Check out my second blog on the Huffington Post. The words of my precious teacher, Gelek Rimpoche, once again helped us figure things out. If you have a chance to read the blog post, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cyndi-lee/yoga-drip-drip-the-bucket_b_407500.html
If you want to ring out the old and ring in the new in the deepest and widest way, come to the annual OM yoga New Year’s Eve class! It is already over half full and will definitely sell out, as it does every year. Make a reservation by calling OM yoga 212-254-9642 or go to the website, www.omyoga.com.
This year it will be taught by Joe and Edward. They will gather everyone together for pranayama and meditation, then split up into separate studios for asana practice — this might turn into a 2,3, or 4 room affair depending on how many people come. The more the merrier, but we don’t want to feel too squished on our mats so we do it like this. Then after that, everyone gathers back together in the Earth studio for meditation. This is great time to bring your non-yoga family and friends, too. It is so great to be with your sangha on New Year’s Eve and you have plenty of time afterwards for…..whatever is your pleasure on this big night!
Here’s my top tip for how to do that: Make Applesauce! It really works. Applesauce is so good and so satisfying that you will start to like it even better than chocolate. Impossible, you say? Well, I challenge you to give it a try. And to encourage you, here is a step-by-step lesson in How To Make Applesauce.
Buy some apples. Whatever kind you want. If you can get to a farmer's market you can ask them which ones are the best for applesauce. I've used concord and they are good, good, good.
Cut them up in chunks. I like big chunks. Get about 5-6 pounds of apples which is way more than in these pictures. You will be shocked at how fast you and your peeps can eat that much applesauce.
Get a system going. Put a big pot on the stove and as you cut up apples toss them in. Then, wash a few more apples, cut and toss.
When all the apples are in the pot, pour in enough water to just cover the apples. I turn the heat on to high and when it starts boiling, I turn it down to simmer. Stir it whenever you feel like it. Throw in some cinnamon - as much as you want. You can also add raisins or pears or ginger. As the apples start to get soft, smush them against the side of the pot so the sauce is smooth-ish but a bit chunky.
Voila! I add it to my morning oatmeal and have for a treat. It is really nice heated up. YUM!
This is one of my tips for getting through the holidays in reasonably healthy shape. For more, check out my blog in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cyndi-lee/how-not-to-get-fat-this-c_b_403168.html
Leroy! Today he is 6! He came home to us right after my dad died and as I cried and cried, he just sat right next to me. It was the perfect and only comfort. Dogs are good like that. He only weighed 1.5 pounds but he was soulful right from the start. He is my Christmas angel puppy.
Hello, since it's my birthday does that mean I get to eat even more food than usual?
Leroy has Buddha nature. He has been sick for three weeks — an allergy that made red spots all over his tummy, then conjunctivitis, then congestion in his little doggy lungs — but all the while he wags his tail and doesn’t get depressed. He is almost all well now and under the care of Dr. Diane, vet extraordinaire so don’t worry about him. He’s not worried. He understands the nature of impermanence and emptiness.
Check it out — here is the link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cyndi-lee/how-not-to-get-fat-this-c_b_403168.html
One of my students and a graduate of The Road to OM, Kendra, is also a 10th grade teacher. She teaches yoga to her kids in Queens and so I invited her to bring them to OM yoga for a field trip and a yoga class in a real yoga studio. They were so great! When I walked into the studio, they started chanting, Cyndi Cyndi Cyndi. They were super excited and their passion for yoga was amazing!
We talked about what it takes to hold a balance. They came up with breathing and focus. Yes! We called these our Tools for Concentration.
Kendra did a great job teaching these guys and she helped me by assisting and doing skillful adjustments.
Of course, they love doing arm balances. Some of the boys can even go from crow pose right up into handstand. I demonstrated crow into chadarunga and they loved that!
They were willing to try everything.
They dropped right into pranayama and meditation. No problem. No resistance. Amazing.
Even though I had a really bad cold all last week and had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, it was a real pleasure and inspiration to work with these kids. I was so impressed with their good hearts and open faces. So much sweet nature right out there. I was surprised by that, actually. I can’t wait to see them again and have invited Kendra to bring her kids to OM yoga again. Thanks, kids!
Friday we did a photo shoot in the Space Studio at OM yoga. Raquel Reis, who taking OM yoga tt, is also a professional photographer — how perfect! Along with her, my team was Cherie Stamm, who is my wonderful Aveda hairdresser and also does great make up, Katy Pyle, my assistant and also an OM yoga teacher who was there to make sure I got my poses just so, Janna, OM’s graphic designer, and a special guest, Raquel’s friend, Shanna, who is a professional art director and generously lent her eye to the proceedings. I was sick all week with a horrendous cold and still feel very not good. But I did 45 minutes of yoga to warm up and that helped a lot! Then you know, I said to myself, Change your attitude and relax with things as they are! And that worked.
First pose -- should I twist right or left? Should the paper be flat or rolled under?
Do we like this look?
Here comes Cherie to touch me up.
After Dave arrived, it was easier to do good smiles for the camera. He made me laugh! That's actually one of the main reasons why I married him.
I liked that they all look at the me in the camera and not the real me. Less pressure somehow.
Looks like a Grant Wood portrait....sort of....
Now the fun begins...
Are you ready for your close up Dave?
Handsome Nudgie.
Time for a coffee break for me and Cherie while Dave gets his portrait taken.
My tree is leaning...the shoot took 6.5 hours!
