Immerse Yourself in the Splendor of the Shabad Guru

This coming Fall, Sikh Dharma International is offering two amazing opportunities for intensive study and experience of the Shabad Guru.

JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF SIKH DHARMA – Telecourse

September 28, 2009 – April 17, 2010

Do you have a desire to expand and deepen your relationship with yourself, your Dharma and Shabd Guru? Join this course, now in its 9th year, to enrich your relationship to the lifestyle of Sikh Dharma.  In this small group, bi-weekly telecourse, you will be guided by a facilitator, Mata Mandir Kaur Khalsa, and joined by expert teachers in many areas of the Dharma.  The focus of the course is to deepen, discover and nurture your own experience with Sikh Consciousness.  Together we bring our questions and our experiences to a shared experiential journey.

Snatam Kaur will teach  Gurbani, Gurmukhi, Naad Yoga, and Nitnem. Other well known teachers include  Ek Ong Kaar Kaur teaching Banis and Gurumeher Singh teaching Prosperity.

The course takes place on the phone twice a month on Monday’s from 7-9 pm EST from September 2009 through April 2010. Meeting via a conference line, it allows seekers from all over the world to come together forming a virtual sangat.

BLISS YATRA – Northern India

Keshgar Sahib

November 9 – November 20

Amritsar. Goindwal. Anandpur Sahib. These sacred sites in India hold the history of how Sikh Dharma began. Join us for a special Bliss Yatra where we will meditate at these holy shrines, spend four days in Anadpur Sahib studying and understanding Guru Amar Das’ Anand Sahib: The Song of Bliss, and share in life changing experiences. Find the bliss inside of yourself and reconnect with your Infinity.

Here is an insightful and entertaining testimonial from a participant in Sikh Dharma’s India Yatra earlier this year.

For course details visit Sikh Dharma’s website or contact Sat Jiwan Kaur Khalsa at sdsatjiwank@sikhdharma.org or 505.629.4721

Immerse Yourself in the Splendor of the Shabad Guru

Spirit Voyage is very excited to share three wonderful opportunities to immerse yourself in the splendor of the Shabad Guru; a Japji Sahib Course, a Gurbani Kirtan Intensive and a Bliss Yatra to India.

In July, Sikh Dharma International and Spirit Voyage will be hosting two back-to-back events in Espanola, New Mexico. First, a Japji Sahib Course with Ek Ong Kaar Kaur (July 5th-7th) comprising 2 full days of meditation, discussion and music where participants will deeply experience the message and method of Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib.  Yogi Bhajan said, “Japji Sahib is initiation and instigating your soul to make your environments healthy, happy, and holy. When you understand it, you will be prosperous, pure, and perfect.”

Immediately following the Japji Sahib Course will be a Gurbani Kirtan Intensive with Snatam Kaur (July 7th – 14th) designed to awaken the inner voice through ancient singing techniques. Snatam Kaur and guest presenters will guide the group in the development of personal relationships to the meanings of the sacred Shabads (songs) and learn the healing language of Gurbani Kirtan, and Gurmukhi. Rejoice in the rhythm, and gain confidence to sing with grace and power.

In keeping with the wonderful tradition of India Yatras, Sikh Dharma International is hosting a Bliss Yatra between November 9th and 20th in India.  You are invited to join the journey to Amritsar, Goindwal and Anandpur Sahib, to meditate at the holy shrines, spend four days in Anadpur Sahib studying and understanding Guru Amar Das’ Anand Sahib: The Song of Bliss, and share in life changing experiences.

For course details and registration, including special discounts for signing up for both summer courses, please visit Sikh Dharma International or contact Sat Jiwan Kaur Khalsa at sdsatjiwank@sikhdharma.org or 505.629.4721.

Tuning-In to Musicians – Sat Kartar

Sat Kartar has been teaching , recording, and performing chant and devotional kirtan for over 30 years. Her personal journey with these potent spiritual tools was initiated in 1971 when she stumbled upon Kundalini Yoga and Sikhism, and became a student of her spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan.

During her first trip to India, in 1974, while on tour, Sat Kartar began what would be a life long study of North Indian Classical kirtan with numerous Sikh ragis. ”My first real vocal training was with my kirtan teacher, Amarjit Kaur, who schooled me in voice practice, tabla rhythms, and Eastern raga scales and the exquisite subleties of singing Sikh hymns.” She has been recording and performing ever since, from the early days of the Khalsa String Band to her popular solo releases, Flow and Listen.

