The live album by Simrit Kaur is, in a word, amazing! Here you’ll discover riveting, somewhat haunting, and always surprising renditions of songs from her past four albums. If you’ve ever wondered if music could be simultaneously mind-blowing and soul-soothing, this album is your unforgettable answer.

From the thrumming, groovy opening track “Prithvi Hai,” through the trance-like “Pavan Guru,” the lilting, sonorous “Kudrat Kavan,” and the upbeat, can’t-help-but-dance-in-my-seat “Aad Such,” this live album sweeps its listener up in a literal sound current.

Whether it pulses towards white water (“Clandestine,”) or moves into a soothing eddy (“Kal Akaal”), it’s a refreshing journey every note of the way. The final track, “Guru Ram Das,” is beyond sublime, an angelic must-hear! Longtime Simrit fans will gobble up this album whole, and newcomers are in for a delightful treat.

Simrit Kaur Live: Her Voice and Her Band

Imagine that the Aurora Borealis could sing: that’s Simrit’s voice. Timeless, strong, and ethereal as a whale’s song. Next, layer in her harmonium and a masterful band: a dynamic bass, resonant cello, driving percussion and lyrical kora. The kora is a tall, stringed, West African instrument with a large gourd as its base. Many solos and graceful transitions on every track liberally highlight the musicians and their instruments.

Immerse Yourself in the Live Album

This Live album is a generous, two-disk musical immersion. It contains nine tracks ranging in length from 7 to 17+ minutes each.  Whether Simrit Kaur is singing a Gurmukhi mantra, or a song in English, the appeal of this live album reaches beyond the Kundalini yoga music genre. It is rock, world music, and frankly, “out-of-this-world” music. There’s a timeless, stardust quality to this album that defies definition.

To borrow words from its fourth track, “The Keeper,” Simrit’s double live album is, “Some new reverie that we will remember/I carry it home and keep it forever.” I trust I won’t be alone in treasuring it always!

This is one of those transportive albums where occasionally instead of merely listening to the music, you become it. Learn more and purchase the album here.

Mara Saranpreet Luthane

Mara Saranpreet Luthane is an actor, model, kundalini yogi & emerging writer in Los Angeles.

The post Live, North American Spring Tour 2017 by Simrit Kaur appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

If you’ve heard celebrated mantra singer Snatam Kaur chant, you were likely moved by her devotion-filled voice. In her desire to help sustain such inspiration beyond the concert hall, she’s penned a new book that guides people on “a path to their own light and destiny.” In Original Light: The Morning Practice of Kundalini Yoga, Snatam offers a step-by-step invitation into The Aquarian Sadhana, the foundational practice of Kundalini Yoga. 

Sadhana is defined as any spiritual practice done with consistent dedication. Snatam Kaur’s spiritual teacher Yogi Bhajan crafted The Aquarian Sadhana to help people meet and even transform the pressures of the times in which we currently live.

In Original Light, Snatam’s signature steady and loving voice takes us along a clear path of preparations and wake-up routines, yoga sets, sacred recitations, breathing techniques, meditations, mantras, methods to surrender to the Divine, and suggestions for including family and community in one’s practice. The book is peppered with colorful gems from Sikh history, as well as the author’s personal stories. Like any seasoned teacher, Snatam invites readers to modify their practice so it best suits their lifestyle and ensures sustainability. 

Yogi Bhajan crafted The Aquarian Sadhana to help people meet and even transform the pressures of the times in which we currently live.

This is an essential read for experienced practitioners and beginners alike. My personal sadhana changed the day I finished these pages. Like a cookbook packed with age-old, morning yogic recipes, Snatam’s latest creation offers delightful tools designed to help us enjoy—and sustain—our Original Light. A thorough appendix and two accompanying CDs round out the book’s practicality. Two gyan mudras up!

Original Light

By Snatam Kaur

Sounds True

Buy Original Light here. 

Reviewed by Mara Saranpreet Luthane, an actor, model, and certified teacher of Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan.  

Mara Saranpreet Luthane

Mara Saranpreet Luthane is an actor, model, kundalini yogi & emerging writer in Los Angeles.

The post Original Light Book Review appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.