Stretch to your own beat

Silent-disco yoga involves more than exercising with headphones on. It needs focus, special playlists, fine-tuned audio. Can it make fans come back for more?

- Prachi Srivastava

Remember Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi, dancing with headphones on, in a crowd, the world fading into nothing around her? Or that moment in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, when scuba-diving turns everything silent and the only sound left is your breath?

Silent-disco yoga is a little bit like that, minus the drama, but with groovier beats. The term was coined in the mid-2010s in London, by yoga teacher and holistic nutritionist Sarah Hunt, and Rosie Barker (aka DJ Darlo). They combined the disparate practices to create sessions that alternate fluid vinyasa moves with pumped-up choreography. The idea is to loosen up and let go, but with some fun.

It's been a hot trend abroad. In India, sessions are unfolding everywhere, from home studios and rooftops, to gardens and seaside decks. Can it take hold or is it just another East-West remix hoping to make it big?

Length and breath

For Akshata Kutnikar, founder of Sweat Social in Bengaluru, the idea started as a practical workaround. “We needed a way to keep music low for a venue,” she says. “Silent disco felt like an easy fit and people loved it.” Since then, her team has expanded headphone-led sessions into yoga, Pilates, and dance fitness, keeping the energy high while cutting the noise.