Yoga resources for the new year

This is another recycled post from Facebook, but it’s timely because it was almost a year ago today that I returned or perhaps, arrived, to the path of yoga. A yoga studio near my then-job was having a special in November: take class 5 times a week for a month and earn your next month of unlimited yoga for free. It was too good an offer to pass up, so I joined nearby Levitate Yoga (which is no more; it’s been sold and is now run as Reflections Yoga on W. 49th St.) and did a month of yoga.

I’d studied before, about two years of Sivananda hatha yoga, about 2 years of Bikram, lots of vinyasa and some ashtanga, but this was the first time I was going regularly. And it took over me. It became a part of me. That’s another blog post but this is the research I assembled when I first started looking into yoga studios and what sorts of discounted starter programs they offered.

Here are my findings, which are most certainly out of date and will need to be updated (maybe it’ll become a yearly project), but if you are interested in yoga and have been thinking about it for a while, try out one of the many studios in the city. Or, you can try all the studios in the city you want to take class at on the discounted starter packs! I have a few spots I take class at when my main spot’s not convenient. I spread the love :)

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yoga resources for the new year

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 1:10pm

I am ramping up to start 2009 with a full-blown yoga addiction (a good one to have if you ask me) and have been doing lots of research on schools and specials.

Since everyone is feeling the financial pinch lately, I have been especially interested in the city’s yoga schools and studios that offer new student intro specials. Not only is this a great way to save a bit of money but it’s also a fantastic way to try out different schools and styles and see which ones you like best. You can try out the space, the location, the teachers, classes, and the whole vibe of the place and the people that go there before committing to anything! It’s also agreat incentive to do lots of yoga because if you get unlimited classes for two weeks for $30 (like at YogaWorks), it is SO WORTH IT to get the most you can out of it because under ordinary circumstances, a class can cost as much as $18. For ONE CLASS!!!!

Right now I am a total poly-amorous yoga student, giving my shakti out to studios all over the city and I don’t feel guilty about it one bit!

So with the spirit of supporting existing or potential practices, please utilize my reference here. I will indicate which schools I’ve tried out and add any personal notes where applicable. For schools I haven’t tried yet, if you are a yoga buddy and want to join me in trying out the new student special, please get in touch!

New Student Yoga Specials to Get Your 2009 off to a Radiant Start

Levitate Yoga
It was Levitate’s posting on FB that got my passion for yoga burning again. It was here that I read about a special starting in January where if you come 5x/week for a month,Levitate will give you the next month of unlimited yoga for free. Not only is this an amazing deal, but it’s serious motivation to not only save money, but do you know how good you’ll look and how amazing you’ll feel after a month of 5x/week yoga practice? You will be a completely transformed person.

Levitate is a small studio on 8th Ave. near 48th St. There are two practice rooms. Levitate offers a slow flow vinyasa style. The teachers here are knowledgeable, friendly (especially Lippy, she’s awesome), and the staff is really cool. There is a $30 for three classes special and they will send you a 10% off coupon shortly after your trial runs out. Only downside: no showers.

Reading Levitate’s website and exploring their list of teachers and classes re-awakened my love of yoga. I began looking for yoga information, first at Facebook, then all over the web. The more I looked, the more I saw how much information was available. And there is a lot! I hope this introduction to the resources of the yoga community online is a tempting nibble for those who are curious about the fruit of yoga, and you will be inspired to discover more and most importantly, take a class :)

Levitate Yoga
Levitate earn a month of free yoga FB event
Levitate on FB

Strala Yoga
Another yoga studio with a FB presence that works to its advantage: I learned about Strala via a friend here on FB. Strala is run by Tara Stiles, a long, lean, beautiful yoga teacher whose style is an eclectic and somewhat unorthodox combination of vinyasa and pilates and whatever Tara feels like doing that day. You will use props (blocks) and you will sweat (at least I did!). Tara’s classes include lots of balancing poses (crow, etc) and sun salutations until the cows come home. The studio is housed in a gorgeous space on 5th Ave. near 23rd St. with insanely high ceilings, big windows, and fireplaces. On Friday nights, Strala offers “yoga & a movie” with a movie shown on the wall of the studio after the 7pm class. Strala also brings out organic cookies and juice after class!

