Here is my latest article for the teaching issue of the Shambhala Sun.
cyndishambhalasunjune2010

Waylon Lewis, editor of Elephant, that very cool on-line magazine, has interviewed me a couple of times.  Here is a semi-recent one.  I hope you like it.  Below this link is another link to what he put up yesterday about my upcoming gig at SMC.  Thanks, Way!  See you soon in Boulder.

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/09/24591-part-one-elephantjournalcom-interviews-cyndi-lee-founder-of-om-yoga-center/

And then here is the link to the SMC thing in Elephant.  Scroll down and along the way check out all the cool stuff on Elephant Journal.

http://www.facebook.com/elephantjournal

My current contemplation is how my dharma practice can help me expand my comfort zone.  I would love to be the kind of person who is just totally loose and comfortable in any situation, but I”m not.  Yet.  I’m working on it and step one is to clearly admit my comfort zone boundaries.  I don’t think they are huge but I do like a good cup of coffee in the morning and that is something that I can learn to let go of.  There are other things I might not tell you about but I don’t think the list is huge.  The whole point is not to be spoiled and to be able to be fine with whatever, so that I can be grounded and open and helpful to others no matter what.  This week offered several opportunities to practice this.

We got to the Berlin Train Station two hours early in hopes of getting a reserved seat.  No such luck.  Customer service was, well, kind of non-existent.  I guess the train employees are overworked at this point.  The station was packed.  Long lines.  Especially in the bathroom which costs 80 cents.  That really, really annoyed me and I almost lost my equilibrium then.  I mean, that is a basic human service.  But, what can you do?  Put the coin in the slot and for that you get a choice of 8 stalls in the biggest station in Berlin, and blah blah blah.  OK, I’m letting that go.  Onward.

The station is very modern and that is kind of cool. But the platforms are all outdoors. The wait can get pretty cold. I'm letting that go, too, and pulling my scarf tighter. Glad to have a scarf, right?

After a mad scramble, and getting kicked out of my seat twice, Dave finally found us two unreserved seats. Some people did have reserved seats including the nice old lady and her son who were next to us. They bought their tickets three months in advance. I settled in to finish my YJ article on Uttanasana.

The landscape is flat, flat, flat. Lots of modern windmills. The train ride was 7 hours but 45 minutes of it was on a ferry. Yes, the train went right on to the huge ferry and that was sort of fun.

We arrived in Copenhagen and got off on the wrong stop.  Nanna met us and put us back on the train for one more stop and then we were there.  Ta da!

My dad always said that even though he was a Protestant minister and I was a Buddhist, it was all about the same thing:  love and compassion.  So, I went to the Park Avenue Christian Church for Easter Sunday.  I took my mom because I always am trying to think of activities that she can do and will enjoy and understand.  My dad was the youth minister at PACC before I was even born and then, 25 years later,  he was the interim minister there when he was 75 years old.  My parents have many friends and connections at this church.

Here is Rev. Alvin Jackson giving the Easter Sunday message, which was Will You Dance With Me?

Even though this jewel of a church — a mini-cathedral, really, with Tiffany stain glass windows — is elegant and formal, the congregation looks like NYC.  Colors, ages, sizes, hairdos, orange sneakers, Easter hats, lots of little kids — it’s a real church as a church should be, tremendous vitality.   And Rev. Jackson along with his associate, Rev. Katherine Kinnamon, run the joint, hold the sacred space and preach the good word with sincerity and life!

Alvin is, in my humble opinion, a great preacher.  The real deal.  His sermon was also great — as in, greatness.  He talked about how when Jesus arose and came out of the crypt his followers clung to him.  He removed their hands and said, “Don’t cling to me.  Go ahead and move on, do the work, spread the goodness that we have shared.”  Alvin said this means we can Practice Resurrection.  Not just talk or celebrate or read or study but get up and go out, Move! Dance!  This is exactly what Buddha said on his deathbed as his disciples asked him what they should do after he was gone.  He said, “Make yourself a light.”  In other words, “you know the teachings, now go ahead and do it, practice, move, dance the life, share the goodness, keep it going, turn it over and up and out.”

Alvin got the whole congregation inspired and I was moved to tears.  Brilliant and soulful and inspiring and smart — I like this church a lot.

By the way, because it is New York City after all, the music at PACC is spectacular!  Trumpets, piano, organ and beautiful choir singing.  It was hard not to cry when they sang the Quaker hymn, Lord of the Dance.  Exquisite.

