Cydney is originally from Kauai, Hawaii and was raised in a non-religious household. She moved to the mainland for college and got a degree in nursing. It took a crisis at age 38 to propel her to notice and work with her mind by taking a Zen meditation course in 1999. After a nearly a year of sitting and contemplating at the Zen Center, she was inspired to practice the meditation of Chenrezi, the Buddha of Compassion, at Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism in Seattle. Under the kind guidance of HH Jigdal Dagchen Rinpoche, she formally became a Buddhist in 2000. After hearing, contemplating and meditating on Chenrezi for 7 years, she met and became a of student of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. She completed a 3 year retreat at the Vajradhara Gonpa in Australia in 2012. Cydney has been a SI ngondro instructor since 2017. She still lives in Seattle and is now happily retired from a long career in the nursing field.