Category: yoga

dreams, free, yoga

Leap: Truth Steps Into the Spotlight

Christa Avampato
Image from A Charmed Yogi

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” ~Buddha via A Charmed Yogi

Once we begin to live our truth, once we begin to walk the path that we were meant to take, we cannot turn back. Like a genie free from its bottle, the truth cannot be sent back into hiding and we have no choice but to embrace its power and wisdom. It will force us to be who are at our very essence. It cannot be unseen, undone, nor deterred. Once free, it sets us free, too.

Yesterday I arrived home after a long and productive day of yoga teacher training at ISHTA to a lone piece of mail from the University of Virginia, one of my alma maters. It was clearly a bulk mailing sent to tens of thousands of alums and many times that type of mail finds its home in my recycle bin. On the elevator ride up to my apartment, I heard a clear and confident voice say, “Open it.” It surprised me, so much so that without hesitation I opened it immediately.

And there it was – on the front cover a story that confirmed my decision to leap from my current full-time job in financial services to focus on my career in health and wellness. Following the advice of my friend and mentor, Richard, I went to my stationery box and wrote out two notes to the people featured in the article to offer my assistance and partnership in their recent efforts at the University. In the last few years, it’s become a habit of mine to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) every time I see someone doing something interesting that overlaps with my interests and to whom I can be helpful. Many times, there is no response. The times there is a response have altered my life and path in very profound ways. I hope my recent notes fall into the latter camp.

The truth has a power more potent than we realize – it allows us to connect and collaborate with other like minds. Once we howl, and that howl is clear, concentrated, and genuine, we find our pack. The truth is the vehicle that allows us to tap into a higher consciousness. Once we open to it, it opens doors for us that we never even knew were available to us. It’s as if we’ve been staring into the dark for so long, fumbling and futzing our way forward when suddenly the truth strikes the match that lights up the whole path. It will point out our obstacles and then show us a way around them. It will hand us the tools we need to continue our journey, free from the constant hang-ups of worry, fear, and doubt.

My truth is that I was meant to spend my days teaching people to be well before they ever get sick and teaching those who are sick that within them they have the strength to be well. What’s your truth?

learning, yoga

Leap: Get Unsettled and Breathe

Christa Avampato
From http://shetakesflight.tumblr.com

“My view is that if your philosophy is not unsettled daily then you are blind to all the universe has to offer.” ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson via DailyGood.org

Are you annoyed? Be thankful for the object of your irritation.

Having a naturally constitution that some describe as “spicy” and “fire-y”, I often find my annoyance barometer rising. At least as my initial reaction. New York presents some hefty challenges in every day living. From just trying to get coffee to getting on the subway to get to work during rush hour, New York can be a relentless button-pusher.It can also be an incredible partner on the path to transformation. This city is Darwin’s perfect test case for his theory of evolution – in this place, we have the grim choice to “change or die”, at least metaphorically. In reality, it’s closer to the idea “adjust or be constantly irritated”. I choose to adjust, and it’s been a blessing to master that skill.

Contrary to some recent research, I don’t believe we can change our natural reactions. It’s a much more efficient use of our energy to change our actions that are caused by our reactions. Recently I’ve deployed a new way of dealing with my initial reactions of irritation. I take the SBNRR train – stop, breathe, notice, reflect, and respond. And though that process seems like it may take more than a split second to execute, we can actually do this in the moment once we consciously and consistently practice it for a short period of time. I’ve found my recent responses to obstacles to be much more graceful and thoughtful than ever before thanks to SBNRR.

The Universe has a lot of knowledge to offer and some of the deepest lessons are served up in moments of great risk and change. Risk and change can feel unsettling at the outset but don’t back down. Soak it up, let it sink in, and then take it for what it’s worth – a great chance to learn and grow.

adventure, courage, literature, yoga

Leap: Finding Our Edge is the Only Work We Have to Do

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

“What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle. Your boundaries are your quest.” ~ Rumi

Yoga asks us to find the balance between effort and ease, to seek our edge without going over it. This is the challenge on the mat and the challenge of our lives. We have to dream big to find that edge. We have to play, experiment, and envision a life without boundaries to open ourselves to our true potential.

We don’t know how far we can go until we set out on the greatest adventure we can imagine. Find those boundaries and then seek to transcend them – this is the only rule for extraordinary living. Everything else is up to us.

meditation, yoga

Leap: A Call for More Meditation in Yoga Classes

Christa Avampato
Image from silverwitch.tumblr.com

“Why set the stage without having the show?” ~ Alan Finger, Founder of ISHTA Yoga, on the importance of meditation

This week ISHTA Yoga and my teacher, Alan Finger, were featured in the New York Times. The article shed some light on a recent trend at yoga studios – an increase in the demand for and attendance in meditation classes. Considering that yoga is a very physical practice here in the U.S., this recent increase of interest in meditation is causing some many people to rethink the reason we head to the mat.

