Body, Mind, and Spirit with Cindy Waldman

We talk with Cindy Waldman about building a life around advocacy, from special education and mindfulness to entrepreneurship and women-focused community support. She shares how gratitude, present-moment focus, and scheduled self-care shape her approach to healing, caregiving, and leadership. 
• Cindy’s background as a mom, former special ed teacher, yoga instructor, author, editor, and entrepreneur 
• Building community initiatives like Tagpop Give to help women with wardrobes, interviews, and fresh starts 
• Managing multiple brands on social media, including Meta creator training and platform changes 
• Writing and publishing with Corwin Press, including High Five Teaching and High Five Homeschool 
• Early advocacy lessons from growing up with a deaf parent 
• Reframing a colon cancer diagnosis through mindfulness, gratitude, and mindset shifts 
• Teaching children mindfulness, affirmations, confidence, and gratitude 
• Caregiving realities, including burnout, guilt, and why time blocking self-care protects mental health 
Be sure to subscribe, comment on our page as well, join the comfort family. 

Transcript

Warm Open And Guest Energy

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good. Yay.

SPEAKER_01 0:01

I just went off scripting everything. I think that was great. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

You have a gift.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

You really do.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

I love that, but now it makes somewhat sense why.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

It gets on my husband's nerves because we'll be out somewhere and I'm like, I just want to talk to them. Can I please just say something? Yes. Because I'm like, I I could just tell you one thing, and that will change your life, you know? And then I'll go up to somebody and I'll be like, Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Welcome to another episode of the Leslie Comfy Podcast. I'm your host, Norman Harrison, CEO of Comfort Measures Consulting. We are the platform that's all about love, peace, joy, but most of all, comfort. And I have a wonderful guest here today that's all about advocacy and health initiatives. Thank you so much for joining.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Again on a Sunday. Good old Norman, bothering people on the Lodge Day, as we say. So, but I thank you, Miss Wallman, for taking time to come out, uh traveling here to good old Zephyr Hills, Florida. Um, but you know about that country life. You're from Brooksville.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Live in Brooksville, I should say.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yes, we live in Brooksville.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yes, ma'am. So, Miss Waldman, as a tradition, I always allow the guests to introduce themselves and please don't shortchange us. All right.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Okay, well, I'm Cindy Waldman and I am a mom of four kids. Um, I've been married for over 15 years, happily married. Um, I am a former um public school teacher. I taught special ed for 15 years. Um, I currently teach uh yoga at House of Light Yoga. I'm also an editor and an author with Corwin Press. I am an entrepreneur, so I own several businesses. Um one of the businesses is a brick and mortar toy store at um in uh Newport Richie uh in Gulfview Square Mall. We are also online. Um it's called Major Toys.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Major Toys.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Yeah. And um I do a lot of work in the community. I teach mindfulness to uh homeschoolers in Hernando County. I also homeschool my four kids. Um, and I'm very active in the um charity community in Tampa, and that is really where my passion is.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Charity work. Okay. Yes. Any communities you care to share? Any charitable organizations?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yes, I'm actually just now starting a group called Tagpop Give. Okay. So this is just, it's not a new concept, you know, it's basically just women helping each other with their closets and um helping women um get themselves together for interviews and things like that, helping women um prepare resumes. So this is a new charity that I'm starting.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

That's really good. I want to see there's an organization by the, I don't know if it's in Hillsborough County that uh helps individuals that are trying to sort of re-establish their lives. That, you know, they give them clothes for interviews and those type of things. Forget the name of it right now. Okay. But I do have uh a young lady that was on my show. Um, I'd love to connect you all too. I would love to. That's a wonderful okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

I would love to connect. I'm always trying to help, especially women. I would like to help everybody in the community, but my focus is women. Um, and I also help women with their businesses, getting their businesses off the ground because that's something that I've done. Um, I was a real estate agent for for many years as well, so that's kind of like running your own mini little business. Um, my husband and I are still real estate investors. Um, so I I love to help women in business.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Okay. So you do have consultation services as well.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

All right, can you share with the audience? And we're starting out this way, where they can find your social media websites, all of that.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yes, yes. So on Instagram, um, it's you can just search Cindy Waldman and I'll come up. There's a Cindy 143 page, that's my main main page. There's a tag pop, tagpop give page. Um, the major toys page is also on there. And then I also have I'm working on a new book with Corwin Press, and it's called High Five Homeschool. So I'm working on that book, so I have that page as well on Instagram and on um Facebook. If you just look up Cindy Waldman, um you can find me there. And I have updates every day, I post every day. I'm a meta creator, so I meet um with meta other meta creators every week. We have Zoom meetings. Really? So I also help businesses with um like uh their social media. Sometimes like I just helped a business, they were shadow banned, and I helped them get the violations off of their account. So I help people with that as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Wow. Yes, you're the jack of all trees.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yes, yes.

