change, creativity

Leap: Change in the Air, and My Email In-box

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

Universe, I hear you. The theme of change continues to show up in my life on a very regular basis. And my regular I mean hourly.

My Monday post, We Have to Let Go to Be Free, was about the acceptance and release of emotions to generate transformation. At its essence, this idea gets at what it means to change. We fully believe in change; we crave it; we just have a hard time changing ourselves.

Just after my post went live,  I got 3 emails that fell in line with this sentiment of change:

One on the state of French politics: “The situation is so catastrophic that whoever wins it won’t make much difference. The French want change but only on the condition that it doesn’t change anything for them.” ~ Marie-Claude Noel, 72, who said she voted for France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the first round of presidential election

One from Mary McManus, a lovely yogi and reader of this blog who wrote the following comment on my Monday post: “This was the theme in my yoga classes this weekend. Love the synchronicity. Love how you so eloquently and succinctly wrote about your experience. Detachment and freedom — it’s so amazing when we let go and feel that freedom creating the space for our Spirit to dance and sing our life song. Here is my blog post about the very same theme — enjoy!”

One from DailyGood: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed!” ~ Peter Senge

The collective message is clear: What we wish to see manifested on a large-scale must first be manifested on a personal scale.

This idea caused me to really think long and hard about the mechanics of change. It comes down to personal responsibility and the willingness to make an internal shift. My friend, Michael, is an incredible example of someone who wants to see a massive shift in the way we live on and care for our planet. He’s passionate about the sustainability movement and has constructed his life to create as small a carbon footprint as possible. His life is about people and experience, not about the accumulation of tangible stuff. His personal dedication to changing himself and his lifestyle inspires me and challenges me to constantly think about my own dedication to change.

What are you willing to change about your own life to bring about a larger societal change? Can you walk the walk?

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.

business, career, corporation, job, time

Leap: Corporate Recruiting, We Have a Problem

Christa Avampato
http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/corporate-slang-flashcards

There’s an executive recruiter who’s been calling me for a few months. Every time we talk and we like each other less and less. She asks a lot of questions, never listens to my very honest answers, and then is annoyed that I’m not interested in the jobs she’s trying to staff (which are in direct contradiction to all of the answers I’ve given to her never-ending list of questions.)

I don’t understand why she keeps calling me, on my office phone number no less. And then on Thursday afternoon, I finally realized that I needed to explain to her exactly why she’s having trouble getting people like me (and everyone I know) to take these postings seriously: they don’t pass the BS test.

She was totally annoyed by my advice. I found a more professional way to explain the BS test but the general sentiment is the same – don’t give me some high-brow job description filled with jargon. Tell me what’s amazing about the company and the team and why I want to be part of it. Don’t try to dazzle me with buzz words like “high-level strategy”, “high-visibility”, “senior-level exposure”. Tell me what a day in my life could be like there and what I’m going to learn. And please don’t tell me what my skills can do for a company. I already know that. Instead, relate to what I care so deeply and passionately about – developing products and services that make people’s lives better.

Corporate HR and executive recruiters need to really push their clients, meaning the hiring leaders. Really push them to accurately represent the jobs they’re looking to fill and exactly what those job descriptions are in plain English. Then they need to tap into their other customer base, the people they’re trying to recruit, and listen, really listen, to exactly what it is those candidates want to do and why. Any other path is just an extraordinary waste of time – for recruiters, for companies, and would-be team members.

calm, commitment, community service, kindness, time

Leap: The Dalai Lama’s Rules of the Road

Christa Avampato

I need to post this up in my apartment, particularly as I begin this new chapter of my life that involves great risk in an effort to achieve a life of my own design. Words to live by.

The Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules For Living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: -Respect for self -Respect for others -Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

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…

adventure, photographs, time

Leap: Use the Wings You Already Have

Christa Avampato
Image from Pinterest

“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?” ~ Rumi via MindBodyGreen

For the past few months, I’ve been reading a book of poetry by Rumi. Each day I read a poem right before I go to bed. It’s proving to be a beautiful ritual that closes out each day with grace and peace. Invariably, each poem helps me to appreciate the lessons I’ve learned each day and how they can be used in my life going forward.

If you came over to my apartment, you’d find tiny pictures everywhere that symbolize the idea of leaping. I’ve become rather obsessed with these images. I find that they have so much hope in them. They give me  courage as I prepare to make a huge change in my career and by extension, my life. You’ll find most of them on my Photography Pinterest board. There’s one with a quote that reads, “Sometimes you just need to leap and build your wings on the way down.” The line from Rumi above (thanks MindBodyGreen!) made me realize that it should really read “Sometimes you just need to leap and use the wings you’ve already got.”

