Category: teaching

dreams, teaching, yoga

Beginning: My Weekly Yoga Classes Begin Tonight at 6:00pm

Christa Avampato

This post is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

Tonight I begin teaching my first independent weekly yoga class through Compass Yoga. We’ll get together for an hour at 6:00pm tonight at Pearl Studios NYC, 500 8th Ave (between 35th and 36th Streets). I hope you’ll be there to celebrate with us!

This dream of my own weekly class has been a long time coming. After I finished my yoga teacher certification at Sonic Yoga in May, I thought I’d hop onto the audition circuit of yoga studios, get on a sub list, and start teaching the early morning slots on weekdays when the studios needed a filler. As it turned out, the world had a different plan for me.

Class Scheduling
Because I work full-time and have a number of other commitments, I couldn’t even go to most of the auditions (that usually happen during the day, during the week), much less commit to sub for any class need the studios have. Because of my busy schedule, I have to teach my classes on my time. While this was an obstacle to going the traditional route for building a yoga teaching practice in New York, it was an obstacle I needed in order to find my truth in teaching.

Finding Space
Once I had decided that I’d try to build my own practice, I went hunting for a room. A beautiful space, available on Sunday evenings (my preferred teaching time), affordable, with no long-term contract required and the ability to cancel if need be with no penalty. And if they’d take my Amex card and allow me to cancel on very short notice, that would be even better. Centrally located please, with good subway access. I asked for the world and refused to settle. I needed the space for my students to be immaculate. Dozens of visits, phone calls, and emails later, and I found my way to beautiful Pearl Studios NYC. As soon as I saw the studio spaces, I knew I was right to be patient and persistent. You get what you settle for.

Marketing
Marketing the class has taken more time that building the class, especially since I’m on my own to do all of the marketing myself. Much thanks to my MBA from Darden and my work experience, I could create a full 360 degree marketing plan that takes a phased approach. Meetup has been a godsend and my amazing friends and family are helping me to spread the word. I’m more grateful for their support than I could possibly express.

Dreams
On this journey, one lesson became very apparent: we gets the dreams we reach for. I studied the market, put the marketing machine in motion, and dug down deep to find the message for my business that truly resonates with me in the hopes that its authenticity would resonate with others.

The Fun Starts Tonight
So tonight at 6pm, all of the pieces, all of the hard work, and all of that hopes come together to start these high-quality, affordable weekly yoga class. I couldn’t be more excited, and I’ve got some butterflies taking up residence in my tummy, too. This combo must mean I’m on the right path.

I hope to see you there! For more information on the classes, please visit the Meetup Page or the Compass Yoga website.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

learning, teaching, yoga

Beginning: Where the Important Learning Is

Christa Avampato

This post is also available as a free podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

I recently sat down with Jennilyn Carson, the yoga instructor and writer behind Yogadork, one of my favorite blogs and resources for all things yoga. We were talking about the start of my upcoming group classes for Compass Yoga and I mentioned that I wish I had gotten my full teacher certification earlier in my life. She mentioned that she sometimes felt the same way though when that thought crosses her mind she remembers that we are all in just the right place at just the right time.

I have always respected and learned the most from my teachers who have had long and winding roads. They have so much to give as a result of their journey. Prior to my first yoga classes in 2005, I wasn’t ready to teach. And even when I thought I was ready, the adjustment between being a student and being a teacher was far greater than I ever expected. It took me a few years to be comfortable teaching yoga, and then a few more years to enjoy it. I idealized what it would be like to teach for a long time. It was actually a scary, nerve-wracking process when I first started. And though my students said how much they got from the classes, inside I knew I could do even better if I could just internalize my calm exterior that I conveyed in class.

