My friend, Sandy Gross, owner of Evolution Yoga in Cleveland, and a wonderful OM yoga teacher (we have held OM yoga Teacher Trainings at this great OM yoga affiliate studio for years!) called me yesterday. She was nervous because Lady GaGa was in town and since it was her day off she wanted to take a yoga class and was on the way to Sandy, along with her assistant and her bodyguard. I told Sandy to teach a class that wasn’t too fast but kept moving and to give lots of hands on adjustments and good information. And, to just be herself. And, most important, to call me after the class and tell me how it went!

This is what Sandy wrote to me: Hi Cyndi! Seriously, thanks so much for taking my call today, I needed some grounding. I am still a bit amped up and I have to go to bed cause I already had tix to her show tomorrow eve and I need to sleep! Lady Gaga really liked OM yoga…she liked that it was creative and she loved the hands on assists and that I helped her low back drama in back bends.

One of my most blissful annual activities — attending the Jewel Heart summer retreat with my beautiful guru, Gelek Rimpoche.  I was joined by many wonderful sangha brothers and sisters from all over the world.  Here are some random pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love each other and we love to hang out together.  Sometimes we let our significant others join us but mostly we like to just be together with us.  So, we were happy but also a little bit sad because this dinner party was a send off to our dear Sarah and Margi.  They are both going West.   Sarah is moving and Margi is semi-moving.  Margi might come back (we hope).  So for now, what can we do but eat and drink and laugh?  We went to Gemma on Bowery and Great Jones.

 

Did you notice that Edward is with us but Joe is not?  Yes, that does mean something.  It means that Joe was not feeling well.  We tried to call him but the restaurant was too noisy.  The food is great, by the way, but somehow this street has become the hottest place in town and it is just packed with lots of people, many of them are very loud.  We might have been some of the loud people.

Did you know that all the OM yoga TT faculty women are originally from the West coast?  Christie is from Eugene, Oregon; Sarah is from Seattle; Margi is from San Francisco and I am from Seattle.  Now that Edward has joined us we have another West Coaster — he is originally from San Francisco.  Yes, it’s true — Edward has joined our ranks.  He will be apprenticing as an OM yoga Teacher Trainer this summer and I have also appointed  him our new Director of OM yoga Teacher Training.  I think he will do an awesome job.  He’s already brought in some new ideas and fresh insight!

 

 

I am tremendously proud of the team I have gathered together and of all the work we have done together.  Every single person puts all of themselves into the process and we are constantly revising and evolving the living practice of OM yoga to make it be the best, most useful, elegant and practical yoga method.  The training is thorough and our graduates tell us they have no problem getting teaching jobs anywhere in the world.  

But, now it is time to turn the wheel.  You know, Big wheel keeps on turning. Proud Mary keeps on burning.  Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river.  We wish you all the very best of everything, dear Margi and Sarah.

Random guy sitting in a chair on the sidewalk.  He let me take a picture of his t-shirt.

 

The guy in the t-shirt wanted to see the picture but he didn’t like it because it didn’t show his face, so here he is.

 

 

 

We were so fortunate to be able to attend the three day teachings given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Radio City Music Hall.  It was such a wonderful experience.  I will write a post giving you some of what he said but for now, I am still so blissed out and profoundly inspired to even be in the presence of such a great person.  He is a true world leader.  He doesn’t just want goodness for “his people” but for all people.   He works hard on that project every day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then he was.  He stepped off the stage and people rushed all around him.  There were magically about 5 or 6 state department guys holding us in line.  They were not aggressive or rude but very firm and huge.  They create a wall.  But yet, I was in the front, bowing with my hands together.  HH was coming along toward me.  He knew some people and touched their hands or their cheeks.  He looked at every single person, not a zombie glance but really seeing everyone in the line.  He looked at me and held my hand.  I feel like crying just thinking about that.  What a blessing for all of us to have this man as our Dalai Lama.  Not all the Dalai Lamas have been so great.  Or we could have had one who was only a child. To have this one is a very major blessing and great, good fortune for the entire planet.

