I grew up practicing yoga and meditation from a very young age in a small Sikh/ Kundalini Yoga community in a small town called Eugene in the state of Oregon in the United States. I was an energetic kid who absolutely loved being center stage. Getting to play Wilbur in Charlotte's Web in our 5th grade musical was the highlight of my elementary school career. I had to cry to get the role because the teacher almost cast someone else...yep, I was THAT kid. I was a pretty free-spirited kid who loved exploring the backyard with my cat, Heera (it means Crystal in Punjabi) and pretending that I was bug-sized and each blade of grass was a new world to be explored! My grandmother made me a bow and arrow out of sticks once and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Turquoise was my favorite color and I used to hide all my turquoise dresses that I didn't fit into anymore just because I loved them so much I didn't want to have to get rid of them. One time I hid under my bed and ate an entire half-gallon of vanilla bean ice cream with a silver spoon. I was 6. 

​

The community I grew up in is known as 3HO, "the white Sikhs", or "the American Sikhs". It is a community originally started by Yogi Bhajan, a master of Kundalini Yoga who came over from India in the '70s to America to teach this limb of yoga focused on using asana (posture), pranayama (breath) and mantra (sacred chanting) to raise your level of consciousness. My mother eventually became his student (her aunt dragged her to her first class and then she was hooked and decided to convert to Sikhism) and then had an arranged marriage with my father (Yogi Bhajan knew my dad's family back in India). I came about about 4 years later, on October 10th, 1989. 

 

This community naturally melded both Sikhism and Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan was a Sikh and he taught Kundalini Yoga...some prominent Sikh teachers in the past were into KY but that is a story for another time). Yogi Bhajan used to travel between some major cities in the U.S. where he had the most students. He eventually created a teacher training program for Kundalini Yoga, more teachers were certified and now the community has spread worldwide. Whenever I travel, I like to link up with the local 3HO community because I know we will have similar values (vegetarianism, yoga, meditation, and generally living a healthy, conscious lifestyle).

​

I grew up attending Sikh summer camps where I would wake up with my peers at 6am to practice downward dog and "butterfly" in the sacred Hemez mountains of northern New Mexico. Fast forward to age 12 I took a trip to India with my dad for a cousin's wedding. While we were there, we visited an International boarding school (Miri Piri Academy) started by Yogi Bhajan for the children of his students to be raised with a spiritual education alongside an academic one. After we came home from the trip, I couldn't stop thinking about that school. I was a pretty indecisive kid and used to avoid making big decisions (I'm a Libra...we are suppose to be indecisive lol) but I KNEW I needed to go to this school. It took a year of convincing but finally off I went the next year for 9 months and went back each year for the rest of high school. 

 

It was one of the most life-changing experiences and has forever changed the trajectory of my life. Waking up at 2am to mediate before the sun rose was a norm. I learned a heightened awareness of my mind and had many deep meditative experiences of pure bliss and inner peace. I got to study Indian Classical music for 3 years and play at some prominent Sikh temples including the Akal Takat at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but I always felt inspired to attend the optional early morning trips to do sea (selfless service) at the Golden Temple or listen to kirtan (sacred chanting). I got to deepen my practice of yoga and become a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher by the time I graduated in 2008.

​

I returned to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon on their Diversity Building Scholarship. During my senior year I studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and got to make trips to Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil. I developed a slight mate addiction, deepened my love for salsa dancing and gained 15lbs from all the dulce de leche I consumed. I have always been a passionate, expressive and creative person and felt very at home in the European-Latin cultural mix Argentina had to offer. While studying abroad in Buenos Aires, I looked up "Casa De Luz" the local Kundalini Yoga center and became friends with Pritham Bhagvati who ran the studio. I taught a few yoga classes in my mediocre Spanish and got to play traditional Sikh music at their monthly Sikh service. 

​

Fast forward to the Gurunam of today, I am Portland, OR based, and live a vibrant life full of studying acting, traveling, teaching yoga, writing and creating! I'm passionate about digging my teeth into what life has to offer, overcoming my own internal blocks to my own happiness and success and sharing love and light with the world! There is honestly SO MUCH MORE I could write, but I save it for the blog. If you've read this far, awesome! Hope you enjoyed learning more about me and if you'd like to hear more about my travels, life lessons learned or healthy lifestyle tips check out my blog!

  :)

​

<3 

Gurunam