Month: April 2011

books, learning, travel

Beginning: The Physics of the Quest

Christa Avampato

“I’ve come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call ‘The Physics of The Quest’ — a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: ‘If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself… then truth will not be withheld from you.’ ” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

I love the book Eat Pray Love. I read it shortly after a very painful break up while I was in business school. I was heart-broken, more heart-broken than I’d ever been, and seeking out others who had made the best of their own sad love story gone wrong. I found my way to Elizabeth Gilbert and her words started me down the road to healing. I loved the book so much that resisted seeing the movie. I didn’t want to see a book I loved so much played out in a way that didn’t match what was in my mind’s eye. On a rainy afternoon with streaming Netflix at my disposal, I finally saw it and my only disappointment was that I waited so long to see. It’s a beautiful, uplifting film.

I had forgotten Elizabeth Gilbert’s words on the Physics of the Quest though when I look back over the 5 years since I first read her book, I realize that those words are the ones that have described this journey of mine so well. That break-up, as painful as it was, served as the catalyst toward creating a life of my own design. Now I see that ending as a beginning to a wonderful quest: I moved to New York, I began to write seriously every day, this blog came to life, I developed my yoga teaching practice in a deeper way, I met so many new, wonderful characters who have become close friends and confidants. I travel and explored. I ramped up my career as a product developer. I adopted Phineas, my pup. Yes, there were loads of disappointments and wrong turns. And yes, they were all worth it to find my way to this life that I’m living at this very moment. A life I love.

So here is my truth that has been revealed along this part of my Quest – everything starts from nothing. Every creative project, every trip, every relationship, every living, breathing being. They all begin in the exact same way. No one is born an expert. No genius idea starts as a genius idea. Tend to your creativity. Free your imagination. Start with only an intention and see what you can build, laying aside all past successes and failures. Each new day starts as a blank slate; you choose the layers of color that fill it in and which spaces to leave blank. Decide how you want it to build, the same way a painter brushes paint on a canvas, the same way a sculptor carves and cuts and shapes. We all start at the beginning. The key is to keep going.

health, healthcare, meditation, nonprofit, yoga

Beginning: By-donation Yoga Workshop on the 5 Elements of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga to Benefit the Nonprofit Blissful Bedrooms

Christa Avampato

I put an ad up on Craig’s List last week looking for volunteer yoga teachers who would like to be matched to nonprofits to offer free yoga classes through the Compass Yoga program Karmi’s Angels. I received a lovely email in response to the add from Joyce Cobb, a Structural Yoga Therapist and committed civic activist. Joyce is on the board of a nonprofit called Blissful Bedrooms which provides bedroom makeovers for homebound, disabled, and economically challenged individuals. Isn’t that awesome? Design aiding service in the community. I love it.

On Monday evening, April 25th, Joyce is offering a by-donation workshop about the 5 elements of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga. Donations benefit Blissful Bedrooms. Workshop information below. All levels, from beginner to advanced are welcome.

By-donation Yin Yoga Workshop – Stress Points and the Water Element

In terms of Chinese medicine, Yoga is thought of as a self treatment. Stretching the meridians (pathways of energy in the body) promotes health and longevity, relieves stress and many ailments. The Chinese theory of Yin and Yang and the Five elements marries well with the theory and practice of Yoga. The duality of Yin and Yang is present in us and in all of nature. Yin Yoga can counterbalance the Yang practices on the mat and in our daily lives. At first this slow flowing, long held pose practice may seem boring to the “yangster” but even after the very first class one will experience the challenging nature of Yin Yoga and the quiet calm and overall peace it presents afterwards. The rewarding nature of a Yin practice is that brings with it the ability to be more accepting, more yielding. Facing the aversion that comes with holding a deep stretch longer than we are normally comfortable with helps us to let go of opinions we may have about our own limits and face the aversion in our daily lives, reducing our stress, enhancing our health, well being and peace of mind. It enhances breath work and meditation by preparing us more completely to be in the here and now.