Social Media Strategy And Meta Creator Life

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Well, the do you do you do your own social media management?

SPEAKER_01 5:28

I do my own social media, yes, and it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

I was about to say how.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

It is a lot, it is about five hours per day. So every day, five hours straight, I'm working on social media for all of our businesses and for myself as well. So it's and it's every single day. If I take one day off, it everything goes.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

So do you so is that like a partnership with Meta you have?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Yes. Uh so they contacted me um to become a meta creator. And I thought it was just going to be a badge, like a badge on my Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Like you like you like you achieved, yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yeah, as that okay, I just achieved this level. But no, I uh then I received um all of the this paperwork and um a message saying we'll see you at the Zoom meeting. Um we can either go to a Wednesday Zoom meeting or a Saturday Saturday Zoom meeting, but you're expected to go to one every uh every week as a meta creator. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Wow, so you know the the trays, the tips, and everything to help with content. Yeah, we need to talk.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Oh, yes, yes. I I I'll I'll help you with anything that you need.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah, yes, yes, because I love to you to do a sort of like an audit of uh my content. Yes, I can definitely use your insight.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yes, and every week there's something new that Meta is changing or doing. So I am you know I'm I'm right there at the forefront when there are changes.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Sydney Walmart.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah, so I'll I'll help you out.

Writing Books And Training Teachers

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Sydney Walmart, yeah. So talk about let's tell us about your books. Uh because you're an author and a speaker, yes, educator as well. So educating your own children. All four of them are still in grade school.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

No, no. My oldest child is 21. Okay, and she's in Virginia Beach right now, going to school. Um, and my uh then I have a 15-year-old, and she decided she has been homeschooled, but then she decided she wanted to try public school. So she's in the public high school and she's thriving. She's having a great time going to home school. She had, but she didn't. Uh she went to homecoming, so that was exciting. You know, she wants to do all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

So she's in high school, public high school, but then I um I homeschooled the two youngest.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Got it.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

All right, so tell us about your books though. Because I think that's very intriguing. I want to write a book, but I'm not gonna lie, like, I want to do an e-book, like just start out with the you know, seven to ten pager. Sure. Um, but I don't know, the journey. I'm like, man, you know, can I really do this? Do I need to spend all this money on an editor? Like, what should I do?

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Right. So I hooked up. This was um, this was when I was still teaching um elementary school. So I um I was named teacher of the year that year. And so once that happens, all these other companies start trying to recruit you. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

For the whole entire state or the county?

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Uh it was for the the the city of Virginia Beach.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, it was for the city.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Legend.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Yes. And um, I went to the state competition, but it, you know. Um, but yeah, so I that happened, and that was I was so grateful for that. So then I I that opened up so much opportunity. Um, and I became a teacher trainer, and I traveled around the country training teachers. So um teachers have tr tenure, and so when they get a reprimand, they call would call me in to try to kind of retrain the teacher. So that's what I was doing. And um while I was doing that, I was also working for um Corwin uh writing books. The first book was a compilation, um, Green Light Education. That that was just a um just a book of lessons, just helping teachers out. And the my book, my baby, uh was high-five teaching.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

High five teaching.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

High five teaching. Yeah, so it basically just um highlighted the things that you need to do to make kids successful, um, having a an immersive experience where the child does not have an affective filter, um, the child comes in and feels comfortable in your classroom. Um, I think that's more important than any curriculum is to have the child comfortable in your classroom. So that was my focus, and I was very successful with it. Um, so I wrote a book about it.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

That's awesome. So, how many books you've written?

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Uh, just two.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Just two. Okay, what's the name of the other one?

SPEAKER_01 9:59

And uh so Greenlight Education.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Greenlight, you said it, okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yeah, Greenlight Education and then High Five Um Teaching.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Okay. Um, where can they be found?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Um, they can be found on Corwin Press, their website. Um, I know High Five Teaching, the last time I looked was on Amazon still.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

So um, yeah, it's been about 12 years since I wrote that book. So um they want me to write High Five uh Homeschool now.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

I like that. Yeah, is the Core One Press wants you to write that or just the okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Corewin Press wants me to write it. Um I'm I'm thinking about also doing I I have the High Five Homeschool um Instagram page, and I was thinking of actually turning that into like a magazine where I highlight homeschoolers around starting with Florida. Um, so I think that's what I'm gonna do with that.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

