RhythmAsana Live

RhythmAsana is a unique and joyous blend of yoga, movement meditation, dance, chanting, drumming, healing sound baths, and live music from around the planet. The RhythmAsana experience employs music, movement, and meditation to help us find the rhythms that define us and connect us. In RhythmAsana, we move into deep joy together.

A basic RhythmAsana session starts with gentle yoga and movement and gradually flows into high-energy ecstatic dance before descending back into the peaceful heart of yoga and a healing sound bath. The soundscape throughout the journey is a unique blend of heart-opening original songs and traditional music from around the world that inspires inner and outer movement. For most RhythmAsana events, live music is provided by Johanna Beekman, George Beekman, and a rotating cast of guest musicians.

A RhythmAsana journey can be both deeply moving and profoundly joyous. Just ask  people who’ve been there:  “RhythmAsana is the one of THE most joy-generating things I have ever done!” “A wonderful experience! I can’t wait to do it again!”  “An unexpected awakening of joyful depths … community moving as one.” “I feel like I reconnected to soul and heart and body.”

The RhythmAsana experience is continually being refined so that participants of all skill levels can experience the deep joy that grows out of connections between yoga’s inner peace and moving in kula—community—to the sounds heart-opening music from all around the planet.

 

Who are we?

The Oregon-based RhythmAsana team is made up of Johanna Beekman, Amy Clem, and George Beekman. The team is available for classes, workshops, and multi-day retreats.

Johanna Beekman

Johanna Beekman is the heart and soul of RhythmAsana’s musical soundscape.  Johanna is an internationally-renowned sacred songstress and kirtan artist with a lifetime of experience as a singer, songwriter, and performer. Johanna is loved for her rich, soulful voice, her radiant spirit, and her evocative, inspiring songs and devotional chants that tap deep into the collective soul. She is equally comfortable performing sacred kirtan music for yoga festivals and classes, rhythmic world-beat grooves for dancers, and soulful ballads for concert audiences. She serves as composer, singer, and instructor in her unique Lullaby Yoga restorative classes. Johanna’s  Beyond Love: Soothing Songs for the Soul is an album inspired by those classes. The CD is a worthy followup to  Heart Beats One, her highly-praised album of original kirtan music from the traditions of yoga. Johanna’s ability to create unforgettable songs in almost any genre is well-documented in her previous recordings, including  The Edge of Divine. And her a cappella anthem Free to Decide (Breathe) has been performed by ensembles and choirs across North America. For more on Johanna, visit johannasings.com and facebook.com/johannabeekmanmusic.

Amy Clem

Amy Clem (triohealingarts.com & sonicjourney.org) serves as the movement guide for much of the RhythmAsana experience. Amy inspires people from all walks of life to discover joy, healing, and liberation through movement. A dynamic and compassionate teacher, Amy is also a professional dancer, yoga instructor, and bodyworker.  Amy’s adventures in sound + movement began with a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Illinois.  She continues to perform professionally. In addition, s he teaches yoga, practices holistic bodywork, and  does healing sound baths with gongs and crystal singing bowls. Amy is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Reiki Master, and a Certified Cranio-Sacral Therapist.  Fascinated by anything movement related, and loves to surf, play music, garden and cook.  She is currently learning to dance on roller skates…

George Beekman

George Beekman is co-creator and creative coordinator of RhythmAsana. He is a musician, educator, producer, author, multimediator, and yoga enthusiast based in Corvallis, Oregon. As a percussionist, George has played with groups that perform world beat, West African dance music, Latin dance music, kirtan, trance dance, rock, folk, jazz, and other styles. He DJs world music for Dance Planet Corvallis and other global dance events. For more than two decades he taught at Oregon State University, where he helped create the new media program. He has written several books about technology and its impact on people.

We’re deeply grateful to Angela Grace, Lea Bayles, and Lyris Cooper, three wise and wonderful women who helped shape the evolution of RhythmAsana.