Author: 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.
choices, creativity, love, work

Beautiful: Get Back to What You Love

Christa Avampato
Maybe the best piece of career advice you could get…

“Forgetting about what you love to do can be a form of self-sabotage – get back to what you love.” ~ Madisyn Taylor for DailyOm

In yoga, the principle of ahimsa (do no harm) is a cornerstone of the practice on and off the mat. Many forms of harm are obvious. Some forms of harm are much more subtle, and I’ve found that those forms are the ones we really need to consciously keep in check. Moving away from what we love is one of those.

I completely understand that we may need to take a job that we don’t love because we need to pay the rent and put food on the table. I’ve been there. Some days, I’m still there. In the past year, I have made a very clear and conscious effort to bring more work I love into my life, work I love so much that it feels strange to even call it work. Now I write, teach, and do more to support good works through my consulting practice than I did a year ago.

This shift of getting back to what I love by starting my own business has improved my mental and physical health in ways I never imagined. I was so bogged down when I was solely working for a check on projects that I didn’t care about. It was scary to leap off that cliff but I knew I needed to do it for my own well-being.

Magical things happened once I committed to a path paved with more of the things I love. Doors opened and they let the light in. It didn’t happen overnight and didn’t happen in any ways I expected, but that doesn’t matter. It all worked out much better than I had planned.

The root of this good fortune lies in a conscious and unrelenting choice to be in love with my life. It took me a long time to learn that truth, a long time to trust it. Do yourself a favor – don’t let another day go by without getting back to what you love.

government, social media, technology

Beautiful: The White House Hangs Out with Geeks – Today at 2pm EDT

Christa Avampato

Today I’m heading back to the White House with 3,000 of my closest geek friends.

Rather than donning a suit in the East Room, I’ll be on my comfy couch at 2:00 EDT in my yoga clothes with my pup, Phin, right next to me. That’s right – geeks of the world, we have arrived! The White House has created a Google Hangout, cleverly entitled “We the Geeks”, in our honor and the first one is today. The event is open to geeks far and near to “highlight the future of science, technology, and innovation here in the United States. Topics such as commercial space exploration, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, turning science fiction to science fact, and others will be discussed with Administration officials and key private sector contributors.”

The event is free and open to the public, and you’ll have the pleasure of hanging with yours truly. Or rather, I’ll have the pleasure of hanging with you! The full press release with all the geeky details is below. Hope to “see” you there!

White House Press Release
Note: Watch the first ‘We the Geeks” Hangout on Thursday, May 16, at 2:00 p.m. EDT on WhiteHouse.gov and on the White House Google+ page. You can join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #WeTheGeeks.

On May 16th, the White House is kicking off “We the Geeks,” a new series of Google+ Hangouts to highlight the future of science, technology, and innovation here in the United States. Topics such as commercial space exploration, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, turning science fiction to science fact, and others will be discussed with Administration officials and key private sector contributors.

The first “We the Geeks” Hangout will focus on Grand Challenges, ambitious goals on a national or global scale that capture the imagination and demand advances in innovation and breakthroughs in science and technology. Grand Challenges are an important element of President Obama’s Strategy for American Innovation. On April 2nd, the President called on companies, research universities, foundations, and philanthropists to join with him in identifying and pursuing the Grand Challenges of the 21st century.

An example of a past Grand Challenge was the sequencing of the entire human genome that, according to one recent study, has contributed to the U.S. economy more than $140 for every $1 invested by the Federal government. President Obama just announced the BRAIN Initiative, a bold new research effort to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders like Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury.  The Department of Energy is leading the way in Clean Energy Grand Challenges with SunShot, an initiative to make solar energy as cheap as coal, and EV Everywhere, an initiative announced by President Obama to make electric vehicles as affordable and convenient to own as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles.

