About Shakta

You probably don’t need to have a book fall on your head as I did to make a change in your life or even to open up your own yoga studio! You probably listen to your inner teacher today a lot more than I did then. And, as funny as it might sound, I am very grateful that a book fell on my head. I am also grateful that I not only paid attention but that I had the courage to follow a totally different path than the one I had traveled up until then.

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On a typical Saturday after attending a workshop I was wandering around Transitions Bookplace and saw a table piled high with ‘Meditation as Medicine’ books. ‘Hmm,’ I thought to myself. ‘Now, that sounds interesting.’ The workshop was the very next Saturday and I wasn’t really prepared to return for more ‘studying’ the very next weekend. So, with just a few seconds of thought I decided not to attend the ‘Meditation as Medicine’ workshop.

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During the intervening week I took a coupon that I had for a free latte at a local Borders bookstore. I went in, ordered my latte and, as was usual at this particular Borders, there was no place to sit in the café. So, I wandered through the book stacks browsing and sipping my latte. As I turned a corner into the ‘new age’ section a book literally flew off the shelf and hit me on the head before dropping to the floor. I picked it up, turned it over and read the title—‘Meditation as Medicine!’ I wish you could have heard me laugh out loud. At the same time I said to myself, ‘OK, God, I guess I’m going to this workshop after all!’

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By the time I arrived at Transitions on Saturday, February 3rd (in 2001) I had already read half of ‘Meditation as Medicine.' And, as was becoming a habit for me on a Saturday morning I found myself with about 30 others waiting for an author to arrive. It wasn’t long before a tall, thin, bearded man wearing a turban walked in with a guitar case. He set himself up near the teaching platform. I wondered if he was the teacher. Then a few minutes later another bearded, turbaned fellow walked in. He introduced himself as the author of ‘Meditation as Medicine,’ Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD. ‘Just call me Dr. Dharma,’ he said. ‘And, this is my friend and musician Livtar Singh Khalsa. We’re here to share with you the science and technology of Kundalini Yoga and Meditation.’