by Linda Kelly
Over the moon to sit and have a chat with Jai Dev Singh, co-founder of Life-Force Academy with his wife Simrit, both of whom have changed my life through their teachings and transformative music honoring the healing that Kundalini yoga inspires. Here are a few nuggets from our conversation. Sat Nam!
Haight Street Voice: What’s your connection to the Grateful Dead?
Jai Dev: [laughs] That’s a fine question! It’s a deep connection, very simple: it’s one of my primary medicines, live music in general. The Grateful Dead are in the upper echelon of what’s most important to me when it comes to music. It has all the elements I need, that I want: depth, lyricism — they’re like sutras, the poetry is so rich and beautiful and speaks to our lives.
HSV: In your classes, you create this space, like the Dead, this wonderful space where more magic can come in, and the ability to listen becomes better — and listening to other people who are really focussed and driven is a really beautiful thing.
JDS: People who are concentrating their life force in a relatively singular direction. Yes, [kundalini yoga] is an experience, it takes you on a journey and I go on the journey too. I’m right there with you. It’s like you were saying about trying to figure out who you are. I am too! And it’s something that blossoms over time.
HSV: What does the Haight-Ashbury mean to you?
JDS: It’s kind of like a place of pilgrimage, such a crucially important piece of not only American history but the blossoming of consciousness in our world and the revolution of consciousness that first took place and was kind of like the pillar, and for a certain period of time the nucleus seemed to be in that area.
“Hippie” to me is a very positive word and represents all the things that I think are good and beautiful. So to me the Haight-Ashbury is the sacred land. This is something we still need to be caretakers of and nurture so it can continue to blossom. Creativity is really what it all comes down to, how are our lives uniquely creative. My life is uniquely creative in a different way than yours. Look at what you’re doing. And that’s that! Just being creative in a certain way is the most important medicine we have.
Come watch our full interview with our friend and teacher, Jai Dev Singh. Peace, y’all!