This is Tina Jackson and Millie, two minister's wives. TIna also does yoga and I'm hoping to get her down to OM yoga sometime soon.

Millie and me. She enjoyed the church service but then on the way home, she started crying. She missed my dad and I did, too. He was such a part of our church life. But I remembered what Alvin said and I am going to Practice Resurrection and move. Not get stuck and that is just how my dad would be, too. It's hard sometimes, but Easter is a reminder that moving and living is always the way. We just have to practice.

If you are looking for a church in NYC, this is it!   parkavenuechristianchurch.com

I’m doing the Yoga Journal Basics Column for the whole year coming up.  Part of my assignment is to take photos of the asanas I’m writing about — variations, do’s and dont’s.  But, I can’t take pictures of myself so my lovely student and up-and-coming OM yoga sub teacher, Becca Grossman, helped me out.  Here is a sneak preview of some of the poses/variations coming soon in YJ.

Viparita Karani -- yummy -- this is my favorite pose. Can you see little Leroy watching over Becca?

When the organizing principle and the container principle meet up -- through the use of props, in this case -- a balanced, effective asana happens.

Can you guess what pose this is a prep for?

“When you are practicing generosity, you should feel a little pinch when you give something away.  That pinch is your stinginess protesting.  If you give away your old, worn-out coat that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, that is not generosity.  There is no pinch.  You are doing nothing to overcome your stingness; you’re just cleaning out your closet and calling it something else.  Giving away your coat might keep someone warm, but it does not address the problem we face as spiritual practitioners: to free ourselves from self-cherishing and self-grasping.”    – Gelek Rimpoche

…about the awesome, smart, fun and inspiring Neil Theise coming to OM yoga tomorrow night to give a talk on STEM CELLS AND THE SCIENCE OF BEING.

It’s Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 7-8:30.  Click this link for more info:

http://www.omyoga.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=181:feb-17-stem-cells-a-the-science-of-being&catid=96&Itemid=93

http://www.omyoga.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=181:feb-17-stem-cells-a-the-science-of-being&catid=96&Itemid=93

Monkey body, monkey mind.

Watching the monkeys outside our window.  The howler monkeys.  Yesterday we saw a family.  The baby was so tiny that I was afraid it would fall out of the tree.  The mom climbs ahead and up, up, up.  Then she sits and waits.  The little baby slowly, bravely found her way up and when she was almost to the mom, the mom would take off again.  I finally figured out that how the mom teaches the baby to climb.  ”Follow me!”  At one point the mom was up really high, the very top of the branches, and the baby got stuck.  The baby just could only go so far and then couldn’t figure it out or was afraid.  So the mom came back down almost to the baby and sat there and waited.  That seemed to encourage the baby and she got going again.  I could’ve watched for hours.  The monkeys move and fly from branch to branch and then they stay still for long periods.  Is that like your mind?

This was how the sunrise looked outside my window the other day.

An urban morning but the rising sunlight is still beautiful reflecting off the branches of the barren winter tree.

That was last week.  This was this morning.

That's our city at work, folks.

Yes, when Nudgie and I came home on Tuesday night there was a big sign on our front door informing the residents of our building that NYC was turning off our water at 8:30am the next morning.  sigh.  I don’t know why but I think it might have something to do with a big, schmancy new hotel that is opening on the new block.  So I got up early to relate to this non-water situation.  The thing is that I normally do get up early.  But I don’t do anything interactive with others, except Leroy.  As you know, I am around many people all day long, and I love it, but I need my quiet alone time, too, and that is the morning.  I like to stay in my jammies and read and be quiet.  But I got up and jumped in the shower, brushed my teeth, made the coffee, made the oatmeal, freshened Leroy’s bowl — did all things water that needed to happen before 8:30am.  During the process I became grumpy.  I was definitely out of my normal rhythm and I dropped the top of my moisturizer bottle in the toilet (icky) and I spilled my coffee and stubbed my toe.  But I also was developing a nice resentment about the whole situation.  It was out of my control and that made me resentful.  I guess.  But then, guess what?  The water never did get turned off and so there I was in a bad mood with nothing to blame it on.  But by then it was so big and solid that I didn’t want to let it go.  So I ended up so crabby that I actually gave myself a headache.  Finally, at a certain point, I relaxed and figured out what I was doing and it made me laugh.  Whew!  I guess in the end that could be called analytical meditation but it sure took me a while to get there.  I guess I need to practice more.  Does anybody resonate with this kind of scenario?

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!