Month: March 2012

yoga

Leap: Is Yoga Right For Me? – My Guest Post on A Charmed Yogi

Christa Avampato

Lisa, the lovely author of A Charmed Yogi and supportive reader of Christa in New York, asked me if I’d be interested in writing a guest post with advice for people who are considering a yoga practice. With all the chatter in the news these days about the dangers of yoga, I wanted to add my voice as a practitioner and teacher. I love Lisa’s  blog and was honored by the request. I highly recommend subscribing to her blog if you’re interested in yoga, health, and wellness. Thank you, Lisa, for the opportunity to contribute!

The full post is available here and below is the advice I give in the article.

1.) If you’re new to yoga, seek out a class that’s labeled beginner, basics, gentle, or restorative. These classes generally have teachers who are trained to specifically help beginners get comfortable with a class. These classes usually have welcoming and warm environments that encourage learning and questions. You could also pick up a copy of a beginner yoga DVD. When I first started practicing, I used Rodney Yee’s AM / PM DVD all the time. It was a great primer for me and even now I sometimes take it out to review a simple, solid beginning routine. The basics always have something new to teach us.

2.) Consult your doctor. It’s always a good idea to check in with your doctor before beginning a yoga practice. Discuss what health issues you should raise to a yoga instructor before beginning a class. (And on this point, please let any yoga instructor know if you have any health concerns, injuries, or challenges before the class begins. Contrary to popular belief we aren’t mind readers. If you don’t tell us what’s wrong, we may not know until it’s too late.)

3.) Don’t compare yourself to others. It will be tempting to compare your yoga to that of other people in the class. Don’t. Yoga is a very personal practice. We are all at different points along the journey. We have different bodies and different minds. Our practices are as unique as we are. Honor where you are and be kind to yourself. If it hurts, back off. Your body has so much intelligence. It knows what it needs to be healthy, strong, and safe. Listen to it.

4.) Interview yoga instructors and studios. You are paying for a service when you go to a yoga class. You are giving up your time to be there in that studio. Go in and test the vibe. Talk to the person at the front desk and a teacher if possible. Let them know you’re new to the practice and any injuries or health challenges that you have. Ask them if their studio is appropriate for beginners and ask which classes would be best suited for you. Feel free to email or call as well.

5.) Consider a private session or in-class private. A private session can be on the expensive side but you’ll get a solid grounding in the basics in a very short period of time. This is how I started practicing 14 years ago. Also, some studios give the option of in-class privates in which you take a group class at a studio but also have a private instructor who’s affiliated with the studio to give you adjustments during the group class. Think of an in-class private as going to a group class with a close friend whose only focus is to make sure you have an amazing experience. (ISHTA Yoga in New York City, where I study, offers this service at no additional charge and I’d be more than happy to help you start or continue your yoga practice through an in-class private at ISHTA!)

Still have questions? Contact me. Seriously. Email me, tweet me, send over an owl. I love teaching beginners – many of my students took their very first yoga class with me and I really treasure that honor. I’m always glad to help someone get started on the yoga journey. It changed my life, and approached properly, it has the potential to change yours, too!

gratitude, thankful

Leap: Thank You Notes, Volume 3

Christa Avampato

The latest installment of my thank you notes in a collective format. I’ve also begun to send out my individual thank you notes – whenever possible, I try to send out these notes recorded here on this blog to the actual person, company, or organization they’re dedicated to. I’ll let you know if I hear back from any of them.

Thank you, ISHTA Yoga, for opening the way forward on a new teaching path for me. And for having a sense of humor about it.

Thank you, New York Lottery, for climbing so high that even I, someone who NEVER buys lottery tickets, found it within myself to dig out a dollar and a dream all in the name of more money for education (and the potential to win a whole big pile o’ cash.) And thanks to my mom for the text reminder to do so.

Thank you, man from out west who sat next to me on the subway. He offered his seat to a stranger (without being shamed into it), took up only the 1 seat he paid for, and when people looked at him skeptically he replied, “You city folk really confuse me.” Poor guy. If he’s confused by us on the subway, I can’t imagine what he thinks of us when we get above ground.

Thank you, Sesame Street, for proving that profound life lessons can come from colorful furry monsters who never leave their block. My favorite Sesame lesson: take care of your community and it will take care of you.

