Category: yoga

moving, New York City, travel, yoga

Beginning: Making Lemonade and Reconfiguring My Fall

Christa Avampato

The social summer is just about to begin this weekend, and already I was planning my Fall.

An apartment lost
I have been considering a move to a new apartment after my lease expires in September. I found one with my current management company and put in an application a few weeks ago. A completely gut-renovated 1 bedroom with a private garden. It was going to be spectacular. I’m sure it still will be, but it’s not going to be mine. For financial reasons, it’s better for the management company to accept another application from one of my neighbors who’s been in her rent-controlled 2 bedroom / 2 bath / formal dining room apartment for 27 years. New York real estate, and the current rental market in particular, is a business focused on cold, hard cash.

And relief found
I thought I’d be disappointed with the loss of the opportunity, and all I felt upon hanging up the phone with my real estate agent was an enormous sigh of relief. I felt free of a lot of burdens, some I didn’t even realize I was carrying. It was no coincidence that when I hung up with the agent, I found myself in front of my small Ganesha statue that’s part of my meditation space. (He is known in Hindu scriptures to be the remover of obstacles, and he and I have a long-time understanding that when I don’t get what I want it’s always for my own good.) I had put a number of other options for my Fall on hold because I assumed I’d be busy with packing and moving. Now that I’ll be staying in my cozy studio, all these questions that have been floating around in my mind were completely settled in one fell swoop:

1.) 300 hour yoga teacher training at ISHTA. I attended their info session a few weeks ago and was very impressed with what they had to offer for teachers interested in using yoga for therapeutic purposes, my intended pursuit with Compass Yoga. Now that I won’t be moving, I will be able to make the time to attend their September 2011 – March 2012 program, and my plans for Compass will be right on track.

2.) Volunteer vacations. It’s been about a year and a half since I went to Costa Rica with Cross-Cultural Solutions in 2009, and I’ve wanted to take another volunteer vacation since the moment I got back. I taught yoga in Costa Rica and spent time working with the elders and children in and around Cartago. I’m making plans to travel to Haiti in September to work with my friends who run the nonprofit Healing Haiti. There’s also a possibility with Cross-Cultural Solutions of being one of the first batch of Americans who can legally travel to Cuba again as part of their volunteer program there. More details to come.

3.) No packing means a chance to redecorate. Yesterday I was flipping through a few interior design sites and one of them talked about how important it is for your space to give you a specific feeling every time you return home. That feeling should be the basis of your decorating rather than focusing on specific colors or arrangements purely for aesthetic reasons. Similar to the realization of the power of the question, “Why?” when building dreams, I had the same kind of feeling here. I’ve never thought about the design of my space as having a specific feeling, but rather a specific look. This new perspective gives me all types of design ideas that I’m excited to put into action in my space.

4.) Enjoy summer. I would have spent a good portion of the summer packing, planning,and reconfiguring my life for my new digs. Studies say moving is the most stressful event in our lives next to the death of a loved one. Crazy, but anyone who’s moved, especially in New York City, knows how tough it can be. Now I have the opportunity to just enjoy the summer knowing that Fall will come in due time without the stress of planning a move.

Aside from all of these logistical reasons for being happy about this news, there was a bigger life lesson for me, too. In the past I have been an obsessive planner. My coach, Brian, and I have worked on this area a lot over the past year. I’ve always been someone so worried that plans A, B, and C wouldn’t work out that I had to have back-up plans D, E, and F ready to go at a moment’s notice. This kind of behavior is an enormous waste of time, and sadly it’s served me so well in the past that it became an annoying habit. In the past year I’ve been able to let go of a lot of that.

We can’t possibly plan for every chance event, and to try to do that is a thankless task. I improvise more often now, and more importantly, I trust myself, the universe, and the idea that somehow our lives work out in the best way possible so long as we commit to show up and do our best every day. It’s all I can do, and that’s enough. Lesson confirmed.

choices, decision-making, yoga

Beginning: Bring Dreams to Life By Asking ‘Why?’