As they say at Strala, it’s “yoga without the ho-hah.” Strala takes a light stance on om’ing, chanting, and other rituatlizing that accompanies some schools’ classes. There’s definitely a sense of humor about the whole enterprise at Strala, and the people who teach and take class there. And their special? Free yoga on Saturdays at 11am. Yes, free. Every Saturday.

Strala Yoga
Strala on FB

Laughing Lotus
LL is one of those old NYC studios that, if you’ve taken yoga for more than 5 years, you’ve probably gone to at least once. Everybody who does yoga knows somebody who studies at LL or got their teacher training at LL. On the third floor of a Flatiron District office building, LL has two sizeable studios and offers vigorous vinyasa practice from early early in the morning til well into the night. LL even offers a midnight yoga on Fridays (10pm-12am, actually), which I plan on doing one of these days.

The sense of community at LL is palpable. There is a small bookstore and boutique where you can buy candles, incense, yoga gear, and a good selection of books. There is always hot tea, filtered water, and organic cookies out for after-class snacking. The dressing room is small but everyone gets along and there is a shower.

Classes at LL can be crowded, especially the after-work ones, so arriving early is a good idea. Two first-timer specials are available: one week of unlimited yoga for $20 or three classes for $30 (one month expiration). Either is a good deal, and either will give you a feel for the yoga here.

Laughing Lotus
Laughing Lotus at FB

Sivananda Yoga Center
The first yoga I experienced in New York. I recently found an old membership card dating from 2000 from Sivanada, and I may have had one before, from 1999 or so. Sivananda will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s an anachronism, a throwback to when yoga was mostly for eccentric spiritual seekers who walked to their own beat, smelled like incense and herbs, meditated, probably were vegetarian, and wore lots of lose flowly cotton garments. The style of instruction here is just as unpretentious. The rooms are sparse, the studio is located in an entire brownstone in Chelsea (which also houses the resident yogis) and has been since 1964. There is no cool ethnotronica playing during class. There is no spa-like ambiance (on the contrary, the changing room is spartan at best).

Instruction at Sivananda is traditional hatha yoga. No flow, no vinyasa, no jumping to the top of your mat. You will hold the poses for a long time. You will not sweat much, but you will create great change in your body and mind. Chanting opens and closes classes. Sivananda is dedicated to the full experience of yoga, so raja yoga, or royal yoga, courses are offered here (classes in meditation, mind control, and positive thinking, overcoming the five afflictions, pranayama, etc.).

Prices are very reasonable and have not changed much over the years. When I was coming in 2000-2002, classes were $10 with membership ($100/year; worth it if you come a lot). They still are $10. $12 without membership. The philosophy, meditation, or yoga courses are also very affordable ($65 range for 4 weeks). There is also an awesome kitchen that is always churning out some fantastic vegetarian meal and is a nice way to get to know the Center, your fellow aspirants, or the Center cat (who is probably on his 10th life at the moment as he was rather old and fat from what I remember. There may be a new one. The old one’s name was Buddha. He was an orange tabby).

Open houses are offered monthly and are a great way to learn more about the Center, take a free class, and also get a 10% discount on any membership or class package you purchase that day.

Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Center NY

Bikram Yoga NYC
Ahhhh yoga in a 100 degree room. You either love it or hate it, but it WILL do things to your body and mind. You will sweat like a hog and exert like you haven’t in a LONG time. This is not easy yoga. But it can be done easily, which is absolutely essential for anyone first entering this practice. All Bikram yoga is the same everywhere. It’s for another post, but Bikram Choudury, the man and founder of this system, won’t allow any yoga that doesn’t follow his exact specifications, from the sequence of the poses to temperature of the room, to be called “Bikram Yoga.” Thus “hot yoga” or the various other names yoga in a hot room will be called.

