Drishti Beats Creates Music That Syncs To Yoga Flows by Valerie Nikolas

Drishti BeatsCreates Music That Syncs To Yoga Flows

By Valerie Nikolas / June 10, 2020

“Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul creates the symphony of life.”
– B.K.S. Iyengar

Most of us know that music and movement are inextricably connected. Our bodies are full of rhythms, like the steady drum of a heartbeat. Likewise, our bodies are attuned to music, and sometimes can’t help but move to beats that we enjoy.

That’s what yoga collective Drishti Beats aims to do. Based on the Sanskrit word for “focused energy and gaze,” Drishti Beats combines chill, downtempo electronic beats with live vinyasa instruction for an immersive yoga experience.

“The music and the movement are symbiotic,” founder Lori Lowell says. The goal is to introduce and inspire people to experience this symbiotic relationship, stimulating the body, mind, and spirit and creating a heightened sense of awareness, another level of connection, and energized bliss.

It runs in the family

Drishti Beats began in 2014 when Lori and her husband Jeremy Lowell attended a music festival with live yoga instruction. Lori and Jeremy are yoga instructors, fitness center owners, and musicians. They decided to create a band that plays on stage while they guide vinyasa yoga flows.

They started collaborating with their daughter, Ariel Lowell, and son, who goes by the stage name Em Lowe, laying down electronic tracks and adding vocals, including socially conscious rap. Next, they added Carol Carson on the violin and Ricardo Branco on saxophone.

“We started creating [yoga] flows that are synced to our music, and also leaving space for the musicians to speak their language through music,” said Lori.

Drishti Beats Creates Music That Syncs To Yoga Flows

Since then, Drishti Beats has appeared as a major act at some of the most popular international festivals including EDC, Okeechobee, Sonic Bloom, and Mysteryland. “The coolest thing is being able to travel the world and perform with our kids, and to bring our grandchildren along,” Jeremy said.

Drishti Beats was planning on hosting their first-ever festival in summer 2020, which has unfortunately been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Evolving & expanding

The extent of their work isn’t limited to festivals. “Drishti Beats is this umbrella for the band, the group, and all these things underneath,” Lori said, including yoga teacher training and “Yoga On Demand,” instructional videos featuring their music.

And their repertoire continues to expand. Early on in Drishti Beats’ history, CloZee did a remix of their song, “Journey.” Now her label, Gravitas, has picked up a Drishti Beats song.

The single, “Find Your Way” ft. DAYZ, was released as part of Gravitas’s Virtus in Sonus V. It provides a satisfying soulful house conclusion to the eclectic compilation that includes artists like BARDZ, Illustrated, and Shakti. Stream Virtus in Sonus V on Spotify or name your price to buy the digital album.

Don’t wait until next festival season to finally catch a Drishti Beats set! Yogis can stream a free 55-minute flow or subscribe to a Drishti Beats Yoga on Demand plan, which starts at $10 a month. Or simply blast their Spotify channel, whether you move to the beats or just chill.

Lori Lowell

Lori Lowell is a yoga educator and teacher trainer with close to 25 years of experience in movement, wellness, and education. She holds Yoga Alliance's E-RYT 500 and YACEP credentials, is AYC Level-3 certified, and serves as Director of the School of Yoga at Drishti Beats, the online yoga teacher training school she co-founded.
Six years in the making and filmed around the world, Lori's RYS 200 and 300-Hour Online Yoga Teacher Trainings are among the most in-depth, globally available programs of their kind. After facilitating live trainings for four years, she co-developed an adaptive learning platform that offers an immersive teacher-training experience at each student's own pace, focused on the vinyasa flow style of yoga. Graduates complete the programs as fully registered teachers with Yoga Alliance (RYT 200 and RYT 500).
Lori's path into yoga was built on a long career in fitness and wellness. She began as a gym owner in 1995 and became National Group Fitness Director for Gold's Gym International, overseeing programs across 65 corporate-owned gyms. In 2008 she founded Group Fitness Solutions, and in 2009 created the Group Fitness Director Training Course. She remains a co-owner of three fitness facilities in Northern Virginia.
Honored as "Visionary of the Year" by Gold's Gym and a recipient of the 2015 Julie Main Woman Leader Scholarship, Lori has been sought after for expert commentary throughout her career. She is the subject of a chapter in "100 Women Who Love Their Jobs and Why" (Joanne Burke, Ballantine, 2005), has appeared on the cover of Club Solutions Magazine, and has been featured in Club Business International alongside her husband and Drishti Beats co-founder, Jeremy Lowell.