Christa Avampato

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/emagic/
“When the why gets big enough the how takes care of itself. ” ~ Universal Law

Chiroyogi, a reader of my blog, left the quote above on my post about my future plans for Compass Yoga. At first, I was struck by how simple this universal law seems and then after I reflected on all of the “coincidental” turning points in my life, I realized how true it is. In our society we focus so much on what we need to do, where we need to go, and how we’re going to make it all work. How often do we really ask ourselves why? Not often enough, even though understanding the why of our thoughts and actions holds all of the real wisdom.

In relation to Compass Yoga, I thought for a long time about how the company might be structured so I could work on it full-time, where it would be based, and who it would serve. I never really stopped to ask why. Or as yoga teacher Elena Brower so eloquently discussed at the Urban Zen event I attended this week, I wasn’t focusing enough on why my mission of serving the under-served is so important to me. I knew it was valuable, unique work to build a business around. I just wasn’t digging deep enough and therefore hadn’t recognized what really fascinates me about the under-served population: the complexity of their situations gets my blood pumping like nothing else.

I really love challenges that have lots of layers and dimensions. I am fascinated by revelations that slowly come into focus one small detail at a time and then the rush I feel when all of a sudden the connections between the dots are so clear. And this fascination, the why, helped me find a mission statement, partnerships, a staffing model, a business structure, and revenue streams that I had never even imagined as possible. The Universal Law stands: once I answered why I am so passionate about helping the under-served through yoga, the how fell right into my hands as if the Universe just gently placed the answers in my lap and then left as quietly as it had approached. It was eerie and beautiful and if it hadn’t happened to me with such precision, I might not have believed it was even possible.

I’ve heard the saying, “Every problem contains the seeds to its own solution.” To be honest, I never really believed that until now. The sayings in the realm of problem solving that have always resonated with me much more come from Albert Einstein: “Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value” and “It’s not that I’m smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

It’s no wonder that a man like Einstein, someone who uncovered so many Universal Laws himself, would have a personal philosophy that falls so perfectly into line with the Universal Law that Chiroyogi left in his blog comment on my post. Find the answer to why you’re moving in a certain direction by sitting with the question and focusing on making a valuable contribution to humanity. The answer is sure to arise.

happiness, healthcare, values, yoga

Beginning: Sustainable Happiness Event at the Urban Zen Center

Christa Avampato

“Figure out your service on this planet. Figure out how that service nourishes the Earth and go do that.” ~ Elena Brower

On Monday night, through a tip from the always-in-the-know Yogadork and by the grace of Mike Kim, I was able to attend the Sustainable Happiness event at the Urban Zen Center. The talk was curated by Dr. Frank Lipman, founder of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, and included life coach Lauren Zander, Chairman and Co-founder of the Handel Group, and yoga instructor Elena Brower, founder of Virayoga. The talk was part of Dr. Lipman’s series Conversations on Wellness.

The talk kicked off with Dr. Lipman discussing the emerging field of epigenetics, the premise of which was perfectly described in a 2010 Time Magazine cover story: Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny. Despite what we’ve been told by many people who practice medicine, epigenetics says that we are able to make profound changes in the way our genes present themselves. We are not victims to our genes; they are just one component of how our overall health and well-being evolves over a lifetime. And that component is only roughly 25% of our wellness story. 50% has to do with our lifestyle – our exercise routine, our stress level, the food we eat, etc. The remaining 25% is influenced by our environment – the air we breathe, the water we drink, etc. The best part? It’s never too late to make positive changes that impact our wellness of body, mind, and spirit.

The most interesting part of the evening involved Elena discussing how her life coaching work with Lauren changed her life in profound, unexpected, and sometimes uncomfortable ways. Elena talked about a struggle we all know too well at some point in our lives – our excuses for why we don’t do what we want with our lives. The only one stopping us is us. An ugly, though honest, truth. Lauren’s method helps her clients tease out their beliefs so that they discover why it is they don’t have what they want in their lives.

Being an enormous fan of life coaching, this talk was right up my alley and brought up so many issues that I work on regularly with my coach / therapist, Brian, whom I’ve been working with for 18 months. I showed up at Brian’s door shortly after my apartment building fire to deal with some PTSD issues. I’ve stayed because quite frankly the fire was a wake up call to get my life moving in a more authentic direction. I suspect if Lauren heard my story, she’d concur.

