Public Health Policy Reviews 29:
Vinyasa Bliss #2 - Sacred Sunday - Featuring Purity Ring’s “Sinew” (acoustic, 2020 pandemic version).
Purity Ring is performing “Sinew” in 2020. Video clip courtesy of Purity Ring on FACEBOOK.
This morning’s Vinyasa Bliss—Sacred Sunday asana groove was “Sinew,” a 2020 track from the Canadian electronic pop band Purity Ring.
Regrettably, my knowledge of Purity Ring, like that of last Sunday’s featured band, Rising Appalachia, is limited. However, this duo, formed in 2010, is a unique blend of vocalist Megan James and electronic instrumentalist Corin Roddick.
Purity Ring in 2022. Photo image courtesy of Purity Ring on FACEBOOK.
Ms. James and Mr. Roddick hail from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. “Sinew” is the sixth single from their third album, Womb, released in 2020.
In this second installment of Vinyasa Bliss, it is crucial to note that music significantly impacts our physical activity. It often sets the tone and motivates us to move our bodies, especially in the mornings when the last thing we want to do is exercise.
Ordinary people drink coffee or energy drinks in the morning. We turn on dance music. For some reason, the “new-wave,” “dark-wave,” and “dream pop” electronic dance genres never fail to stimulate the senses and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Invariably, one song or e-music composition forces me to put the music player on repeat to explore how the body wants to move to the sound waves emanating from the speakers. This morning, it was Megan James’ girlish vocal tones and the resonance of her piano keystrokes on “Sinew.”
The version of “Sinew” we are featuring on Public Health Policy Reviews today is from an acoustic home recording by James and Roddick during the anxiety-inducing social distancing period of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Our minds and bodies interpreted “Sinew’s” acoustic message as a request to slow down and hold certain yoga poses for extended periods.
Unlike the usual, rapid transitions from one pose to the next in Vinyasa, “Sinew” encouraged a more deeply mindful approach. The song also prompted us to assess the sensations in our feet, ankles, hamstrings, hips, lower back, shoulders, arms, and breathing as we held two specific poses:
Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana).
The downward-facing dog pose stretches the shoulders, legs, and spine; builds strength throughout the body—particularly the arms, legs, and feet; relieves fatigue; improves the immune system; and calms the mind.
Upward-Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana).
Photo by Olivia Bauso on Unsplash.
The upward-facing dog pose strengthens the spine, arms, and wrists, stretches the chest, shoulders, and abdomen, and helps relieve mild depression and fatigue.
“Sinew” made for a more mentally reflective practice than the usual physically engaging aspects of vinyasa yoga.
You can listen to the original “Sinew” on Purity Ring’s Facebook page. The studio version of “Sinew” from James and Roddick has a vastly different reverberation – emphasizing Mr. Roddick’s penchant for highlighting Ms. James’ voice with electronic echoes and audio “loops.”
Purity Ring in 2022. Photo image courtesy of Purity Ring on FACEBOOK.
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PURITY RING: SINEW lyrics:
rest like you belong here
with your damp hair
with your chest heaving
soar out over the long land
with your cold hands
to watch the plains receding
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waves up off of the pavement
will carry you in
it’s like your sweat is cleaning
you swallowed the sinew
my body passed through
before i began breathing
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drawn out like the laurentiens
out through your window
color the grace in our age
peer down into the craters
under the lost lakes
where clarity is buried
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waves up off of the pavement
will carry you in
it’s like your sweat is cleaning
you swallowed the sinew
my body passed through
before i began breathing
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when the night falls
and the light dawns
off each other’s bodies; now you see
when the land falls
and the tide crawls
off each other’s bodies, you’re in me.
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Corin Roddick (left) and Megan James (right) of Purity Ring in 2022. Photo image courtesy of Purity Ring on FACEBOOK.
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