Cyndi Lee, founder of OM Yoga, practices hatha yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. A yoga teacher for more than 20 years, she wrote and illustrated Yoga Body, Buddha Mind and OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice. Her newest book is May I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga and Changing My Mind. Learn more at omyoga.com.

Panel Discussion: May I Be Happy
Kathryn Budig & Cyndi Lee & Les Leventhal & Kaitlin Quistgaard

Saturday, January 19 — 1:45pm - 3:00pm
Special Events


Yoga asana practice offers us a healthy, positive way of relating to our body that is based on how we feel, not how we look. But when we come to the mat, we bring our mind along with our body, which can often include old patterns of insecurity, self-judgment, and wishful thinking that our body were different. How does the yoga media propagate unrealistic body images? Can the practice of yoga really offer us the contentment, or santosha, promised in classic yoga philosophy?

Join Kathryn Budig, Cyndi Lee, Les Leventhal, and Kaitlin Quistgaard as they explore how yoga's focus on the body can stir up feelings of low self-esteem, but can also help people feel better about their bodies--and themselves--than ever before.

Free and open to all.

Yoga as Wake Up Call
Cyndi Lee - Course ID: M3CLEE

Saturday, January 19 — 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Main Conference - Session 3
Mixed Levels

Chogyam Trungpa said, "Lean into your resistance." Irritation, aversion, or grumpiness can be the ground for transformation if we include them in our whole experience. In yoga, this is called "tapas." This class will include all categories of poses--the ones you like, the ones you don't like, and those that feel neutral to you. Leaning into our all of experiences, including those that chafe, helps us wake up to our own patterns of attachment and aversion as well as the truth of impermanence. **This class has been approved by American Council on Exercise (ACE) for 0.2 CECs.**

Mostly asana with meditation.

Sweet Sweaty Sukha Flow
Cyndi Lee - Course ID: M5CLEE

Sunday, January 20 — 11:00am - 1:00pm
Main Conference - Session 5
Mixed Levels

You know that feeling at the end of a great yoga class? That is sukha, or "good space." This is the opposite of dukha, our day-to-day experiences of chafing, dis-ease, or struggle. Yoga, meditation, and pranayama are time-tested antidotes to dukha because they reverse the momentum of our habits. Come for a creative and fun practice to help you find a personal path toward a more sukha-filled life. Pop quizzes, minihomework, and some jokes may arise. **This class has been approved by American Council on Exercise (ACE) for 0.2 CECs.**

Mostly asana and some meditation.

May I Be Happy
Cyndi Lee - Course ID: M6CLEE

Sunday, January 20 — 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Main Conference - Session 6
Mixed Levels

This class offers you an integrated practice of active vinyasa and maitri, lovingkindness practice. The first path toward finding a life full of love and joy, and free of resentment must be to cultivate appreciation of our own goodness. This integrated practice will help shift our neurological patterns of negative self-judgment toward imprints of kindness, self-compassion, caring, and acceptance. **This class has been approved by American Council on Exercise (ACE) for 0.2 CECs.**

Mostly asana and some meditation.