Category: writing

writing, yoga

Leap: Those Who Heal, Teach – My Writing on the Therapeutic Yoga Training Program Website

Christa Avampato

I am incredibly honored to have my writing featured on the Therapeutic Yoga Training Program website. I took this training with the incredible Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal at Integral Yoga NYC last year. It changed my view of the world and my place within it. There are not enough words to thank Cheri and Arturo for their guidance and generosity in sharing their gifts, though I gave it a whirl in this piece.

Cheri and Arturo will be gracing the New York City stage again in June at Integral. Spend two weekends with them and watch your path open up before you.

Those Who Heal, Teach

“People who practice yoga and meditation are the most courageous people in the world. They are willing to sit with their pain in order to heal it. I don’t know anyone who’s had an easy life. Do you? Trauma and suffering are part of the human experience. Give yourself over to explore it; go into it. We are so complex and so amazing.” ~ Cheri Clampett, Yoga Therapist and Teacher

“Toni Morrison said, ‘The function of freedom is to free someone else,’ and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else.” ~ Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

New York City has a yogic dilemma: though an increasing number of people are practicing yoga, the paid opportunities for new teachers to teach full-time are tough to come by if they rely solely on the traditional yoga studio model. To make their way as full-time teachers, they need to expand their vision of who needs yoga and how best to provide it to non-traditional populations. We have to carve our own paths, rather than taking the predetermined ones defined by existing studios and the model upon which they’re all built. We need to grow the yoga market as a whole, and to do that we must draw upon a very deep understanding of our own yoga practice.

My opportunity to teach yoga full-time appeared slowly over the course of a year after I completed my teacher certification. My vision crystallized during Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal’s Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training at Integral Yoga. I originally started to practice yoga as a form of healing. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety from a very early age, and went through several bouts of PTSD as well as a lifelong battle with chronic insomnia. Nearly 20 years after his passing, I have now come to understand that my father had PTSD that went untreated for 40 years and ultimately it claimed his life after it caused him to develop an addiction to alcohol.

It was difficult for me to embrace all of this information; I had worked very hard for many years to suppress it far below the surface and suddenly in this therapeutic training this information would no longer lay in wait. It forced its way up into my consciousness and refused to be ignored any longer.

Luckily I was in the care of great expert guides. In every session, Cheri and Arturo would give us tiny jewels of wisdom and I picked each one up so carefully, grateful for its comfort. They helped me see beyond the walls I had constructed around my life for so long; they expanded my view of what I have to learn as a student and what I have to offer as a teacher.

Arturo taught me that a student who’s uncomfortable needs one of two things – support or space. Cheri taught me that I didn’t need to be ashamed of feeling so broken because everyone is always healing in one way or another. I was not alone on the path, and so I could keep going. The freedom I wanted would never be mine so long as I suppressed my pain; what I needed to do to be truly free was to give myself over to the pain. In that way, it would be healed. I knew that Cheri and Arturo’s training would help me to help others; I didn’t expect it to help me heal so profoundly. Of course, the deeper my healing, the more I am able to provide to my students. It is a virtuous cycle.

Cheri and Arturo helped me to understand how my own trauma, and the subsequent healing, could be the asset to help others through my teaching. I could use what I know, what I understand from my own practice and life, as my greatest resource. For a year I tried a countless number of avenues to make a go of full-time teaching. I kept looking for answers “out there” and tried a number of experiments that didn’t pan out as I hoped they would.

The practice of therapeutic yoga helps us to look deeply inside and tap our own wisdom, our own sense of prajna, “knowing beyond knowing”. The answers I sought to find were with me all along, and the practice of svadhyaya, self-study, helped me to recognize it. My true teaching path lies in helping people heal from trauma, whether they experience trauma themselves or suffer from it second-hand as a family member or caregiver to someone challenged with trauma. I especially understand the burden that trauma places on children; I know their challenge all too well.

