Floating Down the River of Relaxation

I’ve been hearing this super mellow song about floating down the river quite a bit in my yoga classes. It’s sung by a dude with a sultry, soothing voice who is accompanied by something that sounds like a lute. The mystical sounds of a Japanese orchestra in the background and the dreamy mixture of soothing lyrics, like, “Maybe we could meet again further down the river and share what we both discovered…then revel in the view,” provide all the required elements for the ultimate savasana session.

It’s also a pretty damn seductive song, and it could very well make a sexy songs playlist, right up there with just about anything from Barry White.

I’ve always wondered who sang this song and figured it must be someone in the mellow yoga music genre, like Wade Imre Morissette. I needed to find out who the artist was so I could add it to my favorite savasana playlist, and my Google search for “Flowing Down the River” was not bringing the desired results. Not to worry. I knew I would hear it again in yoga class, and, sure enough, the song had its calming effect on me during savasana one day last week. I asked my yoga instructor about the song, and you can imagine my surprise when she told me it was performed by Incubus.

Incubus! No way…aren’t they an alternative rock band? Not the kind of group I’d expect to put out a mellow little ditty that is played in yoga studios around the world.

Check it out being performed live.

For those of you wondering, that funky four-stringed musical instrument being played by lead guitarist Steve Vai is called a pipa.

Unfortunately, the live version left out the nearly one minute of real frogs croaking like you hear on the 7-minute and 46-second recorded version. The frogs were recorded live right outside the studio in Malibu, California, where the album Morning View was recorded.

The lead vocalist, Brandon Boyd (who is pretty darn hot!), said that the purpose of the song was to make “the listener pee in his/her pants” from relaxation. Brandon, I haven’t seen anyone pee in their pants yet while listening to this song during savasana, but I do have to say that you hit the mark on recording a song that is synonymous with relaxation.

In case you’re curious about which songs have made my savasana song playlist, so far the list includes:

“Be Here Now” by Ray LaMontagne

“Glitter in the Air” by Pink

“Aqueous Transmission” by Incubus

If you have the perfect savasana song—one that really makes you relax and get deeper into the pose—please leave me a comment with your suggestions so I can fill up my playlist with yoga songs that rock!

Photo: Luis Brito