Cyndisphere: Cyndi Lee's Blog

New blog address. Cyndisphere.com

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:40:26 -0400

Cyndisphere.com

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:23:00 -0400

NEW BLOG ADDRESS: CYNDISPHERE.COM

My blog has had a makeover and moved to a new address. You can still read all my old posts from the last 12 months at this site. I’m back in Japan and I started this blog a year ago right after I returned from Japan.

But now I’m writing on cyndisphere.com. That blog will be my travel and friends and OMmies blog and then I am also starting a new blog this week called Yoga Body Buddha Mind on Beliefnet.com. See you there, Love, C

HOLIDAY READING

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:41:00 -0400

A couple months ago I promised you a summer reading list from the OM yoga teacher training faculty. Joe, Margi and Sarah came forward with some good suggestions and I bolded the ones that I’ve read and also loved. All these would be great for you to take with you on your Labor Day weekend. If you are not going out of town, check out the special class schedule at OM yoga and also all the really good sales we are having for September.

Sarah: ”I’m reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. Its a beautiful short memoir about his running and writing but has been really inspiring my meditation practice. A lot of his language around his process feels real and meditative.”

FYI — this would also be great for those of you thinking of doing the OM yoga for Runners workshop with Sarah this fall.

Joe: ”How about The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer? The plot sounds a little like Benjamin Button, but it’s totally original and beautifully written. Also, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Honestly, Suzanne liked it better than I did, but I enjoyed it.”

Margi: ”The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Fascinating memoir of an utterly sad and dysfunctional family. I marvel that she could rise out of the mud and write so beautifully about her experience. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. Just started it but very fun to read about Julie making her way through Julia Child’s 524 recipes in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” What a practice.”

ANYONE CAN DO YOGA! It’s true. We went to visit Millie...

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:14:00 -0400

Lifting knees and circling ankles.

Making fists and stretching fingers.

ANYONE CAN DO YOGA! It’s true. We went to visit Millie where she lives — the 80th St. Residence for Memory Loss — and there they all were, doing yoga! They love it! Their teacher is Marissa, a wonderful NYC yoga teacher I’ve known for years. She did a skillful and loving job giving them an inspiring, fun and absolutely complete yoga class. I think they especially liked chanting OMMMMM!!!! Since it was already in progress I just pulled up a chair and even did some partnering things with my mom since she really couldn’t figure out how to do much of it by herself. When you have Parkinson’s your body does not do what you tell it to do anyway. But with me for a partner, we did ok. Awesome work, Marissa!

OM yoga in Costa Rica

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:08:00 -0400

We just posted the page that tells all about our retreat in Costa Rica next February. In just a couple of hours we already made several reservations so I think this is going to sell out fast. This is our first retreat in Costa Rica in many years and it is at a new retreat center on the beach in Nosara. I didn’t want to do another retreat there until we could find the exactly right place and this is it! The whole facility is “green” and totally exquisite and all set up for yoga and meditation.

I will be teaching along with Edward and David. We will offer 3 class times daily and each session will have a mix of classes. For example, in the morning you can either meditate with David or stretch with Edward. After breakfast you can either do a basic yoga class or a more experienced yoga class. Later we will offer either a meditation and restorative class or a hip opening/arm balancing class. So there will be lots of challenging fun yoga and also classes that non-yogis or beginning yogis will like. So you can come with your yoga or your non-yoga friend.

In between there is surfing, swimming, horse back riding, swinging through the trees, watching turtles, or my favorite which is lying on the sand like a beached whale. There is a cool town nearby with a farmer’s market and organic restaurants and music. We also made the pricing tiered so that everybody can afford it. And if you sign up before October 13 you get a pretty fat discount of $300. So, check it out!!!

http://www.omyoga.com/

detox day 7

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:15:37 -0400

Feeling great. More space in my joints.

TEACHING YOGA IN JAPAN!!! I’m going to be teaching OM yoga...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:19:43 -0400

TEACHING YOGA IN JAPAN!!!

