Charlie Watts Archives

Lets get it clear from the outset that I love the Rolling Stones and have done since my teens. Over the years as I progressed further into my yoga journey I was pleasantly surprised how often the Rolling Stones had a link to and relevance to yoga.

The yama in the lyrics

I guess the first time I started to notice this was in the lyrics to ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. In the first limb of Yoga, the Yamas (codes of self restraint), there is non-greed, aparigraha. The lyric “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need,” pretty much sums up aparigraha. If we are greedy and allow ourselves to be overcome with desire and wants then we will not sit in a happy contended place in our lives. But if you try sometime, you just might find that you have got everything you need.

Through yoga we can observe our desires and wants and begin to see with greater clarity which are “wants” and which are “needs”. It doesn’t mean that we no longer have “wants” but it allow us to contextualise these wants and not allow them to dictate our happiness. Being mindful and living in the present moment. The Zen of the Rolling Stones!

The tongue and lips logo

The next yoga coincidence occurred when I visited Exhibitionism at the Saatchi gallery in London to see all of the Stones memorabilia. There was an exhibit about the famous tongue and lips logo and how it came about. Mick had seen the lips on a picture of the Goddess Kali. See below;

Goddess Kali features in the both the Vedas and the Upanishads which are ancient yogic and Hindu texts. Clearly Mick has had an interest in this area since the sixties.

Mick Jagger and Yoga

Mick has stated a number of times in recent years that he includes Yoga in his workout regime. He has also been in the press this year talking about his new found love of aerial yoga!

Having a dig around on the internet I found a picture of Mick in Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand Pose) from back in the early 70’s;