Saturday, Sunday at 10 o’clock. And I think the links in Instagram, but, um, zoom yoga is like, I have to say practicing yoga in the comfort of your own home is pretty fricking amazing.

Kimberly: 00:57:12 Oh, amazing. We will. Then the information to that will also put in the show notes. So we could also practice with you as well. Yay. Well, thank you so much.

Kimberly: 03:37 All right. My loves, I hope you enjoyed our interview today with a wonderful MC Yogi. You can feel his authenticity, his brilliance, and his heart. Please be sure as we, um, touched on to check out his new band, the cosmic mellow, and also more information on him, you can check it out on the show notes, mysolluna.com. We will also feature other podcasts, rest of piece meditations that I think you would enjoy very much. Thank you so much for tuning in here with me. I’m so grateful for our connection. We’ll be back here Thursday for our next Q&A podcast. So please come back in a few days and little reminder to please spread the love, you know, share this podcast with anyone that you think would benefit, and please be sure to pick up your copy this week of you are more than you think you are practical enlightenment for everyday life from yours, truly. All right, loves lots of love. Lots of gratitude. Namaste.

The post How An At-Risk Youth Transcended and Created a Great Life with MC Yogi [Episode #651] appeared first on Solluna by Kimberly Snyder.