To bring her method of coaching to life, Lauren described several facets in great detail that I found truly thought-provoking:

Chicken and Brat – purposefully annoying, though accurate, descriptions of the voices that pop into our heads the moment we say we can’t do something. We’re either afraid or being stubborn. No, I can’t go for a run. No, I can’t eat healthy. No, I can’t let that guy know I’m really interested in him. All of our excuses can be traced back to one of these personas. So what’s the remedy? Chicken – make a list of all the things you’re afraid of and then go do them. Brat – just stop whining and DO IT!

Happiness Found – we are running all over the place trying to find it. We prop ourselves up with our many vices when happiness is right here in front of us. It’s on the other side of our fears, and its neighbors are confidence and gratitude.

Further Thoughts on Fear – and these just made me so happy to hear that I grinner from ear to ear. 1.) What you are most proud of in your life involves conquering fears. Seriously, make a list of your proudest accomplishments. I bet many if not all of them came about because you conquered a fear. 2.) If you aren’t scared, you aren’t up to enough. You don’t have any fears, you say? Go get some, and then have some fun conquering them.

Promises and Consequences – have trouble keeping New Year’s Resolutions or promises to yourself? Here’s a trick. Make a promise and then give yourself a consequence. Didn’t exercise like you promised yourself you would? That will be an extra hour of cleaning (if you hate cleaning.) Didn’t feel like meditating even though you promised yourself that you’d take 5 minutes out every day to do it? No dessert for you (if you love dessert.) Lauren stressed that the consequences can be funny, but should certainly be deterrents that help you keep the promises you make to yourself. Elena vows that this method, if you get the promises and consequences right, creates new health habits in 6 weeks.

Parent Traits – you vowed you’d never be your mother. You did everything possible to avoid becoming your father. Lauren asks you to make a list of all your parents traits, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now go do some digging and detail out, in writing, how each on lives in you. Then find a way to evolve those traits to their enlightened state. It’s difficult and uncomfortable, but worth it. Brian’s put me through the same exercise, and in the process has helped me re-write my story with more authenticity and personal power.

The quote at the top of this post by Elena Brower is one that fills my heart until it’s overflowing. It was the most powerful statement of the evening for me, particularly because my vision for Compass Yoga is becoming so clear. Lauren’s goal with her clients, Elena’s with her students, and Dr. Lipman’s with his patients come from this one universal truth: you get one shot in this life as the beautiful creation that is you. Stop making excuses, inventing stories, and living behind half-truths of why you can’t have what you want. Just go get it.

business, career, meditation, yoga

Beginning: Further Details About the Future of My Company, Compass Yoga

Christa Avampato

In the past week, I have started to put together a business plan that will facilitate my goal of working on my own business full time. The admission of this goal has been a long time coming; for years I have tried to figure out what a lifelong career working for someone would look like for me. That picture never fully, or even partially, materialized. I would sit in my meditation practice, go to my yoga mat, and talk to my friends and family in the hopes that some clear picture would reveal itself in my mind’s eye. It was only recently that the answer bubbled up to the surface: my way forward lies in another direction and that direction must be of my own making.

On Sunday, May 15th I had an odd experience in Whole Foods in which I could feel my grandmother very nearby. Later on that day, I went home and began writing down how my own yoga-based business would take shape. I’ve had bits and pieces of this idea floating around in my mind for several years but all the pieces felt very disconnected from one another. On May 15th, some kind of magic found its way in and all of my seemingly disconnected pieces gelled together. I heard a divisive “shoomp” as I typed up my plan. I would ask a question and an answer would quickly rise up to meet it. My friend, Rob, summed up the result this way: “Christa, this isn’t a business plan. This is the work of a life.” I feel that way, too.

I’ve begun to circulate the plan to a very few trusted mentors and friends like Rob, people whom I continually ask for advice and guidance on just about every area of my life. As always they have responded with honesty, grace, support, objectivity, and an astounding amount of creativity. Most of them, while students of yoga or have some appreciation for its power, lie outside of the traditional yoga community. They have varied professional and personal backgrounds, savvy business minds, and a lot of heart. I am a lucky lady to know them.