In my early days of teaching, my classes were performances. Now, over 5 years later, my classes have a much different tone. The calm that is conveyed to my students is an inside-out process, not a performance. It reflects my comfort in a classroom and a renewed focus on what the students need, not what I have to give. It wasn’t until my teacher training at Sonic that I learned the yoga classes I give have absolutely nothing to do with me. I’m just there for the students. “My” class isn’t mine at all – it’s theirs. And my only focus now in teaching is to give students exactly the teaching they need exactly at the moment that they need it. It’s an honor to be there with them. That change in perspective, and not just knowing it but conveying it through my teaching, took a long time to evolve.

I was talking to Brian about this very subject on Friday and he used the analogy of a car. We focus so much on how quickly a car can get from 0 to 60, but all of the artistry and power of its mechanics are realized between 0 and 59. Getting to 60 is just the by-product. Our journeys, careers, and teachings are remarkably similar. Getting to that proverbial 60 is certainly an accomplishment, but the foundation and the learning it takes to get there is accomplished in every small step between 0 and 59.

So let’s enjoy the path and celebrate along the way, meandering and winding as it may be. Each step comes to us very purposefully, with a reason for being exactly where it is, exactly when it reveals itself to us.

The image above can be found here.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

art, creative process, creativity, gifts, teaching, yoga

Beginning: Build from the Heart

Christa Avampato

This post is available as a free podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” ~Marc Chagall

I love Marc Chagall’s windows. I remember walking through building after building in France to see and feel how much beautiful light filters through them. They aren’t something we look at; they are works that we experience. There is so much heart in each tiny space.

I thought about this quote of his as I put together the sequences for my upcoming yoga classes for Compass Yoga. I work with a loose structure when I create classes, starting with an energetic quality and an intention, and then growing from there. That way the poses fit together well and give students a more holistic experience. That’s the method I’ve seen work best for the students I teach. It feels like a more authentic way for me to give.

Sometimes when I begin building a new sequence, I can feel choked up, stuck, as if I have never done a yoga posture before. It’s a manifestation of a form of stage fright that I’ve heard some performers describe – right before they begin a song or a scene their minds go completely blank. When I was a performer, it used to happen to me all the time. It can be unnerving so when that happens I stop and breath and remember that this practice comes much more from the heart than the mind.

To create a class is to create a gift, and the process of its creation is something that makes me even more grateful than the actual end-product. I remember what a treasure it is to be here, on this mat, at this moment, building something for people that will bring them joy and peace and a brief time to self-nurture.

How does the process of creation work for you? When do you feel you’re really building from the heart?

The photo above depicts Chagall’s windows in the Reims Cathedral in Paris.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

risk, teaching, yoga

Step 313: No More Waiting

Christa Avampato

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

The anticipation of beginning is always more frightening than actually taking the plunge. At the edge of the cliff, we hesitate. We look back and see all that we have to lose by moving forward. Even if what we have isn’t exactly what we want, it’s comfortable. So long as our dreams live “out there”, in our mind’s eye, they remain perfectly intact. No disappointment. No embarrassment. No potential admission of failure.

There are few things that make me cringe more than the possibility of regret. I’ve been putting off the effort I’d like to put into Compass Yoga because of the risk. “I have to wait to get space,” I tell myself, but the truth is that I’ve been scared to go for it. My biggest fear: what If I offer weekly classes and no one shows up? What if I can’t break even? Or worse, what if people come to the class and they hate it? These are the nagging fears that have kept me making only incremental progress in my yoga teaching.

On Sunday morning, as I was enjoying my extra hour in bed thanks to the end of Daylight Savings, I woke up with such a clear idea of what to do. I couldn’t think of a single good reason to continue waiting. It’s time for me to throw caution and fear to the wind, rent a space for a weekly class, and get going on the marketing of it. I’m going for it. Starting in January, I’ll be giving a weekly class for $10 / person, donating 20% of the class fees to charities selected by the students, giving them the tax deduction. I get to teach a weekly class, students get affordable yoga, and the world gets a little brighter with the donations made to nonprofits that the students care about.

