DJ duo Mental Physix—made up of Crisanto Santa Ana and Dru Ali—has been guiding vinyasas through dub beats formed by Technic1200s since 2012. It’s very Southern California of them, of course, to explore the fusion of music and yoga to "create a divine union of healing, through self-realization and sound." You could classify that sound as world music with a touch of hip hop and downtempo reggae, which delves into the “mystical and meditative, with lots of BASS!”

And when both the yogis and the DJs feed off each other's energies, the experience gets intensely spiritual. Mental Physix is working on its debut album, due out in spring 2016. But in case you want to get your groove on with your downward dog this holiday season, the guys are giving away their single “Bhakti Love / Rockstar Sitars," released with Black Swan Sounds. Download it here. Crisanto and Dru talk to Myspace about the origins of their musical practice.

Hometown: Orange County, California

Homebase: Long Beach and Orange County, California

How long have you two known each other?

Crisanto: We met through mutual friends in high school.

Dru: We were heavily into music growing up and were both part of the local hip-hop scene so we eventually crossed paths through mutual friends and have worked together ever since.

How did you end up playing yogi-centric music?

Dru: We both had recently experienced some very profound awakenings in 2012, and then were led to Joshua Tree for our first ever yoga festival, Shakti Fest 2012. That was where it all started. (And we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into). That weekend definitely changed our lives and put us on the path we’re on today.

Crisanto: I was in deep meditation and saw musical expressions through the visions that I received. After attending Shakti Fest, I was so inspired by the experience (the music that I heard from other artists, the yoga, and the positive energy and high vibrations), that when I got home, I decided this was the type of music I wanted to create and express.

Why call yourselves Mental Physix?

Crisanto: We were inspired to name our movement Mental Physix because all of us in the world are living in the mental and also in the physical state. Both worlds are mysterious and we wanted to express that concept musically.

Dru: We like to make different styles of music so it also represents the balance of our sound. When it comes to yoga and meditation classes, we like to slow things down and create sacred soundscapes so that you can go deeper into your practice (the music being more “mental” and downtempo). But on the flip side, we also like to rock parties and play more driven world beats for festivals and ecstatic dance events (the music being more “physical” and uptempo).

Did you grow up playing music? What influenced you growing up?

Crisanto: When I was in elementary school, my older cousin played the piano and he would teach me. Growing up, my dad would always play rock & roll (like the Beatles) on the car radio. My family always played 80s music in the Philippines when I was a kid.

Dru: My dad worked at a radio station when I was growing up, so I've always been surrounded by music. I started collecting vinyl records at a young age and have always been fascinated with recording and making music.

Were you in other bands before? What were they like?

Dru: Outside of Mental Physix, we’re also part of a hip-hop group called Parallel. We’ve been making music since ’98 and have all known each other since high school. Nothing beats rocking a show together with a bunch of your long time friends!

Crisanto: I was in a few music groups before Mental Physix. Aside from Parallel, I was in groups called Vantage Point and Universal Greetings. They are talented and very inspiring! I'm still great friends with all of them and we are still cultivating projects.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

That's a tough question! We would like to collaborate with all the peace pushers and soul healers out there on a mission to restore our world back into balance.

What are your day jobs? Do they help you make music for the band?

Crisanto: My girlfriend and I own a boutique content production company called LiveFree Productions. We create videos, photos, sound designs and anything else you can think of to help other companies become successful. It helps me make music for our group because it helps pay for a lot of our musical equipment, and we are able to house many of our resources. For instance we are able to do Mental Physix's photography and music videos through my day job.

Dru: A lot of what I do is music related, so it helps in many ways. This is truly what we love doing so we're investing everything into our dreams!