I’m going to be teaching OM yoga asana class every morning Sept. 6-15 in Tokyo. The class will be from 9-10:40 am and everyone is welcome!

I will also be teaching in Osaka Sept. 19-21 — classes for beginners and more experienced, and restorative and Yoga Body Buddha Mind. Contact Tokyo Yoga for more details.

I am also giving the very first OM yoga teacher training in Japan. Here is a message for all my Japanese yoga students who might be thinking about joining the training. I hope you join us!

Hello!

I am very excited to be returning to Tokyo Yoga to offer the very first OM yoga teacher training in Japan! Several people have written to me with questions about the training, mostly asking if they are eligible. Every single person that has inquired has definitely been eligible! If you have been practicing yoga for two years then you are ready. Don’t worry too much —- during this training your practice will develop. Each morning we will begin with an asana class so that you get to experience the creative sequencing, precise alignment, hands-on adjustments and meditation-in-motion that you will be learning how to teach. You will get stronger and more stable, curious and confident. It will be fun!

OM yoga teacher training will give you the skills you need to be an excellent yoga teacher. You don’t have to be perfect to take this training. You just have to be willing to try new things, meet new people and mostly, learn about yourself. The main thing is to come with an open mind and an open heart. This process is deep, inspiring and personal. Last year when I was teaching in Japan I found all the yoga students to be very good at listening and learning. They were willing to try new things and it was a lot of fun!

Each day you will learn about the asanas, how to look at a student and an asana, how to do hands-on adjustments, how each asana relates to the others, how to create sequences, how to work with props for beginners and injuries and how to combine yoga with meditation. I will try to answer all your questions and we will work together to help each person become their best. At the end of the training you will feel well prepared to teach yoga. You will feel confident that you have the skills to help your students develop their own yoga practice.

The training in September is Part 1 and includes Surya Namaskar, Standing poses, Twists, Backbends and Meditation. Part 2 in March will cover Anatomy of Yoga, Forward Bends, Seated Poses, Inversions and Relaxation. You will have many opportunities to practice all this with your classmates as well as getting up in front of the group and teaching. That sounds scary but it is also empowering and the only way to really learn how to teach is to practice teaching. As you practice, it gets less scary and more exciting!

I have taught OM yoga Teacher Training all around the world and my students are now teaching OM yoga everywhere! When you graduate from this training, you will become part of our global network of OM yoga teachers and be eligible to join our on-line community which is launching this fall.

In the meantime, if you have any questions please send me an email at cyndi@omyoga.com. You can tell me about your practice and what concerns you have and I will help you.

Nudgie sat in with the band. His solos were so awesome that I...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:57:27 -0400

Nudgie sat in with the band. His solos were so awesome that I almost exploded with pride! I kept looking around and going, “That’s my husband!” I couldn’t help it. His playing was so crystal like and fluid at the same time, every solo totally different and completely in the pocket. Go Dave.

Look who was there! My excellent literary agent and friend,...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:55:01 -0400

Look who was there! My excellent literary agent and friend, Stephanie Tade!

Friday night was the gig. Here is the view of the house/bar...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:50:55 -0400

Friday night was the gig. Here is the view of the house/bar from the stage during sound check. It’s a fun place, but sort of a dive.

This weekend we had a lovely visit with the amazing, brilliant...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:49:00 -0400

This weekend we had a lovely visit with the amazing, brilliant David Bromberg and his equally amazing and brilliant wife, Nancy Josephson. Aren’t they cute in their pjs? Do you know Bromberg? He was huge about 25 years ago. I saw in perform in Central park in 1979 when I first moved to NYC and loved it. It was also the biggest crowd ever at a CP concert — until the record was broken by Diana Ross. But he dropped out for 22 years and didn’t have a guitar that whole time. He became a fine violin maker. Now he’s back on stage and still making violins. Nancy is an expert on Haitian voodoo, an acclaimed visual artist and has a girl band called Angelband. Great people who totally inspired me with their tremendously creative life. I love meeting people who make up their life as they go, from what is interesting and nurturing to them.

