begin to see the beauty and grace of your yoga and, more importantly, your true self,” Laura says. It’s her compassion that is key to making her students feel comfortable. From the beginners to the experienced yogis, Laura has a gift for connecting singular students to the larger whole. “When the breath and body are synchronized with the mind, the practice becomes a meditation in action. With this movement, you lose nothing but your limitations and you can participate at any level.” The result is a startling feeling of triumph, as if you have climbed Mount Everest with the snap of Laura’s fingers. “There’s a center of quietness within, which has to be known and held,” Laura says. “Know thyself.”
CINDY Cindy L’Abbe moved to Florida’s Emerald Coast in the early 1960s. She and her husband have made their permanent home among the scrub oaks, magnolias, and saw palmettos in a coastal dune lake community along Scenic Highway 30-A. As a teacher and guide, she is passionate about integrating deep compassion and contemplative time in nature with the arts in order to achieve spiritual growth. Her guidance is a means for individuals to rediscover, embrace, and live soul-centered lives. Cindy has spent the past twenty years immersed in wild, uninhabited places studying and learning the means to integrate the interdisciplinary fields of eco-psychology, nature-based soul development, and contemplative and ancient wisdom traditions. Many of these studies involved up to two-week overnight intensives deeply immersed in the wilds throughout the United States. Cindy holds degrees from George Washington University (BA) and Florida State University (MS) in the fields of education, human development, clinical mental health, and human social structures. Her graduate studies included additional certifications in the fields of trauma and the arts. She is also certified as a Florida Master Naturalist.
THE SOUL OF EDEN When it comes to the soul of East of Eden, Eve draws inspiration from Cindy. “Since early childhood, I experienced a deep connection with Point Washington State Forest and the Eden area,” Cindy says. “I was fascinated when I learned that a retreat had been established here. Throughout my life, I’ve tried to pay attention to what resonates, to what calls to me and says, ‘Pay attention to this.’ So, I immediately called and accepted an invitation to view the retreat, and that’s when I met Eric and Eve. V IE Z INE .C OM | 157