I love that idea, actually. Okay, so wow, you have accomplished so much, so much. Uh, what just what got you on that journey of just um advocacy, like even for like the special education area, you know, within teaching, because that's very unique.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Okay, so I have always been an advocate. Um, my mother is uh she's deaf. So she lost her hearing when she was four years old. So from the time I was born, I've been advocating for my mom. So I grew up, I mean, when you grow up with a deaf parent, um, you have to be very independent. You, you know, when you cry, nobody's coming to get you. So you have to be very resilient, and then I would be and then I would help my mother when we would go out in public, um, and I would help her, you know, just do basic things. And um so I think that's where just advocacy came from, because then I became a special ed teacher. Um, and from there I've just always helped people who are in need, um, people with special needs, people who don't have special needs. I just I just want to help.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

That makes so much sense, right? It's incredible how sometimes in life things that we experience early on shapes what we do professionally. Yes. So I thank you for sharing that too as well. Um, were you an only child?

SPEAKER_01 12:17

No, no, I'm not an only child. Uh I am the only girl.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Okay. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

I have four brothers. Um, so it was a full house. It was a full house. My dad was in the navy, so he was gone a lot. Um, but yeah, we have had five kids in the house. It was definitely a lively house.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Got it. I bet it was four boys, one girl.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

One girl, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

You used to tell on them all the time. Oh, yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

They played football and I was the cheerleader.

Colon Cancer Recovery Through Mindset

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Oh, okay. Got it, got it. So just you experienced so much early on, and that is very unique. Uh that you what you dealt with. Just as your life, you know, just you begin to grow and you know, get older. What's one of the biggest pivots uh you found that happened in life? Biggest pivotal moment.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Uh, let's see. I think my biggest pivotal moment was when I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I um I changed my whole health habits and I changed the way that I look at a diagnosis. Um, I instead of using my mindfulness training from yoga, um I looked at it as a a blessing that I was diagnosed with colon cancer. And I thanked God every day and I said, Thank you so much for this awakening. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And because of that gratitude, I beat cancer in three months. Wow. Because of my mind.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Mindset.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

I tell people all the time because colon cancer is one of the worst cancers you can get that as far as uh death expectancies uh related. But yes, wow, and you won.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

I won.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

You won. High five teacher, yes.

Mindfulness Gratitude And Affirmations For Kids

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yes, and so I teach mindfulness to children.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Tell us what mindfulness is.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Okay, so mindfulness is just staying in the moment and not going to the past, not going to the future, and being grateful for this moment. If you are grateful for this moment, your mind is not gonna wander. Oh no, what's gonna happen tomorrow? Oh no, I why did I do that yesterday? So if you stay in the moment and you stay grateful, all of your power stays within you and stays right there. So you can use that power and use that power of your mind to heal yourself. And that is what I did.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Oh, they say healthcare is not interesting. I beg to differ. At confirmation media, we're proving every day that healthcare is entertaining, educational, and full of storage worth telling. We deliver knowledge, resources, and real advocacy in a way that engages, inspires, and connects. Florida, number one, healthcare entertainment station. I am Norman Harris, the networking solution. Let us highlight the organization and give it the voice it deserves. Ooh! I love the gratitude book. I love it. Because I that's one thing I I learned to utilize when I was going through like getting over depression and trying to build my self-confidence, is saying, What am I thankful for every day?

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

So I would write down like what am I thankful for? Like how my life could be much, you know, worse, or in the situations. And I started to look at things as, well, God, I thank you for the trials and tribulations you do give me. Because some people are dealing with way worse things than than I am. Um, but that really helped me change my outlook on life and my perception, really, just gratitude. But I love that aspect. I teach my daughters to, you know, say three things in the mirror about themselves every morning. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yes, affirmations is a huge thing as well. So part of my mindfulness lessons, um, I we always uh repeat back affirmations. The children repeat back affirmations when I do my lessons. So I teach the kids about gratitude, about affirming themselves, um, about self-confidence. And that is just so important. So important. So important. Especially for the young kids. It's so, so important.