Bye bye, safe harbor. Weekly class details to follow in the coming weeks. I hope you’ll join me.

care, health, teaching, yoga

Step 310: Healing by Example

Christa Avampato

“The physician who knows only medicine, knows not even medicine.” It would follow that the care-taker that does not care for themselves cannot care-“fully” for others.” ~ Mark Twain

Yoga City NYC is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in yoga and wellness, two giant common interests among many New Yorkers. In their newsletter last week they published this quote by Mark Twain. It reminds me of how important it is as a teacher to not only compose a well-organized yoga class, but to practice what I teach in my daily life for my own benefit. To give care, we need to receive care, too.

For the new year, I am exploring new opportunities to teach yoga to under-served populations in unconventional spaces. Caregivers are a population I’m particularly keen on because it would help me to lever up my impact. If I can help caregivers be well, then they can take care of others more effectively. Caregivers come in many forms – doctors, nurses, teachers, coaches, mentors. They give of themselves every day, but how often does anyone give to them?

I hear a lot of people, especially moms, say that they just don’t have time to take care of themselves because they’re too busy taking care of everyone else. The truth is that taking care of themselves is the best way that they can care for others. We can’t give from a deficit – the math just doesn’t work that way. So if we really want to heal and care for others, we need to heal ourselves first. And there’s not a single selfish thing about self-care; it’s actually the most generous thing we can do. What we give is rooted in what we have.

learning, mentor, teaching, writing

Step 289: 5 Ways to Effectively Use Our Windows of Wisdom

Christa Avampato

?What If! Innovation is one of my favorite innovation firms. They have a resource they use to get at key insights called “WOWs”, short for “Windows of Wisdom”. Everyone has them. Pieces of experience, knowledge, and expertise that give us special insights into how things work, or how they should work. They help us build empathy and compassion for specific circumstances. Being a parent, having a pet, living in a certain city, how we commute to work, what we do all day to earn a living, what we read, watch on TV, and hobbies we take up in our free time. It all matters – who we are is largely determined by how and with whom we spend our time.

Never underestimate WOWs, yours or anyone else’s. Insight is an elusive, odd beast that shows up in the strangest ways at the strangest times. Our WOWs are handy little assets to always keep in our back pockets. They help us recognize opportunities, and can be used for the greater good. Be generous with them – share what you know.

Here are 5 ways to put your WOWs to work:

1.) Crowding sourcing databases. A quick Google search will provide a myriad of agencies that now list crowd sourcing as an expertise and they need communities of people to be their experts. Their business depends on it. So get out there, join some of them, get compensated (in a variety of ways), and put your experience to work.

2.) Mentor or teach. Young people need our stories and example, now more than ever. Mentoring and teaching is the ultimate gift we can give because it involves generously sharing our own history. Check out sites like Takepart.com or Volunteermatch.org to find mentoring opportunities near you.

3.) Write. Writing in any form is helpful to connect us to others, to inspire, and to learn. Blog, comment on blogs, write a column or an op-ed, get involved in online communities of people with common interests. Put your thoughts out there generously and you’ll be surprised by the goodness you get in return.

4.) Create partnerships. Think of networking as finding like-minded partners. Write letters to people you admire – that’s how I wrote my column for Examiner that ultimately became my e-book, Hope in Progress. Online communities and Twitter are other great places to find potential partners who are as passionate as you are about your interests.

5.) Start a side business. Your key insights can be leveraged creatively to generate extra income. My interest in yoga led me to pursue my 200-hour RYT training and my creation of Compass Yoga. My interest in the art of writing led to my freelance writing work. Your hobbies can help you do well and do good at the same time when you share them with the world.

How have you put your experience to work for you?

education, learning, student, teaching, yoga

Step 286: Teaching to Improve Ourselves and Our Students

Christa Avampato

“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.” ~ Colleen Wilcox

I thought about this quote on Monday night as I wrapped up my second yoga class at Columbia Law School. I was more familiar with the space this time, brought some new music, and recognized some repeat students. Teaching requires improvisation. We explain something a specific way, see if the meaning is registering with the students, and if not, we try something else. No time for judgment. We’ve got to get better with each moment. Teachers constantly seek to improve themselves and their students. It is an act of constant faith in our ability, in the journey, and in one another.