Covered in this 1 ½ hour intensive workshop:

1.) Brief introduction to the theory and practice of the 5 elements in Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga

2.) Warm up Practice – Pawanmuktasana – Joint freeing series

3.) Yin Yoga Flow for the Kidney Meridian (a powerful way to promote healing and rejuvenate energy)

4.) Pranayama (breath work)

5.) Relaxation and Meditation

6.) Closing

Learn how to add this challenging Yoga practice to your daily life. Join us for a workshop on the Water element and Yin Yoga with Joyce Cobb, Structural Yoga Therapist and Certified Yin Yoga Teacher. All levels, from beginner to advanced are welcome. Payment will be by donation.

Proceeds go to benefit Blissful Bedrooms, whose mission is to transform the bedrooms of homebound and economically challenged young individuals challenged with a variety of disabilities. Find out more about blissful bedrooms here: http://www.blissfulbedrooms.org

Workshop Date:
Monday, April 25th

Location:
TRS Studios – 44 E 32nd Street – 11th Floor – Between Park and Madison Avenues

Time:
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Cost:
This is a by-donation workshop. Proceeds will go to benefit blissfulbedrooms.org

meditation, yoga

Beginning: Yoga and Meditation – Curing Insomnia, Making Peace with My Dad, and Gaining Real Daily Confidence

Christa Avampato

If ever there was time in our history when the world needs every ounce of creativity from every corner, it’s now. Our environment, governments and healthcare and education systems are just a few of the areas of society that desperately need reinvention. We must begin to look for solutions with new eyes and unwavering confidence that we can make a difference.

How Yoga and Meditation Shaped My Life

I began to teach yoga and meditation because the practice has had a supreme effect on my life. It helped me end a lifetime’s struggle with insomnia, something that seemed incurable from the time I was a very small child. It helped me to make peace with my father, who passed away before I had the chance to reconcile with him, releasing the burden and guilt that plagued my life and my relationships for too many years. It gives me the daily confidence to live my life by my own design, pursuing the many and varied passions that make every day a blessing. In short, it helps me to make a difference in ways I never thought possible. As Rumi so eloquently stated, yoga and mediation help me to “walk out like someone suddenly born into color.” I love that imagery and I want to help others do the same by giving them the gift of this practice. That’s why I teach.

How Yoga and Meditation Can Shape Your Life

If yoga and meditation could help me turn my life and health around, then I have every confidence that they can do the same for others, no matter what circumstances they face. In the book The Soul of Leadership, Dr. Chopra states that the soul’s mantra is, “I am enough.” So often we think we need X, Y and Z to be successful, to make a contribution, to live our lives fully. You don’t need anything more than you have right now, at this very moment. If your lungs breathe and your heart beats, that is enough to help create a better world. There’s so much knowledge and confidence wrapped up in those three tiny words — “I am enough”— and it is a power we all so rightly deserve. Just as you are, you have everything you need to live the life of your own choosing, to make a difference. That’s the wisdom that yoga and meditation provide — a chance to get to know who you really are and what you’re meant to do.

teaching, yoga

Beginning: Starting to Teach Advanced Yoga Students

Christa Avampato

Chin Mudra (hand gesture) - symbolic of the connected nature of human consciousness
Most of my yoga students are beginners. Sometimes my class is the very first yoga class they’ve ever been to. Other times, they tried yoga a number of years ago and this is their first time back in quite a while. They have ailments and areas of sensitivity. They seek out my class because their doctor, friends, or family members told them to give it a try to help their knees, back, hips, increase their flexibility, and lower their stress.

So it was a change of pace for me as a teacher to be asked to sub several times at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). They have a strong yoga program as part of their Student Wellness Office. I got to my first class, ready to focus on stress reduction and relaxation, and quickly realized it wouldn’t work. All of the students had been studying yoga for years and had a very strong practice. They were young, super-healthy med school students who wanted to go to their edge. As students, their edge is identical to mine. I would have to pump up my usually mellow class quickly.

For a split second I panicked, reverting back to old patterns of self-doubt. And then I reminded myself to read the room and take my class up several notches. The only thought running through my mind was, “give them what they need.” I used the sun salutation as a building block, and then added a lot of strength, twist, and balance postures. I was going to have to go for broke so that these students got what they needed. They needed me to bring my A game, and I couldn’t let them down. I had to bring my whole heart and mind into that classroom. I had to tread that line of challenging my students while also being very supportive. It is a tough balance to maintain but I had to go for it because that is exactly what these students need. I needed to fully be there with them, in my top-form teaching zone. My creativity needed to shine through.