The Obama Administration supports the identification and pursuit of Grand Challenges because the approach can:

  • help solve important economic and societal problems;
  • serve as a “North Star” for high-impact, multi-disciplinary collaborations among government, industry, universities, non-profits, and philanthropists;
  • create a foundation for industries and jobs of the future;
  • capture public imagination and increase support for public policies that foster science, technology, and innovation; and
  • inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

In addition to Federal investments, there are a growing number of companies, foundations, philanthropists, and research universities that are interested in pursuing Grand Challenges. During this Thursday’s “We the Geeks” Hangout, I’ll join White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation Tom Kalil and an extraordinary panel of innovators from around the country to discuss the elements of an “all hands on deck” effort to pursue Grand Challenges. Participants include:

  • Matt Grob, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., to discuss the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE and other bold research initiatives at Qualcomm
  • Rob High, IBM Fellow, Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer, IBM Watson Solutions, to discuss what’s next for Watson and the field of cognitive computing
  • Kathryn Latham, recent graduate from Duke University with a degree in engineering and participant in the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge Scholars Program
  • Sebastian Thrun, a research professor at Stanford, a Google Fellow, and a co-founder of Udacity, to discuss Google’s self-driving car and Google X

So tune in Thursday, May 16, at 2:00 p.m. EDT on WhiteHouse.gov and on the White House Google+ page, as we begin a new series of future-focused Hangouts from the White House.

family, friendship

Beautiful: Find the Magic in Others

Christa Avampato

This picture reminds me of fireflies, those glorious heralds of summertime. I grew up in a rural area and during the summer, fireflies were everywhere. Even now I still find them comforting, with their bright behinds that help them perform their “now you see me, now you don’t” routine. They remind me that magic is everywhere, even in the most unlikely of places, even though we can’t see it all the time.

Just like this photo shows, the magic is most often found in the people around us. If ever you need to see its glimmer, look your friends and family in the eyes. Listen to their dreams. Know their hearts. That’s all the magic you’ll ever need to inspire your own pursuits.

beauty, stress, yoga

Beautiful: Yoga is for Everyone – Sarah Shaffer’s Story on Yoga with Down Syndrome

Christa Avampato
Sarah Shaffer practicing yoga

Too much of the media circus around yoga leads people to believe that it is a practice exclusively for super models and contortionists. Nothing could be further from the truth. U.S. News & World Report ran a story about Sarah Shaffer, a high school student who practices yoga to relax and improve her running.

The full story is below but the last line is the one that got me choked up. It perfectly illustrates why we focus Compass Yoga‘s mission on getting yoga to people who wouldn’t otherwise practice it. The reporter asked her if she had any advice for people new to yoga. Sarah says, “Keep doing yoga, even if it’s hard. It gets better the more you work at it. And you will feel so good after you’re done.”

Now that is beautiful.

Full article by Laura McMullen

Have you ever tried yoga? It’s not just for the thin, fit and athletically-built. Just about anyone who can breathe can practice yoga to some extent and reap its many benefits. We’ll prove it. In this series, U.S. News talks with people who are changing the face of yoga.

Sarah Schaffer is a senior at Free State High School in Lawrence, Kan. When she’s not playing the cymbals and triangle in the concert band, she’s sprinting and shot-putting on the school’s green and silver Firebirds track team. Sarah is a fan of country music – especially songs by Blake Shelton – and she also has Down syndrome.

Sarah is one of more than 400,000 people in the United States living with Down syndrome, according to the National Down Syndrome Society. Individuals with the condition have an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21, which alters development and can result in mild to moderate cognitive delays. While every person with Down syndrome has unique traits and degrees of abilities, a few of the condition’s common physical characteristics include smaller stature, slightly upward-slanting eyes and low muscle tone, according to NDSS.

This low muscle tone is part of what prompted Sarah’s mom, Rose, a nurse with a degree in exercise science, to introduce her daughter to yoga. Rose felt yoga would help develop core strength, which would in turn boost Sarah’s coordination and ability to breathe deeply – a practice that would circulate more oxygen to her brain, Rose says. She soon discovered that yoga before bedtime also helped Sarah relax and sleep better.

Now, Sarah practices yoga regularly – even the “sculpting” variety with hand weights. She practices at after-school classes and at home with DVDs. (Her favorite DVDs are those hosted by fitness instructor Denise Austin because they’re fun, calm and relaxing, her mother says.) Sarah tells U.S. News more about her yoga practice. Her responses have been edited.

What’s your favorite part about yoga?

I like the music in the background, and I like the stretching because it’s fun, and it feels relaxing. The stretching helps with my running because I’m more stretched out.

Do you have a favorite stretch?

I like the bridge, and I like doing child’s pose at the end.

What’s been your biggest challenge with yoga?

I have a hard time balancing on one leg sometimes, but I’ve gotten better.

Do you have any advice for people new to yoga?

Do the same video every day until you get good at it. Keep doing yoga, even if it’s hard. It gets better the more you work at it. And you will feel so good after you’re done.

creativity, happiness, work, yoga, youth

Beautiful: Interesting Work is the Fountain of Youth

Christa Avampato

“Find something you‘re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.“ ~ Julia Child

There is no better feeling than being fully engaged. Energy zings right through your veins. Your heart, mind, and spirit are perfectly aligned in your pursuit. It keeps us young, active, and curious.

That’s exactly how I felt as I started working on designs for a personal and home fashion line that will benefit Compass Yoga. The first campaign will begin at the end of June. As I was working on the designs this weekend, I felt all of my skills snyc together in pursuit of this larger goal to build a self-sustaining organization that gets more yoga to more people in more places.

I’m with you, Julia. This is all it takes to generate a joyful life – do work you love that holds your interest and then find a way to do this work as often as possible.

family, grandmother, holiday, mother

Beautiful: Happy Mother’s Day, Yoga-style

Christa Avampato

To all the mothers everywhere, whether your kids have 2 legs or 4:
the light that is in me honors the light that is in each one of you.
Namaste.

 

celebration

Beautiful: Something to Celebrate

Christa Avampato

“Those who wish to sing, always find a song.” ~ Swedish proverb

If ever you find yourself with nothing to celebrate, here’s a list that I hope will help:

The sunshine and the rain
Trees draped in leaves of any color or in snow
Smiles and tears that remind us how deeply we can love
Times of plenty and not-so-plenty because they help us appreciate what we have
Dreams fulfilled and those we must release because they show us that a new dream is just a thought away
Courage and fear because they let us know that we are on the right track

As long as we’re learning, every experience has value. Give it its due.

change, time

Beautiful: There is No Great Rush to Change so Take Your Time

Christa Avampato

In yoga, we hold postures for a very specific reason – when we ask our bodies to assume a posture, our muscles have an initial reaction. As we hold the posture, it develops. Our muscles give a bit more ground. Our minds settle down. We give ourselves time to adjust, and with that time we find that we can go further. In waiting and holding, we have time to reflect. Reflection helps us find our edge and our potential.

There is certainly a time for action, for embracing change even when it seems like it’s coming at us fast and furious. But there is also a lot of value in giving ourselves time to adjust. Just because change has arrived does not mean that we have to take all of it at once. In truth, we don’t have to take any of it. The only thing we have to do is consider it and let the answer rise up organically. In other words, we hold and wait for more information.

Often holding and waiting is equated with stagnation, and sometimes that association is valid. But it’s not the only association that can be made. Even in the midst of swirling, whirling change, it’s okay to slow down. It’s okay to take it easy and give ourselves time to decide which parts of the change we really want. Change is not an all or nothing game. It’s a menu. We choose which parts of that menu work best for us.

