• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

METAL YOGA: GET YOUR OM ON WHILE HUMMING TO OM

Written by NINA CORCORAN Posted July 28, 2017 Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC, Notes from the Scene, Performing Arts

Photo courtesy of Black Widow Yoga

 

Ever mistake the om meditation mantra for the doom metal band? Good news. There’s finally a yoga class for you.

 

This Tuesday, Black Widow Yoga will take over ONCE Somerville to host a Metal Yoga class. Show up at 5:30 pm with a mat in hand, give yourself a half hour to get situated and stretch, and then watch as the satanic magic begins when the clock strikes 6 pm. Metal Yoga is an hour-long vinyasa class set to doom and heavy metal music, which means it’s the perfect alternative to every waspy class you roll your eyes at.

 

The dependently run yoga concept was created in February of this year by Salem yoga teacher Tina Maroney. After hearing about nontraditional yoga classes like Saskia Thode’s Metal Yoga Bones in Brooklyn, she was inspired to create one of her own to help challenge preconceived notions of yoga. The way Maroney sees it, Black Widow Yoga is a place for outsiders to “harness the energy within that truly connects to doomy and dark music.” In other words, it enlivens the yoga experience without focusing on cliched themes.

 

“I started doing yoga to help myself a year and a half ago when going through a tough time,” says Maroney. “I was filled with anxiety, and there was a death in the family. It felt more honest to listen to music that better connected to what I was going through.”

 

 

Her experience isn’t an isolated discovery. In 2015, a study by the University of Queensland revealed that “extreme” music—metal, punk, and noise rock—helped regulate sadness and enhanced positive emotions. “The music helped them explore the full gamut of emotion they felt, but also left them feeling more active and inspired,” reads the study. “Results showed levels of hostility, irritability and stress decreased after music was introduced, and the most significant change reported was the level of inspiration they felt.”

 

In that sense, metal music seems like the obvious choice for yoga, an exercise form championed for its ability to reduce stress. Black Widow Yoga’s playlists are primed to help you breathe easy. The diverse, but in-tune, playlist rotates on a song-by-song basis as opposed to full albums. The choices span the classics (Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Iron Maiden), a little bit of doom (Sleep, Monolord, Black Pyramid), some stoner metal (Weedeater, Kylesa, Acid King), the new generation of metal (King Woman, Pallbearer, Bevar Sea), and even a little local love (Elder, Doomriders). Unlike a lot of the other trendy yoga classes like goat yoga or beer yoga, this doesn’t try to use the music to distract. It uses the music to connect better to the yoga. That’s why the metal Maroney selects is slower, from the drums all the way to the guitars, ensuring a tempo that matches the ideal heartbeat of attendees.

 

To ensure inclusivity, Black Widow Yoga’s classes are open to all levels, beginners and pros alike. “I have a lot of new people that have never tried yoga as well as people that consistently go to yoga classes, so I teach to every level,” says Maroney. “There’s something for everyone to do, from a gentle flow to working up to an arm balance.”

 

There are only 200 spots available in the class, so grabbing a ticket in advance is advised. That said, ONCE Ballroom has a Metal Yoga night once a month, so you can always get in touch with your inner darkness another time—or make the trek to her weekly classes at Satanic Temple of Salem to dive in goat-head first.

 

METAL YOGA WITH BLACK WIDOW YOGA. TUE 8.1. ONCE BALLROOM, 156 HIGHLAND AVE., SOMERVILLE. 5:30PM/ALL AGES/$17. ONCESOMERVILLE.COM

NINA CORCORAN
+ posts
    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC, Notes from the Scene, Performing Arts Tagged With: Black Widow Yoga, Boston, Cambridge, Dig, DigBoston, Doom, Health, Interview, metal, Metal Yoga, Music, Notes From the Scene, ONCE Somerville, performing arts, Salem, SOMERVILLE, yoga

WHAT’S NEW

The Legendary Past And Uncertain Future Of The Harvard Square Theatre

The Legendary Past And Uncertain Future Of The Harvard Square Theatre

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
  • The Most Expensive Massachusetts City For Car Insurance (No, It’s Not Boston)
  • If You Find A Mini Felted Animal Around Boston, This Is Where It Came From
  • As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill
  • FOTOBOM: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND @ TD GARDEN

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com