Once my purpose became clear, the path of action revealed itself. I quickly began to see that the returning veteran population, as well as their family members and caregivers, are a group of people who need deep healing. And like yogis, their own training and strength is their greatest asset. They have what it takes to heal themselves; they just need a guide to help them become aware of their own power, just as Cheri and Arturo helped me to realize my own capacity for healing.

And so, I’m on my way to teaching full-time by own design, using the life experiences, good and bad, that I’ve collected for so many years. This path makes those experiences mean something, and in many ways it is breaking the cycles that have existed in my family for too long, cycles that needed repair. It is never too late to heal.

change, family, gratitude, religion, writing

Leap: Ask, and Allow – More Life Advice from Author, Anne Lamott

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/dbockus/

Anne Lamott recently wrote a very personal piece in Reader’s Digest about the birth of her grandson to her teenage son and his girlfriend. Lamott is my favorite author because of her ability to be so raw, honest, and hilarious all in the same breath. Her voice is so unique and she doles out advice on writing and life with such generosity that sometimes I think she’s personally mentoring me through my own adventures on the page. This article about her grandson had all of her signature wit, charm, heartbreak, and hope.

Half way through the article she discusses the two slogans that kept her going in the anxious months leading up to the birth of her grandson – “Figure it out is not a good slogan” and “Ask, and allow – i.e., ask God, and allow grace in.” I love them both equally, though that second slogan rang so true for me at this moment.

A few days ago, I began reading the book The Wishing Year on recommendation from my friend, Katherine. The Wishing Year recounts a year in the life of a woman who consciously and passionately wishes for three changes in her life – a man to love, a house, and deep spiritual healing. The book also explore the science and art behind wishing and intention. It’s inspired me so much that I’m taking up its example in my own life. Why not wish, and then do in equal amounts.

Lamott’s advice dovetails perfectly with The Wishing Year. In many ways, she is saying the same thing, but with a very poignant nuance. We can wish, ask, and work toward a goal and a dream, but if we don’t allow grace in, if we don’t allow ourselves to then realize the opportunity that is then laid down in front of us, then the question and the wish will do no good.

If we ask nature, the Universe, God, to be on our side, to work with us, then we have to allow that work to happen. We have to be open to possibility, to a change in course, to a new way of thinking and being. And if we can go that, if we can allow change to enter our lives with grace, then we will truly begin to see the magic unfold in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We will realize our own potential, and it will be greater than we ever imagined.

comedy, humor, writing

Leap: Humor Writing with Sara Barron and Gotham Writers’ Workshop at Housing Works Bookstore

Christa Avampato
Comedian Sara Barron

Last weekend I took a morning class with Sara Barron, comedian and author of People are Unappealing: Even Me. The moment she started to speak I knew this was the writing class for me. In my quest for a writing community, I’ve tried a few different genres of classes. None of the felt quite right until Sara’s class. I’ve wanted to bring more comedy into my essay writing for some time, but haven’t been sure how to do it.

Sara offered up a set of guidelines that helped me to begin to find my way in humor writing and they are certainly worthy of repeating:

1.) Comedy isn’t mysterious. It’s direct and snappy so set your reader up to laugh along with you by being crystal clear with every word. Tell them where you are, what you’re doing, and who you’re with.

2.) Circumstance is never as funny as character. The characters are the engine of humor writing.

3.) Cut the adverbs and adjectives. Sentences should be short and sharp. Leave lyrics to the song writers among us.

4.) Dialogue is funny.

5.) The key to the universal is through the specific. The more precisely we nail the details, the easier it will be for our audience to relate.

6.) “Seriously?” is not a funny response. To move you from observer to writer, you need a funny response to someone else’s actions and words or a funny analysis of a situation.

7.) Unlike fiction, more humor writing is done is the first person. You are the main object of your narrative.

8.) Open strong and remember that the most important word in your first sentence is the last one.

9.) Expand your definition of clichés, and then cut every single one of them.

