“[Yogis] allow space for transformation, and in that regard they allow space for me,” Steve Gold said. Everywhere Gold travels, he meets a person that makes his life more enriched.

Even though he is “the attraction,” his audiences are the ones who inspire him. Over the years, their response has been proof that he made the right decision to become a musician.

When Gold goes on his tour, he views himself as a facilitator of internal transformation through music. He thinks that people just need to be reminded of the light within themselves.

Yoga entered Gold’s life when he was 19 years old. He took a hatha class in college. Later, he ended up moving to Los Angeles for music. It was in LA that he was introduced to chanting. He continued his yoga practice and music separately until 1999 when he put the two together.

In 1991, Gold moved from Los Angeles to Maui, Hawaii where he found his aspirations for chanting mantras. For almost a year he lived a life free of constrains. His room was a dry roof and a dry floor, no walls, just a mattress and a mosquito net. There was no electricity, and he collected rain water.

This stage of his life was full of unexpected experiences, one of which changed his life. He remembers waking on one of the first mornings, hearing the beautiful sound of his roommate chanting at sunrise. It was the “Guru Gita” chant.

“As the sun was coming up, I could see my surroundings [clearer] and I saw this little writing hanging on something,” he said. The sign said ‘Om Namah Shivaya,’ it was a mantra.

He told his roommate about it and he encouraged him to explore chanting. One day, Gold walked down a path to find himself in front of a beautiful waterfall. This is where he first started to chant. He enjoyed it so much that soon, chanting was part of his daily routine. It was by that waterfall that Gold composed his first chant with his guitar.

”The sound of my voice, the sound of the guitar, the sound of the waterfalls, the sound of the birds and the grass blowing the wind all came into one sound,” he said. In that moment, he felt present and united with everything that surrounded him. After this experience, he also felt the urge to connect with the world. He had found himself and had a clear vision of the life he wanted to live — an authentic life; one that wouldn’t make him feel trapped. Chanting and yoga was his path.

Before arriving in Seattle, Gold went to ask for an advice from his neighbor, a chi energy master who was 74 years old. Gold spoke about his desire to reconnect. His neighbor told him that there are two things that people want in life “something to do and someone to love,” and you hope that the someone you love loves what you do.

He had found what he wanted to do and his old “self-limiting beliefs” around his abilities were no longer a barrier. At last, Gold had found his inner ambition, now he just had to find somebody who loved it. That’s how he started his journey in Seattle.

In 2000, he started practicing in different studios around the Seattle area.

Gold began chanting at yoga workshops and met more and more people in the local yoga community. He met his wife at one of Deva Premal’s workshops. He found himself next to a woman with whom he had a connection that just didn’t “feel normal, whatever that was,” he said. During the break, he invited her to meet outside of the yoga studio. She asked him “why?”

The moment of “why,” was yet another crossroads, but this time with a clear sign that whispered to him “soul mate.” He believes that soul mates are those people who help you to see the deeper meaning of life and ask you the real questions, and so “why” was the perfect question. Gold and his wife, Anne-Emilie Gold, have been together for 11 years now and are the proud parents of two children.

Gold sees a strong relationship between the blues music that he played at age 20 and now. He has learned to fuse many elements into his music, from cultures, styles and his own interpretations as an artist. He was once told “you got to get your roots boy,” and he did. Today, he sees the incorporation of everything that he does as a union.

Many of his audiences see him as the gateway to a powerful and enriching experience. Gold has traveled to many destinations and impacted many souls with his music. He has even facilitated workshops and guided musical meditations with Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and Robert Holden.

Being around for many years gives you the advantage to notice some of the changes that have taken place in the yoga community.

No one used to sing during the classes, Gold said. It was either in the beginning or in the end if at all, but now, it is more common; there is a bit more of “a pop-element” to it.

Nowadays, he sees more competition between the different yoga communities. He doesn’t feel that it is an “inclusive, but rather an exclusive” experience. He finds that the “business side of yoga” divides the community, which goes against everything that he believes yoga is. The popularity of yoga has increased, which is great, and he believes that instead of having a self-focused business model, everyone should promote yoga to the broader community, not just to those who come through their doors.

More collaboration and engagement will make the pie bigger, he said. There needs to be more “yoga for the sake of yoga,” not for the sake of business. Others in the community should be your partners, not your competitors, he said.

One way that Gold does that in his personal life and career is by inviting people to the table. He is a participant, and he doesn’t want this topic to be the elephant in the room, but rather an opportunity for conversation.

Gold’s music has helped him build many bridges in the yoga world and he hopes that will continue to gradually nourish the yoga practice for generations to come.

For his own personal career path, he thinks that it “was never something built by design, and was just a natural invitation of the universe [for him] to express this.”

An old friend of his, called “the Maestro,” told him once: “Tell yourself how wonderful you are, and how much you love yourself.” You have to bring the spirit to yourself, you cannot expect for it just to come to you, he said. Fall in love with yourself and truly appreciate who you are. “If we don’t tell our kids to love themselves, they will look for love everywhere else,” he said. Gold believes the most important thing that we can discover is who we are in our true essence. Once we discover who we are and love it, we will be kind, we will be tolerant and we will help others discover who they are.

“That is what yoga is about.”


Curious about Steve Gold’s music? We invite you to listen to his music and visit his website: www.stevegoldexperience.com.

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