The plus side to Bikram is you can go to any Bikram studio in the world and you will get the exact same class. Once you know it, you know it. Then, you work at refining each pose, each movement, each entry. The fact that it does not change may spell boredom for some, but for others it means a clear means upon which to chart progress, regress, change, etc. I fall into the latter camp. Here’s a NYTimes article about how practictioners of Bikram can just drop in for a class anywhere. I have done Bikram yoga in Miami, New Haven, and will probably do it in a lot more places before this lifetime is up.

Bikram Yoga NY has four locations and offers a fabulous new student special of $30 for 30 days of unlimited yoga. This is an amazing offer and if you do Bikram for 30 days, you will probably be unrecognizable to anyone who hasn’t seen you in a month. You will weigh less, your skin will glow from the inside out, you probably will have lost your appetite, and you will be surgically attached to your water bottle. But hey, it’s a small price to pay for happiness and a very tuned physiological machine.

If you would like a little more perspective on the Bikram practice, feel free to message me. I’ve done a fair amount of Bikram and feel I can speak on what the experience will be like.

New student special at Bikram Yoga NY
About Bikram

YogaWorks
Haven’t tried this place yet, but it is a bi-coastal group of schools, with three branches in NYC and locations in LA and yes, the O.C. YogaWorks style is a vigorous vinyasa practice, but there’s tons more. This is one of those studios that offers so many types of classes, the mind reels. But there is a good new student special of $30 for 2 weeks of unlimited yoga, which should allow anyone to try all there is and decide what works best. There’s also a free yoga class for first timers.

YogaWorks
YogaWorks 2 week special for new students

Integral Yoga Institute
Used to do karma yoga here in the kitchen years ago (karma yoga = volunteering). Would scrub and chop veggies, wash dishes, keep the kitchen clean and serve meals in exchange for classes. Very nice community of people. One of NYC’s older studios. Good focus on pranayama and meditation, mellow vibe. Traditional hatha yoga. Located on a wonderful block in the West Village, and the Integral food market nearby is great for fresh and organic produce. No new student special per se, but there is an offer to receive your 2nd class free. Check the website for details.

Integral Yoga Institute

Dharma Yoga Center
Dharma Mittra is something of a beacon in the yoga scene. People love him and the classes here. Dharma Yoga Center has a very good reputation for turning out well rounded yogis and focusing on all the limbs of yogic philosophy. Sri Dharma Mittra himself chooses things to focus on for the month or day (a pose, a particular practice), strengthening the community experience here and also making the practice about a whole lot more than just the poses. 5 classes for $35 new student special.

Dharma Yoga Center

Kula Yoga Project
Very nice site design. Vinyasa-based yoga (Kula Yoga is vinyasa with focus on creativity and alignment) that also offers workshops and retreats. New student special, $30 for three classes.

Kula Yoga Project

Om Yoga
Vinyasa studio run by Cyndi Lee, who’s very well known in the yoga community. Also offers Buddhist studies and meditation classes, frequent workshops, and a work-study program for those needing financial assistance to do their practice. $28 for two classes introductory special.

Om Yoga

Yoga To The People
YTTP has an interesting philosophy: to take the commercialism out of yoga by offering classes on a donation scale. Yes, pay what you want. The suggested donation is $10, which is radically affordable considering many NYC studios charge $18/class, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. The idea behind YTTP is to bring yoga to as many people as need it, in an affordable way. Their model has done well, as the studio has recently opened a 2nd branch in Berkeley, California and classes at the NYC studio on St. Marks Place are always packed.