10.) Comedy is tragedy plus distance. Most humor writing starts with some horrible experience and some horrible person. Something awesome happening is great, but it’s rarely funny.

Sara teaches many of the humor writing classes at Gotham Writers’ Workshop. I’m planning to take one in the not-so-distant future. I hope you’ll join me!

books, career, choices, creativity, writing

Leap: Heat Up the Iron and Carve Your Own Path (in Life and Book Publishing)

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” ~ William B. Sprague via Alison Lewis

Over the past few months I’ve been sending out query letters and full book proposals to potential agents for a book I’m writing about yoga and personal finance. I love the project and have faith in the methods it uses because I used them to transform my finances. These are ideas born from experience, not theory.

While many agents have been encouraging of the project, they have all said it’s so different that they don’t have a proxy to point to that assures its success. In the often cut-throat world of modern publishing, they need to know every book they advocate for is a winner. Their reputation is on the line and risk-taking is rare these day in the hallowed halls of books.

I have yet to feel badly about any of these rejections; I feel badly for agents and traditional publishers. They’re part of an industry of tied hands, locked hearts, and icy cold eyes fixed on P&L statements. It’s sad and they’re missing a lot of boats. I’m sure they know this, and feel powerless to do anything about it.

So now I’m at a cross-roads trying to decide if it’s worth it to continue down the traditional book publishing path for my project or carve one of my own through self-publishing and platform building. There’s the prestige of having a traditional book publisher, but also the loss of control. The publisher also makes the lion’s share of the profit from the book, even though the author is doing just as much work, if not more, to market the book.Teh list of pros and cons is endless; even though I’m an avid list maker, I’m getting tired of this analysis.

A recent note from a high-powered agent began to tip the scales toward self-publishing. It began:

“A book is like an iceberg: Writing is 10%; marketing is 90%. ~ Chicken Soup coauthor Jack Canfield

Christa,
Many thanks for writing about your excellent idea for a book. Out of necessity, our goal is to sell books to New York houses, and they want writers with a platform and a strong promotion plan. So the challenge is to maximize the value of your book before you sell it. Publishers aren’t buying promise, they’re buying proof. So before we can help you with the 10%, we need to know how much you can help your publisher with the 90%. Because we can usually tell from a platform and a plan if we can help a writer, that’s where we like to start.”

That 10% / 90% ratio sticks in my craw a bit. However, this agent went on to give me a lot of wonderful advice and some ideas of how to develop a solid book plan and platform. I did find it humorous that he quoted Jack Canfield, an author whose initial book was rejected by publishers 123 times and began a series that now boasts 200 titles and 112 million copies in print in over 40 languages. Jack is also an advocate for the advantages of self-publishing and the value of small presses. (Learn more about Jack’s writing journey and publishing philosophy here. To read tales of 50 rejected writers who went on to write treasured works, click here.)

When making decisions like this, I examine my past experiences. I’m most proud of the roads I built myself. They’re exhausting, though they’ve always been worth it. During the times that I took a path prescribed by others, I found a bit more sleep, a lot less joy, and a lack of inspiration. I’m a person meant to carve my own canyon through the mountain, to fire up the iron myself rather than waiting for someone else to do it – that’s just how I roll.

creativity, time, writing

Leap: Anne Lamott’s Advice on Writing, Life, and Time

Christa Avampato
Anne Lamott. Photo taken by James Hall.

“Time is not free—that’s why it’s so precious and worth fighting for…I’ve heard it said that every day you need half an hour of quiet time for yourself, or your Self, unless you’re incredibly busy and stressed, in which case you need an hour.” ~ Anne Lamott

My friend, Kristin, who pens the fantastic blog Writerhead recently featured this piece from Anne Lamott on her site. Lamott is my favorite author and her advice on writing has been a treasure trove for me since I was an undergraduate at Penn. My old copy of her book Bird by Bird is well-worn and more true every time I re-read it.

