Essential Mix Live From Homelands - Paul Van Dyk, Sasha, John Digweed, Pete Tong - 5-28-00 - VJ Mix

WARNING: You might want to turn off video if you have photo-sensitive epilepsy or migraines!

As a "sound healer," I believe this mix by Paul Van Dyk from the "Golden Age of Trance" is some of the best music for dancing and feeling good. No drugs required! I downloaded this mix two decades ago (!!) and used to play it in my car while driving around Los Angeles. I found it again recently and thought it might be cool to add some visualizations and upload it to YouTube. Call this a form of "dance meditation," as it can actually put you into an altered state of mind.

Back during the rave days of the early 90s and into the trance revolution, up until 2001 when 9/11 hit, the dance scene was largely positive, filled with friendly, inspired youth (and a few oldtimers) who were interested in spreading love and peace through music. Yes, there were some drugs, mostly ecstacy (which I didn't take myself), but the overall vibe was POSITIVE.

Today, with coronavirus, cancel culture, and political division, kids don't know what they missed - back in the day, things weren't perfect, but the levels of anxiety and hate were nowhere near where they are today. We welcomed people with open arms and focused on love, not division or offense. We didn't end friendships or relationships over political differences. We weren't constantly looking for things to get offended by. We just had fun. I guess you could criticize that and say we weren't trying to make political change, but that's not true - I went to Iraq War protests and engaged in activism.

We were diverse too. I am white, my best dance buddy at the time was a black man, and we would go with a large group of diverse, motley people to clubs and after-hours. We didn't discuss race or gender or politics. Once we went to the dance party, we left our politics, angst, and personal crap at the door and just enjoyed ourselves.

There's something to be said for that. Constant outrage is bad for your health and probably doesn't create positive change in the long run. We need to learn how to let go again, have fun, and stop making everything political in order to reunite and overcome the divide.

The days of raves are gone and may never come back in a world under perpetual lockdown. But you can enjoy a dance party in your home. Turn off the lights, turn up the music, forget your cares, and move your body.