The Cosmic Gift

My childhood of constant travel, living as an expat in France, has taught me abundant gratitude for my voice. The human voice is the most portable, most readily available, and clearest expression of our soul. When we sing in a devotional way, we find the home we have always been seeking, inside our own heart. I knows how these sacred mantras can lift us beyond our limited reality, into a blissful and ecstatic space, and I live to share that experience with others. :: A LONGER BIO :: I grew up an ex-pat in Southern France, singing from birth. I always knew I wanted to be a musician, but when it came time to leave high school I thought I'd go to a nice Ivy League college, study something completely quirky and unrelated, and THEN I'd do music. I wasn't able to escape my love for long, and ended up majoring in what turned out to be the only thing that interested me at Brown University: music. When I graduated in '05, I had a premature mid-life crisis and decided I needed to backpack through the Pacific Rim to find out what my next step should be. It was during this time that I discovered two things: I really missed my piano, and—while saying at a hostel in Fiji—I really liked hatha yoga. I would go on to enter a Vinyasa Flow teacher training program in Connecticut. When I returned to my parent's new home in CT, I began the overwhelming endeavor of arranging, producing and writing my first album (as "Porter"). Upon completion, I toured a great deal in the Northeast. At the beginning of 2009 I combined a move to Los Angeles, CA with a cross-country tour. My best friend drove us (see insane videos here) most of the way. Thank you Sharon! For the first few months that I lived in Los Angeles I played a lot. And then I stopped. This was a decision that baffled most of my family and friends. I just didn't want to sing what I was singing any more. I took a break to do some deep personal investigation, and what fell into my lap was Kundalini Yoga. After taking only one class, I signed up for a children's teacher training and began teaching children, to my great surprise, as a full-time job. Something else happened from not singing: I was asked to sing. It took some patience, but the Universe finally began asking me to sing. Actually, my boss announced to all his guests at his birthday party, which included two of my favorite devotional chant artists, that I had a chant to share. At the time, having nothing in fact to share, I was pretty embarrassed. However, the word got out that I sang, and sang well, and ever since, people have been asking me to sing kirtan with them. Now it t is clear to me why I stopped singing. I was listening. I have learned that there are times to sing (gavai) and times to listen (suni-ai). Both are equally important. When I was quiet, I could hear my soul. So when I started singing again, I had a whole new perspective and appreciation for what I was and what I could be. Another beautiful and unexpected thing happened to me in 2011: my New Year's Resolution to get married came to fruition. I now live with my amazingly supportive husband in Pheonix, AZ, and our newborn son. What I have learned from my journey so far is that what we invest in grows. Some of the amazing people I have shared the stage with so far include: C.C. White, Simrit Kaur, Sat Kartar, SatKirin Kaur Khalsa, Joey Lugassy, Gurunam Singh, Livtar Singh Khalsa, Bachan, and Sat Darshan Singh.