A Fine Balance Yoga Therapy & Wellness

14/01/2026

Giving yourself permission to let go in this pose offers you a sense of relief along the spine releasing tension, restoring balance and offering you a good night sleep

12/01/2026

If you've never read the book The Four Agreements, this will give you a bit of an idea as to it's context.

08/01/2026

One of the many things I love about living in Japan is their philosophy on life.

Ancient Japanese wisdom doesn’t fight the mind — it gently trains it. Instead of forcing thoughts away, these practices bring clarity, balance, and purpose, which naturally quiet overthinking.

🌸 IKIGAI — A Reason to Wake Up Each Morning

Overthinking often comes from feeling lost or directionless. Ikigai means “a reason for being.” When your life has meaning, the mind has less space to spiral.

❤️ Do what you love — joy calms the mind
❤️ Do what you’re good at — confidence reduces self-doubt
❤️ Do what the world needs — service gives meaning
❤️Do what you can be paid for — stability reduces worry

When these four overlap, your thoughts move from “What if?” to “This is why.”

🍃 KAIZEN — The End of Mental Pressure

Overthinking thrives on big expectations and fear of failure. Kaizen teaches steady, tiny progress.

👉 Don’t try to fix your whole life.
👉 Improve 1% today.
👉 One habit. One thought. One action.

Small daily improvements silence the mind’s urgency and replace anxiety with momentum.

🌱 SHOSHIN — Beginner’s Mind

Overthinking is often the mind saying, “I already know… and I’m afraid.”
Shoshin invites curiosity instead of judgment.

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities.”
When you stop assuming outcomes, the mind relaxes. You listen more, fear less, and respond instead of react.

🍚 HARA HACHI BU — Eat Light, Think Clear

Heavy eating makes the body sluggish and the mind foggy.
Stopping at 80% full keeps energy steady and thoughts sharp.

✔ Less lethargy
✔ Less procrastination
✔ Less mental heaviness

A lighter body supports a calmer mind.

🌊 The Deeper Wisdom

Overthinking isn’t a flaw — it’s excess energy with no direction.
Purpose (Ikigai), progress (Kaizen), openness (Shoshin), and balance (Hara Hachi Bu) gently guide that energy back into life.

A calm mind is not forced. It is cultivated.

05/01/2026

Do you suffer from back, neck or overall body pain and looking for some much needed relief?

Join me for my 6 week online Zoom workshop
GENTLE YOGA FOR BACK & PAIN MANAGEMENT
Every Tuesday starting January 13 thru February 17
5:30 - 6:30pm (PST)
$120

This workshop focuses on reducing and minimizing pain thru gentle movement, breathwork and relaxation techniques.
It is effective for those preferring a gentler, mindful practice guiding you through deeper relaxation, with supporting the mind and body while reducing stress & tension.

ALL are welcome to join of any age and level of practice making
yoga accessible to everyone.

What you'll need:
1 Yoga Mat
1 Yoga Strap (tie or belt)
2 Yoga Blocks
1 Small Towel
1 Small pillow and blanket

LAST DAY TO REGISTER IS JANUARY 9
"Registration/Payment is NOW open on PAYPAL"
to: cindy@a-finebalance.com

Hope to see you
xo See less

03/01/2026

Here we go, ride high...🥰

01/01/2026

Happiest of New Year’s to you all ❤️

30/12/2025

In Japan, Ganjitsu is not just New Year’s Day—it’s a symbol of renewal and hope. The term is deeply rooted in the characters that signify the year’s first sunrise (hatsuhinode), carrying profound cultural significance. This revered moment, believed to herald the arrival of Toshigami-sama (歳神様), the deity of harvest and prosperity, is seen as an auspicious start to the year. Witnessing the first sunrise is a time-honored tradition thought to invite good fortune, health, and happiness for the year ahead.

29/12/2025

As we approach the year end

21/12/2025

As we come into the Christmas and holiday week
I want to wish you and yours a very blessed holiday season
May you find joy in every moment spent

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
and thank you for your continued support and being present

17/12/2025

15/12/2025

I recently had an acquaintances father pass away who was a physician. She came back to Japan to work side by side with him to help with his practice.

I'm sharing this with you because she wrote a beautiful tribute to honor her father's outlook on life at 87 years old.

So when you are down, not sure what to do with your life and sad about aging read this and hopefully it gives you a different perspective.

1. Do what you love.
My father practiced medicine for over 60 years. Until just a few weeks before he passed, he was still coming to the office almost every day. Seeing patients was his ikigai—his reason to get up in the morning.

2. Always be kind and caring.
People often said, “Dr. Abe is too nice.” He spent extra time and care with his patients and went far beyond what was expected. He used to say, “You never know how goodness may return to you.”

3. First, do no harm.
His specialties evolved from open-heart surgery to cardiac catheterization, and later to cancer treatments using a patient’s own immune cells. Always with the same thought: patient care first—how to help in the least invasive, most respectful way for each individual.

4. Have a hobby.
He loved nurturing plants and took real joy in watching seedlings grow. Going through his papers recently, I discovered he had just signed up for saxophone lessons. Even in his late 80s, he was still planning things that would bring him joy.

5. Never stop learning.
His motto was: 「吾、生涯一医学生」—“All my life, I am a medical student.” He never stopped going to conferences, reading, and finding out about the newest treatments.

6. Age is only a number.
He often said, “I still feel like I’m 70. And I plan on living until 120.” He didn’t deny the reality of aging, but he refused to let the number decide his curiosity or his contributions.

7. Exercise your brain.
In his pocket, he kept a little list of everyday three-kanji words (rarer than (rarer than the four-character idioms), and he loved pulling it out to add new ones. It was a small, playful way of keeping his mind curious and active.

8. Have short-term and long-term goals.
A next birthday, a family dinner, a trip to an onsen—he always had something to look forward to. His large collection of medical historical rarities fed his dream of creating a digital museum. There was always “the next thing” on his horizon.

9. Respect rest.
When I was little, I only saw him on Sundays, and he slept through most of the day. I used to think, “Daddy is so lazy!” Now I understand: he was simply exhausted from working so hard for his patients and our family—and he allowed himself to sleep whenever he could, even on a 5-minute cab ride.

10. Live with gratitude.
Despite the many challenges he faced in life, he always had a heart full of gratitude. He cherished his family, his patients, his colleagues, and the work he loved.

I know that his legacy continues here, the patients he cared for, the medicine he helped shape, and the people he inspired.

Thank you for letting me share this with you and go out and have a blessed week.

09/12/2025

Let me introduce you to the JEWEL SEEDS of a Pomegranate, they're called ARILS.

Once you've opened up this beautiful fruit, you may just throw them away, but STOP, place them in a small bowl and add them to your salads, yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, cottage cheese and even to a lovely chocolate dessert.

If you don't want to eat them right away, lay them out on a cookie sheet, freeze them, then bag them up and keep them in the freezer until ready to use.

They are PACKED with antioxidants, help to protect the body against inflammation and free radical damage. They are high in potassium, fiber and offer 48% of our daily vitamin C intake.

If you don't want to deal with the juicy mess of cutting a pomegranate, then feel free to purchase the seeds already cut, cleaned, packaged and ready to go.

ENJOY!