The classes went far better than I ever dreamed they would go. I had a student who attended the Friday evening class and then returned Saturday morning bright and early because she enjoyed the Friday night class so much. I had a few students who asked me for advice and help after the class. A few asked for my card because they want to attend my other classes. After a third week in a row of my day job feeling very much like a daily grind, my yoga teaching freed up my spirit and my energy. It amped up my imagination as developed new sequences on the fly. My CUMC students inspired me, challenged me, and ultimately made me feel lighter and more at peace. Finally, I found confidence in making it up as I go along; all I had to do was draw upon my own practice as a student of yoga .

As I boarded the subway after the Saturday morning class, I smiled wide. “Ah, this is where I’m supposed to be. Here is my path.” This is no small revelation.

adventure, vacation, yoga

Beginning: DIY Yoga Retreat in 9 Easy Steps

Christa Avampato

Many yogis dream about the luxury of a relaxing yoga retreat. I attended my first retreat last summer, and it was an interesting experience. I learned a lot while I was there, about myself, about the world, and about what to do and not to do when someday I organize my own yoga retreat in some fantastic location.

Take a yoga retreat on a shoestring budget DIY-style:
Like many of you, I’ve got some financial goals I’m trying to hit this year and with my other travel plans it looks a yoga retreat in an exotic location may have to wait until 2011. Yoga retreats typically run $1200+ without airfare. Sometimes meals and lodging are included, though that’s not always the case, and then there are some incidental expenses that pop up as well. All in, a yoga retreat will typically cost $3000+, not a small sum of money. So I started to think about a DIY (do-it-yourself) option. I’m signed up for so many group couponing sites now that all seem to offer just about the same types of deals everyday. Groupon, Bloomspot, Living Social, and Daily Flock are part of the set. They routinely offer deeply discounted (50%+) passes to yoga studios, and many of them are for unlimited use for a certain period of time (typically a week or 2).

Here’s how a DIY yoga retreat in your own hometown might go in 9 easy steps:
1.) Wake up with the sun

2.) Take a few moments for seated meditation and have some warm tea or warm water with lemon. If you’re feeling hungry a small piece of fruit will help to tide you over until after practice.

3.) Step out for a morning yoga class via a fabulous deal you got through one of the group couponing sites

4.) Enjoy a healthy, substantial meal – many yoga retreats offer vegetarian or vegan cuisine. Find some options nearby via a site like Opentable.

5.) Take the afternoon to sightsee in your own town. We all have touristy type destinations in our own cities that we never seem to have time to visit unless we have guests in town. Now’s your chance to take in these sites without the pressure of entertaining others. Be adventurous!

6.) Grab a small healthy snack before heading to a second yoga class, maybe in a different style or with a different teacher than your morning class.

7.) Take yourself out for a delicious, healthy meal that you can really savor and enjoy.

8.) Let your evening be a time to completely relax and unwind. Is a spa treatment of some kind in order? (Again, your group couponing sites will come in handy for some discounted luxury!) Curling up with a good book, taking a long walk, or beginning some creative project you’ve been meaning to get to can also be a wonderful way to enjoy some R&R.

9.) Before settling in for the night, a long, peaceful meditation can help to seal in all of the good energy from the day, lull yourself to sleep, so that you’re fully recharged to start all over again tomorrow.

3 key things to remember to create a luxurious DIY yoga retreat:
1.) You are on vacation. If you were out-of-town you’d likely not return phone calls, not open mail, and not be attached to your gadgets. Take this time to let go even though you’re in your hometown.

2.) Vacation is a time of re-invention, to try something new. Even though you’re in the comfort of your own home, be a little daring. And that can mean trying a cuisine outside your normal routine, taking in some day time activities that you don’t normally do, or going to a brand new yoga studio.

3.) Get rid of that to-do list. If you were going out-of-town on vacation, all your errands and chores would be done before or after vacation. Take that same approach with your DIY yoga retreat. Really pamper yourself and give yourself the break you deserve, at a small fraction of the cost of going on a more traditional yoga retreat.

