Notes From the Road

Feeling Good Today Pizza Party!!!

Recently we went to LA to record for our new (as of yet to be named) album which is planned for release in May. This gave us the opportunity to meet the very talented and beautiful children who sang on our new CD for children called "Feeling Good Today"... to be released in just a few weeks!!! Krishan, our producer, recorded all of the children out of his studio while we were on tour. I actually didn't know most of the kids before the recording. We reached out to the Kundalini Yoga and Sikh community in LA, and were blessed to find these kids! When Krishan sent us the first mixes and I got to hear the children sing, I was really struck by the joy and purity in their voices which gives the album so much life and love!! So the pizza party was an opportunity to meet them in person, and in some small way say thank you to the kids and their parents. Not all of the kids could make it however. So, here are some of our stars.


From left to right, bottom row of kids: Siri Guru Dev, Antonia, Cynthia
From left to right, top row of adults: Simran and Guru Prem (Siri Guru Dev's parents), Anabela (Antonia's mom), Sarah (Cynthia's mom), yours truly, Krishan (our producer)



Our goofy shot... you gotta have at least one of those, right?


From left to right: Angelo, Leo, yours truly, and Antonia

Here are some more pictures of our time in LA.



While in LA, we got to stay a few doors down from Guru Ram Das Ashram, where I have for many years received musical and spiritual inspiration. This year was very beautiful. Not only did I feel the presence of God in this sacred place, but felt like I was bringing our baby in womb to be blessed. Here's a picture of Guru Ram Das ashram, one of my favorite views, that often comes to me in meditations. If you ever want to visit the address is 1644 Preuss Rd in West Los Angeles, and the phone is 310-858-7691... someone always answers.


Here's a picture of GuruGanesha recording his beautiful guitar. Yes, for all of those GuruGanesha fans out there... we are blessed to have the warmth and joy of his guitar and voice on the yet to be named album. We could call it "To be Named". How about that? And by the way, if you live on the East Coast of the US and Canada, he'll be on tour with an incredible band in just a few weeks. Check out www.spiritvoyage.com for more details!



Thomas, who is producing "To be Named", is seen here talking to GuruGanesha, as GuruGanesha is recording in the sound booth the next room over.


Here I am singing, with the soul of my baby in womb very present. Sometimes there would be little kicks and movements, and other times just a pure feeling of presence, confidence, purity and love. I am grateful to this beautiful soul who chose us at this time.

Sat Nam everyone!

Since my last post on the election I received a comment that I wanted to respond to, posted by a good friend who stated that there is not much difference between McCain and Obama and therefore he is planning to vote for Nader. I strongly disagree, and urge this friend to vote for Obama. I believe that in this election every single vote counts and is crucial to changing very basic policies of our current administration which have been very damaging to our country. Especially in my state of New Mexico, where Bush won by only 5,000 votes in 2004, this conversation couldn't be more crucial.

McCain's position on the economay is to essentially continue the policies of the Bush administration. As we have seen recently with major financial institutions collapsing these policies have reeked havoc on our country. In addition the basic Republican trickle down affect just isn't working, where taxes for the wealthy are cut, and everyone else pays more. Obama is talking about raising taxes for the wealthy, which includes 5% of the population. This is a huge difference in policy. Obama sees that by empowring the middle class and supporting them, that our economy will get better. I agree with him. This is what Clinton did, and we had a balanced budget during his administration.

For health insurance, Obama plans to implement universal health care. I have travelled to other countries that have this system in place, and it is vastly more humane then our current health insurance programs. McCain has no plan to improve the health care system, and there are many people who are not covered either because they have gotten sick and no insurance company will cover them, or they simply can't afford it. In our day and age, this is unacceptable to me.

On the environment, McCain talks about off shore oil drilling, and drilling in the wilderness of Alaska as solutions. With increased hurricanes due to global warming, offshore oil drilling is a terrible idea. We have already caused enough damage to our oceans, and to set up offshore oil rigs in areas where hurricanes are known to come is unthinkable to me. Obama is instead talking about creating industry around solar and wind that will create more jobs for Americans, and create energy independence. Certainly with a growing industry, we will also experience more awareness about our energy use habits, which will change how people think and act. With the continuation of the Bush policies, we will be much more challenged to change the public thinking, as there is little or no openess to support education, or insentivise change. For example, there is a Federal program to give people who set up solar systems $2,000 back in their taxes that is expiring this year due to the Bush adminstration policies, which McCain fully supports.

In terms of our international relations and war, McCain supports the Bush doctrine, justifying pre-emptive strikes. We have damaged our relations with countries all over the world with this. Obama on the other hand is much more aggressive in holding diplomatic talks before we strike a particular country. He also sees the value of peace and will work to bring stabilization to our world.

In addition, I have personally seen over the past eight years, huge cuts in education. The first things to go are always the arts and music programs in schools. This is happening all over the country. Arts and music are essential for child development, and in my opinion for creating an open heart and connection to Spirit. I'd like to see not only these crucial music and arts programs re-instated, but also education in schools about how we as humans can become stewards of the planet. I see this possible with Obama, with McCain it will be much more challenging with little or no federal support.

Back in 2000 when Gore ran for president, I believe that Ralph Nader took away crucial votes from Gore. I believe that if Gore had been elected president, our financial system would be much stronger then it is today, our health care system would be much better, and the policies in regards to our environment would be much more progressive. In this election we face the same challenge. By voting for Ralph Nader, you are essentially voting for McCain. And although I support the formation of other parties, too much is at stake here to not vote for Obama if you wish to live in a country that looks to the future rather then the past.

The other day I vowed to spend ten minutes a day doing something for the election to support Obama. So, I called my grandfather, because eight months ago he said he was going to vote for McCain. I wanted to have a conversation with him about it, and just hear him, and let him know how I felt.

I was really surprised, because one of the first things he said to me was; “You, your husband, and your new baby are going to have a good life, because change is coming.” I asked him what he meant, and he said, “Obama is going to win by a landslide, people want change. The economy is bad, housing is bad, and retired people are worried about Medicare. That’s why I am going to vote for Obama.”

I feel blessed to be an American, and blessed to know that we have a candidate like Barack Obama to support. I’m not a political analyst, or specialist in any way. I can say that I’m a peace activist in my own way, an environmentalist to the best of my abilities, and someone who strongly believes in the power of a single vote. Back in college, one of my best professors was a lady who taught a social science class. Although I can’t remember her name, she said two things that were probably more impactful then the sum of everything else all of my other college professors said. No offense if you happen to be one of my professors. But I hope you’ll understand when you hear what she had to say. First, the most important thing you can do is make peace with your parents… then your life can begin. The second was that the greatest and most important right that we have as Americans is to vote.

These days with all of the commercials that candidates broadcast, all of the mud slinging usually started by the media, and the nonsense talk about candidate’s personal lives, it is no wonder that many of us have turned off and tuned out.

But let me tell you something. The other night I got to hear Barack Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention. We switched the channel to PBS, where there were no interruptions or political analysts to skew things, and I just watched him speak and saw the convention. Honestly, it was the first time I had really seen him. I’d heard and seen clips… but never a full speech. It was a beautiful and moving speech. He also really addressed issues that McCain and others have been attacking him on. After hearing him, I felt not only a sense of hope and inspiration, but also a sense that he is ready for the coming months of debate.

I know that the road ahead for him will be challenging. However, that road is for all of us. We determine who our leaders are. For those that choose to tune out and not vote, they are in fact determining in a passive way who our leaders are. But, I feel that it is time as Americans to stand up, and vote. If you are not American, then please stand up and encourage any American friends that you have to vote in this election!


In my opinion, never before has an election in our country been so vital to the health of our environment in this country and the entire planet. We can already see the affects of global warming, and you don’t need to be a scientist to see that. Melting ice caps, increased hurricanes, and increased temperatures all across the planet, are just some of the indicators. We have just a few years left to be aggressive and make some key changes in how we live our lives, and what we do as a country depends on you and I and who we choose to be president. McCain is in full support of the Bush administration’s environmental policies. The Bush administration failed in the Kyoto convention with the excuse that other countries were not going to follow through with environmental actions, so there was no reason that we should either. I believe that the core values of the United States of America rest on the fact that we will act in consciousness and righteousness even when others are not.

In addition, McCain’s big stance right now is that we will do offshore oil drilling to curb rising gas prices. To me, this is absolutely ridiculous, especially, when we have solar and wind power technologies to be invested in that will bring us an amazing amount of energy without impacting the environment. Wind and solar power solutions will last for many generations to come and give us plenty of energy. Offshore oil drilling will last only another 30 years! In addition McCain chose a running mate, Palin, the governor of Alaska who has been in full support of oil drilling in one of the most vibrant and beautiful national treasures, the wilderness of Alaska.

Let me just say, that I met a Republican at our concert one evening, who really enjoyed the music. I enjoyed meeting him. There may be Republicans out there who have our music at home and who are listening to it right now. I believe that it doesn’t matter which party you are from, it is important to look at the issues and make a decision based on your core belief and experience.

I know that we all have busy lives, but think about the lives of the future generations. Think about the impact of global warming. Did you see the Beijing Olympic Games and see all of the pollution there? Anyone who has spent time in major cities in India lately will tell you that when you blow your nose after a day out you will see black grime on your Kleenex. To me, this is unacceptable! As people of spirituality, awareness, and peace, it is time to stand up. It is time to support Barack Obama.