Because so many of you have shown your unwavering support of my ideas through comments, tweets, facebook messages, emails, voicemails, and texts over the 4 years that I’ve been writing this blog, I wanted to share some of the details with you as they’re taking shape:

1.) Compass Yoga will incorporate as a nonprofit. This has been a decision that has required a lot of soul searching, fact checking, numerous hours of consultation, and more pro-con lists / decision trees than I can count.

2.) There will be a physical place that houses Compass Yoga. I have tried this changeable location model and while in many cases this has worked out, for this more refined business vision a permanent physical space is needed.

3.) Compass Yoga will continue to focus on working with underserved populations, and will actually deepen that commitment further with a variety of new programs.

4.) Partnerships will be a key component of the business structure.

5.) Compass Yoga will turn a good deal of its energy toward growing the depth and breadth of the yoga field for all practitioners and teachers.

6.) In order to bring this vision to life in as full a way as possible, I will be undergoing a good deal of additional yoga teacher training in the next year. I am grateful for my location in New York City where many of the top teachers in my chosen specialty reside and teach, and I am equally grateful for my current day job that provides me with the personal funding and flexible schedule to make my extensive yoga teacher training possible.

More details are developing every day as this picture becomes clearer and clearer. The way forward is unfolding…

experience, yoga

Beginning: Be Where You Are

Christa Avampato

“Progress is what you make of it.” ~ Matthew Sanford

While I was doing my yoga teacher training, a number of my training friends and I were frustrated with our progress. We were all searching for a greater sense of understanding of very complex ideas in our own practices. One of our instructors, Jeffrey, gave us some very sound advice that sticks with me every day: Enjoy the view, whatever it is, wherever you are. There is always something to see from every vantage point.

Every step we take, every experience we have, is unique. We will never have the chance to relive it exactly as it is in this moment. It’s a snapshot that we need to grab a hold of and appreciate for all that it has to offer us. There is so much learning and wisdom available at every moment. It is a reason for gratitude. Even the trying moments, perhaps especially the trying moments, are here for a reason.

I often wish life was easier. I wish it didn’t take so much difficulty for us to learn some lessons. But we are complex beings, and as a result create complex systems and circumstances. I try to take the long view as often as I can. I try to remember that everything I experience supports my own evolution and development. Whenever I feel my frustration rising, I try to remember that this moment, like every other moment, will pass. What will ultimately make a difference is what I do with each of these experiences going forward and that has everything to do with how I progress.

books, clarity, health, inspiration, New York City, yoga

Beginning: Yoga Teacher and Writer Matthew Sanford on Awareness and Compassion at the New York Yoga Journal Conference

Christa Avampato

Matthew Sanford
“I have never seen anyone truly become more aware of his or her body without also becoming more compassionate.” ~ Matthew Sanford, yoga teacher and author Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

My Uncle Tom recently recommended Matthew Sanford to me after hearing him speak. Given my devotion to yoga and my desire to use it to serve the healing of those who are working through trauma, he thought Matthew’s story and message would immediately resonate with me. My uncle knows me well. Upon reading his website and getting only a small glimpse into his experience, I was entranced.I felt like I really needed to hear this story at this moment and connect with Matthew.

So it was a wonderful and synchronous surprise that Matthew is in town for the New York Yoga Journal Conference. He gave a talk yesterday that was open to the public – many thanks to my pal, Yogadork, for cluing me into the event. I had no idea he would be speaking in town and would have been so upset if I had missed the opportunity to hear him talk about his personal and professional work with trauma. Much to my delight, he was even more intriguing and engaging in person than he is in his book. I didn’t think this was possible because I loved the book so much. I could hardly believe it. It’s like hearing a musician who sounds even better in person than he does on his hit album.

I sat with my friend, Erica, of Yogoer fame, and she described Matthew’s style perfectly. “He sifted through so much information that I have in my own mind and didn’t know how to articulate.” His words are poignant, authentic, and perfectly selected without feeling rehearsed. All without notes, nor a single pause or “um”. I could have listened to him all afternoon. My only disappointment was that his hour-long talk passed too quickly.

