“Your way begins on the other side. Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape. Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.” ~ Rumi
This week I began the next leg of my yoga teacher journey with ISHTA. Just entering the studio and taking a seat in the back of the room, I felt a vibration there, an energy of the highest order. It’s a place of supreme acceptance, growth, possibility, and support. It is no accident that on a day when every hour at work seemed to break me down, I would walk into this studio and find the beginnings of another way. One of my fellow teachers termed it as the idea of “a return to wholeness.” And that’s exactly how I felt in that space and in that time, whole.
What I am going through in my 9-5 is a form of tapas, a wringing out or burning away, so that I am ready to absorb the energy of a new place, a place better suited to help me operate at the peak of my authenticity. The warm glow of the lights created the perfect balance with the cool cerulean door at the back of the ISHTA studio where we were all huddled together for our first class.
Wendy Newton, our ISHTA teacher, encouraged us to recognize that our only job in this training, and even in life, is to do our practice, the one that opens us up to yoga so that we can be receptive to our teaching. And this teaching is meant for us, and only us, and it is different for everyone. We are each here on this planet, at this time, to learn something quite specific, and our yoga can lead us to that place. It is a particular teaching, taught in a particular way, that suits our particular soul through this leg of the adventure. We must go in search of it, while also slowing down enough to let it find us.
Rumi, I have found my way to the other side.
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
“Your way begins on the other side. Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape. Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.” ~ Rumi
Love this post. It’s so true, yoga is a personal practice. We might all look fairly similar how we’re lined up in warrior I, but what happens inside (and isn’t that where the real yoga takes place?) might be different for every single one of us.
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Absolutely! I do think it’s different for each one of us – it’s attuned to what we need at that very moment.
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Good for you!
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