Up until now I have had a distinct disdain for power yoga. The very term power yoga made me shake my head in wonder. Why would anyone practice that?
Now I’m eating a bit of Bakasana (crow.) Mel, One of my mentors and teachers at ISHTA, has a class called Hour of Power. I intended to show my face once and never return. Now I actually look forward to it for a very simple reason – it’s improved my strength dramatically. I feel myself carrying my whole body differently. Lats week Mel had us do something she calls the martian butterfly sequence. Essentially we unfolded and packed up a Sun Salutation, adding one breath and one posture to each cycle. It took about 30 minutes and involved a lot of plank postures, lowering to chaturanga (bottom of a push-up) and then pressing back up. I think she calls it the martian sequence because by the end of it I was so wiped that I felt like I was on another planet.
Mel must have read the expression on my face when she cued our first pressing up. “Don’t tell yourself you can’t do something. Don’t think about it. Just do it.” So I did. Barely but I did it. Over and over and over again.
But here’s the miraculous thing that happened a few days later….
I was in a class and the teacher cued us to push back up from chaturanga and I just did it. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t tell myself I couldn’t do it. It just happened.
And the other miracle of this stronger practice is that I find myself softening off the mat, better able to manage challenges that arise with ease and grace. Maybe there really is something to this power yoga after all…
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.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
1 thought on “Leap: The Benefits of Power on the Yoga Mat”
Christa Avampato 
1 thought on “Leap: The Benefits of Power on the Yoga Mat”