I invite you to join me and take at least ten minutes out of your day in the coming months to support Obama.

Yes we Can!

Here’s a good combination. Pregnant, and making a children’s yoga DVD. And yes, that was me a few weeks ago. Every time I wanted to complain I just had to look at the Director of the film, Alessandra, who is about two days more pregnant then I! We weren’t quite at the waddling stage… but close enough. I still can’t believe there is a point when you can’t see your feet when you are walking. Anyway… back to the DVD….

To give you a little background, this DVD is a combination of a yoga class, a story, and songs set to celestial communication. For those of you who haven’t heard of celestial communication, this is a kind of dance to bring emphasis to the words of a song, and incorporate the energy into the body, and in this way “communicate” with God, the angels, and divine energy. In a way, this combination of story, yoga, and movement is how I grew up doing yoga. My spiritual teacher once said that children’s yoga should be first and foremost fun. As you’ll see in the DVD we have some pretty ridiculous moments.

As we toured around the country these past seven years, children kept coming to our concerts. We would invite them up on stage to sing with us at times, because they just were so cute and beautiful. I admit it, I couldn’t resist. Pretty soon, I began to realize how much the kids were connecting with the spirit in the music, so we developed a whole children’s yoga program to give them a more direct experience of that spirit. We delivered this program all over the world, and so we decided to make a DVD out of it for kids that couldn’t make it to our programs.

We looked around our home town of Espanola and neighboring Santa Fe to find children to be in our DVD. Fortunately, the kids who came to do the video were in top form on the day of filming. A few days before the filming, we had a set of rehearsals with the kids. Mind you, I believe (in my haven’t really experienced being a mom sort of way) that we had very good children. But, it was the combination of probably our adult nerves, and the sheer fun of being kids, that created a slightly unruly rehearsal situation. We quickly realized that the sheepskins for the yoga class would become airborne on the day of the filming if we didn’t tape them down. Already, one boy had a dirt mark on his nice white yoga pants after only wearing them for 5 minutes for our fitting. My niece Siri Atma was doing the Def Leppard hand symbol (we think it came from her father) during the celestial communication for the song “I am Happy, I am Good”. At one point I told myself “At least the kids were bonding and having a good time”… as all of the children were on the floor in a massive wrestling pile completely ignoring my adult implorations to have them come sitting up to do more yoga.

The night before the filming, I earnestly looked at my husband over dinner and said, “We should probably reschedule everything, give a few more weeks to practice with the children.” I know, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this… you probably would just like to see the finished DVD and just see it as a yoga class. But, hey, I thought I’d take you behind the scenes… get a little personal with it.

Anyway, my husband looked at me with his big blue eyes, and said with all of the confidence that I wish I had, “the kids will be fine, you’ll see.”

On the day of the filming, the crew showed up, and set up the lights and cameras. The kids arrived at 8:30 in the morning, and let me just say it was a new day. They walked in with all of the confidence and calm that I had imagined that they would have all of these months in preparation, and we began filming. We went through each posture, and celestial communication movement, sometimes more then once, and the children were beautiful. I couldn’t believe it… that’s why in the video I’m smiling so much… it really was because of the children… and maybe because I’m pregnant. Alessandra, in her very cheerful yet authoritative voice led us through the whole day. We finally let the children go that evening, after awarding them with special crystals.

Currently, our music producer, Krishan, is working in LA to create the final music mixes. We have some very talented children singers that came into his studio to sing. We also have an illustrator working on some amazing illustrations for the story. I can’t really tell you any more then this… top secret stuff. No just kidding. But, look out for our new DVD which plan to release this October.

Sat Nam!

Sat Nam chanters of the world!

This blog entry is dedicated to the sevadars (those who serve selflessly) who make our tours possible. These gems of humanity see God in the hearts of others, and have no duality about giving themselves fully. I am more than just grateful to them for helping make the kirtan happen each night, which is the obvious result, I am inspired by their consciousness in action, and this helps create the humble, devotional space for the kirtan to flow.

At each stop along our tour, there will be one, maybe two or three, sometimes too many to count, sevadars who show up and make us all smile. They come with purity of heart, and I remember God in that moment, when I see someone present with us, just there to lend a hand. There were so many during our two tours in 2008, I'd like to talk about a few of them with you.

Jaspreet Singh and Robin are pictured here.
We spent nearly a week in the San Francisco bay area, and Jaspreet Singh was there at 4AM sadhana playing his sitar, and he was with us at 1AM arriving back home each night after our 4 kirtans and 1 childrens program. He rode with us in the van, made jokes with us, and then simply said "Sat Nam" after one week of serving us. We felt his presence with us for the rest of the tour. Another all-star sevadar, Robin, showed up for the two concerts that her husband Ramesh joined us on percussion. God sent her with a big smile on her face and asked us if we needed anything. We quickly sent her here and there, Radioshack and the chai-shack. She helped set-up and break down without us even asking her.