He discussed his area of expertise – the depth and breadth of the mind-body connection and its ability, when fully manifested in each of us, to change the world. He explained how important it is for our own happiness and for the good of the world for each of us to move in so that we can move out. The answers to all our challenges are within us already, no outside resource necessary. We know what to do, if only we would take the time to listen to the wisdom in our own bodies, in our own hearts. We have the ability to alter our own reality, and the greater world around us, by redefining our experience in this very moment. We have the ability, right now, to change everything. “The principles of yoga don’t discriminate,” Matthew said. How true that is. If you can breathe, just breathe, you can access all of the wisdom that yoga has to give.

My favorite sentiment from Matthew’s book is the connection he draws between awareness and compassion. I am particularly drawn to this idea because of my one word purpose that I’ve been working with this year: awareness. When I heard Dr. Chopra speak earlier this year, he inspired me to go looking for this one word purpose as a direction for all of my work. Awareness, to wake up and help others do the same, rose to the top.

Matthew and his story helped me make the next leap on my journey. What do I do once I wake up, once I can be fully aware at every moment? What is the point of attaining awareness? My compassion will grow as a result. And with compassion, real healing begins. As Matthew so brilliantly stated, “Compassion gives us a way to sit with suffering and not try to fix it.” And if we can sit with suffering long enough, we will find that it begins to dissipate on its own without a threat of returning. By being present with suffering, we give it a container to empty into and then we can melt it down, taking only its lessons with us and releasing the pain and confusion it causes.

Letting go takes time; compassion achieved through awareness gives us the necessary patience to allow for the process of letting go to progress. It gives us the time we need, for our own healing and to help others heal, too.

For more information about Matthew and his work, visit his website.

teaching, yoga

Beginning: ISHTA Yoga Teacher Training Info Session

Christa Avampato

Yogiraj Alan Finger, Founder of ISHTA
Last week I went to an information session at ISHTA for yoga teacher training. About a year ago I completed by 200 hour level teacher training at Sonic and since then have been tossing around the idea of doing a 500 level training. I almost took that up at Sonic, though I had some reservations about the style, scheduling, and cost of the program at Sonic. I have also increasingly become interested in a more integrated holistic approach with yoga as a piece of the pie combined with Ayurveda and therapeutics. This interest in a holistic approach led me to ISHTA (which stands for Integrated System of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda.)

The info session included a mini class which felt very familiar to me and in line with the way I approach my own teaching. Alan Finger, the founder of ISHTA, offered a meditation that felt good to my heart. His approach, and the approach of all of his teachers, focuses on helping each teacher find his or her own voice, their own best version of the practice. I like the personalization and the feeling of openness and acceptance I found nestled into their safe space on East 11th Street. I was able to relax and smile in the warmth and glow of that community. It felt comfortable, like home.

I have decided to explore the possibility of further teacher training for three main reasons:

1.) The 200 hour training certainly improves an individual’s practice and further understanding of yoga. What it doesn’t teach you is now to teach. While sequencing and practice teaching were certainly a part of my 200 hour training, there simply are not enough hours to delve deeply into the art and craft of teaching. I have a natural gift for teaching, though I want to have the opportunity to hone that skill under the guidance of a master teacher.

2.) Because of my interest in therapeutic yoga, and specifically in the area of trauma, I need further training in anatomy and neurophysiology. While I have been reading books and materials on the subject, the cases I’m most interested in working on are with populations like veterans, disaster survivors, civic workers like those in the police and fire departments, and rehabilitation patients. This is very specialized work and in order to help these people to the very best of my abilities I want to feel confident that I am fully prepared to help them through these challenges.

3.) My favorite part of my teacher training at Sonic was the group of beautiful souls that I traveled through the training with. They have become a precious part of my life and if there is an opportunity to have that experience again while gaining all of these skills that I’m so passionate about then I’m glad to snap up the opportunity!

Timing
Now the question remains about timing. ISHTA has a program coming up in the Fall that will be happening right around the time that I plan to move to a new apartment and possibly begin my next career adventure. This could be challenging so it will be a few months before I know how everything is shaking out. I promise to share the details here and soon as I have all my yogic ducks in a row! Thanks for sharing in this journey with me.

determination, teaching, yoga

Beginning: What Babe Ruth Teaches Yogis About Landing Teaching Gigs

Christa Avampato
The late great Babe Ruth - a man who never gave up

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” ~ Babe Ruth via @Inspire_Us

Last week I attended a wonderful event put on by BizeeBee, the creator of software to help yoga studios and instructors better manage their business, and the always delightful Yogadork. Poornima and Jennilyn, the gracious hosts, put together a list of questions to get our small group talking and sharing ideas of how to grow our yoga businesses and what products and services would be helpful. To no surprise my pitta nature (a.k.a., my fiery, supportive, build-your-own-road persona) was present in full force. I was surrounded by really talented yogis who have something very vital to offer this world. I didn’t want to see them sell themselves short.

