2026 Sedona Yoga Festival

Cindy Lusk was born in West Virgina, but grew up all over the United States and Europe as an military brat. Coming of age in the 1970’s, she was exposed to the racial tensions of the time, which has motivated her actions is later life. She received her BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz. It was there that Cindy was first exposed to yoga, and developed a love of social psychology and how it might help address racism. She took up yoga again in 1985, while pursuing graduate studies in social psychology at the University of Colorado, where her PhD dissertation addressed how stereotypes could be changed (or not). Simultaneously she studied Ashtanga Yoga extensively with Richard Freeman and Pattabhi Jois, and began teaching at Richard’s studio in 1994. Cindy met John Friend at that studio in 1992, completed her first teacher training with him in 1999, and became a certified Anusara teacher in 2002, and was a leader in that community. Cindy is an avid student of yoga philosophy and has studied extensively with leading Tantric scholars Paul Muller-Ortega and Douglas Brooks. She brings these teachings into her classes, workshops, and many philosophy courses. Her book “Align and Refine: The Journey of Yoga and Meditation” reflects her many years of practice and study. It brings together many streams of yoga in an authentic, accessible, and applicable way for modern day students. Cindy’s teaching reflects her love of Tantric yoga philosophy, grounded in her many years of study, in addition to being precise and light-hearted. Her students feel supported and report that her teaching has transformed their experience of yoga and of their lives. You may find out more about Cindy at her website www.cindylusk.com.