Chaos is a certified yoga instructor

Yoga

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

, personal trainer

Personal trainer

A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...

, dancer, and burlesque performer

Burlesque

Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...

 from Michigan. She is a member of the Pin Up Girls burlesque-cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 company in Los Angeles and has her own line of workout videos: Yoga For Indie Rockers

Yoga For Indie Rockers

Yoga For Indie Rockers is a fitness video that matches a traditional yoga workout with contemporary indie rock music and attitude.The DVD features certified yoga instructor Chaos running a hardbody yoga workout with three students: Rage Burner , Karri Langlois , and Kristina Sefeldt...

, Pilates For Indie Rockers

Pilates For Indie Rockers

Pilates For Indie Rockers is a fitness video that matches a traditional pilates workout with contemporary indie rock music and attitude.The DVD features certified yoga instructor Chaos running a mat-style pilates workout with the assistance of Rage Burner, who demonstrates the beginner moves...

, and the forthcoming Burlesque Workout For Indie Rockers.

Chaos started dancing at the age of 3 and was teaching dance by the time she reached high school. She expanded her studies to include yoga and pilates while attending Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....

, then relocated to Fort Lauderdale to attend the The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale

The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is a private, coeducational applied-arts college located in southeast urban Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Founded in 1968 by the late Mark K. Wheeler, it is the second Art Institute of a current 50 to be established in North America...

. While in Fort Lauderdale, she studied Hardbody yoga under her mentor Tari Rose, who encouraged her to become a certified yoga instructor.

Chaos developed her own style of yoga workout that incorporates elements of Hardbody yoga, Bikram yoga

Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional hatha yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s. Bikram's classes run exactly 90 minutes and consist of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises...

, Pilates

Pilates

Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany, the UK and the USA. As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States....

, and aerobics

Aerobics

Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...

. She found that the usual rainforest/chanting music associated with yoga lacked the energy needed for the vigorous workouts she'd developed. She began testing a variety of musical styles with her classes and quickly discovered that rock music and yoga workouts went surprisingly well together. The mix became increasingly popular; students commented that the classes were more fun, and Chaos observed the students were working harder in class. This eventually led to the Fitness For Indie Rockers line of workout videos that Chaos developed with award-winning filmmaker Matt Pizzolo

Matt Pizzolo

Matt Pizzolo is an award-winning film director, screenwriter, and producer. His early works were created in New York City's Lower East Side, where he lived for eight years before moving to Los Angeles...

. The videos are distributed by HALO 8 Entertainment

HALO 8 Entertainment

HALO-8 Entertainment is a transmedia entertainment company specializing in cinema, genre graphic novels, midnight movies, music-driven lifestyle videos, and animation...

, Ryko Filmworks

Rykodisc

Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...

, and WEA

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

.

Some yoga devotees have questioned the combination of rock music and yoga. Chaos told Big Shot Magazine:

"If listening to indie rock helps you dig deeper into that warrior or pushes you to do one more downward dog push-up, well then I say keep on rockin'!" http://www.bigshotmag.com/news/?p=309

A broad spectrum of musicians supported the new approach to yoga workouts by contributing their own music; artists such as Kevin Devine

Kevin Devine

Kevin Devine is an American songwriter and musician from Brooklyn, New York, who is known for alternately introspective and political lyrics and melodic acoustic guitar songs...

, Alec Empire

Alec Empire

Alec Empire is a German musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot. Also a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ, he has released well over a hundred albums, EPs and singles and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk...

, Jet Lag Gemini

Jet Lag Gemini

Jet Lag Gemini is a rock band from the United States. Formed in 2004, they released their debut EP, Business, in the summer of 2006. Their first full-length album, "Fire the Cannons" was released on January 22, 2008...

, Crash Romeo

Crash Romeo

-History:Crash Romeo was formed by members who had previously played together in the band Centsless. Members of the band Bedlight for Blue Eyes suggested the band to their label Trustkill Records, who signed the group late in 2005. Their debut appeared on the label the following year, produced by...

, The Dillinger Escape Plan

The Dillinger Escape Plan

The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie. The band's current line-up consists of guitarist Ben Weinman,...

, House of Fools

House of Fools (band)

House of Fools is a rock band from Greensboro, North Carolina. Members include Josh King , David McLaughlin , Joel Kiser , Matt Bowers , Jordan Powers and Jack Foster .House of Fools formed in 2004, from a demo recording made by King and Bowers...

, Pelican

Pelican (band)

Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography and description:The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Its distinctive sound draws from stoner rock, doom metal, post-rock, and other influences...

, Enduser, Ladyfinger (ne), Criteria

Criteria (band)

Criteria is an indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, formed in 2003 when ex-Cursive founding member Steve Pedersen returned to his hometown after graduating from the Duke University School of Law. He spent six months in a friend's basement where he wrote all ten songs for his new project's debut...

, Edgey

Edgey

Edgey is an experimental music, industrial and breakcore musical project from New York City. Stephen James Knight is the production mind behind the creations, also denoting a side project, for this moniker...

, Paulson, Sorry About Dresden

Sorry About Dresden

Sorry About Dresden is a four-man indie rock band from Chapel Hill, N.C. Since forming in 1997, the band has made a modest splash in the national indie scene....

, Roses Are Red

Roses Are Red (band)

Roses Are Red was an alternative rock band formed in Rochester, New York. The band was signed to Trustkill Records.-Biography:...

, and more.

Alec Empire told Plug In Music:

"Believe it or not, we are all into yoga since years. I remixed Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

's song "Jóga

Jóga

"Jóga" is a song by Björk, and the first single from her 1997 album Homogenic. It features a mix of classical string instruments with heavy electronic beats which is present in the whole album.-Background:...

" a while back. I loved the idea of indie rockers doing it to my song! The image of yoga being some hippie new age ambient thing is very outdated by now...the techniques helped me to focus my energy...my music is only about energy..." http://www.pluginmusic.com/news/archive.php?id=2067

In addition to fitness instruction, Chaos performs with the Pin Up Girls burlesque-cabaret company in Los Angeles.

External links

• http://www.yogaforindierockers.com Official Yoga For Indie Rockers site, redirects to MySpace
• http://www.myspace.com/thepinupgirlshow Official Pin Up Girls site, redirects to MySpace