 

 

Can you see Chris in the background?

It was pretty special for me to connect with my cousin, Rick.  We haven’t seen each other for….maybe 25 years…maybe more.  We can’t remember.  But my dad, Uncle Allan, died and his mom, Aunt Donnabelle, died and so it felt like time to reconnect.  His mom and my mom were sisters and best friends for their whole life.  It was amazing for me to say to him, “Do you remember our grandfather’s ranch?” and he smiles and nods.  Neither of us have any siblings but he stayed in Washington State a lot longer than me and is more in the loop of our relatives so I got caught up on a lot. Even though we have just reconnected there is a certain deep feeling from being with someone from your same gene pool.  And, it turns out that he is just a super nice guy and so is his wife! 

I took my camera with me to my private meeting with Louise Hay, in her hotel suite.  But there was no one else there at all, the whole time, so I didn’t get a picture of us together.  Except in my mind and heart.

I also took a picture of Christiane Northrup while she was giving her brilliant, funny, earthy, smart talk — but the photo did not come out in a flattering way and I have a commitment to all women that I will never put an unflattering picture of you on my blog.  I mean, we must stick together, us girls.

A few more pictures coming…stay tuned.

Dave and I are in CA.  I love it here sooooo much!  We came out because he played with KD last night as part of the Hay House I Can Do It! conference.  On Thursday night I interviewed Jamie Lee Curtis for my upcoming book and we had dinner with her and her husband, Christopher Guest.  pictures to follow soon.

Friday we drove down to San Diego and along the way we took a little detour to the UC Irvine campus where I got my BFA and MFA in Dance.  It is so different that it took quite a while for us to find the Art and Dance Department.  I think there is only one teacher still there that I know and I was hoping to see him.  But what I saw instead was a girl sitting at a table advertising a benefit for that teacher, El  Gabriel.  He’s been severely injured in a car accident.  So I gave a contribution and left a note and then Dave took my picture next to a statue of an anteater, the school mascot.  There are also statues of bison and a street called Bison Street.  When I was going to school there, there were no streets or statues but there were many actual bison.

Here at the conference I went to see Wayne Dyer which was kinda boring, sorry to say.  Louise Hay opened the Saturday morning session and in 15 minutes she inspired me and moved me to tears. She is an angel put on earth to help people.  It’s really that true and that simple.  Then we heard Robert Holden on Happiness and it was awesome, brilliant, inspiring and funny.  Then I went to see one of my total heroes, Christiane Northrup.  Wow.  She just kind of nailed my life. I felt stirred up in way that was disturbing, but good, and so I went back to my room after that and took a nap.  Can’t take in any more.

Last night was KD’s concert.  Always lovely.  Lots of nice yogis, including our friend and wonderful yoga teacher, Sarah Ivanhoe, who came down from LA.

 

 

This morning I got to have a meeting with Louise Hay in her hotel room.  She was so gracious and welcoming.  Then she dug into me and asked me penetrating questions which were tough to answer.  Her gaze is unwavering and clear.  She is 83.5 and she is not fooling around.  She also was kind and practical.  She gave me a book, an affirmation, a visualization and her phone number when I need a boost.  Wow.  I am so grateful.

One of the students in the weekend, Leslie, lives in Malmo, Sweden.  I met Leslie two years ago when I taught at a yoga conference in Sweden, which is when I met Soham, too.  Anyway, she invited us to have lunch with her on our last day.  We loved the idea of going to Sweden for lunch and so that is what we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who hasn’t heard of Tivoli Gardens?  We rode our bikes there, locked them up outside and went into this magical place.  The video of me dancing with Soham to the South Pacific medley is on my Facebook page.  I mean, really, we walked in and heard a live orchestra playing, “Some Enchanted Evening.”

 

 

 

We loved being at Hamsa Studio, owned by the smart and adorable Soham.  The students are insanely smart, engaged and strong.