This image is available at http://tinyurl.com/4scqgge“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up.” ~ Robert Persin via @Urban_Zen
During my yoga teacher training, my teacher Tracy would talk a lot about focus. One of my classmates asked her when we would know that we had tamed our “monkey minds”. She replied, “when you can meditate at a bus stop in Delhi.” We laughed. She didn’t; she was quite serious.
In that moment I started to think about different groups of people who could benefit from yoga if only they had access to affordable, conveniently located classes. It became clear to me that I truly wanted to provide yoga to underserved populations.
I came to yoga after a particularly difficult struggle with insomnia and anxiety. It took quite some time to crack the code because I didn’t really have a guide in the process. I had to figure it out on my own. Now that I’m healed, I want to be the guide to others that I wish I had when I started my practice.
I only have one thing to teach, and it’s simple though not easy. Robert Presin captures it beautifully in the quote above. You have everything you need. All the answers. All the abilities. All the knowledge. It lives in your gut. You know what you need to be well and whole. You don’t need to go somewhere else. You don’t need a new job or a new relationship or a new home. You don’t need anything except what sits within you now, at this very moment. Allow it to be.
We desperately seek happiness, peace, and harmony. We scurry around looking for it in every far-reaching corner. Just stop and sit. Close the eyes, draw the breath in, and then release it. You don’t need some fancy techniques or even the vocabulary to describe what’s happening. Just sit, breath, and be. Don’t perform. Don’t try to make an impression. Just watch and feel the breath.
This is the only practice that matters. Once you master it, once you can be fully present, the peace and happiness you want so much is readily and plentifully available whenever you want it, wherever we are. On top of mountains and at over-crowded bus stops. Your peace travels with you.
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The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
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2 thoughts on “Beginning: The Zen in You”
I love this one, Nan … the quote is amazing. I agree with it but I think it’s incomplete … sometimes you need a fresh perspective (like from the top of the mountain or the bottom of a valley) to realize you had it in you all the time.
Hi Weez,
I agree! You know what a big fan of travel I am – and in all my travels Ive gained a new perspective that helped me to appreciate all that I already have. Thanks for that clarification. It’s a good one! You’re a good one! 🙂
Christa Avampato 
I love this one, Nan … the quote is amazing. I agree with it but I think it’s incomplete … sometimes you need a fresh perspective (like from the top of the mountain or the bottom of a valley) to realize you had it in you all the time.
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Hi Weez,
I agree! You know what a big fan of travel I am – and in all my travels Ive gained a new perspective that helped me to appreciate all that I already have. Thanks for that clarification. It’s a good one! You’re a good one! 🙂
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