Krishna Kaur Khalsa is an American teacher of

Kundalini Yoga Kundalini yoga () derives from ''kundalini'', defined in tantra as energy that lies within the body, frequently at the navel or the base of the spine. In normative tantric systems kundalini is considered to be dormant until it is activated (a ...

as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Born Thelma Oliver, she pursued a career in films and theater before in 1970 dedicating herself to empowering others through the practice of yoga.

Early years

Khalsa was born Thelma Oliver in Los Angeles, California on May 6, 1939. Her father, Cappy Oliver, played trumpet with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

's band and her mother tried her hand at roller skating, wrestling, and singing before settling down to raise five children. She studied dance at a school run by Jeni Le Gon before majoring in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of California in Los Angeles UCLA.

Performing career

Oliver dropped out of school in 1961 and went East to pursue her calling as a performer. Her off-Broadway stage debut was in The Blacks by French dramatist

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

, where she performed the role of Virtue along with Louis Gossett Jr. Oliver also performed in the musicals Fly Blackbird and Cindy, and the revue The Living Premise, where in 1963 she replaced Diana Sands for two months. Oliver also took a number of film roles beginning with a part as a "Negro woman" in the hit

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Her contribution to the 1961 swashbuckler Pirates of Tortuga is not credited. In

Black Like Me ''Black Like Me'', first published in 1961, is a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin recounting his journey in the Deep South of the United States, at a time when African-Americans lived under racial segregation. Griffin was a nat ...

, released in 1964, Oliver played the role of Georgie. She performed the role of "Ortiz's girl" in

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...

's The Pawnbroker. The cast included

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters, and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

. It was Oliver's pivotal scene with Rod Steiger near the film's end, that drew controversy at the time, when Oliver exposed her breasts. The film was among the first American movies to feature nudity during the Production Code, and was the first film featuring bare breasts to receive Production Code approval. Although it was publicly announced to be a special exception, the controversy proved to be first of similar major challenges to the Code that ultimately led to its abandonment. Thelma Oliver's biggest success as a performer came when she landed the role of "Helene" in the Broadway musical

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

with Gwen Verdon. Sweet Charity played at the Palace Theatre (New York City) from January 1966 to July 1967, 608 performances, garnering twelve Tony Award nominations, including an award for its choreography.

Turn to Yoga

While a 1966 Ebony Magazine profile mentions Oliver's study of "yoga philosophy and breathing," yoga became her life's calling four years later when she met Yogi Bhajan. Yogi Bhajan renamed her "Krishna Kaur" - meaning Divine Princess. Under his direction, she became a yoga teacher with a special dispensation to serve the Black community. Krishna Kaur established a yoga community in the

Watts, Los Angeles Watts is a neighborhood in southern Los Angeles, California. It is located within the South Los Angeles region, bordering the cities of Lynwood, Huntington Park and South Gate to the east and southeast, respectively, and the unincorporated comm ...

neighborhood with a live-in center, children's school, day care, twice weekly free kitchen and "Sat Nam Street Players" dedicated to bringing music and inspiration to the troubled streets of the ghetto. Krishna Kaur's radical spirit found full expression in her yoga mission. In her words: "The revolution is really one of the mind. Blacks have got to realize where the power really is. The struggle is not on a physical level. It is on the level of the mind." Krishna Kaur's journey into Kundalini Yoga and the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

tradition of Yogi Bhajan took her to the spiritual capital of

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

and the "Golden Temple" or Harimandir Sahib in December 1970 and again thereafter. In August 1980 she made history when, through a combination of circumstances she became the first and only woman to have ever sung Sikh hymns within the strictly patriarchal precincts of the Golden Temple. In the 1990s, Krishna Kaur played a central role in the founding of the International Black Yoga Teachers Association. She also started up Yoga for Youth, dedicated to serving young people in trouble with the U.S. criminal justice system. Krishna Kaur is currently the Chairman of the Board of Yoga for Youth. Known for her musical talent, Krishna Kaur never gave up performing. In the 1970s, she toured and recorded with a group called "Sat Nam West." In 2014, she released an album, One Creator.

Websites

* http://www.krishnakaur.org * http://www.yogaforyouth.org *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalsa, Krishna Kaur 1941 births American yoga teachers Living people American actresses 21st-century American women