One woman explained that she was trying to grow her private client list through partnership and one of the partners she wanted to work with was a flake. I’m sorry to say that some stereotypes exist for a reason, and some yoga instructors are not known for their timely responses, nor for organization. I told this very talented, obviously caring teacher that she couldn’t let a flakey partner prevent her from moving forward. That flakey partner doesn’t deserve her – time to move on and find a new partner.

Non-yogic, you say? Isn’t yoga all about sunshine and rainbows and butterflies? Sure – just make sure you can live your yoga teaching existence in la-la land. I live my yoga teaching existence in NYC, and in case no one told you yoga teachers here are a dime a dozen. Now when I meet new people I just assume they also have a 200 hour certification or know someone else who does. It’s that prevalent. I don’t make my living teaching yoga, but it’s a nice boost to my bank account and it gives me a feeling of real purpose and usefulness. When I teach I am part of something greater than myself, and that’s why I want to teach as much as I can. This means I have to hustle, network, and dedicate a lot of time to drumming up new business. All teachers, particularly new ones, need to do the same thing.

What I find unconscionable is that yoga training programs don’t tell you that piece of the puzzle. They take your money to the tune of $2500+, leading you to believe that this brand new life is just around the bend waiting for you. They hand you a certificate of completion, maybe give you a couple of hours about the business of being a yoga instructor, and send you on your way into the big wide world. It can feel like someone just stole your wallet and tossed you off a cliff. How’s that for non-yogic? It’s sickening.

There is a “traditional” path that you can follow. You pledge undying allegiance to a studio where you trained, pay an additional boatload of money to take classes at that studio or take more training, and hope you may get to sub (which can be very last-minute and at unfortunate times like 7am on a Monday), do a community by-donation class, and then land a regular gig. That works very well for some people, and by all means I applaud them for finding their success! I couldn’t take that road. It didn’t feel authentic and my schedule is too hectic to take a road that I didn’t design myself. I also have a mountain of school loans to pay. Plus, I think the system really takes advantage of new teachers and I didn’t want to feed that system.

I put together this list of ideas of how to land your first yoga teaching gigs if that traditional road isn’t for you. I hope you find them helpful or know someone whom you can pass them on to. Got questions? Leave a comment on this post or contact me via email or Twitter.

5 ways to land your first yoga teaching gigs:
1.) Offer up your teaching services for free. This will give you experience and practice. Teaching is a muscle – to get better at it, you have to practice whenever and wherever you can. If you’re interested in teaching free classes through nonprofit organizations, check out my Karmi’s Angels program that I created through Compass Yoga.

2.) Check Craig’s List. That’s how I found my first gig. New York Methodist Hospital needed a yoga teacher for pediatrics, geriatric psych, and physical rehab. I wanted to teach in a therapeutic setting to see if that might be my teacher calling. Happily, it was a match!

3.) Get your basic business building blocks in place: business cards, a website, a blog, a twitter account, and a Linked-in profile. Not a blogger? Don’t worry – just post links to yoga stories that you find interesting and of course give credit to the sources. Promoting the work of others is a great way to network that has great karmic value. Start putting yourself out there and when you meet people who are interested in your expertise, you will have a place to send them for more info.

4.) Fill a niche. Think about what you have to offer as a teacher, and then find a population that needs your skills. There is no end to the number of places and types of people who need more yoga. I wanted to work with underserved populations, people who don’t have access to regular yoga classes. Nonprofits were perfect partners for me to contact, and I sent off email after email until I filled up my roster to the point that I had to start passing gigs to other yoga teachers. It’s a lot of work, but I really wanted to teach and the work paid off.