Beyond the actual lifting of things, long hours, and so forth – is the heart of this experience - the smile and subtle energy of these sevadars - that makes the impression, and makes all the difference, between simply lifting things from here to there, to having a joyous experience. I have learned the incredible, transformative power of a smile! I put one on, and the world smiles with me.

Satnaam! I am driving in the wide open space of New Mexico, entering into Arizona. I'm with Adi Shakti Singh, our sound guy, and we're meeting Snatam, GuruGanesha and Girish in Encinitas.

And I'm touched, listening to Miten sing "This our aloneness, this is our time, this is the mountain we all have to climb, this is our destiny, wild and free, we're all holding a master key, to the empty sky".

In my 10 or so years of practicing meditation, I found the Beloved in my life. Wahe Guru! Which means the ecstasy of God, is here and now. Wahe guru! When I hear lyrics and music, that is in praise of this same experience, I feel my heart, and I feel home. Miten sings, "You gave me the greatest gift, you made my heart my home". The love inside me, is greater than any love that I can find outside me. This I found through meditation. Then Miten sings "I was never loved so deeply, never so true, so completely, until I was loved by You".

Thank you to all the spiritual teachers who served this mission before us, and to those that are serving today, and to those that will serve in the future.

The album I am referring to is called "Songs for the Inner Lover" by Miten with Deva Premal. you can read more about Miten and Deva Premal at www.devapremalmiten.com. You can purchase their albums through Snatam Kaur's record label at www.SpiritVoyage.com

We'll be starting our West Coast Celebrate Peace Tour in Encinitas 6 days from now. Peace come join us.

Peace on earth,
Sopurkh Singh

Satnam, the Grace within you, shines through you, forever more, that you may manifest the perfect Name! La, La, La, La!

This is Snatam Kaur's husband, Sopurkh Singh, taking over the mantle of the "Notes from the Road" blog. Snatam Kaur will be jumping in from time to time, to share her experiences, however, I am gladly stepping in to help share the "notes".

The Feb/March 2008 tour was my first full tour with the Celebrate Peace Band. We were a band of six for half of the tour (Snatam Kaur, GuruGanesha Singh, myself, Karta Purkh Singh on percussion, mandolin and vocals, Sat Jot Singh on piano, bass and vocals, and Adi Shakti Singh on sound), and then we were also joined by two video journalists (James Connolly and Rachelle Escaravage) who were brought to document the experience by Steve Robertson's Peace Has Begun campaign. Part of my job is Road Manager, and I was anxious about traveling with eight people for three weeks of the tour. Where would we all stay? Would we go over budget? Everyday I prayed in the morning, and I heard the answer: God will provide, there's no need to be anxious, everything is God's will, this is part of the plan.

Sure enough, we had wonderful accommodations all along the way, with many home cooked meals to boot! I'm going to attempt to thank them all here, the Sivanada Ashram, Deva Singh and Kaur, Mahan Kalpa Singh and Ram Rang Kaur, Guru Sahai Singh and Mukta Kaur, Harbhajan Singh and Hardarshan Kaur, Arci and Dulal, Yogaville Ashram, Tracy, Sat Want and Gurujot Kaur (and the Herndon community), Mahan Rishi Singh and Nirbhe Kaur, Benita, Joan and Per, Harimandir Singh and Siri Bandhu Kaur, Navrattan Singh and Gurpreet Kaur, Ray and Sarah, Saribjit Singh and Jaspal Kaur, Surjit Singh and Mary, Vedic City with Guy Harvey and Michael and Shelley, Guru Dev Singh and Sat Kaur, and the Kripalu Yoga Center - to you all - one big thank you!

Here is a picture us Snatam, myself, and GuruGanesha with Shelley and Michael from Iowa:


And thank you God, you were right, you would provide, not only were our basic needs covered, you covered our spiritual needs, and we all grew from the experience. I saw the plan fully unfolding in ways I could have never "managed" as road manager. You covered us when our van caught fire, you covered us when Snatam couldn't sing, you covered us when we needed faith. You taught me how to manage by bowing my head to you.

Thanks to all the peace makers in the world, including Yogi Bhajan, who inspired us to create peace in our hearts, peace in our homes, and peace in our world. Yogi Bhajan taught us to dial-up You directly. He taught us to repeat Your Name, and that we would be radiant from the inside, and it would be beautiful. He taught that by chanting Your Name, we would have compassion for ourselves, and others, and we would be bountiful. He taught us that if we chanted again and again, we would see the true essence of this beauty and bounty: You, and we would be blissful (from Gurmukh's book: Beautiful, Bountiful, Blissful - thank you Gurmukh).

Satnam.