New York City, yoga

Leap: The Summer Solstice in Times Square and A Lesson in Energy

Christa Avampato
This is me meditating in the middle of Times Square to celebrate the 2012 Summer Solstice

For the fifth year in a row, I celebrated the Summer Solstice in Times Square on my yoga mat. 14,000 yogis flocked to the center of the Great White Way yesterday thanks to the event put together by the Times Square Alliance to demonstrate the possibility of mind over madness. A lot of people have asked me how on Earth I can find peace at this kind of event. To me the most profound peace is found not in a quiet corner of the world, but in the midst of life. Once we can find peace in every day living, regardless of circumstances and surroundings, then that peace will always be ours.

Last year, I took the class that Douglass Stewart, a senior teacher at ISHTA Yoga and YogaWorks, taught. It was transformative in many ways. I began taking his classes at ISHTA as a result of that Times Square class and I am now half way through my 300-hour advanced teacher training at ISHTA. Beginning this Friday, I will assist Douglass’s Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon classes. (I hope you’ll join us!)

Yesterday I also made it a point to take Douglass’s Solstice class this year and as I made my way downtown, I thought about how much has changed in this past year. I found a deep confidence to pursue a life of my own design. My yoga and meditation practice were a big part of the fuel that drove all of this change. In the last few days, I’ve felt lighter, brighter, and more alive for having made the Leap into working for myself. There is a true and palpable peace that we find once we live the lives we are meant to live. It really is true that we can be free if we want to be.

Douglass spoke extensively about energy – especially appropriate given the intense heat that Mother Nature poured down over New York City yesterday. “Energy goes where it is most needed; where it can do the most good,” he said. Heat is energy and it transforms everything it touches. It burns away what is unnecessary. It shines what is left behind in its wake. I felt that mid-afternoon heat of the solstice touch down on me, helping me to let go of everything that no longer serves me. My own energy now has a new direction and it is doing much more good in the world now that it is directed toward work I love.

It wasn’t very hard at all for me to find peace yesterday in the middle of Times Square. I just rolled out my mat and went exactly where Douglass led us – inside our own centers. The mind can do much more than block out madness; it can actually use the energy of the madness around us to evolve, and ultimately, to blossom. Happy Summer!

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Published by Christa Avampato

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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