The style is a power vinyasa flow based on the teaches of Bryan Kest. This is a very VOCAL sangha. I think it’s a Left Coast thing, but there is a LOT of vocalization throughout class: inhale, exhale HAAAAA sound. Inhale, exhale HMMMMMM. Inhale, exhale SIGH. People are letting go like crazy in this class so sometimes it sounds like a big collective moan or like the whole class is sighing from the core of their being. It aids in relaxation and if you are at all inhibited about making these big sounds, I predict half-way through class you will be sighing and moaning along with the rest of them. Candlelight classes are a nice touch and the end of class is marked by an insanely large singing bowl being rung, whose vibrations fill the room with a size I’ve not experienced at any other studio. Lots of actors/dancers/creative types and good looking people. But no shower, only one bathroom, and two small curtained-off areas in the main room for changing.

Yoga To The People

Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York
Hatha yoga based on the principles and teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar (considered one of the world’s most important living yogis). Large and beautiful studio located in Chelsea. From the website, describing the Iyengar method:

Iyengar Yoga uses the physical reality of the body to know our minds and the deepest parts of ourselves as human beings. The infinite perfectibility of the postures or asanas provides a pathway into the development of our intelligence and our ability to concentrate and sustain focus. This intelligent practice develops our ability to grow and to separate what is worthwhile and productive from what to leave behind.

The method offers:

A safe and systematic progression of yoga postures to develop each student’s ability and skill, both within each class and from class to class
Sequencing that develops strength, flexibility, stamina, concentration, and body alignment
Highly developed teaching methodology
Precise use of language
Demonstration and teaching of specific points to develop understanding and intelligent action
Individual correction and adjustment of students, when necessary
Integration of the yoga philosophy with the practice of asana
Relevance of practice and incorporation into daily life
Ways to use yoga to ease various ailments and stress
Use of props, such as blankets, blocks, and straps, to facilitate learning and adjust yoga postures to individual needs
Qualified and rigorously trained instructors committed to excellence in teaching

$48 for three classes intro.

Iyengar Association of Greater New York

Om Factory
A vinyasa studio on W. 37th St. Haven’t been here yet but interested in trying it out. New student special: $20 unlimited for the week; $99 unlimited for a month. Offers two interesting sub-genres of yoga: Forrest Yoga (which is described as “intense pose sequences, compassionately taught,” and AcroYoga, a combination of yoga, thai massage and acrobatics. Two yoga studios with tons of windows, pale wood floors, and plants.

New student special at OmFactory

Jivamukti Yoga
What can be said about Sharon Gannon and David Life that hasn’t already been said? These guys are the like the mother & father of urban, modern yoga. Jivamukti was one of the first “big” or “fancy” studios that I recall in NYC. They took the hippy out of yoga (which still lives on in one of my favorite places in the city, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center) and helped create the paragon of the lean, lithe, glowingly sexy yogi who floats above the grit and dirt of urban living. Or at least aspires to with a regular practice. Jivamukti style is vigorous vinyasa with a fair amount of chanting thrown in. Jivamukti also offers meditation, sanskrit, and sacret texts classes. The integration of the spiritual foundations of yoga are a big part of the Jivamukti method. From their website:

Jivamukti Yoga is our attempt to integrate the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of yoga practices that originated in India into the modern lifestyle-without losing sight of the ancient and universal goal of the practices, which is liberation.

Offers classes all day and night in beautiful, large, full-service locations. Great workshops and programs available (check website) on everything from vegan cooking to the plight of carriage horses in NYC.

Although there isn’t a beginning student special per se, there is a beginner course of $50 for four weeks which upon completion you will receive a free pass to any class in the schedule, a Basic Jivamukti CD and a certificate for attendance of the 4 weeks course.

Jivamukti Yoga

Atmananda Yoga Sequence
Sometimes refered to as Centerpoint Studios. $25 for a week of unlimited yoga or $100 for one month of unlimited yoga. Also has workshops on detoxing, tantra, sacred vine, intutive cooking, and more. Described as primarily vinyasa based style, but with diverse offerings like aroma yoga, hip opening, and Yoga for Musicians.