In India, the birthplace of yoga, the physical and breath practices were a means to an end, and the end was samadhi, or the bliss state, achieved through meditation. The physical and breath practices were used as important components to get the body and mind quiet. In Alan’s words, they set the stage for the main show – the meditation.

This recent uptick in meditation interest has caused me to consider re-formatting my own classes and my personal practice. Maybe more quiet time is needed by all of us, now more than ever. The eye alone use 80% of the body’s sensory energy, so by closing the eyes in meditation we take all of that energy back inside and direct it toward strengthening the mind. It’s a reallocation of our most precious resource. Imagine the possibilities.

I’m excited for the revolution of consciousness that awaits us on the meditation cushion.

strengths, stress, time, work, yoga

Leap: Take the Time to Find the Roses

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

“Make it a habit to rest on the roses and not the thorns.” ~ Rumi via Mona Anand, Senior Teacher at ISHTA Yoga

Over the weekend, our yoga teacher training class was facing a long weekend. It was filled with wonderful learning and we were all very happy to be there, though the challenge of it was palpable. We are now getting deep inside the philosophical and physical layers of advanced postures, breathing techniques, and meditation practices. Like all things worth doing, they take effort.

Mona, one of our wonderful teachers, sensed the weariness in us. In the middle of the practice she brought us to a relaxing posture so that our minds could settle and we could check in with how we were feeling. She asked us to follow Rumi’s advice, seeking to rest on the roses and not the thorns. Too often we focus on the challenge of our circumstances; Mona wanted us to take the time to focus on our ease as well.

Our situation may be difficult but somewhere in the midst of it is a place to recharge and gather our strength. It is our center; it is within us always. In times of trouble, we always have a place to turn. Turn in.

calm, feelings, free, meditation, yoga

Leap: Catch and Release – a Lesson in Breathing and Letting Go

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

“Why do we work so hard on the (yoga) mat? We concentrate and focus so that we can then let go. It’s why we practice the limbs of yoga. It’s the reason for everything we’re doing here.” ~ Mel Brasier, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher

On Sunday, we studied bhastrika, a pranyama (breathing) technique in our yoga teacher training. It requires that we fully let go on the exhale, catch the breath, and then fully engage on the inhale. We need both pieces to feel the full benefits of the technique. It’s challenging because if we don’t catch the breath on the bottom of the exhale, then the inhale happens automatically rather than intentionally.

Mel explained to us that this intention of full concentration and full release mirrors the limbs of yoga that we study. First we focus, through our actions on and off the mat, and then we let it all go. We don’t get cold; we release heat. We can’t try to relax; we release our tension. We can’t draw breath in; we create a vacuum within our bodies that makes room for breath. We can’t try to reach samadhi, or the bliss state; we just allow our concentration to fade and then disappear to create a blank screen.

The difference is subtle but powerful. It’s like riding a bike – we concentrate so hard as we’re learning to balance, then we get it, and then we can let it go to fully enjoy the experience of the ride. We begin by gaining control over our own bodies and minds, and then we understand that control so well that we’re able to let it all fall away so that we’re left completely free. Freedom and bliss are found in that pause between the inhale and exhale when we stand on the very edge of our pure potential. All we need to do is show up and let ourselves be.

feelings, free, yoga

Leap: We Have to Let Go to Be Free

Christa Avampato

“If you come to the yoga mat expecting freedom from your emotions, you’ll never be free, just disappointed. Freedom comes when you can fully be with your emotions, watch them, and then let them go.” ~ Mona Anand, Senior ISHTA Yoga Teacher

Mona taught our asana practice on Sunday. It was a heavy back bending day, and by their nature, back bends induce strong emotions concentrated in the area around the heart. Ideally, we hope to feel those emotions and then release them. That latter bit is the tricky part that eludes us all too often. We come to our yoga mat as if it is a refuge, an escape, when truthfully our mat is a mirror. And perhaps a mirror that amplifies the good, the bad, and the ugly. What we live, we bring to the mat.

Mona encouraged us to be with our emotions, all of them, and then find the courage and strength to let them go without judgement. She asked us to soften so that we can release. We sometimes take our feelings and wrap them around us, holding tight to their skirt strings even though we long to be free from them. As it turns out freedom if often scarier than retracing our familiar patterns. Our familiar patterns give us something to work on. Once we’re free, then what will we do?

That’s the real unknown.

courage, time, yoga

Leap: The Benefits of Power on the Yoga Mat

Christa Avampato
Image from Pinterest

Up until now I have had a distinct disdain for power yoga. The very term power yoga made me shake my head in wonder. Why would anyone practice that?

Now I’m eating a bit of Bakasana (crow.) Mel, One of my mentors and teachers at ISHTA, has a class called Hour of Power. I intended to show my face once and never return. Now I actually look forward to it for a very simple reason – it’s improved my strength dramatically. I feel myself carrying my whole body differently. Lats week Mel had us do something she calls the martian butterfly sequence. Essentially we unfolded and packed up a Sun Salutation, adding one breath and one posture to each cycle. It took about 30 minutes and involved a lot of plank postures, lowering to chaturanga (bottom of a push-up) and then pressing back up. I think she calls it the martian sequence because by the end of it I was so wiped that I felt like I was on another planet.