Spirit Voyage: How has music been a part of your yogic practice?

Sat Kartar: I began doing yoga because I was attempting to write songs about the spirituality of the 60s and early 70s. I thought yoga would either relax me to let the songs come, or discipline me to just write. It actually opened a whole new door of music—chanting. Chanting to Guru Ram Das, in sadhana, at Winter Solstice in 1971, was the turning point when I knew this was my path. Chanting meditations for 40 day blocks or longer have been the big milestones or breakthroughs in my journey in consciousness. Mantra music, or Shabd Kirtan, totally energizes and charges me. The greatest joy in my life is singing for and with people.

SV: What can you share about the experience of singing in front of an audience?

SK: I chant “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo” (the Adi Mantra which teachers use to start a yoga class) before every concert because I consider singing for people a form of teaching. I sense what I can from the group, listen to my intuition, open to the flow of the energy that comes from the Adi Mantra, and attempt to share simply and clearly, from my heart. To sing this divine music is a great honor to me. I see it as a way of being of service to the time, space and the souls of the people I am in front of. Kirtan and chanting is a transparent music form, so I feel an inherent responsibility to work on my self through our practices in order to be as clear a channel and catalyst as I can be for this sound current.

SV: Sharing music is a form of service or seva. In what other ways is seva a part of your life?

SK: I enjoy working with new students, teacher trainees, and young people on this path. When I began this path, talking with people helped me integrate these practices into my “real life”. I love taking this music to new groups of people. One year after 9/11, I was asked to chant at a memorial service where firemen in our city were being honored. A friend of mine who worked in their office told me that the firemen were quietly groaning in disgust when they read the program, “Chanting?, oh pulease, no!” Later, after the ceremony, she heard them saying, “ That chanting was the best thing on the whole program!!” There is a beautiful reward in these activities that is not measurable in money, but deeply satisfying in their impact.

SV: Can you share a meditation that you have used? Do you have a personal story of using it that you can share?

SK: The prosperity meditation I have most often used, has been the Subagh Kryia version of chanting “HAR” where the hands move back and forth lightly hitting the inner and outside ridge of the hands. I use the TANTRIC HAR recording to practice this meditation, or just chant it acapella, and it has been a powerful tool in my raising funds to make my last 3 CDs, Daily Practice, Flow, and Listen. I’m still amazed at how the money, work opportunities, and support and donations from friends and people I didn’t even know, came seemingly from nowhere, in ways I would never have imagined.

SV: What mantra music are you listening to these days?

SK:

The version of “Dharti Hay” on Miracle Mantra by Guru Sangat and Gurcharan Singh. It sounds like Gregorian chanting and instantly mesmerizes me.

I love Shabds Para a Paz,by Renato Motha and Patricia Lobato—soo beautiful, simple, subtle, sophisticated, especially their version of “Guru Ram Das”.

Both Ocean and Flores by Mirabai Ceiba. Their music just melts my heart.

Fave Sadhana CDs : Cherdi Kalah Jatha (they rev me up!) and Guru Trang’s Yoga Morning.

I love music remixes, and what MC Yogi has been doing with chant artists’ tracks, on the CD Elephant Power. I think he’s got a gift in writing lyrics that talk about spiritual concepts in a way that might be accessible for people beyond the yoga community.

I like the Yogi Lounge CD tracks from the Yoga Living series a lot.

I keep Singh Kaur’s “Guru Ram Das” from the Crimson Series, playing 24/7 in my house, sometimes audible, sometimes below hearing, but always as my vibratory environment.

Ocean by Mirabai Ceiba

Flores by Mirabai Ceiba

Miracle Mantra

Shabds para a paz - Motha & Lobato

Tuning In to Musicians – Guru Singh

Guru Singh is a yogi, teacher, writer, composer-musician, shaman, ordained minister, healer, and most importantly as he says “a family man”, living in Los Angeles and sometimes in India, London and New Mexico. Living with his wife and their two children, his life exemplifies a delicate and vital balance; honoring family and personal commitments while maintaining his spiritual dedication to working with the people of this world.

As a writer and musician, he has several projects under construction. An album with Seal titled ‘A Game of Chants’ was released in 2001 and has been followed by two more. He �s been the subject of many articles, both in the US and Europe; voted “Best Guru” by Los Angeles Magazine and featured in the current book Lives Charmed, by Linda Sivertsen – Guru Singh reaches throughout the world.

