courage, dreams

Leap: All You Need Is 20 Seconds of Insane Courage

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“All it takes is 20 seconds of insane courage and great things will happen.” ~ Benjamin Mee

In the 7 weeks since I left my corporate job to step out on my own, many people have asked me what was the scariest piece of the multi-year process leading up to that moment. I distinctly remember messaging one of my co-worker friends and telling her that I was on my way to my VP’s office to give my notice. And then the blood started pumping. I had the letter in hand and told someone I was turning it in. Could I really do this? After all this planning, all this anticipation, all this waiting, could I pull the trigger when it mattered most?

I could and I did, with a steady voice, a full heart, and steeped in the knowledge that though this was scary, it was the right thing to do. It was the next step that would make all of the following steps possible. And the world needs those steps. All of them. It needs me, and all of us, at our best, and this was the way to be at my best.

In the 20 seconds it took to walk into my VP’s office and hand him my letter of resignation, my whole life changed. My whole view of the world changed. I was free to pursue work that fascinates me, lights me up, wakes me early in the morning, and then reluctantly releases its hold so I can go to sleep at night. It’s powerful and invigorating to design my own career and connect with people whom I admire. I’m learning something new every moment of every day.

I wish the same for all of you. I want you to know this peace and happiness and inspiration. Let me know how I can help because the world needs you at your best, too.

creativity, inspiration, meditation, yoga

Leap: Inspiration is Closer Than You Think

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

I spent yesterday morning at United Cerebral Palsy of NY to observe their adapted karate program. I knew it would help me craft the adapted yoga program I’m working on for them. The experience gave me a chance to see another teacher in action as he trained teachers and to see the range of a class of students. I walked away from the sessions with piles of notes, a lot of ideas, and a big task ahead of me. How could this all come together?

I spent the day turning over different options in my mind as I ran errands, walked Phineas, interviewed for several writing roles, and taught yoga. I let the task ahead with UCP sit at the back of mind. Eventually I took pen to paper and blanketed it with a lot of mediocre ideas. And then something amazing happened.

I closed my eyes and asked for help. Everything went quiet. All the chatter fell away, my mind went completely still, and up out of that stillness rose the hint of an idea. I looked closer and found another piece of the idea. And then the gates opened. I scribbled out an entire system of how the program could play out for the students and teachers. To top it all off, I had a very clear image of me teaching the class – what I would say, how students would respond, and how I could adapt the knowledge I have to suit their needs.

I thought it would take weeks to put all of this information together and I was prepared to dedicate that time. However, the answer was there all along. I knew what I needed to do but I couldn’t hear the answer until I dedicated myself to listening for its call. The inspiration we seek isn’t outside; its inside. It’s there right now. Tap in.

change, commitment, determination, work, yoga

Leap: There is Always a Path of Less Resistance

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

Have you ever felt like you’re drowning in tiny tasks that somehow grew out-of-control overnight?

That’s how I recently felt with Compass Yoga teacher scheduling. Almost a year ago, I started to get requests from more library branches that wanted a regular yoga class in their programming. They had heard about the wonderful classes at the Bloomingdale Branch and once the word spread to one branch, many others piled on.

Of course, I was thrilled by the requests and wanted to fill them all. At the time, I thought the best idea was to find a lot of teachers who would be willing to teach these free classes to get experience. In New York City, there is no shortage of new teachers who need and want experience. So that people wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed by a regular weekly class, I decided to put together rotating rosters of teachers who would share the load at each branch. I also thought this would give the students a variety of teaching styles to keep them engaged in the practice.

These are really nice ideas and they kind of worked, but I completely underestimated the challenges. First, I did a very good job of driving myself crazy as I coordinated the schedules of 17 (!) teachers and then often hunted for last-minute subs. Second, teachers wanted to feel more connected with the students on a regular basis and having a regular weekly class helped them schedule their own lives more efficiently. Third, students wanted to get to know a teacher better rather than seeing 3 or 4 different teachers per month.

I was well aware of the first challenge but didn’t know about the other two. As a result, I began to wonder if we’d have to scale back the library program altogether in an effort to restore my sanity. I wrestled with this idea for weeks, changing my mind every other day. Then a really interesting idea surfaced once I found out about the second and third challenges described above: each branch of the library could have a lead teacher. That teacher may not be able to teach every week and may need to sub out occasionally, but the relative consistency would help me tremendously and would be more helpful to the teachers and students.

In the end, we didn’t need to scale back the library program. We just needed to find a smarter way to manage it. And now with this simpler teacher scheduling structure, we can grow to more branches to help more people. Every challenge has a solution and many times it’s far simpler than we realize. Once we have the will to make something happen (or change), the way opens.

adventure, change, community, determination, work

Leap: Rise Up to Meet Difficulties and Change Them Into Opportunities

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest.com

“There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties or you alter the way you meet them.” ~ Phyllis Bottome

Challenges and difficulties abound in our lives and in the world. We can run from them for a while, but they’re patient. They will wait us out with dogged determination. They never get tired. They never give up. They are relentless.

Eventually, we have no choice but to get moving, to chip away at them bit by bit until they reach a manageable size. This work of whittling is incredibly important. Do not underestimate it.You may think you aren’t doing enough; you make think that you are one person fighting to turn a much larger tide. Don’t give up. Something amazing is about to happen.