Another family nap.

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:43:03 -0400

Another family nap.

Then we went to visit my mom but she was taking a nap. We...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:41:41 -0400

Then we went to visit my mom but she was taking a nap. We didn’t want to disturb her so I decided to get on the bed and take a nap, too, while we waited for her to wake up. Leroy likes to be in the sandwich.

More friends visiting! This is Dave and his sister Nicky,...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:38:37 -0400

More friends visiting! This is Dave and his sister Nicky, embracing their beloved Puji Guest, mom of Christopher Guest and best friend of their mom, Clare Nichtern. Puji is 88 and swims a mile a day.

day 4 -- detox

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:37:00 -0400

Either the pollen count is insanely high and my kapalabhati practice has stopped working, or I’m detoxing. Yesterday and this morning have been total sneezing dribble fests but maybe that is a good thing. Sometimes you have to feel worse before you feel better. Anyway, I’ve been off soy, milk, cheese, sugar, yogurt, citrus, peanuts, beans, vinegar and all things fermented for 3.5 days. No wine. No summer corn. Taking my Vitamin D; melatonin; DHEA — the grandmother hormone; magnesium and some other essential oils and it is no big deal. I made a salad with oil and lemon juice instead of balsamic vinegar and I liked it even better. So there!

soy vey

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:26:00 -0400

Speaking of Loudon Wainwright III, I’ve been singing one of his classic songs to myself today — the one that starts, “I went to the doctor, the doctor said Son, you look older than me and I’m 81…” Yes, I went to the doctor yesterday. I haven’t been feeling particularly good for….awhile…a few years….true confession almost since I started OM yoga because it is very stressful having a business! I had no idea. I thought it would just be fun and nice to teach yoga in my own way that I wanted to share. And, of course, it is wonderful and the community is my family but there is stress involved. I was diagnosed with Hashimodo’s in 2001 and have been taking medication for that ever since and it helped me a lot. With an autoimmune thyroid disorder like that it is important for me to get my blood tested frequently.

So, I went to a new doctor and she took out so much blood that my arm hurt for two days. That was last month. Yesterday I got the results, not all which I want to share, not just yet anyway. But I found out that one thing I was being tested for was food sensitivity. And, boy am I sensitive! I have off the chart high sensitivity to:

yeast

soy

cheese

oranges

peanuts

beans

milk

eggs

yogurt

and medium sensitivities to a bunch of other delicious stuff. There is a part of me that isn’t sure this kind of testing is real except that even when I was a kid I got splotchy face from oranges and there have been some bean incidents that are best not mentionedl. I also found out that even though I’ve been in the sun a lot this summer I have almost no Vitamin D, no folic acid, no magnesium and no hormones. Gosh, it’s amazing that I can function at all! She gave me a bunch of stuff to take and after one night I must say I am loving that melatonin. Anyway, hope this isn’t too much of an overshare but isn’t that what people do on blogs. I will try to report how my practice is helping me navigate this information but it’s too soon to say except for now I’m just watching my mind. And my diet.

This is Dick Cannette. He is an old buddy of mine from way back...

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:14:00 -0400

This is Dick Cannette. He is an old buddy of mine from way back in the day when I was a modern dancer and he was the composer for all Charlie Moulton’s choreography. They were a great team and my pals. That was in the 80s. Then we lost touch but somehow he got to be great friends with Loud and they have just done an album together. Dick produced it and you should really check it out. It is called High, Wide and Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project.

http://www.thecharliepooleproject.com/CharlieBook-Web.pdf

Dave on guitar.

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:11:53 -0400

Dave on guitar.

Nudgie sat in — even though he is standing. He did some...

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:09:00 -0400

Nudgie sat in — even though he is standing. He did some awesome solos and got a lot of love from the audience.

Last weekend we went to Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett to...

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:07:40 -0400

Last weekend we went to Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett to Loudon Wainwright 3rd’s gig. This is Loudon and that is a picture of Stephen Hand, one of the first families of the East End. Our house is just off Stephen Hand Path.