Since the start of 2012, I’ve received advice from others on the value of peace and quiet on an almost daily basis. I wrote about it on this blog here, here, and here. My friend, Derek, sent me a quote a long time ago that read, “The Universe is a very generous place. It will give you the same message over and over again until you learn it and don’t need to go through it any more.” Universe, I hear you.

Lamott recently offered her contribution to this ongoing societal dialogue about the value of quiet and unplugging from the world for a while. She writes so beautifully and poignantly that I won’t even attempt to recap her words. Read them here in her short essay Finding Time. Hint: we all have time to do something we love.

adventure, business, career, creativity, New Years Eve, New York, New York City, wishes, writing, yoga

Leap: My 2012 Resolution, Four and a Half Years in the Making

Christa Avampato

In 2007, I graduated from business school, where I wrote a few feature columns for my school’s newspaper thanks to my friend, Alice, who was the Editor-in-Chief. I had always wanted to be a writer but was never sure I was talented enough to make a go of it. I really enjoyed the writing and a lot of my classmates complimented the columns. At graduation, my friend, Stephen, asked me if I intended to keep writing. I smiled, looked down at the ground, and said I wasn’t sure. “You should start a blog,” he said. I laughed. “Who would read it?” I asked. “I would read it,” he said. One reader was enough for me. It was a start, a beginning, and that was really all I needed.

The week after graduation, I sat on the couch in my living room in Charlottesville surrounded by moving boxes, opened Google, and typed in “free blogging software.” Blogger came up. I had an account from when I started my first blog, Eyes and Ears Wide Open, way back in 2004. It was private because I wasn’t sure at that time that I wanted strangers reading about my life. (How funny that seems now that I live much of my life online!) I reactivated my account and started the blog Christa In New York as a way of unleashing a writer who had been kicking around in me for many, many years.

How I learned to write
After a year and a half of bumbling around learning how to write, I decided I wanted to become a really good writer and the only way I knew how to make that happen was to practice every day. And the sure-fire way to make that happen would be to publicly promise as my 2009 resolution that I would write and publish every day. I kept my resolution and in 2009, I wrote every day about hope. My greatest lesson from that writing journey was that the more often we look for hope, the more likely we are to find it.

In 2010, I bundled up all of that hope and put my daily efforts toward crafting an extraordinary life. I discovered the truth that we build an extraordinary life by finding something extraordinary in ordinary moments.

To amp up my extraordinary living, I used 2011 as a year of new beginnings so that I could get into a beginner’s mindset – exploring, experimenting, and tinkering. As 2011 drew to a close, I wondered for a long time about how I could best make use of this beginner’s mindset. Where would I go from here?

Was there an ending in all this beginning?
I wondered if this would be the end of this blog altogether. I wondered if all this beginning was leading me toward an ending of this chapter. To experiment with that idea, I gave up writing on the weekends for a couple of weeks. I missed posting every day so much that I quickly reversed that decision. Four and a half years later, writing has become an integral part of who I am and how I spent my time. It brings me a lot of joy – and that’s the #1 reason I keep at it.

Perhaps another ending was in order. I briefly considered leaving New York and relocating to the west coast. That caused me to look differently at my city. Was I really ready to move? Could I really leave behind 4+ years worth of effort building a life I love? In about a month’s time, I reversed that decision, too. New York is my home, as crazy and unpredictable as it is. It’s where I belong and that’s a joyful thing to feel.

To solve this riddle, I began to look around at the other areas of my life assessing what brings me joy and what doesn’t. I love my yoga teaching and the healthcare field fascinates me. I adore stories – written, spoken, acted, and sung. I’m passionate about doing good work for people who need help and don’t know where or to whom to turn. I’m happiest when I’m making my own choices.

