Meet Sahar
SITARIST & SOUNDBATH PRACTITIONER
Meet Sahar, an experimental soundbath practitioner with a unique background. Coming from a South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Muslim background, Sahar experienced a loss of identity several times throughout her life due to a lack of guidance and religious abuse.
However, after rediscovering Islam through Sufism on her own terms, she pursued a Master of Arts in Religious Studies and Women Gender, and Sexuality. Through this exploration of religion, the divine, and syncretism at large, she was able to find beautiful parallels between Buddhism, Islam, and even Hinduism. She was able to incorporate these values into her everyday life by researching musical Sufi practices like qawwali and poetry, as well as deep meditation through zikr. However, much of her trauma remained unprocessed and she decided to seek alternative healing methods.
Sahar felt a massive, groundbreaking shift when she discovered sound healing and actively received it any chance she got. On the side, she also trained in Hindustani classical music, with sitar, vocals, and raga compositions. She currently trains under Guru Rajib Karmakar through the Los Angeles International Music & Art Academy (LAIMA), where she also is a faculty member teaching sitar and vocals. As profound soundbaths were for her, she realized that there were not enough spaces that represented people like her. She wanted to provide sounds that were familiar to more regular soundbath participants but also sounds that were familiar to her own people. After several years of attending sessions, doing research, and her musical training, she pursued soundbath training as well as an apprenticeship in Los Angeles.
She now instills Sufi ideological values and sitar training into her own soundbath practice. She aims to create a community where people are able to learn more about the Eastern values she so longs for combined with the vast power of sound healing. Through this community, she hopes that participants are able to seek the peace within. She hopes and prays that you are open to her offering and that you'll join her for a musical safar, or journey, soon.