Spirit Voyage: As a teacher, you seem to be teaching non-stop – what drives you?

Guru Singh: Since I was born, my family was involved in consciousness. My Great-Aunt met Yogananda in Calcutta in 1916 and never left him. When you’re born into something like this it is almost as natural as breakfast. I never think about it . . . it just is.

The seva of teaching seems to be your entire focus. What kinds of seva can people do in their lives to experience the nourishment of selfless service?

Anytime and anyway you help someone – other than yourself – it helps yourself. All of my teachers throughout my life – most recently, Yogi Bhajan – lived this way. Giving advice for relations, for children, for business . . . donating time, gifts and money to noble causes . . . spreading music, art and literature – like Spirit Voyage does . . . there are countless ways to live a life of service. The most fortunate life style is when the way you make a living is also the way you make a difference.

The Guru Singh Experience, Vol 1

SV

: Your most recent album, ‘The Guru Singh Experience’ is a new sound for you. Can you talk about the creation of this album and the mantras you chose to include on it?

GS: Ever since I had a few production CD’s under my belt – so to speak – I wanted longer, less produced mantras that a student or practitioner could just sit down and be swept up into the Naad – the rhythms and melodies – rather than observing the ever brilliant ranges of vocals and instruments that happen in highly produced materials. I feel there is equal room for both styles, but before my “new sound” as you have put it; I felt the absence of the naad.

I chose these three mantras for a few reasons. I chose them all for their simple sounds and ease of learning. I chose Ek Ong Kar because it was Kundalini Yoga’s first mantra . . . it is very powerful for centering and clearing. I chose Har Har Haree for its power of prosperity and raising the consciousness of the global issue of eradicating poverty through higher awareness. I chose Ong Sohung because on a spiritual voyage you know you are GOD and this mantra is what that means . . . I AM THAT!

SV: Can you share a meditation that you have used? Do you have a personal story of using it that you can share?

GS: Twenty eight years ago I was running a booming business as well as teaching. Like today, the economy suddenly tanked and we were way over-leveraged to survive a deep slow down. I sat with Yogi Bhajan at the Los Angeles airport and explained this dilemma. He gave a mantra to me – first time anyone had heard this one – Aap Sahai Hooaa Suchay Daa Sachaa Dooaa – Har Har Har. He said to have it playing in the office 24-7. In 1980 the only way to accomplish this was to use a 60 second cassette loop (made for answering machines). We recorded 60 seconds of this mantra repeating and we played that cassette until the media fell off the tape nine months later. During that nine months we came up with revolutionary ways to not only survive but to thrive. This mantra overcomes all challenges.

We have completed ‘The Guru Singh Experience Volume 2’ – it will be released in December 2008. Aap Sahai Hooaa is going to be included on Volume 3, due out in Spring 09. A great posture and mudra for this meditation is easy pose and right hand over the heart center – left hand over the right.

Guru Singh’s favorite music of the moment:

Grace by Snatam Kaur

Dakshina by Deva Premal

Sacred Chants of Devi by Craig PruesPure Ganesh

Pure Ganesh by GuruGanesha Singh

Songs for the Inner Lover by Miten

Teachers in Focus – Maya Fiennes

“To be in her presence, and to feel her spirit, her energy, and her teaching is an extraordinary experience” Deepak Chopra

Musician and yoga teacher Maya Fiennes combines her talents to create a stunningly beautiful Kundalini practice focused on fortifying the body’s stress defenses. Maya uses movement, breath, mantra, and chants all set to her own exhilarating music to awaken the spirit, energize the body, and relax the mind and is the creator or the “Kundalini Yoga to Detox & Destress” video.

Spirit Voyage: How did you discover Kundalini Yoga and what inspired you to become a teacher?

Maya: As a classical pianist, I started yoga as I wanted to relax before concerts and to improve my musical performance. I have now been doing yoga for ten years, having tried all different styles including Hatha, Ashtanga and Bikram in search of spiritual growth. When I found Kundalini yoga, my search was over. Once I realised the effect Kundalini Yoga had on me I wanted to share it with others; hence why I became a teacher.

Spirit Voyage: You travel and teach throughout the world – can you share some of your experiences teaching yoga to different cultures?