An ending found
The area of my life that seems to deplete me the most is the place where I spend 40+ hours / week. Though I’m incredibly grateful for the financial stability and experience I’ve gained as part of a large company, the work doesn’t inspire me and it’s not the best use of my skills. I’ve made a number of very good friends there whom I’m sure I will know all of my life. I’ve learned so much there, about the economy, the world, and myself. As 2011 drew to a close, I became acutely aware that I have learned all that I want to learn there. It’s time to move on.

I began to look around, applying to jobs that seemed mildly interesting. I interviewed and received a few offers, though in the end they all seemed to be variations on a theme, a theme I already had in my current job. After a few months, I could see myself in those new roles, unhappy with the circumstances and no better off than I am at my current job. If I wanted the job of my dreams, I would have to build it.

A beginning that was here all along
And so I realized that Compass Yoga could provide me with everything I wanted in a job – I could teach, write, be part of the healthcare field, and help people who really needed the help. I had the job I wanted all along. The trick is now to turn how I make a life into making a living.

So there it is, my 2012 resolution: to make the leap from my job into Compass Yoga full-time. It’s going to be a long and winding road, with many different twists, turns, stops, and starts along the way. I’ll be securing my footing along the path that I know I’m supposed to walk even though I’m not yet sure of all the steps I’ll need to take. Every day in 2012, I’ll be writing about this journey and I hope you’ll join me as this path is paved. Welcome to the beginning of a transformation a long time in the making. And happy new year!

celebration, holiday, New Years Eve, writing

Beginning: The Art and Possibilities of Learning to Begin

Christa Avampato

“Look at everything that has come before as preparation for the spectacular future you have in store!” ~ TheSingleWoman

“There will come a time when you think everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” ~Louis L’Amour via TheSingleWoman

One of my greatest beginnings this year in my self-proclaimed year of beginnings was the decision to write daily about the idea of beginnings. Last Fall I was inspired by my friend, Amanda’s, request for a blog post about how I stay sane in NYC. I hold it together by constantly reminding myself that it’s always okay to be at the beginning. We always have to start somewhere. It’s an especially powerful sentiment in New York City, a city of experts on just about every subject there is. The post inspired an entire year of living and writing about beginning. In 365 days, I wanted to become an expert beginner. And it worked!

As 2011 draws to a close and 2012 fully blossoms, my beginner’s outlook is stronger, healthier, and more vibrant than ever. I’ve learned to lessen my grip on the desire for perfection and to be kinder to myself as I’m learning something new. I faced down the biggest fears of my life. Sometimes I failed and sometimes I succeeded in the new beginnings I tried. No matter the circumstances, I learned to enjoy the view because every step in a journey provides us with a brand new vista. And we will never pass exactly this way again under the exact same circumstances.

Each moment is a new beginning in and of itself. Beginning is living, and so if we can master beginning then our possibilities for living, really living, are limitless.

My new writing adventure begins tomorrow. Tune in to get the scoop on my 2012 living and writing plans. As always, I’m just getting started!

books, courage, creative process, creativity, innovation, writing, yoga

Beginning: Advice for Writers and Innovators from Kathryn Stockett – There’s Genius in Pain

Christa Avampato
Emma Stone, Viola David, and Octavia Spencer in The Help

“Write about something that bothers you and nobody else.” ~ The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The holiday slew of movies at the box office makes this one of my favorite times of year. I love going to the movies, watching movies on my couch, on a plane, or in an outdoor venue. One of my favorites this year was The Help, based upon Kathryn Stockett’s wonderful novel.

The heroine, Skeeter, wants very much to be a writer. (I can relate.) A publisher in New York gives her just one piece of advice – write about something that bothers you and nobody else. In other words, find what gives you pain and invent something to alleviate that pain. Pain in its many forms – anger, angst, anxiety, sadness, disappointment, heartbreak, injustice – is useful for writers and innovators. There’s genius in there.

