------Feature • Wade Morissette------Mind, Body & Music By Evan Gillespie

Wade Imre Morissette has been called something you might think no one would ever be called: yoga’s rock star. And how does one come to be yoga’s rock star? It’s not a title that is bestowed upon a new rock star annually, it’s not anything close to an official designation, and before Mor- issette earned it the title didn’t even exist. It’s just that what he’s doing is so innovative, it’s not easy to figure out how to classify him. First of all, he’s a student who’s studied iyengar, classi- cal ashtanga, ashtanga-vinya- sa, vinyasa, anusara and kriya yoga, zazen, vedic chanting and active movement. Next, he’s a teacher who leads workshops that WADE IMRE MORISSETTE touch on Phoenix Friday-Sunday, Oct. 21-23 • Times vary Rising and Viniyoga therapy and Reiki. Prana Yoga School He’s also an author 10329 Illinois Rd., Fort Wayne whose first book, Tix.: Vary, 260-625-4354 with her Transformative Yoga: – but in 5 Keys to Unlocking Inner Bliss, was pub- the beginning it wasn’t so easy. Motivated lished in 2009. Finally, but perhaps most by his hunger for learning as well as a need importantly, he’s a musician whose combi- to get away from the pressures of having an nation of folk-pop songs and yoga-inspired immensely famous twin sister and find him- chants have captured the attention of music- self, Wade began traveling, and his path ul- loving yoga enthusiasts. It’s an impressive timately took him took him to India. He was resume, and it came together almost by ac- still seeking personal growth, and he delved cident. deeply into yoga. He studied with Baba “My first concerts were in India, and Hari Das, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, Sri Sri Ravi people would come up to me and say that Shankar, T.K.V. Desikachar and the Krish- my music touched their hearts. I decided namacharya Lineage, and he developed a to take my music to different yoga studios nearly encyclopedic knowledge of a multi- across the world,” Morisette says. tude of yoga styles. Perhaps inspired by the He’d begun making his yoga-influenced educational background of his parents, he music after a trip to India when he spent dedicated himself to learning and teaching some time studying devotional yoga and dis- yoga once he understood how much the art covered the calming, transformative power had helped him personally. of music within the context of yoga. It’s when his love of music came back to Born in Ottawa in 1974 to a teacher and the foreground, however, that Morissette be- a high school principal, Morissette was mu- gan to truly gain the notice of the yoga com- sical from the start. He played piano when munity. One important person who noticed he was very young, guitar and djembe as a was Terry McBride, CEO and co-founder of teenager. He was eager to find a way to bring Canada’s Music Group, a label and his mind and his body together in a non-mu- management company behind artists such sical way, though, and he looked to the East, as Sarah McLachlan, , Barenaked trying out karate and tai chi before settling Ladies and . In 2006 McBride on yoga in college. The meditative focus of was looking to revive Nutone Records, a Saturday, October 22 yoga turned out to be what he’d been look- world music label he’d started years earlier, ing for. and he liked the idea of yoga-inspired mu- at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory In case you’re wondering, yes, Wade is sic. Doors open 8:00 p.m. Movie starts at 9:15 p.m. related to that other famous Morissette— Morissette’s fusion of Sanskrit and Eng- very closely related, in fact. He was born lish chants with smoothly flowing music The movie will be shown outside on the Terrace, so please dress accordingly. 12 minutes before his sister, Alanis, making was just what McBride wanted to hear; he In the event of rain, the movie will be cancelled. him the elder of the Morissette twins. While first heard Morissette’s music while taking Rated R. Children under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Wade was busy trying to find inner peace a yoga class in , and when he dis- and happiness, Alanis was occupying herself covered that the album wasn’t readily avail- Admission by becoming a globally famous pop music able for purchase, he decided to change that. $2 Adults 18+ superstar. Morissette became the first artist signed to $1 Children Wade has comes to terms with Alanis’ McBride’s new label, and Strong as Dia- fame now – he cites her as a major influence 1100 S. Calhoun St., Fort Wayne • 427-6440 • www.botanicalconservatory.org in his life, and he has even shared the stage Continued on page 16 6------www.whatzup.com------October 20, ’11 MORISSETTE - From Page 6 monds: Om Vajra Kaya Namaha, the follow-up to his with their bodies and their spirits at the same time. self-released debut album, Sargam Scales of Music, He teaches vinyasa, a style of yoga that links move- was the result. ments with breath in a way that approaches dance, and “This release is more about celebrating, gratitude he leads participants in what he calls “bliss dance,” a and lifting one’s spirit,” Morissette says of Strong as form of musical meditation that can be as structured Diamonds in comparison to his debut. “It has a lot or as free-form as participants want it to be. And, of more energy and it’s sunnier, but it’s still soulful.” course, he chants and sings, often wrapping up with A sponsorship from a yoga apparel company, a world kirtan, a style of audience-participation chanting that tour, his fortuitous discovery by McBride – everything he refers to as “singing around the campfire.” converged to lead some commentators to call Moris- Considering how positively the yoga world has sette yoga’s rock star. His energy remained focused on responded to Morissette’s music, it’s surprising that teaching, however, and he continues to maintain an there haven’t been generations of yoga rock stars be- ambitious schedule of traveling all over, conducting fore him. For his part, Morissette knows that he’s sim- workshops and retreats. ply stating the obvious when he says that music can Morissette’s workshops are very much an expres- tap into something powerful inside. sion of his desire to bring together movement, medita- “It’s a natural way to tune into the frequency of tion and music to allow participants to get in touch love,” he says.

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16------www.whatzup.com------October 20, ’11