Mel must have read the expression on my face when she cued our first pressing up. “Don’t tell yourself you can’t do something. Don’t think about it. Just do it.” So I did. Barely but I did it. Over and over and over again.

But here’s the miraculous thing that happened a few days later….

I was in a class and the teacher cued us to push back up from chaturanga and I just did it. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t tell myself I couldn’t do it. It just happened.

And the other miracle of this stronger practice is that I find myself softening off the mat, better able to manage challenges that arise with ease and grace. Maybe there really is something to this power yoga after all…

learning, meditation, yoga

Leap: Learn Your Scales – How the Lessons of Music Class Relate to Yoga

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

“Variation is great, but make sure you’re grounded in the basics first.” ~ Wendy Newton, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher

On Sunday, I went to a session on meditation techniques at ISHTA Yoga as part of my advanced yoga teacher training. Wendy, one of our teachers, fielded questions from us about the basic meditation techniques we’re learning. One of my classmates asked about using and teaching modifications to meditation techniques as we’re learning them.

Wendy encouraged us to get grounded in the basics. She used the analogy of learning to play music. All musicians want to play complex, complicated pieces right off the bat but in order to find the richness in those compositions, they need to start with the scales. There’s no way around that. We build a house on top of a foundation rather than trying to squeeze the foundation underneath a constructed house. We learn to create grands meals by first learning to make toast, boil an egg, and chop vegetables.

Learning meditation is no different. We would do ourselves a favor to know the basics, get grounded, and grow from there in everything that we do. Of course it’s entirely possible to move through this beginning phase very quickly, but everyone moves through it in some fashion. Have patience and diligence in equal amounts and everything becomes possible.

yoga

Leap: Is Yoga Right For Me? – My Guest Post on A Charmed Yogi

Christa Avampato

Lisa, the lovely author of A Charmed Yogi and supportive reader of Christa in New York, asked me if I’d be interested in writing a guest post with advice for people who are considering a yoga practice. With all the chatter in the news these days about the dangers of yoga, I wanted to add my voice as a practitioner and teacher. I love Lisa’s  blog and was honored by the request. I highly recommend subscribing to her blog if you’re interested in yoga, health, and wellness. Thank you, Lisa, for the opportunity to contribute!

The full post is available here and below is the advice I give in the article.

1.) If you’re new to yoga, seek out a class that’s labeled beginner, basics, gentle, or restorative. These classes generally have teachers who are trained to specifically help beginners get comfortable with a class. These classes usually have welcoming and warm environments that encourage learning and questions. You could also pick up a copy of a beginner yoga DVD. When I first started practicing, I used Rodney Yee’s AM / PM DVD all the time. It was a great primer for me and even now I sometimes take it out to review a simple, solid beginning routine. The basics always have something new to teach us.

2.) Consult your doctor. It’s always a good idea to check in with your doctor before beginning a yoga practice. Discuss what health issues you should raise to a yoga instructor before beginning a class. (And on this point, please let any yoga instructor know if you have any health concerns, injuries, or challenges before the class begins. Contrary to popular belief we aren’t mind readers. If you don’t tell us what’s wrong, we may not know until it’s too late.)

3.) Don’t compare yourself to others. It will be tempting to compare your yoga to that of other people in the class. Don’t. Yoga is a very personal practice. We are all at different points along the journey. We have different bodies and different minds. Our practices are as unique as we are. Honor where you are and be kind to yourself. If it hurts, back off. Your body has so much intelligence. It knows what it needs to be healthy, strong, and safe. Listen to it.

4.) Interview yoga instructors and studios. You are paying for a service when you go to a yoga class. You are giving up your time to be there in that studio. Go in and test the vibe. Talk to the person at the front desk and a teacher if possible. Let them know you’re new to the practice and any injuries or health challenges that you have. Ask them if their studio is appropriate for beginners and ask which classes would be best suited for you. Feel free to email or call as well.

5.) Consider a private session or in-class private. A private session can be on the expensive side but you’ll get a solid grounding in the basics in a very short period of time. This is how I started practicing 14 years ago. Also, some studios give the option of in-class privates in which you take a group class at a studio but also have a private instructor who’s affiliated with the studio to give you adjustments during the group class. Think of an in-class private as going to a group class with a close friend whose only focus is to make sure you have an amazing experience. (ISHTA Yoga in New York City, where I study, offers this service at no additional charge and I’d be more than happy to help you start or continue your yoga practice through an in-class private at ISHTA!)

Still have questions? Contact me. Seriously. Email me, tweet me, send over an owl. I love teaching beginners – many of my students took their very first yoga class with me and I really treasure that honor. I’m always glad to help someone get started on the yoga journey. It changed my life, and approached properly, it has the potential to change yours, too!