Thank you, writer friend Katherine Jenkins, who wrote a beautiful book entitled Lessons from the Monk I Married that shows courage may just be the most valuable resource when it comes to building a life we’re proud of. (Review forthcoming on this blog next month!)

Thank you, Suzanne Collins, for not being afraid to invent a new story for the young adult audience, even in the aftermath of Harry Potter which most people assumed could never be topped.

choices, courage, dreams, Steve Jobs

Leap: Steve Jobs, One of My Geronimo (and Yoga!) Heroes

Christa Avampato

I’m working away on the narratives for The Geronimo Project, my new online writing project that celebrates people who took big leaps in their careers and want to share their stories to inspire others. I’ve been kicking around this writing project for a while and on Leap Day I put out the call into the world. I’m astounded by the interest and the truly inspiring stories that have come my way since. The project will launch formally in late April.

While hunting around for some images on Pinterest to go with the posts, I came across this quote from Steve Jobs, one of my Geronimo heroes (and one of my favorite yogis of all time). He was the king of people who took big career leaps of faith. The quote is pulled from his commencement address at Stanford shortly after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. It still gives me chills. You may be thinking Steve was super human and that’s why he could afford to live this philosophy. He wasn’t. He was simply and wonderfully a man of conviction. He had guts, and lots of it.

One of my favorite lines is “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. “ We do this all the time. Too often we settle for living with the consequences of the actions of others rather than the consequences we create. Stop. Just stop. Go live your life, on your terms.

Steve didn’t wait to follow his heart. We shouldn’t either. The clock is ticking.

art, creativity

Leap: Creativity Lessons from The Adventures of Tintin and The Hunger Games

Christa Avampato

We could learn a lot about finding our life’s purpose from a boy detective and a woman who refused to let someone else define her. These are the palpable lessons of Tintin and Katniss, the protegonists at the centers of the book The Adventures of Tintin and The Hunger Games, respectively. What’s perhaps more subtle is what the movie versions of these stories teach us about creativity and the relentless pursuit of growth, transformation, and continuous improvement.

It would be easy to say that the animation of movies like Monsters Inc., Toy Story, or The Polar Express were the penultimate testament to the reach of the art. Many movie critics repeatedly made this declaration, as did many artists and engineers who work in the field. It would also be easy to say J K Rowling will always be the reigning queen of the young adult novel series. How could anyone ever create a story as compelling to young adults (and all adults for that matter!) as Harry Potter? These are simply just not goals worth having because they aren’t achievable. Many agents and publishers have criticized new and would-be authors for even attempting to create new young adult series for this very reason.

Steve Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and Suzanne Collins ignored the critics and pushed on into their own sense of creativity. The results? Spielberg and Jackson built an animated movie that frame by frame left viewers wondering if they were really watching an animated movie. There are moments when the animated quality of the film The Adventures of Tintin is clear, but for most of the time the art comes to life with such authenticity that I caught myself lost in the story as if it were a live action picture.

The Hunger Games just celebrated a stellar global opening weekend of $214.3 million, far more than any of the Harry Potter films. Its Friday-Saturday take was the third largest in Hollywood history in a month when blockbusters are typically not released. And like Harry Potter, surveys show that 56% of all movie goers this past weekend were 25 or older despite the fact that Collins wrote these books for young adults.

Katniss, Tintin, and the creative minds behind their adventures have shown us that there really is no limit to our creativity, to our abilities to generate new stories and ways of telling stories that bring an ever-wider audience into our embrace.

choices, decision-making

Leap: Sacrifice is Another Word for Investment

Christa Avampato

Whenever we’re working on something big, something bigger than we think we’re capable of doing, we have to make trade-offs. We give up some time, some flexibility, some funds, maybe even some fun activities that we would otherwise do.

In times like this, I find it’s most helpful to think of sacrifice as investment rather than loss. It’s really a transfer of energy. We give up a bit now to work toward achieving something tomorrow that will help us fulfill our purpose. Investment causes us to re-prioritize, and that re-prioritization implies change. Change is never easy, even when it’s welcomed. There is always a period of adjustment.

Be kind to yourself in these times of transition. Understand that what you give up today pales in comparison to the joy and satisfaction of realizing a dream. Recognize that we always have a choice, and in making these investments we are living up to the responsibility of carving our own path.

