Although I am born in Canada, I have the heart and conscience of an immigrant. I represent my parents from India.
My first teacher is my mother. She is Adi Shakti representing the creative power that lies within every woman. She is a Bhakti, a woman devoted to spiritual liberation through a desire to serve God through Seva (selfless service), Bhakti (love of god) and Naam Simran. I grew up attending Sat-sungs and traditional Sikh practices based on individual will and discipline of action, utterly different from anything I learned in school and during my yoga education.
Yoga is a practice of freedom and liberation that gave me purpose and served as a path to self-love and healing.
Yoga taught me about the fundamental rights of existence: love and be loved through unlearning internalized oppressive behaviours via Self-awareness.
During childhood, I struggled to reconcile my Indian culture within the Canadian context - while witnessing how immigration reform and White privilege affected my parents' vulnerability as newcomer immigrants from India. Much of my personal lived experiences with power relations, identity construction and challenges in my agency have brought me to where I am now. Still, my struggle within academia has been centred on assimilating to teaching and learning styles that did not fit my own. The awareness of Self as part of collectivism that is not part of individualism is a value of mine constructed by my cultural identity informed by my Sikh values and background.