Sat Nam Kaur

Sat Nam Kaur Khalsa is a homegrown Austinite. She went to Anderson High School, and has a Bachelor of Science in Textiles and Clothing from UT. She worked in the fashion manufacturing industry in Dallas for almost 10 years. Sat Nam Kaur's yogic education includes Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, as well as training in bodywork, as well as contemplative and philosophical inquiry.

Her earliest training came when she completed several courses in 1994 and 1995 with Drunvelo Melchizedek called Flower of Life, Levels I and II. The program was a study of many esoteric teachings including ancient world history, sacred geometry and the Mer-Ka-Bah (personal light body meditation).

In 1996 Sat Nam Kaur graduated from the Master's Touch Kundalini Teacher Training Level I Program with Yogi Bhajan and Gurucharan Singh Khalsa. She continued her studies with Level II Kundalini Yoga: 81 Facets of the Mind in 1997, Mantras and Mudras in1998, Conscious Communication in 1999, and Humanology in 2000. She is currently studying Authentic Relationships here in Austin.

Sat Nam Kaur also took Breathwalk Instructor Training with GuruCharan Singh in 2001, and Radiant Child Yoga with Shakta Kaur in 2002. She trained in Self-Mastery through Japji in 2003 in Espanola, New Mexico. Additionally, she has also trained in other healing arts as well with Reiki Healing and 550 hrs Massage Therapy in various modalities.

In Sat Nam Kaur's Kundalini Yoga classes, students can expect a traditional Kundalini yoga set along with at least an 11-minute meditation or chanting experience. Each class ends with a deep relaxation many times with the gong. It all adds up to a beautiful shift and expansion of your pranic and radiant fields. Expect to feel lighter and brighter afterward!

Sat Nam Kaur's first yoga experience was during her senior year in High School on career day. During that class period they did a guided relaxation, a little Yoga Nidra session. "I remember being profoundly affected by that experience. Never before in my life had I ever felt that sense of deep, deep peace. I never shared with anyone; not my family or friends even. I wasn't hiding anything, I just didn't have words for what I sensed." But the seed was deeply planted in her consciousness ready to sprout about 10 years later.

In her twenties she started reading about spirituality, beginning her search for inner growth and transformation. Several books offered techniques on meditation and mindfulness. She tried a couple of exercises and realized that she could not breath fully at all! Her breathing was restricted and shallow and taking a deep, full breath took so much effort. In another part of the book they recommended yoga to support beginning a spiritual journey.

She tried a Hatha Yoga beginner's program for six weeks and really enjoyed it. In the course of checking out the local studios, Sat Nam Kaur also found a Kundalini class three blocks from her house. It was certainly much more convenient, she thought. During her very first class, after a simple set of four exercises to release stress, she was completely sold on this whole Kundalini yoga thing. "It connected me back to that place of profound deep inner peace once again." She jokes that Kundalini yoga "had her at 'hello'

Less than a year later and just next-door she found the Dallas Kundalini 3HO Ashram, then the home of Ardas and Siri Bahadur and other great yogis. Ardas Kaur was one of my first Kundalini teachers. I never met SB till we moved moved back to Austin years later. One reason was that I always took the Women's Kundalini classes, always so nurturing and peaceful.

Sat Nam Kaur's love of Kundalini lies in the way that the practice covers so many physical and spiritual bases. She explains: "Posture, movement, chanting and meditation, supporting every part of the physical body and all the subtle and etheric bodies as well. It's the system completely in alignment and support as we transition into the Aquarian age and gives you the experience of "Cherdi Kala" or high spirits. With the depth and variety of the training and study materials in Kundalini, sets and meditations and magnificent instructors, Kundalini leaves no room for complacency or boredom. Sat Nam Kaur is constantly comforted and challenged by her practice.

When speaking of her greatest influences, Sat Nam Kaur has no hesitation. "Without a doubt Yogi Bhajan has been my biggest influence in my yoga practice." For many summers she had the honor of being in his presence, and the memories and impact of those times are still with her. "I am in deepest gratitude for all he has given me, reminded me, guided me and still guides me."

When she isn't teaching and practicing yoga and meditation, Sat Nam Kaur Khalsa works as a consultant to small, start-up clothing companies, and as a fabricator of custom clothing and home decorative goods. She loves healthy cooking, Diksha and Reiki, hanging out at Town Lake and her one teenaged son.

"Believe in yourself and don't look back." - Yogi Bhajan.

"There is this benevolent force behind all Creation-waves of Love, of Light sustained by truth. And you are that truth. That is your essence." - Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi