Category: healthcare

health, healthcare, meditation, social media, Twitter, writing, yoga

Inspired: Yoga and Meditation for Caregivers

Christa Avampato

an AFA publicationI am honored to have an article I wrote about yoga and meditation for caregivers appear in this quarter’s issue of care ADvantage magazine, a publication of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA). To dovetail with the article, I was also the invited guest host for AFA’s monthly Twitter chat on this same topic.

The article is available online at http://www.alzfdn.org/Publications/care_advantage/issues/CASP14.pdf

The transcript of the Twitter chat is available at https://storify.com/alzfdn/careadvantagechat

Happy to answer any and all questions related to this topic!

creativity, health, healthcare, hope, hospital, medical, medicine, time

Leap: The Tricky Truth About Using Our Time Efficiently

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

I am by nature an efficiency hound. I hate wasting time, I love to be productive, and I feel an outsized sense of pride as I check off items on my to-do list. Yoga and meditation have taught me a subtle truth about efficiency that I didn’t know for a long time: sometimes what looks inefficient in the short-term is the most efficient thing to do in the name of long-term productivity.

At the suggestion of Anne Lamott, one of my favorite writers, I started reading God’s Hotel: A Doctor, A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine. The book chronicles the 20+ year career of Dr. Victoria Sweet at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, the last almshouse in the country. Low-tech and human-paced the work of Laguna Honda is a far cry from any hospital I’ve ever been to or read about. Early on in the book, Dr. Sweet gives samples of surface inefficiencies that proved to be tremendously helpful when viewed with the gift of time.

There was a nurse who dedicated a good chunk of her work time to hand-knitting blankets for each patient. Efficiency consultants were aghast and put a stop to it. However, those blankets were tangible symbols of how personally vested the entire staff at the hospital was to all patients. It let the patients, many of whom were so ill that no other hospital would admit them, and their family members know how much care and attention was being paid to their health.

Another example of inefficiency was the process of giving Christmas gifts. Collected and wrapped every year, the nursing staff would dole out the gifts randomly and then a day of festive trading between the patients would ensue. It made for a lively atmosphere with plenty of interaction throughout the entire hospital community. Again, the efficiency consultants saw all of this festivity as a terrible waste.

Rather than collect random gifts and wrap them up without any indication of what was inside, the nurses were instructed to ask each patient what they wanted, including size and color, and then that is exactly the gift they would receive. Though the gifts were still lovely, the loss of the trading process deflated the celebration. Christmas at Laguna Honda lost its sparkle when it lost the activity of swapping. And with the loss of celebration, they lost some of the spirit of deep, true healing.

These examples made me think about the efficiency of my own life – my to-do list, the structure of my days, and my constant pursuit of more productivity in less time. These things have their purpose and they’ve served me well but perhaps there’s a bit more wiggle room than I typically allow.

Maybe it’s okay to spend part of my afternoon at a museum today rather than spending that time on business development. Going to the museum probably won’t yield a client contract, but what it may give me in terms of inspiration may be just what the doctor would order and exactly what I need to be at my best tomorrow.

adventure, art, creative, creativity, education, health, healthcare

Leap: We All Have to Get High Somehow

Christa Avampato
My friend, Blair, posted this picture on her Facebook wall and it perfectly sums up how I feel about getting more creative outlets to more young people.

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” ~ Twyla Tharp

We all want to be high. Once we feed the soul, once we know that feeling of being truly alive, we will crave it more and more often. The happy soul is a hungry beast, and eventually it will require your full attention.

It is heartbreaking to see someone, especially a young person, turn to chemical means for that high. My dad suffered with addiction for most of his life, and our family felt those effects in dramatic and tragic ways. What helped me come to terms with my father’s decisions was to feel that high – after running, yoga, writing, or creating a piece of art. It is a delicious feeling. My father didn’t have those outlets so he turned to other means. The same thing is happening with so many Americans today, particularly those still making their way through school.

We ask young people to say no to drugs, alcohol, and other habits that will eventually destroy their health, but we don’t do a sufficient job of recognizing the need to feel that high. We strip schools of art and music programs. We cut physical education. We prioritize testing over emotional and mental development. We’re creating a generation of very good test takers but we are doing a poor job of helping our young generations grow into healthy, happy, productive, and creative adults.

We need to do better. Is art the answer? For some, yes. Is physical activity the answer? For some, yes. Is a creative outlet of some kind that is supported, encouraged, and celebrated by society the answer. Yes, for all of us.

healthcare, medical, medicine, New York City, television

Leap: NY Med, the Best Medical TV Show I’ve Seen, Debuts on ABC

Christa Avampato

“If you don’t have a reason for your heart to keep beating, it won’t.” ~ Dr. Oz

In 2000, I developed a mild obsession with a show called Hopkins 24/7, a show that went behind-the-scenes at Johns Hopkins to show the lives of medical residents. Since then, dramatized versions of hospital shows have all fallen short. Real-life was so much more riveting.

Yesterday I read a feature piece in the Times about a new 8-part series on ABC called NY Med. (Incidentally, Hopkins 24/7 was also an ABC show and created by the same producer.) NY Med goes inside New York’s best hospitals to show real-life situations as they unfold from a wide variety of angles, including the perspective of Dr. Oz, who is a cardiothoracic surgeon at New York-Presbyterian, among many other roles. (He is also a Penn alum which is one of my alma maters so I have to give him a special shout-out.)

If you have even a mild interest in our healthcare system, this show is an incredible eye-opener. It is thoughtful, thorough, emotional, and professional. In other words, it’s a rare example of network reality television done right in every way that leaves us with more questions than answers and more hope than despair. The first episode ends with one of the doctors singing a a gorgeous version of Let It Be in the hospital’s chapel. I was crying.

Check out the show’s website – http://nymedshow.com. The remaining 7 parts of the series will air on ABC on Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern.

healthcare, meditation, teaching, yoga

Leap: ISHTA Yoga Will Be My 2012 Yoga Home

Christa Avampato

After months of deliberation, I finally chose to take the next step in my wellness career and pursue my next level of yoga teacher training. It’s been almost 2 years since I finished my 200-hour training at Sonic Yoga. I got an excellent base from Sonic and I treasure my teachers and friends from the program. After taking Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal’s therapeutic yoga training at Integral Yoga last summer, I knew I needed my next level of teacher training to be deeply rooted in therapeutics. And so, I chose ISHTA Yoga‘s program.

Last week, yoga teacher Rodney Yee gave a speech at the San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference on yoga and healthcare. His message aligns with my feelings about who I am best equipped to serve in my teaching through Compass Yoga. It’s wonderful that 5% of Americans are practicing yoga, but what about the other 95% who would greatly benefit from it if there were more teachers willing to bring them into the fold? That is where the teaching opportunities of the future lie. The 95% are the students I am meant to serve and the ISHTA program is the best in New York City to help me fulfill that mission.

Many teacher training programs aren’t preparing teachers who can teach those who need special consideration. ISHTA is one of the great exceptions, and though I’ve spent a lot of my time since Sonic teaching and training to help introduce modified yoga and mediation to brand new practitioners, I know I need additional, intensive training to really up my skills. I’m so excited for this next leap with ISHTA!

ISHTA’s program dovetails with my teaching intentions perfectly. This beautiful storm of circumstances fell into place more seamlessly than I ever expected. I begin my first classes at ISHTA on January 31st. Along this next leg of the path, there will be many moments of insight, wonder, and discovery. I promise to share them all with you. Stay tuned! Namaste, baby!

dreams, goals, healthcare, yoga

Leap: Our Goals Should Be Impossible

Christa Avampato

“To make your goals effective, you have to fail at them 50% of the time, or they didn’t stretch you far enough.” ~ Chip Wilson, Founder of Lululemon Athletica

Some people think my goal of wanting to dramatically improve the entire healthcare system in the United States through Compass Yoga is just crazy.

Sometimes they look at me with very sympathetic eyes as if to say, “Well isn’t that ambitious.” And then other times they raise their eyebrows in a surprised expression of, “Who does this woman think she is?” My answers are, “Yes, I am ambitious” and “I am someone who cares.”

One of the great blessings and curses of reading so much and spending so much of my time engaged with others is that the problems of the world are my problems. It doesn’t matter if today the problems of the world affect me directly. I know so clearly that eventually they will be my problem – the crummy economy, climate change, soaring healthcare costs, a failing education system. These will be everyone’s problems. We are too interconnected now to turn a blind eye. We cannot live in castles in the sky while their foundations are crumbling here on Earth.

It takes crazy people to bring monumental change. It takes people who take risks, who try and try again undeterred, who reject the idea of business as usual. Business can’t be usual any more. We have too many challenges that need creative solutions. And that goes for politics, education, the environment, international relations, energy policies, and yes, healthcare. What has been is not what can be going forward. We need more passion and more enthusiasm to find better answers.

So do I think impossible goals are worthwhile? You bet I do and I’ll chase my impossible dreams down with every bit of speed I can build. There’s just no way of knowing what’s possible until we give it everything we’ve got. As Nelson Mandela wisely said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Go further.

goals, healthcare, opportunity, yoga

Beginning: Opportunity is Everywhere – Build a Beautiful Company By Filtering

Christa Avampato

“In a painting you create beauty with the addition of each brush stroke. In a company you create it with the addition of each talented, engaged person and with each thoughtful act.” ~ Bill Witherspoon

There’s a lot of lip service paid to talent management in companies and organizations, and that lip service is fine as long as it’s backed up with action. As the Board of Directors and I work on shaping Compass Yoga, we’re very conscious about the beauty of the company, staying true to the mission of serving students with mental and physical health challenges and partnering with like-minded teachers and organizations.We’re picky about who we bring into the fold, and because we are a service organization our product is our people. They are the key ingredient to making this work, and it’s such a joy to find these kindred spirits. It’s also a lot of work.

We’re discerning, and growing more so all the time. We have a filter that we use to evaluate our partnerships and our opportunities thanks to Michael Vito, one of the very talented board members:

1.) Does the partnership or opportunity align with our mission?

2.) Is there a material benefit to gain from the partnership or opportunity?

3.) Is the partnership or opportunity financially beneficial to both parties?

Michael developed this filter for us because everywhere we look we see opportunity for Compass. Because we are still bootstrapping the organization, we have to be very careful about where we deploy our resources. We need to focus so that we can keep an eye on our beautiful long-term goal – improving our healthcare system.

healthcare, hospital, war, yoga

Beginning: Compass Yoga Begins Classes at the Manhattan VA Hospital

Christa Avampato

Yesterday I taught the first Compass Yoga class at the Manhattan VA Hospital. At the New York State Health Foundation Conference on Community Readiness to Assist Returning in June I met someone from the VA who referred me to one of the doctors at the VA who has been working on a staff resiliency program. We met and then worked through how a class would be structured for the mental health staff, and then we went through the paperwork process, scheduling, and promotion. Yesterday’s class was the culmination of all of that work. The doctor I am working with has practiced yoga and Tai Chi for a number of years and is a strong believer in the power of mindfulness practices. Her passion makes this class possible.

The class is a result of a great many influences conspiring together. I tapped into a calling to help returning veterans just as the NYS Health Foundation was having their conference in New York, as this enlightened doctor had been pushing for yoga at the VA, and the VA happened to be ready to give this idea a try. Had I called the VA last year, it may have fallen on deaf ears. Timing is everything.

I was up before the crack of dawn to walk Phin, get ready, and hop the train across town. As usual, I was a bit nervous to teach in a new place. I always get this twinge of stagefright before I start a class, particularly in a new environment with new students. I’ve been waiting to teach this class for a long time and I couldn’t let the jitters get in the way.

One class in and the students are talking about how to get more yoga into the VA. They started talking about how to get this practice to patients and families for mental and physical health benefits. One is even looking into how we can get grant money to build up the program. By showing up and giving my best, the way seems to be opening slowly but surely. A little focus goes a long way.

Classes will continue every Friday. I’ll let you know about more learnings as they happen…

health, healthcare, meditation, science, self-help, yoga

Beginning: The Road Back to Balance is Paved by the Breath

Christa Avampato

“The path from imbalance back to balance is a labyrinth.” ~ Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya

I arrived in Florida yesterday after a too-long flight and after too many months without a vacation. I didn’t realize just how tired I was until I was on the bus to the airport. I felt out of balance; the past few months have been emotional and my schedule has been packed to the gills. It’s time to decompress and release.

The long and winding road
The labyrinth back to balance that Dr. Bhaswati speaks about hit me full force once we were airborne. My thoughts were jumbled, and I could feel my body racing despite the fact that I was sitting down. Since my therapeutic yoga teacher training, I’ve been very aware of the effects of the stress response, aka fight or flight, on my body. Stress triggers a number of changes in the body that we can actually feel if we tune into them: our muscles tense, our blood pressure rises, and our digestive system slows down.

In the last few months when I feel these changes kicking in, I stop and breathe as deeply as possible into my belly. It’s been a conscious, constant effort, though entirely worth it. I feel more in tune with the changes my body makes involuntarily in response to stress and I voluntarily make changes to counteract these responses. It is give and take, a long and winding labyrinth.

Stress doesn’t discriminate
We can’t control the initial reactions of our bodies to stress. Much of it is regulated by our sympathetic (involuntary) nervous system and there is a good reason for that. The fight or flight response is meant to keep us safe; however, it’s not meant to be turned on all the time as happens with today’s society of constant stress and so with constant stress we run into big trouble. Our body has only one set of responses to stress – whether our stress is caused by a deadline at work, a traffic jam, or a tiger who’s on our tail. What I’m learning through yoga and meditation is that we have the ability to talk our bodies down off the ledge. We can tell ourselves, “Look, I know you’re freaking out right now, but it really is going to be okay. Just breathe.” That breath – deep into the belly, even inhales and exhales – is our guide, our guru. It takes us up and away from where we feel trapped and scared into a space that feels open and safe.

All I really have to do is breathe?
It sounds so simple, and it really is. When everything else falls away, our breath is always with us. So get some bright-colored paper, grab a sharpy, and write out the simple word “BREATHE” in big, bold letters. Post it around your home, your office, in your wallet, and in your car. Type it up as a to-do in your calendar on your phone and set a reminder every hour or two. Breathe, and find your way back to balance. Let me know how it goes.

community service, health, healthcare, wellness, yoga

Beginning: Returning Veterans and Veteran Families, Your Communities Want to Serve You

Christa Avampato

I remember watching the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 from my couch. It was two days after my birthday and I was sitting in my living room with my sister, Weez. Our eyes were fixed on the television, silent. It was that moment in which I began to turn my attention toward trying to understand the Middle East, trying to understand the sacrifices made by the noble 1% of U.S. citizens who give everything so that the other 99% of us can know freedom. 8 years later I have only begun to scratch the surface.

“The tide of war is receding,” said President Obama in his announcement last night about the draw down of U.S. troops in Afghanistan beginning next month. I heard those words with mixed emotions – happiness that our troops will begin to leave a war zone that has caused so much pain in their lives and the lives of their families, and sadness because I have some concept of the war they will face within themselves when they return home. And it’s this latter point that motivates me to keep pushing forward with Compass Yoga and my focus on using yoga for therapeutic purposes to help people dealing with the effects of PTSD.

This motivation led me to attend the New York State Health Foundation’s event “Paving the Path Back Home: Mobilizing Communities to Meet the Needs of Returning Veterans“. The purpose of the event is best summarized by a short video that was shown during Colonel David Sutherland‘s speech: “When our vets return from serving their country, let’s make sure their country is ready to serve them.” There are a lot of concerned community members who want to help; I am one of them. There are a lot of veterans and their families who want and need help when they return home. This conference wanted to provide information and inspiration to close the gap between the two.

New York State Health Foundation‘s President and CEO James Knickman gave the opening remarks and Colonel David Sutherland, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Warrior and Family Support at The Department of Defense, gave a heart-stopping speech. It was part of his 50 States in 50 Weeks tour to raise awareness about the needs of returning veterans and their families. He didn’t use notes. He never paused. He never cracked, and every word carried a strength and profound emotion that made every listener sit up and take note. By the end of his speech I had an enormous lump in my throat and teary eyes. After his last word, I shot up out of my seat to join the standing ovation faster than I ever have in any audience. (You can learn more about Colonel Sutherland’s initiative Vets Prevail by visiting this Facebook page and website.)

A few facts revealed at the conference
The conference sought to dispel a number of rumors about the process of returning home from deployment:

– 1/3 of returning vets receive an inadequate amount of care. 1/3 of returning vets receive no care at all, to say nothing of the lack of care of families of veterans.

– “We don’t come home to big government. We come home to our communities. We come home to you. We trust you.” ~ Colonel David Sutherland. Most returning veterans and their families seek help, support, and services in their communities, not on military bases. This makes the development of community-based plans crucial to their health and wellness.

– There is a “Sea of Good” out there. There are 4,000+ vet organizations in the U.S. The challenge is not finding people who want to help, it’s connecting those people to the veterans, who aren’t always readily visible in their communities.

– The DOD and the VA are two separate government agencies and there is a good-sized gap that exists between them. Community-based organizations should focus on helping to fill that gap, not compete with the VA. As Dr. Alfonso Bates, Chief Officer of Readjustment Counseling Service at the VA so simply said, “There is plenty of work to go around. Cooperation is the key.”

– Welcome home events are incredibly valuable experiences for returning vets, and they are only the tip of the iceberg. If organizations and individual community members really want to help veterans and their families, then they need to commit to be in this for the long haul. The needs of vets will change over time, and we have to be with them through those changes.

– And this last point is the one that really got me. It was confirmation of another piece of work that I know is so critical for Compass Yoga to carry-out. The children of vets are a population that needs so much support, and they get precious little of what they need.

A personal note
I’ve talked on this blog about my own struggles with bouts of PTSD brought on by specific incidents in my life. These incidents gave me only a small idea of what these returning vets are going through. What you don’t know is that I also understand what it’s like to be a child raised in a traumatic environment, to watch family members whom I love so fiercely wrestle with trauma and feel helpless in the process. And it’s that experience that I know in great detail, and where I am completely confident that I can guide children of returning vets toward happy, healthy, productive lives.

I will put those children first, where children deserve to be
I will never accept that kids are too far gone to be helped, nor will I let them be defeated
I will not quit on them or let them quit on themselves
And if and when they fall down, I will make sure to help them lift themselves up