I already have everything I need to make this jump – experience, purpose, and support – and now I just need the missing ingredient – time – to bring it all together. Lisa, one of the lovely readers of this blog, wrote in a comment on yesterday’s post that she hasn’t yet found the courage to make her leap. The first idea that flooded into my mind was that courage is closer than she thinks. It is for all of us.

There will never be a time when everything falls into place and eliminates all risk. If we are to fly we have to leave the security of the ground for the lightness of the air. We forget that air has heft to it, too. It is able to carry, support, and sustain travelers through long journeys. However, air requires that we work just as hard as it is willing to work. We have to be brave, stretch and reach out far and wide, in order to receive its benefits. It asks a lot of us, and that’s okay because these wings of ours, the ones we have always had, are begging for some wear, for some room, for some time to show what they’re made of and what they have to offer.

Eventually we will have no choice. Those wings won’t be contained for long. They either get used or they atrophy. And if that’s the choice, then why not give them a shot at the prize and go along for the ride? At the very least you’ll have a wonderful adventure and if you’re lucky you may just have the time of your life.

creativity

Congratulations to In Blue and Sara – the Newest Members of Underground Eats

Christa Avampato

I’m having a great time running contests for all of the wonderful readers and contributors to this blog. The latest one for an invitation to Underground Eats has two winners – In Blue and Sara. Congratulations ladies! Your invites are their way to your inboxes.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

career, creativity, time, work

Leap: What I’m Doing With My Time After I Take the Plunge

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

“You’re leaving? What are you going to do?” (Said with an exotic mix of terror, awe, and confusion with a hint of frustration and a healthy handful of ‘I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it’.)

This is a fairly common response I’m getting as I begin to make my plans for Leap Day known. To be fair, I also have a tremendous number of wonderful people in my life who couldn’t be happier with my decision, and who think it’s about time I finally did this! The questions of what I’m going to do with myself post-leap is entirely valid and it’s high time I answered exactly what I will and won’t be doing in this newly designed life o’ mine.

Things I will be doing:

  • Finishing my advanced teacher training at ISHTA Yoga to complete my 500-hour teacher certification. There will be a celebration when it’s all wrapped up this summer!
  • Working on Compass Yoga, the nonprofit I founded a year ago to focus on improving the health of all people by teaching the therapeutic benefits of yoga and meditation through free and low-cost classes and workshops. Given the demand and need in New York City, the programming requiress more of my attention. We’re also eagerly awaiting the approval of our 501(c)3 status to begin fundraising efforts.
  • Working on my freelance writing and a few personal writing projects like The Geronimo Project. (Know someone who took a leap of faith in their career and wants to share the story? Send them my way!)
  • Consulting with  Sesame Workshop. I have been tremendously lucky to be a consultant this year with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the education research arm of the Sesame Workshop, as they set-up their second annual National STEM Video Game Challenge. I’ll be continuing that work this summer and also looking to pick up some additional consulting work if possible. Someone’s got to make sure my pup, Phineas, has a warm bed and a full belly!
  • Running a pilot of Innovation Station. About 2 years ago I started working on a new product development curriculum for middle and high school students that I named Innovation Station. After a number of iterations, I finally found a format that is worthy of a pilot program. Now that I’ll have time during the school day, I’m going in search of a partner school. (I’m taking suggestions!)
  • Learning to code. Thanks to Codecademy, I’m fully indulging my inner nerd to learn the basics of coding as a way to grow my skill set while I stretch my mind. “Why does a yoga teacher need to learn how to code?” you ask. With the way our world is going, a knowledge of coding will be as necessary basic computer skills in the coming years.

Things I won’t be doing:

  • Sitting around eating Pop Tarts and watching TV. Well, that’s not entirely true. I enjoy a good Pop Tart now and then, and I do love TV. My consumption of both will be kept under control.
  • Doing tedious, menial work that doesn’t take advantage of my full set of interests and skills. (Enough of that!)
  • Wallowing in regret over the risk I’m taking.
  • Spending a lot of money. I don’t spend that much money now, but I’ll be making adjustments to do more with less. I’m actually really excited about living in an even thriftier fashion.

It’s going to be exciting to see what comes of this mix. Rest assured it will all be shared here.