How did this all begin?

The daughter of a protestant minister dad and tailor/ceramist mom, Cyndi grew up in an environment that fostered creativity, play and spiritual seeking. Dancing around the living room of their Seattle home to “The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny” was not uncommon. Family vacations were divided between camping at La WisWis in the Cascade Mountains, picking blackberries along the Columbia River and summers speaking Spanish in La Ciudad de Mexico. By the age of eight, Cyndi had dislocated her left elbow twice because climbing trees, rolling down sand dunes, ballet lessons, skiing, and cheerleading were just some of the ways she moved on a daily basis.

Yoga seemed like a natural choice when she went to Chapman College in 1971. It was southern California in the seventies, after all! Upon completion of her MFA thesis on Women, Spirituality and Indian Dance at UC, Irvine, Cyndi arrived in New York as a recipient of an Art History Fellowship to the Whitney Museum of American Art. This was a wonderful opportunity but not enough cash so Cyndi began teaching yoga in Greenwich Village.

Soon she became a fixture in NYC’s downtown modern dance scene, choreographing and performing primarily in XXY Dance/Music and Cyndi Lee Dance Company/Big Moves, Inc. Cyndi also choreographed over 20 music videos for Rick James, Simple Minds, Appolonia, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and many more including Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which won the 1983 MTV Best Female Video of the Year award.

After meeting her root guru, Gelek Rimpoche, in the late 1980s, Cyndi’s practice of yoga and Buddhism merged with her choreography. In 1994, “Dharma Dances” was her last concert, which featured Allen Ginsberg singing his own songs and accompanying himself on harmonium. She said good bye to the dance world and starting teaching yoga full-time.

After 15 years of running OM yoga Center, Cyndi closed the studio in 2012 to allow more time for deepening her own practice. She attended Rohatsu, a deep Zen retreat with Roshi Joan Halifax and Enkyo Roshi at Upaya Zen Center in 2013 and was given jukai by Roshi Joan in 2013. In 2017 Cyndi graduated from the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy training program and was ordained by Roshi Joan in 2018.

One month before being ordained and month after being ordained Cyndi had a total hip replacement. This powerful experience has naturally led to a new, creative method for practicing yoga, that emphasizes curiosity, mobility, strength and slow flow.

Cyndi teaches a limited amount of workshops and trainings, in person and on-line.

Currently, her primary offerings are workshops on Sustainable Yoga, and the Resiliency Practices of Yoga and Buddhism, and she still teaches Yoga Body Buddha Mind annually at Kripalu Institute.

Cyndi offers in-person and on-line Meditation Teacher Trainings and Restorative Teacher Trainings. She has a limited number of private students working with her on developing a meditation practice as well as coaching for yoga teachers, all done via skype, zoom or facetime.

Cyndi has been featured on ABC’s Early Show; Live with Reggie and Kathie Lee; CBS’s Good Morning, America; FCNN; and other television shows as well as numerous publications such as The Wall Street Journal; The New York Times; Vogue and Time Out.