Caregiver Self Care And Time Blocking

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Uh so this platform is all about advocacy, and we talked definitely about that. Uh, but on as a caregiver, um, I want to, if you could share your own personal life, Cindy Wallman uh message to caregivers out there that are caring for an aging loved one, that tend to forget about themselves, tend to um, you know, keep their self as a priority, their life. A lot of caregivers uh, you know, lose relationships, uh, lose, you know, trips because they feel guilty of leaving their loved ones alone. Um, but if you'll share your own personalized message, sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Um, as a caregiver, you need to focus on self-care as well for your mental health. So I have been a caregiver for my mother. I have been a caregiver for one of my daughters. Uh, she had a stroke when she was one. So I had I was a caregiver for four years straight. We were in therapy. She's a lot better now, but um, I remember during that time. Um, at first I did uh do some things that were harmful to myself, like you know, overeating some things and trying to fill myself up that way. It does not work. Um, I had to turn to gratitude and I had to turn to really taking time for myself. And I would even just schedule time for myself because my daughter had so many medical appointments that I was the one caring for her. I had to actually schedule, okay, I'm leaving the house for two hours, and I'm gonna do this for myself. So please do that, do that for yourself. Um it will really help your mental health. And your mental health is the most important.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

It is time block it, time block it. That's what you do. Time block it. Time block it literally put it at it to your calendar and say during this one hour right here, this is what I'm doing. Whether it's sitting on the patio, yeah, uh, and just I don't know, whatever puts you at peace, time block it into your calendar and stick to it.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yes, even if it's just watching your favorite show and eating your favorite foods, you know, just do something for yourself for at least an hour at least.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

And challenge your other loved ones to help.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Right? Sometimes people say, uh, this is my mom, I'll take it on. But you have three other siblings that are not doing anything to help.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Right? It's not all your burden. Okay, and there are resources. Uh, if you need help, we do at Comfort Medicine Consulting provide assistance with family planning, providing knowledge and resources um that you can assist with uh that can assist you. All right. Um, I may not have all the resources, but I know who can. All right, who can help? And this is one of them right here. That's right. Seriously. All right, and any upcoming initiatives, products, services that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Uh, let's see. Um okay, so that new charity, Tag Top Give. I'm really uh passionate about that, helping women just get their wardrobe right so that they can go out and get a job, you know, or maybe even just change their life. Or um I it started for me. Um I had postpartum depression, and somebody sent me um just a simple pair of leggings, like just as a gift. And so that's and that pulled me out of my depression just because somebody cared about me. So that's why I'm doing this this charity. I'm just so passionate about it and really lifting up women.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

There you go. There you go. Taking that moment of time to just reach out to someone. You never know how I changed their day. Sometimes people probably think I'm crazy because I message someone at 7 a.m. in the morning. I'm sorry, that's when the thought came to my head. So I just wanted to tell you that. Yes. Um, but sorry. Okay. Um, oh, that's probably that's the time to go. So this is our last question. Uh, if you were in the woods, right, and you faced a bear, uh, would you run, fight, or just die?

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Okay, so I would probably find something to throw at it, and then I would book it.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

I would run so fast.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

I'm a fast runner. I can do it.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Okay. Uh well, you have to use some of your agility as well from yoga. That's right. Because he can run too. He can he coming. He's coming. Um, but I watched some TikTok videos on like how bears will just walk up on people, sleep on the patio, and things like that. Like, just imagine waking up to a big old bear.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Oof.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, no. I'm I'm gonna probably throw something and then run.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yeah, they said getting loud is like a that bear, like, man, please, I'll hear louder. How tiny I am.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

I'm a snack.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah, he's a snack. Yeah, you a snack. Yeah, he's gonna eat up all that mindfulness. Oh man, it's fruits and berries. Yeah, this is healthy. What is this? Healthy eating. He minded what he put in his body. But yes, but thank you for joining. Uh Really enjoy this conversation and meeting you in person for the first time. I see why you have the following you do. I see why you have all the platforms you have. You know how to balance it all. I can just tell. I can tell you know how to balance it all, but it's all advocacy all around the board from children to helping women to helping families to helping businesses, entrepreneurs. And you give your time and dedication so you will have a legacy to be remembered by Miss Walmart.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Oh, that means a lot to me. I hope to have a legacy for my children to be proud of.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yes, well, you will. And I'll work on being so damp too. Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. Until next time, Leslie Comfy Podcast, Miss Cindy Walmart. Be sure to follow her on all her platforms. One more time. Give it to them.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Okay, so on Instagram, it's uh just look for Cindy Waldman, Cindy143, um, tag pop give on Instagram as well, high five homeschool on Instagram, major toys as well, and then on Facebook, follow major toys, our page there, and then just look for Cindy Waldman and Yogi Cindy.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Yogi Cindy, all right. Comfort Measures Consulting on Facebook and Instagram, Comfort Measures Media, Facebook in this Instagram as well as YouTube. Be sure to subscribe, comment on our page as well, join the comfort family. Uh, if you haven't tuned in uh to comfort measures media, we're growing. Uh, we're all about advocacy, uh, empowerment, leadership, health awareness, health prevention, uh, and motivation, right? Thank you so much for joining us. Till next time.

unknown 23:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Yes. You did really good.