Rarely is change precipitated by some magical force from beyond that forces us down one path or the other. Most of the time, our lives change through our own deliberate actions. Yes, there will be things that happen that are beyond our control. But we always govern our actions in response to what happens in the world around us. We build our own road, and we’d be wise to put some speed bumps in there. Take all the time you need.

books, eating, food, health

Beautiful: Mark Bittman, My Parents, and I Are Part-Time Vegans

Christa Avampato

“Hi Gang! Guess what? Oh, you’ll never guess in a million years so I’ll just tell you. We’re becoming vegans and tonight we launched the operation.” This from my mother who is 71 glorious years old and a passionate omnivore. Their chiropractor has recommended a vegan diet to improve overall health so they’re going for it. If Bill Clinton, fast food’s most loyal customer, can do it, so can we. Somewhere, Mark Bittman is smiling wide.

Ironically (or as my therapist, Brian, would say – synchronistically), when my mother’s email arrived I had just started reading Mark Bittman’s new book, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good. Her email flew into my inbox about 6 hours after I read the intro to Mark’s book and I thought, “You know, I should send this book to my mom.” Oh, Universe…

I’ve failed at being a vegan, and for that matter being a vegetarian, for many years. That Mister Softee song starts playing on my block, and I’m done for. (Mister Softee and Access Hollywood Live – my guilty pleasures.) It’s been a sore point with me for some time and I had all but resigned myself to never being able to live up to my dietary potential. I know being a vegan is better for me and for the planet. And I love animals, very often more than I love people, so why couldn’t I just do it?!

And then Mark Bittman gave me permission to try on veganism on a part-time basis. Now this kind of deal is music to my ears. His plan is simple – give up highly processed food (okay, I can let go of Mister Softee in favor of real ice cream but do not ask me to give up Billy Bush!), eat more plants, and be a vegan until 6pm. Once 6pm rolls around, I’m free to eat whatever I want. There’s nothing magical about 6pm. There isn’t even anything magical about making dinner your non-vegan meal. He’s saying give yourself one meal to have whatever you want and then be a vegan the rest of the time. He even gave me permission to slip up and fall flat on my face off the vegan wagon once in a while. And then he told me that I can always just start again.

This is similar to the advice that I got when I first really started to learn how to meditate. I had tried for a number of years, wouldn’t feel anything happening, and give up. Then, I read some advice from Sri Swami Satchidananda. “When you notice your mind wandering, just come back. It happens to everyone. You don’t have to give up. Just start again.” Now three years later, I’m still practicing meditation and teaching it to others without any kind of angst or sense of inadequacy. Failure is only permanent if we allow it to be.

And so, I started right then and there to be a part-time vegan, after beginning Mark’s book and reading my mom’s email. I didn’t need to plan to start. It wasn’t hard; I didn’t need to analyze it and make a pro / con / consequences / “oh crap, what am I going to do if this doesn’t work out” list. I just decided to begin. Want to join me?

community, karma, kindness, time

Beautiful: It’s Time to Do Your Bit of Goodness

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Desmond Tutu

You’re a kind and generous person. You have empathy and compassion and you want to make it all better for everyone everywhere. It’s noble, but also a path to paralysis.

We can be overwhelmed by all of the people in the world who need what we have to offer and what we’re willing to give. We often feel like the problems we face as a society are so large that we can’t fix them. And so we wait. We stall. We hope that one day we’ll wake up with that one brilliant idea that will let us have the degree of impact we want to have.

Whenever I feel like this, and it’s more often than I’d like it to be, I remind myself of this quote by Mr. Tutu.

Today we will not fix the whole world. Tomorrow we probably won’t do that either. But today, right now, there is something we can do. Something small, right where we are. We have to remind ourselves of the ripple effect – that beautiful phenomenon that causes the kindness of one person to become contagious and inspire kind acts of others.

We also have to remember that one small good act is not any better than any other. What you do for one person right now is as valuable as what you do for 100, 1,000, or 1,000,000 people because to that one person it might just mean everything. It might just turn their day around, their life around, and there are so many people who will benefit from that, most of whom we will never know and never meet.

What you can do is enough. The important thing is that you do it. Let the Universe worry about how your goodness ripples through the world. You just make sure that the goodness exists.