If you’re looking for a yoga-rock star with spiritual and environmental values, Michael Franti, singer, composer and lead of the group Michael Franti and Spearhead, sets the stage for an inspiring tale. In addition to being vegan, a Jivamukti yoga practionner and an environmentalist, Franti promotes oneness and joy. Franti, whose song, “Say Hey” (I Love You) reached number 18 on the U.S. charts and “The Sound of Sunshine” which is frequently on the radio airwaves, was born of a French-Irish-German mother and a Seminole Indian and African American father.

As he sat at the Jivamukti Yoga Charleston studio preparing to start the acoustic concert, he said that his dad left and his mom put him up for adoption because she feared the trials of raising a “brown baby” as he described himself. He ended up in a Finnish family with three white kids, and an African-American child. Franti speaks lovingly of his four foot eleven inch white mom who would scold him at the mall as a six foot six tall, dark-skinned teen. He says he sometimes used it to his advantage and pretended he didn’t know her. Franti laughs.

“She treated us all the same,” he says referring to his siblings. His mom, who he speaks of with affection, expected them to view others they met in the world this way. “Black, white, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, whatever,” he said. “We were expected to treat them all the same way too.”

Franti went on to describe the earth and how from outer space there are no borders or separation. It all looks like one big harmonious place surrounded by a very delicate and fragile atmosphere. Franti sang for Jivamukti Yoga as a way to raise funds for his annual Power to the Peaceful Festival in the San Francisco Bay area. A non-profit festival, the proceeds go to causes to prevent the death penalty and promote peace worldwide. It’s a chance to heart Franti play and practice yoga in the same weekend.

The medium for the message is music. “Music is sunshine,” says Michael Franti, one of the most positive and conscious artists in music today. “Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose.” 

Franti, with his background and upbringing seems to embody oneness. He’s like a one-person melting pot and he embraces it with grace and humor. Few people seem to exude such confidence and beauty and express their authentic self as well as Franti. After the acoustic session at the yoga studio, he settled in on a yoga mat with the rest of the crowd and moved into a down dog, like just another member of the crowd.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.