For the past year, I’ve focused much of my yoga teaching on therapeutics with most of my students having some form of physical or mental health challenge. It’s been such a gratifying experience to work with these students that I’ve thought a lot about how to leverage my skills to get these teachings to a wider audience. Two ideas have emerged: I could teach therapeutics to yoga teachers and I could teach the staff at hospitals, healthcare agencies, assisted living facilities, etc. to provide yoga to the people they work with.
This week, I took my first step with the first option and taught a mini yoga therapeutics class to a teacher from Italy who wants to teach therapeutic yoga in her home city of Torino. She reached out to me online during the Spring after finding my website and asked if I could teach her what I know about teaching therapeutic yoga. Her boyfriend came to New York City for a month-long cinematography course at NYU and she took the trip as well with the intent of enhancing her yoga teaching. She spent 9 hours of one-on-one time with me to learn therapeutics and then spent a half day for four weeks at the Sivananda Yoga Center. This was my first time teaching a teacher how to teach.
It’s a vastly different skill to teach teachers about teaching than it is to teach a traditional class. The depth of knowledge must be deeper because the teachers are going to ask very specific questions; their curiosity takes the content to a whole new level. You know exactly how you’re doing because they tell you. And with the desire to train the trainer, the responsibility is heavier as well. You need to keep the teachers safe and you also need to help them keep their students safe. The stakes are high but the potential for impact is high as well.
I’m really proud to say that she loved the training and that I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent teaching a teacher. She is bright, eager, and passionate about healing. I am so excited to hear how everything unfolds for her when she returns to Torino and starts to use this training with her students. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I share this practice that I love so much with a teacher who cares about it as much as I do. Another door opens.
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
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