And there we have a yoga retreat with no travel delays and at a tiny fraction of the cost of an out-of-town retreat. What do you think? Worthwhile? If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

books, vacation, writing

Beginning: A Writing Vacation for Me

Christa Avampato

“There are two kinds of people, those who finish what they start and so on.” ~ Robert Byrne

I try to always be a part of the former group that Mr. Byrne details in his quote above. The idea of a project half-done, or worse yet done but not to the best of my ability, makes my stomach turn. I can’t leave things is a state of potential. I like completing things – it’s in my Piscean nature. Because we are the last sign of the zodiac we like endings, preferably happy ones. To compound matters, under the Chinese Zodiac I’m a Fire Dragon. Look out world. I’m here to get things done!

Which brings me to a somewhat troubling and confusing matter in my writing. For about 6 months I’ve had an idea for a book that uses the tenants of a strong yoga practice as the tenants for building a solid personal finance plan. I’m making some progress. Outline’s done and the structure is pretty solid. The first 4 chapters are in very rough written form, and I’ve started on chapter 5. Arguably, these 4 chapters were the hardest to write. Still, I’m not happy with this progress. I wanted to be further along by now. Heck, I wanted to be done by now. And not just because I like to finish projects, but also because this book is really needed, can help a lot of people, and fills a tough-to-fill niche.

So what’s the problem? My multi-tasking nature is getting the best of me, despite my very best attempts at being a recovering multi-tasker. Here’s where the rubber meets the road, where my curious nature gets the best of me. I meditate. I do yoga. And still I’m a little afraid of writing this book because I don’t want it to be less than really awesome. The subject, and the people I’m writing the book for, deserve awesome. And awesome is a tall order.

Of course, I absolutely refuse to stay in this state. I refuse to be my own writing enemy, my own personified version of writer’s block. My perfectionist tendencies are really going to have to find some other place to hang out for a while. I’m taking myself on vacation. A writing vacation.

So what is a writing vacation? I’m going to spend an entire luxurious vacation with the main focus being writing and nothing else. Truth be told, I’m going to do a few other things. I’m going to take some yoga classes, meditate, walk Phin, and eat delicious food, all in an attempt to funnel my creative mind into this book. Other than that, I’ll be in front of my Mac typing away. I’m going to get this rough draft, a full rough draft, completed by Labor Day. No excuses. And you can hold me to that. Actually, I absolutely want you to hold me to that. This self-imposed deadline is just the motivation I need to get my perfectionism to take a break. I’m just going to write until it’s done.

blog, guest blogger, meditation, writing, yoga

My Guest Post on CrazySexyLife.com: How Yoga & Meditation Will Help Us Create a Brighter, Better Future

Christa Avampato

Today I have a guest post on Kris Carr’s incredible blog CrazySexyLife.com. A series of fortunate events this year led to this post as I’ve been exploring ways that yoga and meditation can create a better world for all of us.

My mission this year has been to get yoga and meditation to more people, more often, and regardless of financial means, in the hopes that we can build toward a tipping point of greater peace, happiness, and freedom. Every corner of the world seems to be facing incredible challenges, and to turn the tide toward a brighter furture, the world needs all of us at our very best.

Check out the post here to learn how I think yoga and meditation can help us reach that goal.

charity, yoga

Beginning: Jade Yoga Becomes the First Charitable Sponsor of Compass Yoga

Christa Avampato

Jade Yoga is a charitable sponsor of Compass Yoga
I spend a good deal of time trying to improve Compass Yoga, the organization I started to bring yoga to under-served populations.
About a month ago, I announced the Compass Partnership with the New York Public Library. Many of my students are beginners or returning to yoga after many years away from the mat. Last week I started contacting yoga supply companies to see if any of them would be willing to donate mats and props to the class for my students to use.