New student special at Atmananda

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I will have to fill these in later on…I’ve been drafting this note for weeks in between this and that, and I fear it’ll be February before I actually finish it. So for the following studios, links only with information about their introductory specials.

Namaste.

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Kundalini Yoga East
Unlimited month for first-timers, $65. First two classes, $22. Lots of workshops. Strong focus on meditation and mudra.

Kundalini Yoga East

ISHTA Yoga
Interesting practice developed by Alan Finger which combines asana with breathing, meditation, body work, and healing. New student special, one month for $40.

ISHTA Yoga

Yoga Sutra
Large ashtanga studio located in midtown Manhattan near Grand Central Terminal. First class is free. Beautiful sun-drenched studio.

Yoga Sutra NYC

Yoga Yoga NYC
http://www.yogayoga-nyc.com/pricing.html

Prana Power Yoga
http://www.pranapoweryoga.com/studio_pricing.php

Big Apple Power Yoga
http://www.bigapplepoweryoga.com/

Unnata Aerial Yoga
http://www.aerialyoga.com/unnata-aerial-yoga.php

Some Like It Hot Yoga
http://www.somelikeithotyoganyc.com/index.html

Golden Bridge Yoga NYC
http://www.goldenbridgeyoganyc.com/

Then of course, there’s always the Yoga Passbook. $75 buys you free passes (for at least two classes, and in some cases, an entire week or two of unlimited) to most of the city’s yoga studios.

Leaning into the sharp points

I’m recycling some entries from my Facebook notes in a blatant attempt to get myself to write again. Copy and pasting isn’t quite writing, but at least I have to execute some stream of consciousness to even be able to tap out this pathetic message, this plea for mercy on your part, oh gentle reader!

It’s not too often these days I get some moments to myself with my thoughts, my records, a little greenery, and some space. Life is extraordinarily busy and things I want to do occasionally seem pushed aside by things I “have” to do or “ought” to do. “Need” to do is a tricky one because what determines your needs? Is it your ego or your deepest wisdom? Can you trust yourself? Whatever the case, having some time to return to writing, thinking, being quiet and processing the world around me, this is when I feel most connected. I sometimes think it’s wrong to feel that way, that cherishing and being territorial about my time and space is selfish or brutal.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy people and companionship too. Everything in its right time. And if you’re reading this, thanks for being part of my experiment. This blog is about nothing in particular but if you’ve been reading, you know that already too.

And without further ado, recycled blog post, #1!

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Wednesday April 15, 2009

I am reading Pema Chodron’s “When Things Fall Apart.” It is a book of Buddhist wisdom,written in a style that is both light and penetrating, but gently so. Although I’m not finished, I already am getting a few points that Chodron is sharing, like “lean into the sharp points.” Basically this means, when we encounter confusion, disappointment, anger, sadness, when we encounter something that would orginarily make us act out or run for the hills, go towards it, lean in. It is leaning into these difficult spaces and places that we learn about ourselves, who we are, how we act, how we think, and where we are in our spiritual and emotional development.

Here is a passage from the book that stood out to me and I’d like to share it here.

From p. 21

Sometimes we feel guilty, sometimes arrogant. Sometimes our thoughts and memories terrify us and make us feel totally miserable. Thoughts go through our minds all the time, and when we sit [in meditation], we are providing a lot of space for all of them to arise. Like clouds in a big sky or waves in a vast sea, all our thoughts are given the space to appear. If one hangs on and sweeps us away, whether we call it pleasant or unpleasant, the instruction is to label it all “thinking” with as much openness and kindness as we can muster and let it dissolve back into the big sky. When the clouds and waves immediately return, it’s no problem. We just acknowledge them again and again with unconditional friendliness, labeling them as just “thinking” and letting them go again and again and again.

