Jah9 and the Dub Treatment

Music has the power to shift the way we see the world and the way we feel our way through it.

From Kingston, Jamaica, to Vancouver, down to California, this has been the most blessed reggae summer, which has brought me some of the best sounds of my life. I have been inspired these sound experiences and their ability to transform spaces and to uplift and educate people on a cellular level.

Giving thanks for my Sound family and their offerings this summer. It takes great dreams, great sacrifice and solid tribe of dreamers to rock these magic moments. Bless up the team!

My favourite moment this summer has been offering (via our newest production birth) Sound Salutations, this time for two nights of live music, yoga, a market place, vegan snacks, and great company in July. We had Rise Kombucha flowing, raw desserts from Aaron Ash of Gorilla Foods, Kangen Water and a market place with Red Earth Designs, my Love Light Yoga clothing line, and Dr Alexina Mehta sharing essential oils.

What a joy to have a yoga evening followed by a live concert. The familiar sound system of the Fortune Sound Club continued to light up our souls as it amplified the all empress lineup of sweet and powerful voices. Tonye Aganaba rocked out with some serious sass followed by the sweet sounds of Desire Dawson. It was an honour to have the community present welcome our sisters with positivity. 

It was a pure honour to have my friend Chastity Davis offer a welcoming ceremony to acknowledge the land and the people.  I believe these moments should occur before big events to really take a moment to acknowledge the history and people. It was a beautiful moment when Chastity shared songs and drumming. Blessed love for the all those that continue to rock the sacred work in their daily lives.

I was honoured to introduce my friend and fellow yogi, Jah9, to Vancouver. The Yoga on Dub class was Kemetic Yoga inspired, a slow and mindful yoga practice, based on the ancient Egyptian yoga practices. It was an honour to slide in some yin yoga with this offering with Jah9. Her theories and reasonings were a joy to witness and experience while inviting of the sweet sounds of the Dub Treatment into this practice of inner energy. The vibes were upfull and joy was abound with live instruments and the band in the flow of the movements. 

To me, the most important part of any practice is the connection between you and your body, you and the space, and you and the people. Yoga is union; not only in ourselves but together in community, to celebrate and to be in joy, to gather, to inspire, and to strengthen each other is part of yoga magic and medicine and the way a revolution is ignited. 

Jah9’s offering is an excellent reminder of the ancient wisdom and potency behind the shapes we practice in yoga, and the diverse histories we experience as we study and share the knowledge passed down to us. A great study in the art of listening with this introduction to Kemetic Yoga, with new shapes, new names and a different flow meant a refined moment and a great opportunity to slide into a meditative movement practice, all to the steady and slow riddims of sweet reggae music. I give thanks for the evolution of practices and the opportunities to share in them together.

It’s an honour and a privilege to live in a time where we have access to these offerings and freedom in our forms. It is not often we get the full sounds of reggae in our little city. I hope this summer of reggae is the beginning of more movements.