Yesterday Jade Yoga, the maker of one of the very best yoga mats on the market, decided to become the first charitable sponsor of Compass Yoga. Jade donated 12 brand spanking new, eco-friendly Harmony Yoga Mats for the Compass Yoga class at the New York Public Library, a value of almost $800. I am overwhelmed by Jade Yoga’s generosity. On behalf of Compass, the New York Public Library, and my students, thank you, Jade Yoga, for your kind contribution in an effort to spread the benefits of yoga throughout our community. You just gained a customer and fan for life. Namaste!

career, creative process, creativity

Beginning: 4 Paths to Gaining Constructive Discontent

Christa Avampato

I was digging through the Problogger archives recently and came across this gem of a post: 9 Attitudes of Highly Creative People. I love these kinds fo posts for a few reasons: a) I’m a creativity hound, hence the subtitle of this blog, “Curating a Creative Life” and b) they never go out of style. Creative habits are trendy; they’re truths. What works today will work tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Just like that little black dress or that perfect feel-good pair of jeans. I love a classic.

Of the 9 attitudes that Darren Rowse, a.k.a. Problogger, discusses in this post, my favorite by far is “Constructive Discontent”. Give me the naysayers who have taken the time to come up with a host of better alternatives than the options currently on the table. I will gladly embrace them because I’m one of them. These are the people who turn ideas upside down, create disruptive new products and services, and live by the mantra “why not?” They are rebels with a cause – to make the world better.

4 Paths to Gain Constructive Discontent:
1.) Don’t accept that the way it is will be the way it will always is. In this new-fangled economy there is only one certainty – change, and plenty of it!

2.) Be a Hopeful Pessimist, or a Cynical Optimist. Even if it’s all going to hell at the moment, those with constructive discontent believe in their heart of hearts that it can and will be better in the not-so-distant future.

3.) You’re Part of the Solution. Believing that the choices you make and the positions that you take on a project can make a difference is key. If you have strong convictions, be prepared to back them up with actions.

4.) Be on record. Being on record with a unique p.o.v. can be tough. It takes confidence and courage, and in the end confidence and courage do create a healthier more productive system. Take the long-view.

animals, dogs, love

Beginning: What Animals Teach Us About Love

Christa Avampato

Phineas with the cherry blossoms in Central Park
“It’s no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst.” ~ Tom Stoppard

Phineas and I had our first fight. Last week he had one day when he didn’t want to go outside, didn’t want to go back inside once we finally got to our walk, didn’t want to go back into our apartment, and then didn’t want me to leave for work. He howled and howled when I left. And not his “I’m sad; don’t leave me” cry” but his “I am so mad at you for leaving me” cry. This was completely unlike Phin. He’s never done that before. the few days prior he did seem to be having some nightmares, and would whimper a little bit in the middle of the night. I should also mention that this same morning both the elevators in my building were clogged due to a movie filming in our building (we live on the 17th floor!), and Phin could hear every single clang of the movie equipment from our apartment. (If they’re going to inconvenience us, the least the producers could do is put us in the movie.) Oy! What a Monday!

I tried everything I could to calm Phin down and nothing, absolutely nothing worked, so I ended up just having to leave with him angry at me. And I was mad at him, too. A grown 35 year old woman angry at a 15 pound, 18 month old dachshund. Now looking back on it, my anger was pretty hilarious. How was Phineas supposed to understand that a movie was filming and he would just have to contend with the noise? At the time it was awful.

In my mind I know Phin was just fine. He had his food and water, his treats, his nice warm bed as well as my nice warm bed if he wanted it. The TV was on and his dog walker was scheduled to take him out later in the afternoon. Still, my heart was sick at work. So sick that I asked the dog walker to send me a text after their walk to let me know if he seemed okay. Chalk it up to still being a beginning full-time dog owner. How do parents manage to their crying children at daycare? A howling dachshund is about all I can manage.

I hate to say this but a small part of my dreaded going home that night. What if Phineas gave me the silent treatment? Maybe I’m a terrible dog parent. What if he didn’t have just a bad morning but this was a turning point in his personality?

Phineas’s walk with the dog walker went well and when I got home he was overjoyed to see me, just like always. We went for a walk, had some dinner, and then he snuggled up next to me on the couch and promptly put himself to bed early. He was just fine. We were just fine. It was just an off morning and nothing more.

Phineas and I learned a valuable thing about love and co-habitation. Eventually, we have to go home and sort out our differences with the beings whom we love. We have to keep showing up. The love and companionship trump any difficulties that may surface along the way. When you love someone, you love regardless of their mood. And yes you’ll get mad and they’ll get mad, but it can and should be forgiven. Tom Stoppard was right – real love means loving them just as they are, Monday morning or not.