Due to inclement weather, Cindy’s 9:30 AM class at her Weaverville studio on November 12 is CANCELLED.
Cindy’s Home Studio now in WEAVERVILLE!
Starting in November 2019, Cindy’s home studio will be in Weaverville! You can find her classes at:
14 Preston Ct
Weaverville NC 28787
Come join us!
The Challenges and Joys of Silent Retreat
From October 4-13, I will be participating in a nine-day workshop called “Concentration, Jhana, and Breath,” taught by Shaila Catherine, at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, NC. This silent retreat is structured with alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, dhamma teachings, and teacher consultations. It will utilize the breath as the primary meditation object and will encourage the development of meditative skills that lead to deep concentration (samadhi) and insight (vipassana). For my work meditation portion of the retreat, I will be teaching a yoga class, and, yes, I’ll be able to talk in order to give instruction to the students. I am looking forward to (and will definitely be challenged by) these nine days ahead, during which I will have ample opportunity to observe the antics of my “monkey mind” and to experience the stillness and expanded awareness that arise during sustained mediation.
Guest Teachers, October 4 – 11
While Cindy is on retreat, these wonderful teachers will be leading her classes.
Monday:
- 2 PM – Julie LaFleur at Cindy’s Home Studio
- 4 PM – Gea Skeens at Cindy’s Home Studio
Tuesday:
- 9:30 AM – Gea Skeens at Cindy’s Home Studio
- 4 PM – Randy Loftus at Iyengar Yoga Asheville
Wednesday:
- 12 PM – Jayne Alenier at Iyengar Yoga Asheville
- 6 PM – Lindsay Majer at Cindy’s Home Studio
Workshop: Striking a Pose Toward Inner Freedom
Cindy is teaching a four-session workshop at Sunrise Yoga in Winston-Salem from Friday, Nov. 1 – Sunday, November 3. Striking a Pose Toward Inner Freedom: Yoga and the Four Immeasurables blends hatha yoga asana with teachings on friendliness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. In combination, these practices can lead to a path through life of personal growth, awakening, clarity, and freedom.
You can register for all four sessions for $190 (by 10/18), or for $210 thereafter. Individual sessions can be purchased separately. See the Sunrise Yoga Workshop page for more.
From the Yoga Sutras of Pantajali
Renowned Iyengar Yoga Teacher Visits Asheville
Kofi Busia will be teaching a three-day workshop at Iyengar Yoga Asheville from Friday evening, September 27 through Sunday morning September 29.
Learn more here: https://www.iyavl.com/kofi-workshop
Highly recommended!
No Classes Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 2, 2019)
Regular resumes on Tuesday, September 3!
The Tranquil Waters of Equanimity
I’ve focused my attention the last few months on the practice of equanimity, one of the four Buddhist immeasurables, along with loving-kindness, compassion, and joy. Equanimity in this context means to have a clear-minded tranquil state of mind, striving to avoid being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness, or agitation. It is the ground of wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. Although some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being, beyond like and dislike, without bias and opinion. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will.”
The cultivation of loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity can open the heart, counter the distortions in our relationships to ourselves, and deepen our relationships to others. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
I’ve explored my relationship with each of these qualities as my thoughts and emotions have bounced around during the move this summer to my new home in Weaverville. I’ve had many opportunities to watch my mind bounce between like and dislike as I chose what to pack and move. The practice of even-mindedness has helped me to stay on track without second guessing the decision—except for maybe a few times as I unloaded box after box. I have collected a lot of yoga books over the years!
“By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.”
—Satchidananda
Currently, I’m packing yet again. This time I’m traveling to Southern Dharma Retreat Center to teach a 4-day workshop that starts on Wednesday evening, Aug. 14. Don’t worry! The fabulous Lindsay Majer will cover the 6pm class at 191 Murdock Ave so you’ll be in good hands. I’m grateful to Lindsay for being the guest teacher many times this year as I’ve traveled the globe. I’m staying put for a while when I return, and plan to teach workshops closer to home.
I’ve taught a Buddhist study and yoga practice workshop at Southern Dharma for over a decade. Each time I prepare, I deepen my understanding of the practices I will be sharing, while discovering again the myriad ways that Buddhism and yoga support one another. For instance, here are two translations of yoga sutra I-33:
“Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favourably disposed, serene, and benevolent.”
—B.K.S. Iyengar
I wish you a calm and serene mind. The practice of equanimity pays off.
Practice is key. Stay steady. Your mind is trainable, no matter what it thinks.
Wednesday, August 14, 6pm Class ~ Substitute
Just a quick note to let you know that Cindy will be away for the six o’clock class this Wednesday. Lindsay Majer will be teaching in her stead. Please come and continue your practice!