5.) Don’t give up. Seriously. You will be tempted. You will kick yourself wondering what on Earth ever possessed you to spend all that money on teacher training. Instead, channel that energy into determination. Take a note from the late great Babe Ruth. It’s really true – you can’t lose if you never give up. You’ll find your road, I promise you. There may be some wrong turns and dead ends. Don’t let that deter you. If you really want to teach, you’ll find your students.

teaching, yoga

Beginning: You Have to Go Where You Can Help

Christa Avampato

http://www.flickr.com/photos/revcyborg/5228173/
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.” ~ Dr. Seuss

I’m just about 4 months into my year of writing about new beginnings. This writing intention has brought a lot of clarity to every aspect of my life and as I look back on these four months of posts, I’m truly surprised to see all that I’ve been able to begin and how much I’ve been able to share about the beginnings of others. I feel more inspired by the topic of beginning than I have ever felt about any writing intention. Perhaps this is because the very word “beginning” carries with it one of my very favorite sentiments – hope.

With all these new beginnings, I’m focusing on how and where I’m of the best possible service. This means that some endings are within sight now, and with every ending there is some kind of sadness, some kind of mourning and loss. Endings are deaths, and they deserve to honored. Without them, we wouldn’t have new beginnings.

In the past few months I’ve been finding a number of opportunities to share my yoga practice and teaching. Some of those experiences have been more satisfying than others. Many times, I’ve been able to find people whom I can truly help. I am the right students for their needs at this time. And other times, I’m exerting a lot of effort to no avail. I just don’t have what some students need. I am not the right teacher for them, and so I need to release them in the hopes that they can find a new teacher.

This fact became apparent over the weekend as I taught a regular gig I’ve had for some time now. It was actually my very first teaching assignment after I finished my 200-hour certification. It’s a very long distance from my house and I’ve learned a lot there. I’m grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with those students and all that they’ve taught me, but I can’t take them any further. I sat in the treatment room after both classes, took a look around and felt a profoundly peaceful feeling. My work is done there.

This is in complete contrast to the teaching I’ve done at Columbia Medical Center, Columbia Law School, at the New York Pubic Library, and with my handful of private students. In those situation I feel alive, and I know I have more to offer. In the situation over this past weekend, I could feel the book closing, could see the credits rolling. I just knew deep within my heart that I was needed elsewhere by other students.

For a moment I felt very sad. I wanted to make a bigger impact there. I had hoped for a longer amount of time with those students. I was reminded of a scene in You’ve Got Mail when Jean Stapleton says to Meg Ryan that closing her book store and starting fresh is the brave thing to do. The right thing to do. It was time to move on. And then I also thought of The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. “You gotta know when to fold ’em.” That made me giggle, but he’s right.

In my meditation later that day, I made sure to give thanks to this wonderful opportunity that was now past. I thought of each of my students and how much they helped me grow. They opened my eyes to the power of therapeutic yoga and all the gifts that it has to offer. I’m grateful that I had the time there, and will always be grateful for it. And now with that door closing, I see a new window opening already. We’re all needed somewhere.

books, inspiration, yoga

Beginning: Meet Matthew Sanford

Christa Avampato

Matthew Sanford
As a yoga teacher, I’m very interested in getting involved with trauma recovery. I have some personal experience with post-traumatic stress disorder having endured it for a period of a few months following a fire that happened in my apartment building in September 2009. My experience doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the trauma that so many people go through not for months, but years, decades, lifetimes. My yoga and meditation practices have been with me now for over a decade, and they have never failed me. They helped me forgive, others and myself. They helped me grow and thrive, when I thought my very best hope was only to survive from day-to-day. Now having experienced their tremendous power, I want to gift them to others as a way of paying forward my gratitude.

My Uncle Tom recently sent me the URL for Matthew Sanford’s site. I had never heard of Matthew but from the moment I read the first line of his story I knew he would become a teacher for me: “It took a devastating car accident, paralysis from the chest down, and dependence on a wheelchair before I truly realized the importance of waking both my mind and my body.” Now a yoga teacher, author, speaker, nonprofit founder, and sustainable investor, Matthew’s wisdom gained from his own experience is transformative for anyone who comes into contact with him through any medium. He shares his own traumatic and harrowing story of tragedy and redemption, and how that journey brought him true awareness.

I encourage you to take a look at his website, read his book, and attend one of his events. He has much to share and we have much to learn.