Let it unfold. Give it the time it needs to show its true and full value. There will be plenty of time for reflecting on and judging the choice. Now, commit to making the most of it and giving it the very best shot at success.

teaching

Leap: We All Teach

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/argylestyle/

“Read to learn, write to understand, teach to master.” – Yogi Tea

I am passionate about teaching – whatever we know, whatever we practice, whatever we preach, I believe we should teach it so we can pass it on. Some of the people I’m most grateful for in my life have been my teachers. As of late, I’ve begun to expand my definition of teacher.

Someone doesn’t need to be standing in front of a classroom of any kind to be a teacher. We teach in the moments that we’re on the subway, as we’re picking up our morning coffee, as we’re grocery shopping. In the quiet moments of every day life, at those times when we aren’t aware that anyone is looking to us, we teach our most authentic lessons. How we act in each moment has the potential to teach someone something. It’s a gift we always have to give. Give wisely.

creativity, yoga

Leap: The Hands are the Vehicle of the Heart

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/marface/

This is the first full weekend of my advanced yoga teacher training at ISHTA. The days are long but invigorating. My eyes are already opening to new ways of seeing and my heart is already opening to a new way of being.

As we were learning about the 7 segments of the body that correspond to the chakras. The hands and the heart live within the same chakra. The hands deliver what the heart wishes to create, whether that creation is a hug, a cake, a home, a letter, a painting. Whatever the heart wishes, the hands convey.

The saying “made with love” is more than just a nice cliche. It’s the mechanism by which everything every we make comes into being. What are you building?

childhood

Leap: Back to Basics

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/tehviv/

This photo from Pinterest put a smile on my face.

When I was little, we didn’t have air conditioning in my home. Instead we had a giant square fan that roared as it blew air (mostly hot air) throughout the first floor of our home. My sister, Weez, and I used to sit in front of it and let the sounds of our voices shine through it. They’d reverberate back to us with a distinctly robotic sound which made us giggle.

As Spring begins to sweep the country, it’s time to think about looking back into our beginnings. It’s time to think about what really delights us, what makes us feel alive in the simplest and purest form. It’s time to get back to our roots because everything else we value in our lives today comes from that humble start when we were a blank slate, when life was a white canvas just waiting for color. Make sure you’re still the artist you set out to be.

courage, integrity, yoga

Leap: The Real Problem with Yoga (and It’s a Wonderful Problem to Have)

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/adrianaclonts/

I went to an event yesterday and in all of the ending hoopla, the organizer asked everyone to join him in signing up for his new mission. To be entirely fair, I applaud people who put themselves out there and clearly explain who they are, what they care about, and what they intend to do. I wish more people were as transparent as this organizer.

That said, I didn’t sign. I actually left the event early. I was criticized a bit for it, but I didn’t mind. I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do. While I respect the transparency of this organizer, we just aren’t on the same page. Our values don’t fall in line together so I know our roads will be taking different directions.

A few years ago, my former boss and mentor, Bob G., said something that I think about almost every day. “You always get to choose what bus you want to be on.” The problem with deeply studying yoga is that it leads us to deeply study ourselves – who we are when we strip away every title, every accomplishment (and failure), every relationship, every part of our history. Yoga is about knowing our true essence, about knowing the company we keep in the empty moments. And in this intense study, we find that we can only be true to our heart. We cannot be on a bus that we don’t want to ride. Our bodies and minds literally don’t allow it.

Yoga forces us to return to our true home, to the place where we belong in a very deep and meaningful way. We lose the ability to fake it. We lose the ability to lie, to ourselves and to anyone else. All we can do is live the truth, our truth. We can’t conform to someone else’s expectations. All we can do is live up to our own.

It’s a wonderful problem to have, but it’s not always the easiest path to walk. And instead of lamenting the difficulty, I encourage you to embrace it. Look in, way in, and see what’s there. Get on the path and walk it. It’s the only way forward.

adventure, career, decision-making, determination, inspiration

Leap: A Daily Can-Do Mantra

Christa Avampato

I found this image on Pinterest. I immediately hung it up at my desk to read out loud any time I get scared as I begin this new adventure to merge my career with my personal values. It makes me feel strong. I hope it helps you, too.