I relate to this very much right now, as in the week past I had a lot of thoughts. All kinds of thoughts. Confusion, sadness, heartache, worry, fear. I also observed in others their reactions to their own worry/fear/confusion. The result was pulling back, rejecting, and closing up all around. I felt sad on top of sad for the closing of something that had just begun to open, but now with some distance and time, I have accepted this as the moment now. Sometimes it aches just a bit, but what can I do? What can any of us do? We might try to say “oh, it’s not that important” and “act strong,” showing that we have “better things to do” or be concerned with, when that thing we are trying to ignore, push away, or forget gets proportionately bigger in relation to how much we try to reject it.

So be consoled and let everything be sweet even when you feel sour or bitter. Just accept it and let it go as a thought that is ephemeral, just as our feelings are ephemeral, as our most cherished relationships are ephemeral, as our lives are ephemeral.

The Buddha Machine

The Buddha Machine looks like an old-school transistor radio and plays nine loops of drone-y, ambient sounds from its built-in speaker. Created by Beijing-based musicians FM3, the Buddha Machine comes in seven colors and three loop sets, for a total of 21 possible combinations. Fans of the Buddha Machine include Brian Eno, Sunn O))) and Monolake.

Some folks put several Buddha Machines together for “buddha boxing,” setting the boxes at different volumes and pitches to create random soundscapes. Other than on/off and a switch to cycle thru the loops, the only other controls on a Buddha Machine are pitch and an 1/8″ jack.

Buddha Machines have an antecedent: electric boxes sold at temples that play endless loops of sutras. Check out this buddha boxing free for all with the Buddha Machine, a Tibetan sutra box, and a Taiwanese sutra box.

I am by no means “on time” with this post: the first Buddha Machines went into production in 2007. Appearantly the 500 per day production schedule of Buddha Machines is barely enough to keep up with demand! It’s probably the largest selling drone “album” ever, and has started an underground interest in sutra boxes, electronic gadgets sold at Buddhist temples that play endless sutra loops.

guys calling girls “dude”

This has been happening more and more to me lately.  What’s up with that?

Do women, when excited about something or making an emphatic statement, say to a man “oh my god, gurrrrl!” No, they do not. A man’s head would swivel 360 degrees around on his neck and he would look at you in that penetrating and accusing way some men have when you say something “wrong.” Yet “dude” flows off the tongue of some men with the ease of “hello.”

I am usually not a stickler for words, and I have little dogma where language is concerned. Racial, sexual, and ethnic epithets and mean names are never cool, but anything else  just about goes. We are intelligent beings; we might as well have fun with communication. Word play, double entendres, puns, metaphors, similes: I’m all for ‘em! But when a guy calls me “dude,” I feel a little strange.

I am certain that this is just a generic term, on the level of “yo!” or “hey!” but it still makes me feel a little unwomanly when I am addressed as “dude.” On the one hand, I’m sure it’s due to the person’s comfort level with me, that I appear approachable or relateable. But people fart and pick their nose around those they feel comfortable around too.

Can you imagine a couple in bed, the man relaxed and glib after a great roll in the hay, and he turns to his woman and says “dude, that was great.” Or how about on a date, when relating a particularly exciting story, the man says to the woman, “dude, you won’t believe it!” Or even between friends, when a man is making a point, an emphatic statement of agreement equal to “hell yah!” or “can you believe it!” or “totally!” the phrase is instead “dude!” Maybe this is the ultimate male compliment: what more self-referential way to indicate agreement, buy-in, and support than to refer to someone else with a slang term for your own gender?

Women do it too. When emphatic or excited or to indicate empathy or sympathy, often a “gurrrrrl” will do. The “urrrrrrl” part of the word is always drawn out, the more mellifluous and extended, the deeper the level of agreement or sympathy. But you’ll never hear a woman speak to a man this way.