With each yoga class I teach, I find myself walking in and thinking “I want this to be the best class I’ve ever given.” Usually it falls short of my expectations, no matter how much effort I put into it. I always end up jotting down a page of notes that detail things I could have done better. I take that page and plow into the next class, confident that there will always be another page of improvements from that next class. The cycle of continuous improvement never ends in teaching. It is the gift that truly keeps on giving so long as we keep showing up.

animals, dogs, health, nature, teaching

Step 281: The World is Awake at 6:00am

Christa Avampato

I woke up early this morning to walk Phineas. We strolled along the river inside Riverside Park, smelling the Fall flower arrangements, admiring the sailboats, and listening for the acorns falling from the great oak trees scattered all over the park. It was warm with a little breeze, and around 6:00am the sun was just stretching up over the horizon. A perfect morning, albeit a little early.

I’ve always loved the morning, though liked to view it from the comfort and warmth of my own bed with a delicious cup of coffee. I try to walk Phin for an hour every morning so I’m waking up earlier these days. At first I thought it would be such a chore and now almost 3 weeks in to owning a pup, I see our early morning walks as a real gift. I have time to think, and be, and just relax. There are a lot of people awake at 6:00am walking around New York City; I’m a little late to the party.

I was yawning wide this morning when up over a small hill I saw an older man slowly coming toward me via a walker, oxygen tank in tow. He was up at 6:00am, getting his exercise despite the extraordinary effort it obviously took him, and here I am thinking about my bed. I know I’m not a lazy person (my greatest fear in the world is to wake up one day and realize I’ve become lazy), but in that moment I felt a little embarrassed. At 34 and in perfect health, I’m thinking about sleep and this older man was content, probably even very happy, to be making progress one short step at a time.

I get why we walk into Borders or Barnes & Noble to find countless books filled with the lessons that animals teach us. I know Phinny arrived in my life as a teacher because in this moment, there is a lesson I need that he can provide. To date, the greatest lesson he’s given me is getting me up out of bed early to exercise, enjoy the morning sun, and continuously be reminded that I am one lucky lady to be blessed with this life.

learning, teaching, yoga

Step 280: Don’t Judge a Yogi By Her Appearance

Christa Avampato

I went to a yoga class last week and immediately felt I had made a mistake. A seemingly out of shape instructor walked into the studio with a high-pitched voice. I started plotting my exit strategy.

And then I remembered a comment my yoga teacher, Jeffrey, said during my teacher training at Sonic Yoga. “Every yoga class is a gift, no matter who the instructor is.” So I stayed, and karma taught me that appearances can be deceiving. For the next hour I was challenged and pushed to my limit more than I’ve been in any yoga class in a long time. She had me trying some feats that I have never attempted before. And after my hard work, my body floated into pincha mayurasana for the first time ever. I was astonished. How did this happen?

There’s a time and a place for confidence and ego, and there’s a much more frequent time and place for humility and the squashing of the ego. While we think our ego lifts us up, I learned very quickly in that yoga class that the ego actually weighs us down and prevents us from achieving the heights we’re capable of. I vowed to stop judging anyone, particularly yogis. Thanks, Jeffrey.

education, teaching

Step 278: Teaching and Learning As Two Sides of the Same Coin

Christa Avampato

Last night I taught my first yoga class at Columbia Law School. A new space for me and all new students at a very wide variety of levels. I had prepared a sequence though had to quickly change on the fly to accommodate abilities and experience. A word to the wise: bring more tricks in your bag than you think you will need. Life surprises.

On my way home, I was reminded how much we learn by teaching, yoga or any other subject. We test our true understanding when we’re asked to teach someone else, particularly if that other person has no experience. And while we may take on these roles of “teacher” and “student”, the two are always interchangeable depending upon the lesson being conveyed.

Learning and teaching are both gifts and guides in their own right.