Maya: I have taught all over the world, including the Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Greece, Asia (Taipei, Hong Kong & Singapore). It doesn’t really matter where you are. Kundalini Yoga is all about the journey within one self; the outside world becomes irrelevant. With the help of my music, I am able to teach yoga to people of all types of cultures and languages. I often find that not having a common language with my students is even more powerful as it allows us to communicate via energy lines only.

Spirit Voyage: Teaching is a real form of seva (selfless service). In what other ways is seva a part of your life?

Maya: I am a mother and a wife, which in themselves require selfless service. Apart from that, I am very connected to teaching youth in general and helping them on the road to adulthood and responsibilities. Embracing yoga tends to give confidence which is really useful at an early stage of youth. As I teach, and now that I am on Sky TV, via the channel Body in Balance, daily in the UK, I come across people with big needs and I always try to help be it through yoga, general advice, presence or other types of support.

Spirit Voyage: What type of Mantra/Chant music are you listening to these days?

Maya: I find myself listening only to mantras these days..in fact I have a mantra in my head all the time…as I create music it’s not so strange that I have it in my mind. I am in the studio at the moment recording the last mantra of my new album and it gives me pure joy. I am working on the miracle mantra, Guru Ram Das…it’s very healing, it opens the heart which prepares us for the arrival into the Aquarian age safely.

I also listen and work to other albums such as: Long EK ONG KAR on Gurunam’s “The Seal of Higher Destiny” album, Grace by Snatam Kaur, Yatri by Prem Joshua, Wheel of Sound by various Kundalini artists, The Guru Singh experience volume one, I especially love his Ong So Hung.

Maya’s DVD available at http://www.spiritvoyage.com/yoga/Kundalini-Yoga-to-Detox-DVD/Maya-Fiennes/DVD-002378.aspx

 

YOGI TIP*
Meditation for Emotional Relief and Self Healing

Mantra: Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Jio

Instructions: Sit in easy pose keeping the arms straight with the hands in gyan mudra resting on the knees. Sit very majestically as though in the court of a king. Close the eyes so that the energy of sight is not distracting from insight. Chant this layla mantra and enter a divine sound current. Concentrate and hear the sound within.

Continue for 11 minutes, then inhale deeply and hold this precious breath, concentrate the energy at the top of the head. After 30 seconds exhale and relax.

* All teachings, yoga sets, techniques, kriyas and meditations contained in this blog entry are provided courtesy of The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Reprinted with permission. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of these Teachings may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the Kundalini Research Institute. To request permission, please write to KRI at PO Box 1819, Santa Cruz, NM 87567 or see www.kriteachings.org.

Tuning-In to Musicians – Mirabai Ceiba

Welcome to the first of a series of “Tuning-In to Musicians” posts where we introduce and interview various musicians in the kirtan/chant community (also stay tuned for the “Teachers In Focus” posts in the coming weeks which will do the same for leading teachers in the yoga community).

We open our “Tuning-In to Musicians” feature with a focus on Mirabai Ceiba, a favorite at Summer Solstice , The European Yoga Festival, and the Yoga-Art Festival that they produce every Spring in Mexico.

Mirabai Ceiba is a musical project created by Angelika Baumbach from Mexico (vocal and harp) and Markus Sieber from Germany (vocal and guitar). They perform a compilation of original songs in Spanish as well as newly arranged chants from different traditions of the world. The name Mirabai Ceiba expresses the influences of both India and Native Latin America. The Ceiba is the sacred tree of Latin America, where these trees are never cut but are allowed to grow very tall. “We wish our music could be like that kind of tree, with roots deep in the Mother Earth and branches extending wide into Father Sky. Mirabai is for us the wandering, the devotion, the inspiration in all the different aspects of divinity.”

Spirit Voyage: Your recent album Ocean is a beautiful weaving of Kundalini Mantra, English lyrics and Spanish. Can you explain how you became introduced to Kundalini Mantra and what role Kundalini Yoga plays in your lives.

Angelika: Since before I can remember, I was listening to Singh Kaur, Sangeet Kaur, Livtar Singh and Pritpal Singh. At my birth, there was live Gurbani Kirtan playing. After growing up attending many solstices, I went to my first Solstice and Ladies Camp on my own at 15. Attending Yogi Bhajan’s daily lectures had a huge impact on my life. Since then, I have been connecting more and more with the Kundalini Yoga community around the world, mostly through the music, and it is such a blessing to have such an immense family all around the world.

