DJ Gina Turner performs at Middlesex Lounge on May 12, 2015.
Nicky Digital/Corbis via Getty Images
When it comes to career trajectories, there probably aren’t many that appear more natural than that of DJ Gina Turner. Growing up in New York, Turner quickly integrated herself into the lively club scene of the city, sneaking into Sound Factory at 14 years old with a fake ID. After earning her college degree in audio production, she moved to Los Angeles to DJ for a dance radio station and later became a nightclub DJ. But wanting creative freedom in her career, she began producing her own house music. To combat the aches and pains she was prone to, Turner turned to yoga. She eventually became a yoga teacher in 2012. Turner continues to DJ and produce her own music, most recently releasing “Sri Ram (Original Mix)” ft. Tim Miller.
Tim Rothschild’s career path was more winding. After a tough heartbreak, the former “beer drinkin’” football player threw himself into spiritual healing, using meditation, yoga, and other holistic techniques to heal his body and mind after years of wear-and-tear. After becoming a Nondual Kabbalistic Healer, he founded The Third Thing Network, a multi-media platform designed to explore spiritual healing and exploration.
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Rothschild and Turner, who were close friends in high school, reconnected and they eventually created The Divine Movement, providing classes and events that combine music, yoga, and spiritual healing. Now, after releasing The Divine Movement podcast, Rothschild and Turner are preparing to release their single, “Integration,” on March 29.
After giving Billboard a meditation and yoga lesson, Rothschild and Turner sat down to give their top tips on how to use ancient holistic techniques to navigate the hectic modern lifestyle.
Tip #1: Get Comfortable with Yoga By Being Present
Gina Turner: A lot of level one students that I teach say, “I really want to try a level two class,” but people are afraid to go into those classes. I remind people that everyone’s a beginner in yoga because the beautiful thing about it is you’re turning inwards. It doesn’t matter what your neighbor is doing. It doesn’t matter what the person behind you is doing. It doesn’t even matter what you were doing in your last yoga class. Just be here right now and do what feels right for you in this moment. That’s the perfect way to be — not just in yoga, but in everything.
Tim Rothschild: Yoga is a holistic practice. When you do yoga, you’re coming into a relationship with yourself. You come and show up exactly as you are. We’ve all had imperfect upbringings in different ways and we’ve all had uneven levels of development. In yoga, that’s expressed through tight hamstrings or a stiff shoulder or a certain amount competitive anger that shows up when you can’t get to where you want to be. These holistic practices work on your spiritual body, physical body, and emotional body — it’s not just physical.
Tip #2: Start Your Yoga Practice with Child’s Pose
GT: Child’s pose reminds your body it needs to rest. It relaxes your mind and lets you settle into your practice.
TR: I will not start my practice without it. Child’s pose is my anchor point; it grounds and settles me.
Tip #3: Awaken Your Third Eye
GT: Get into Child’s Pose and rub your Third Eye — the space between your eyebrows — on the mat. The Third Eye is your center of intuition, so when you massage it on the mat, it wakes it up and your body intuitively know what’s right or wrong for you during your practice. it’s also a way to physically relax your forehead because we’re often very tense and furrow our brows [during exercise practices].
TR: I’ve noticed I have a deeper connection to my Third Eye [when I wake it up]. I start to remember its presence more often. At some point, I imagine when people are dancing on the dance floor, we may not even need all the lights. Everyone’s Third Eye will be blasting light all over the place.
Tip #4: End Your Yoga Practice with Savasana
GT: A lot of times, western philosophy on yoga is only physical. It’s about getting yourself into a pretzel. But really, that’s only one aspect of yoga. Savasana is taking the time to rest and take in the benefits of your practice. It settles everything in.
TR: Any healthy system — and humans are systems — has construction and connection, and it also has deconstruction and disconnection. In between those is stasis or an anchor point, and during that time, that’s where integration [of construction and deconstruction] occurs. At the end of every yoga session, if you can find that balance, that’s where you can integrate the work you’ve done into your mind, body and spirit. Savasana is that integration.
Tip #5: Yoga Shouldn’t Be Limited to the Classroom
GT: It’s really hard for me to do yoga outside of a class setting, but there are so many amazing resources that allow you to incorporate a practice at home. There’s no excuse. Try to do what you can at home.
Tip #6: Eating Well is a Discipline
GT: I’m not perfect, but I try to stay as vegetarian as I can on the road. The less packaged stuff you get, the better. I’ve also been on the “I will not pay for food” diet, meaning if I paid for food at that airport, I knew I was paying for junk, so I didn’t. I would eat before I got to the airport and wait until I could go to a healthy store to eat again.
TR: I started to do a lot of intermittent fasting, which means I would only eat certain hours of the day, with a lot of planning and preparation for it. You get the nutrients you need at the right time. You also tune into your body’s GPS system and realize you don’t need to be eating as much as you think you do. But understand each day is different. If you’re moving around and doing a lot of stuff one day, take in a little more calories and nutrients. If you’re doing less another, you don’t need to eat as much.
Tip #7: No One Is an Island
TR: A lot of people think they have to conquer everything on their own. If you are in trouble, there are people out there who would love to support you, including myself.