Next time a guy addresses me as “dude” I am going to call him “girl” within a few sentences just as an experiment. My money’s on the fact that he hasn’t even noticed he has taken to calling me, in effect, “hey guy” and will be shocked and possibly offended that I have addressed him using feminine slang.

Don’t get your panties in a bunch, girl!

Jeff Mills on mistakes

I was reading a Resident Advisor forum posting for one of the latest podcats the site had put up (Tony Lionni, download it here) and truly shaking in my boots at the harshness of the comments: “His mixing sucks,” “dodgy…” and “not beatmatching using Ableton must be a skill in itself.” I thought “jeezus, what happens if one day I’m asked to do a podcast for RA” because I make mistakes in my sets all the time. They usually happen because I’m trying something or I changed my mind about the next track or sometimes, because someone’s talking to me and I’ve gotten distracted. I hate that this happens, but it’s the nature of the game, especially in small rooms where it’s less a booth and more like a shelf with some record players and anyone and everyone can come and try to talk to you while you’re in the middle of a set.

It’s the subject of another blog post, but sometimes it’s just rude to ignore people, and sometimes it’s rude to not pay attention to what you’re doing and fuck up a mix. It’s a balance, like anything else. But the point is, I make mistakes. If you’re a DJ and you’re reading this, you make mistakes too. I almost wrote “probably make mistakes…” but most DJs I know are pretty damn hard on themselves. We hear stuff no one else does, second guess, criticize every little detail of our sets, etc. Sometimes all that inner focus can be a bit heavy, but the point is, I am all too aware of the mistakes I make (in DJing and in life).

So it is with great relief that my idol in the DJing world, Jeff Mills, has a very balanced outlook on the subject of mistakes. From his recent interview in Time Out New York, here is the quote:

“Mistakes happen all the time!” [Mills] says. “I’ll be thinking
about something so hard, or I’ll be searching for some piece of music
and I’ll change my mind like four times, that the record that’s playing
will just end. But mistakes are human, and a human is playing records
for other humans, so it’s part of the process. It’s when you don’t hear
mistakes, when you don’t hear a human—to me, that’s not very
interesting.”

The first time I watched his Exhibitionist DVD, I was amazed to find that not all his mixes were laser-cut perfect. Naturally, being the pro he is, Mills fixes them in no time at all. But they are not all perfect. Hearing him catch a mix adds another layer of interest to the process, especially listening to someone as technically adventurous and brave as Mills. When I hear Mills live, and I’ve had the honor of hearing him live several times now, I’m never aware of the “mistakes” because everything that is happening is so amazing: musically, energetically. To focus on the “mistakes” seems like such a sour way to be.

Mills played last night at Sullivan Room and brought the house down. His energy was unrivaled. He played from 1:30am until nearly 6am and had everyone in the house who was still standing literally shouting their thanks to him from the dancefloor when the lights finally came up. We danced and sweat and swooned to Mills’ beautiful, hypnotic selections and intricate, layered mixes. The vibe he created was complex, varied, and powerful. He has been my #1 DJ for years and he secured this place in my own personal DJ hierarchy once again. I don’t just love Mills’ DJing, his records, and his label, but his intelligence, humility, dedication, passion, and unwavering focus (you can see it behind the decks; his expression is one of pure concentration). His performance last night inspired me. Coming off of DEMF just a few weeks ago and now Mills: if this is any indication of what music in New York will be like this summer, it’s going to be an AMAZING couple of months.

Kudos to all the DJs and producers out there, to all the dancers, fans, music lovers (don’t file share or rip from YouTube! buy and support electronic music!), venue owners, promoters, labels, and everyone else out there supporting this thing. Don’t be afraid of mistakes; we all make them! They are only bad when you can’t forgive yourself or when you let them cripple you to the point of not being able to move forward. That’s no excuse for sloppiness, but like Mills said, without mistakes, you don’t hear the human component, and it’s there that the real intimacy and personality resides.

PRAISE TECHNO! AND THANK YOU JEFF MILLS!!!