Markus: My first contact with Kundalini Yoga was in my Theater School in Berlin where we used it as a tool to open up our creative source. I experienced its powerful spirit which gave me a taste of a new unknown part of myself. Angelika brought me to my first summer solstice, and I had the chance to explore the spiritual side of Kundalini Yoga. Meditating, practicing yoga, singing and playing music together was a way of subtle communication beyond words and cultural differences. Chanting has brought an inner change in me. The vibration in the chest has softened my heart. The voice can be like a light in the darkness. You can sing for your pain, for your sadness and it can transform you. Mantra adds an even higher dimension: the communication with the universal mind.

Spirit Voyage: Can you talk to us about music and seva?

Angelika: Music is a wonderful way to serve people, as well as a very fulfilling thing to do for the soul. I have always felt in my heart that my mission is to serve as a bridge to connect different kinds of people. Two years ago, we started a Yoga Art Festival in a powerful and beautiful place near Mexico City for people to gather and learn healthier and happier ways to live their lives. This annual festival is a wonderful way to harvest the seeds that we plant throughout the year, to meditate, chant, practice Yoga, and celebrate life, friendship and family. (For more information, visit www.yogaartfestival.com)

Spirit Voyage: Can you share a meditation that you have used? Do you have a personal story of using it that you can share?

Markus: Last summer, my niece was born. It was a very difficult birth. Our whole family was worried and wanted to help my brother and his wife, but we were so far away. We began to chant Ardas Bhaee every night, praying for healing. It is such a powerful mantra in situations which seem hopeless or when you can’t find words for your prayers. The pure vibration of the mantra can give you so much trust and hope. Chanting the mantra, I experienced a clear awareness that this baby needed our family to consciously receive the soul into our lineage with an open heart and experience gratitude for the miracle of life and death.

YOGI TIP*: Prayer for Healing

• Sit in Easy Pose. Close your eyes. Put your hands on opposite shoulders with your arms crossed. Hold your shoulders well, the arms relaxed on the chest and chant Ardas Bhaee. Continue for 11 to 31 minutes. End with 3 powerful breaths.
• Inhale deep through the nose, hold for 5-10 seconds, then exhale powerfully through the mouth. As you hold the breath in, put all the pressure downward on your shoulders with your hands.
• Press them down and keep the spine steady and straight. Repeat the breath three times. Then relax.
• Continue to sit for some minutes following your breath in awareness of your deep inner silence.

Albums on Mirabai Ceiba’s playlist:

GuruGanesha Singh and Snatam, “Joy is Now” – It brings us back to the wonderful time we spent with Snatam and Guru Ganesha and all the peace family this last spring tour.

Mata Mandir Singh, “Furmaan Khalsa” – Beautiful songs…deep, vast and inspiring.

Aurora, “Aquarian Sadhana” – A gentle and beautiful way to chant for Sadhana.

Sada Sat Kaur, “Shashara” – Earthly and very creative. Humble and warm. Inner strength.

Omar Faruk Tekbilek, “Tree of Patience” – Uplifting and inspiring for Yoga and Movement.

* All teachings, yoga sets, techniques, kriyas and meditations contained in this blog entry are provided courtesy of The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Reprinted with permission. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of these Teachings may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the Kundalini Research Institute. To request permission, please write to KRI at PO Box 1819, Santa Cruz, NM 87567 or see www.kriteachings.org.

Winter Solstice Catalog

The new Spirit Voyage catalog is complete and it is full of all kinds of goodness!

We got a great response to the special features on musicians and teachers in the last catalog and have therefor prepared a whole new set for this issue. “Tuning-In to Musicians” features interviews with Sat Kartar, Mirabai Ceiba and Guru Singh, and the “Focus on Teachers” reaches out to Shiva Rea, Gurudass Kaur and Maya Fiennes. Each interview includes a “Yogi Tip” as well as a list of what music the artist or teacher are currently listening to and playing in class.

Also back by popular demand is the “Spirit Voyage Yoga Boutique” with many new yogic outfits for the coming year, as well as the addition of a whole line of custom made Karas, Lotus Chakra Rings and headcovers. Ladies, check out the Maharani Tantric Kurta on page 5 – everyone is falling in love with that one.