Am I smiling? Is this a yoga pose???
Thanks so much to our great team — we had a fun day together, feeling creative and organized.
Winter is officially here and we’ve got 2 feet of snow to prove it!
This is what I saw when I woke up this morning.
...and this. The lady with the parasol stayed steady throughout the storm but she has a lot of snow on her parasol now.
The snow plow guys came and dug us out around 2ish.
Dave helped. Then I decided that since the coast was clear I would go to town and do some last minute shopping. That seemed like a reasonable idea. But it was not. I actually saw a person with ski poles and skiis crossing the train tracks in East Hampton.
Going to town was 1) stupid and 2) probably dangerous. I did see the skier but that was pretty much it. Nobody else was out. The snow is half way up all the front doors of every store and the town is shut down. The only other people that were out were the maintenance guys who parked their trucks in the A&P parking lot to go get coffee, which they didn’t get because Starbucks was closed, and that is saying something. So I turned around which took a while and drove 10 miles an hour back home.
Leroy wants to go out but the obstacle is too great, the mountain too high.
He came back inside where it is warm and cozy. Dave told me he was going to watch the football game today and so, just to be polite, I asked, "Who is playing?" He answered, "No one you know." Well, duh.
Every year I give a party to everybody on OM yoga staff and faculty. Dave really helped me a lot this year and it was a good thing because I was working that day until about 5:30. But we pulled it together and much fun was had by all. I think it might have been one of the best — this was #12. Over the years it has evolved and now it is a potluck. People asked me what they should bring and since last year we ended up with a lot of dips and cheese and crackery stuff, I said bring real food. So they brought incredible dishes and Christine heated up an amazing stew on my stove and Joe made a very popular pear crisp and Sybil made a tea cake nicely laced with cognac. I made two salads with the help of Margi and all the food was gobbled up.
Joe digs in.
Janna says hi, I'm here!
I like how Christmas decorations blend with what I've already got in my house. Here is a Santa candle with a semi-melted head, my beautiful pink Buddha and a 50s lawn Santa all protecting our home this holiday season.
Here is my portable Indian shrine and my Christmas wreath snow dome.
At the early parties there were never babies, but after twelve years we have babies! This is Margi's baby boy, Fin.
Edward chats with Christine and her fiance, Mike. Christine made an amazing stew and Edward wore a tie to the party, because he said, He wears pajamas all day long.
When we do yoga we don't talk or eat but when we party we do both! L to R, Sophie, Nancy, Christie, Tari and in front, Heather and Dave are chatting.
Kathryn and Maria looking so happy.
Heather and her little boy, Campbell, hanging out with Nudgie.
Margi, with Natalie who moved to PA but is still part of our faculty.
Suzanne, Maria and Kathryn checking out Christine's yummy stew.
After all that eating, it's time to move -- Janna, Maya, Matt, Shevy, Edward and Dave.
Edward dances with flying Fin.
Sarah and Suzanne in a lively hand gesture worthy conversation.
Merry Christmas, Frankie.
Shevy and Ayanna
This is TurtleBean, the gift I got from the Secret Santa exchange. The staff and teachers also gave me a super beautiful necklace, excellent over the knees socks and they made a donation to Jewel Heart. Wow.
And then it was over. Dave and I cleaned up everything in a couple of hours, I blew out the candles and it was as if it never happened. Impermanence.
Last week was a week from hell situation. Not only did my mom fall and cut her eyebrow, requiring stitches and a long visit to the emergency room, but little Leroy Brown has a complete body rash. His little eyes and nose and ears and tummy and everything is red. So I’ve been to the vet and the hospital and the nurse and somehow that wasn’t all but its enough to discuss in these pages. And now that that week is over I can remember that there were some good parts, too. Here they are:
OM yoga Knit Along!! Becca, Sarah, Barbara and Sybil and me -- what fun we had. We just love, love, love knitting. Next one is Tuesday, Dec. 15.
The next day I had to get up early and catch a train up to Garrison Institute. I dragged Christie Clark along with me because we were invited to be part of a panel of experts who are creating a Wellness Program for Garrison. The program will provide yoga and meditation nationally for Social Workers in the area of Domestic Violence who get Vicarious Trauma from their work. Internationally we are building a similar program that will be for humanitarian and human rights workers who are both front line traumatized and have vicarious trauma. So it was an amazing group of people, including Deborah Rozelle and Sharon Salzburg and others and an intense day. Christie and I were honored to be part of this important work.
This was our morning train conductor and I just thought she was so cute, especially for a train conductor, that I had to take her picture.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday David and I taught Yoga Body Buddha Mind at OM yoga.
Exsqueeze me for saying so, but I think David is an amazing dharma teacher. He has a huge set of skillful means for working with individuals and he never phones it in.
The workshop was part of the OM yoga Teacher Training Weekend Warrior Program and we had teacher trainees from all around the world here.
This is Maya, from OM yoga tt in Japan and me and Nicole, from OM yoga tt in Cleveland, OH. We all took a great yoga class from Edward. He took this blurry picture -- I guess he was naturally high from teaching.
These were some of the happy highlights of an otherwise tough week. One of those weeks where the obstacles just kept coming and I thought to myself, “I am in over my head. I do not have the skills to deal with this.” But, in the midst of it all, I kept doing my yoga and meditation practice. And that makes a HUGE difference. It shifts things. It reminds me of impermanence. As Margi would say, Sandcastles. My whole hearted resolve to remain committed to my practice has kept me in good stead.
