Behind the mic: Who is Lucinda Drayton?

Chances are you’ve heard the blissful sounds of voice during savasana and it undoubtedly made you feel present, uplifted, and calm – might have even dosed off (we’ve all been there!). But this Saturday, we’re getting a rare treat of seeing Lucinda Drayton perform live at Lumi. Before she takes to the head mat turned stage, we caught up with her to get the scoop on how she got into music, meditation and yoga.

When asked where she draws her musical inspiration from, Lucinda said “music really comes from the ‘listening’ that results from her meditation and spiritual work – It comes from presence.” It’s the kind of presence that yogis and practitioners recognise – for some of us it is the physical based practice that gets us there, and for her it’s the listening and ‘presencing’ of the mind.

Meditation has been such an influence in her life. From early on, Lucinda was asking questions like “Why am I not happy?”, “what is life about?”- and started meditating at the age of 22. After university she moved to London, got in her first band and tried to “make it” – Beatles-style.

Her exploration into meditation didn’t end with the pursuit of musical glory. She continued exploring and actually got into hypnotherapy which helped her give up smoking. Diving deeper and deeper into her spiritual discovery, she started using affirmations daily – like “Lucinda will write #1 hits”. And she did just that – wrote the #1 “The Real Thing” and as she puts it: “hit the top of my mountain very quickly”. But the illusion of fame only prompted even more questions.

As a result, Lucinda dedicated herself to practicing Raja Yoga – a style of yoga that is rooted in meditation for spiritual self-realization – and did so intensively for nearly twenty years. She changed her lifestyle to include everything from daily 4am practice, to becoming a vegetarian to being celibate for a number of years. While she isn’t as strict with herself now, she is still very much on a similar path.

So what’s Lucinda doing now? Today she teaches meditation and self- empowerment using the principles and practices of The Reach Approach – a comprehensive synergistic program that takes into account your body, mind and spiritual health as well as the effect your environment has on all of those. Based in the Midlands, The Reach Approach is group of over 65 practitioners specialising in counselling, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, meditation and mind-body medicine.

Despite being a meditation coach, hosting workshops and playing gigs around the world, she still finds time to write music regularly. The difference now is ‘it’s much more of a flow’ she said, ‘no pressure or forced inspiration, but rather letting the music to come’ – a symptom of the deep spiritual connection she’s made over the years.

Lucky for us, Lucinda and her producer Marcus will be sharing brand new tracks live off of their upcoming album – and we will be the first to hear them! Playing for an audience that is present, like yogis, is what they love. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, join us on Saturday night to meet Lucinda and Marcus in person, learn more about their journey and most of all, hear some incredible yoga music!

You can purchase tickets to Live at Lumi with Lucinda Drayton online, in-studio or over the phone: http://ow.ly/JFiF2

Stay up to date on Lucinda’s music through her Facebook page: http://ow.ly/JFhEM and twitter: @Lucindasing