In the music category we have 24 amazing new releases, including Snatam’s new children’s album, “Feeling Good Today” and Sat Kirin’s soon to be released “Blessings of a Woman”. In the “Music for Daily Practice” section there are three new releases of Sadhana music, including the very popular “Kundalini Sadhana” compilation from the Yoga Living Series. In the Sanksrit chant section there are some great new releases by Michael Kolasa who was a big hit at Summer Solstice as well as Wah! and Krishna Das.

The hot new items in the Video and Book category include Snatam’s amazing children’s yoga DVD, “Shanti The Yogi: Mountain Adventure” and Yogi Bhajan’s “Man to Man” published by KRI.

Samples of all of the new music, as well as Snatam’s DVD, can be found at www.spiritvoyage.com and if you would like to download a pdf file of the entire catalog just click here: Spirit Voyage Winter Catalog 2008 (the file is 5MB so it may take a few moments to download).

Enjoy!!!

Calling Little Yogis

Shanti the Yogi Home Page

Spirit Voyage is pleased to announce the launch of the Shanti the Yogi website!

One of my favorite parts of the site is the “Fun Stuff” section that includes all kinds of goodies for kids such as downloadable coloring book pages and beautifully illustrated wallpaper designs, lyrics sheets for all of the songs and mantras from the album, “Feeling Good Today!”, and a photo gallery of “Little Yogis” featuring flashback photos of Snatam and other members of the Spirit Voyage family doing yoga when they were kids, and a collection of “Tomorrow’s Teachers” featuring today’s children doing yoga and meditation.

Shanti the Yogi - Fun Stuff Page

So here’s the Calling Little Yogis part.  We are just beginning to add photos to the galleries and would love to see your little yogis on the site!  To include a photo of your child for inclusion in the gallery, please email the photo and an optional caption of your choice to ditta@spiritvoyage.com

Or, if you have a photo of yourself as a little yogi, you can send that too – and tell us what year the photo was taken!

“Jamtse: Love And Compassion” A Benefit Album in Support for The Tibet Fund

Spirit Voyage Records is very honored to have been invited to contribute four songs to a special compilation album, “Jamtse: Love and Compassion – An Offering to The Tibet Fund”. Proceeds from the digital sale of “JAMTSE” (which means love and compassion in Tibetan) will benefit the full range of outreach, assistance and educational services The Tibet Fund provides. The album is available on iTunes and is a great way to contribute to an important cause while enjoying beautiful, sacred music by renowned artists from around the world.

This project is intended to act as an instrument to bring awareness toward the current plight of the Tibetan people. Each track was hand picked by producer Joshua Jacobs to focus on healing through sound vibration and mantra. The musical genres include World, New Age, Meditation, Chant, and Yoga. Spirit Voyage artists Snatam Kaur, Gurunam Singh, Mirabai Ceiba and Sat Purkh are joined by Nawang Khechog, Jai Uttal, Deva Premal, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, MC Yogi, Toshinori Kondo, Krishna Das, and Bill Laswell.

“It was a blessing to have this opportunity to bring together music from diverse cultures and traditions in support of the Tibetan people,” says Joshua Jacobs.

About The Tibet Fund:
The Tibet Fund is dedicated to helping Tibetans improve their lives and preserve their distinct cultural, religious and national identity. The Tibet Fund brings urgently needed resources to the educational, cultural, health and socioeconomic institutions that sustain the Tibetan way of life, language, and traditions. The Tibet Fund’s support helps to sustain the Tibetan refugee settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan and provide rehabilitation services for the thousands of new refugees who continue to arrive from Tibet every year. Through its program in Tibet, the Tibet Fund partners with local NGO’s in Tibet on projects that treat and prevent blindness, house and care for orphans, and provide educational opportunities for Tibetans.

Feeling Good! with Snatam Kaur

“Feeling Good” is the working title for an exciting new project of Snatam Kaur’s which has its roots in work she has been doing for years – connecting with children in communities around the world, teaching meditation and yoga through story and song.

For the past 8 months Snatam Kaur has been working with GuruGanesha Singh and producers Krishan and Thomas Barquee to record a complete album of the songs that she sings in her workshops with children. She is also working with filmmaker Alessandra Dobrin Khalsa to create a special children’s hour on DVD featuring the stories, yoga, meditation and celestial communications from the workshops.

The following are some photographs from the filming of the DVD…I hope to be able to post some actual video clips in the coming weeks. Both the CD and DVD are scheduled for release in October 2008.