You have to start somewhere and the miraculous thing is that once you start to work on a challenge, you will find that there are other people in the world working on the same difficulty. You can then join forces and the whittling begins to move faster. Many hands make light the load. And there’s no shortage of loads in this world that need more hands, and hearts. Find the one that draws you in and just do your part. I promise you that it is enough.

creativity

Leap: Don’t Search. Create.

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“Some people say they haven’t yet found themselves. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates.” ~ Thomas Szasz, Hungarian psychiatrist

The answers to the questions “Who am I?” and “What should I do?” cannot be found by searching. You make and re-make those answers every day. Everything you ever wanted to know about you and your journey through this life is available to you at every moment. Don’t go out there somewhere to find the answers. They aren’t there.

Go in. Inside of you is a soft and wise voice that already knows every answer you seek. Get quiet and listen. It will always tell you what to create next.

books, India, writing, yoga

Leap: My Book and Photos About My Trip to India

Christa Avampato

In the 2 months since I returned from India, I’ve thought about it everyday. It has a hold on me unlike any other place I’ve ever been. It is in my bones.

Over these past two months, I revisited my journal and pictures from the trip. My memories are multi-sensory. I don’t just remember what something looked like. I also remember the scent, the feeling, the emotion, the sound. It was a hard journey. Much harder than I expected. And it was beautiful, too – sometimes in ways that I didn’t appreciate at the time.

To sum up as much reflection as I’ve done to-date, I wrote an eBook – In Search of the OM in Everything: 8 Days in India. I struggled to get it all down on paper. I cried through much of the writing because I changed so much during the trip and change is hard.

Had I just set out to write this book for myself, I’m not sure I would have finished it in two months. But I wrote it for a group of people whom I admire, love, and respect – my teacher training group at ISHTA Yoga and all of our beautiful teachers. The book was my final project for the program, which we completed yesterday. In order to graduate, I needed to finish this project so I pushed through the tears and get it all down on paper. The experience of the training and the experience of writing this book are just two of the countless gifts given to me by this amazing group of people who lent their support, love, energy, and time to one another.

So here it is – the link to my book, In Search of the OM in Everything: 8 Days in India, and my photo album from the trip. I’d love to know what you think.

creativity, future

Leap: Now is a Moment of Your Creation

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” ~ Buddha

You are more than a title. You are far more than a job or a relationship or even a name. Your ability to grow and learn is something without measure. Your capacity to create and inspire is infinite. You need only pick a place and start. It is always possible to begin again and what you begin now does need to be related to anything you’ve ever done. All that is required is the will to do something new.

If you are looking for a blank slate, here it is. Begin to fill it. Take a big wide brush, dip it in the most vibrant paint, and go wild. This life is your chance to build something the world has never seen before and will never see again. Within you there is a great work of art that wants to be set free. So let it be.

meditation

Leap: You Are Perfect

Christa Avampato

“The point [of meditation] is not to try to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we already are.” ~ Pema Chodron

I believe passionately in the power of change but what I love more is change that is born from a deep knowledge of things as they are right now. And what I love best is the recognition that we, at our true essence, are perfect in every way right now. The act of meditation only helps to clear away the thoughts and perceptions that keep us from realizing our perfection.

Meditation doesn’t change you. It just helps to make you the very best version of you in this moment. It shines a light on everything that is wonderful, good, and kind within you. And then in turn it gives you the opportunity to honor what is wonderful, good, and kind in everyone who surrounds you in every moment of your living.

India, writer, yoga

Leap: “The End” – the Two Sweetest Words for a Writer

Christa Avampato

Yesterday I finished my ebook about my trip to India. In Search of the OM in Everything: 8 Days in India will be available for download from the iBookstore for iPhone and iPad on Monday and as a high resolution PDF from this blog. The moment I finished it, I felt an enormous sense of relief. I didn’t realize how much energy the project took to sustain. Now that I can release it out into the world, I feel a lightness. I have more room. Finally those stories will be out of my head and in the world.

I’ll publish the links on Monday once I complete my final practicum and presentation of the book as my research project on the last day of my 300-hour yoga teacher training at ISHTA Yoga this weekend. Until then, I’ll be basking in the glow of “The End.”

art, change, comedy, community, courage, television

Leap: A Lesson from Comedic Actor Sherman Hemsley, Star of All in the Family and The Jeffersons

Christa Avampato
Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford as George and Louise Jefferson

It wasn’t until much later that I realized how revolutionary his character of George Jefferson was at the time. While he was making all of us laugh, he tore down social barriers and prejudices that existed for centuries in this country. A black entrepreneur who wasn’t intimidated by anyone, least of all his prejudiced white neighbor? That was a revelation, particularly to have it showcased on network television. His co-star, Isabel Sanford, was the first (and so far, the only) Black actress to win a Lead Actress Emmy Award (for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981.) Clearly, we still have a long way to go.

A South Philly native, Sherman Hemsley passed away from natural causes on Tuesday. His bravery and strength, his ability to creatively challenge the conventions of his time through his own performances, has cemented his contribution in the performing arts. As my sister, Weez, so beautifully said, “He finally got that deluxe apartment in the sky.” R.I.P. to another Trailblazer who is gone too soon.