I founded Compass Yoga on this same philosophy – simply, I was irritated. I’m glad that there are so many beautiful, shiny studios in New York City for people like me to take classes. What really bugs the heck out of me is that there aren’t a lot of places for people to go if they don’t have the financial or physical means and the confidence to take that first step. I’m also highly irritated that there isn’t more scientific research about the benefits of yoga in treating disease.

It’s terrific that 16 million Americans practice yoga. What about the other 291 million, especially those who don’t even know how much they could benefit from yoga because no one told them it could help? Who’s going to get to them and teach them and help them? And why are we so astounded and pleased that a measly 5% of Americans practice yoga when 100% of Americans could benefit from it? And why on Earth doesn’t it seem to bother anyone else? You see, my irritation is readily evident. And growing, right along with the Compass Yoga business plan.

People sometimes ask me what my big, audacious, out-of-this-world goal is with Compass Yoga. My answer: I’m going to get to those other 291 million people and at least give them the chance to give yoga a whirl. We, as individuals and as a society, have so much to gain and all I’ve got to lose is my irritation. It worked for Skeeter and this thinking can work for all of us.

change, choices, clarity, inspiration, invention, writing

Beginning: How to Recognize an Ending

Christa Avampato

My year of writing about new beginnings is winding down. A few more days and my new writing adventure for 2012 will take shape. I’ll reveal more details about this shortly. For the moment, I’m thinking about endings. The end of 2011. The end of spending too much time on things that aren’t adding to the world or fulfilling my own personal purpose. Beginnings are easy to spot; endings are a bit fuzzier.

I thought my apartment building fire was an ending. Instead, it was just the start of a more authentic life. It changed everything.

I thought my father passing away was an ending. Instead, it was just the start of a healing path that would weave through my life and then be used to weave through the lives of others.

I thought the end of this year would signal a steep drop off in my pursuit of beginnings. Instead, it is just the start of the very beginning that my entire life has been preparing for. It’s not okay yet but someday, a long time from now, it will be. And I will be a part of making it so.

blogging, change, choices, creativity, time, writing

Beginning: Strike That Content Plan and Reverse It

Christa Avampato

A few weeks ago, I tried a new beginning that I haven’t been happy with. I thought I was going to turn this blog’s attention to business issues in a more traditional sense. I also thought I was going to stop posting on weekends and that my layout and tag line “Curating a Creative Life” would change substantially.

Forget what I said.

How I see business:
Business to me has a much broader sense than many other business sites. How you make a living has to fit with how you make a life. In the great words of Pam Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, “If you don’t consider your life as a key part of your business model, you may find yourself outwardly successful and inwardly miserable.” Turn on our work persona in the office and our social persona once we head home and pretty soon we have absolutely no idea who we are. I look at business through the lenses of yoga, service, art, books, technology, and finance. They all fit together for me, and denying any one piece leaves an incomplete picture. I need all of them at my disposal.

Posting every day:
My friend, Monica, recently coined a phrase on her blog that I really appreciate: “I’m not traveling to find myself. I’m traveling to be myself.” I feel the same way about my writing. Over these past few weekends when I haven’t posted, I thought about posting. After posting every day for almost 5 years, it’s become an integral part of my life. I love writing on this blog every single day. My friend, Kristin, has a very cool posting format going on at Writerhead. Some days she posts a very bold, simple quote to inspire writers. I’d like to experiment with that fantastic idea. Regardless of the format, I’m back with you daily.

Curating a creative life:
If ever I had to string a few words together to explain my life’s purpose, this tag line would be it. It’s really too good to give up – in writing or in practice – so I’m sticking with it.

I’ve learned so much about the art of beginning this year. Above all, learning to begin is a practice, a muscle. What I love most about keeping this blog is that even though times flies by so quickly, this writing helps me to remember, appreciate, and celebrate all that’s happened in that blur called time. It gives me the courage to keeping beginning every day. A new beginning doesn’t always mean change – sometimes it just means deliberately choosing to do the things we’ve been doing, not out of habit, but because they are the best way forward for us.