“Humility and gratitude go hand in hand. The feeling of gratitude is an interaction between the mind and the body. Both will benefit from it. Awareness increases so that we become grateful for everything we are given. We have to learn, literally learn, to be grateful for what we receive day by day, simply to balance the criticism that, day by day, we voice because of powerful emotions.” — Swami Sivananda Radha
I appreciate Swami Sivananda Radha’s powerful words given the negative propensity of my internal dialogues. Gratitude coupled with a disciplined yoga and metta meditation practice have helped me “balance the criticism.”
I have returned to an almost-daily gratitude journal, a practice that reminds me how much I have to be grateful for. I am especially grateful to continue teaching daily through classes, private sessions and recordings. It means a lot to have your support and to be a continuing or a new part of your practice and journey. Teaching online and reconnecting with you has been a lifeline back to myself.
As we take the necessary precautions over the next few months, I would like to support your well-being throughout this winter and beyond. Amid the uncertainty of the future (i.e. reopening, teaching opportunities, etc.), I am feeling more certain that I want to continue teaching online. This convenient and accessible teaching mode continues to feel more natural, and it has been a bridge to a more disciplined and persistent practice.
How can I help you?
Through teaching I aim to offer options that support you in strengthening your self-awareness and that empower you to take more informed actions. I offer a practice that incorporates and encourages functional movements (i.e., strength, stability, stretching, balance), conscious awareness and breath, and a challenge to your comfort on some level, which some days may simply be a challenge to your patience.
My yin and restorative Yoga offerings aim to facilitate a bit more stillness, patience and relaxation. These practices support calming the nervous system and downregulation, as well as balancing the doing/yang parts of ourselves (i.e., more be less do).
I also offer a free weekly guided metta meditation practice, dedicated to making friends with ourselves and others unconditionally.
Ultimately, I am here to connect, and to facilitate our connection to each other, and the deeper part of ourselves that is resilient beyond our adversities, perceptions and physical abilities.
Yoga at the Wall Workshop – Sunday December 13th 9:30-11:30a
I have missed teaching Yoga at the wall, and am excited to offer at least a monthly class starting next Sunday. In this practice we use the wall as a prop to support and inform practice. To register for the Wall Workshop please pay $13-31 via Venmo or PayPal and confirm your email to receive the Zoom link.
Teaching Schedule on Zoom (Times in ET):
For updates and details: https://vitoyoga.com/schedule/
To join Zoom classes, please*:
1. Pay through Venmo https://venmo.com/Vito-Politano or PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/vitoyoga
2. After paying, dm or email me with the best email to send the link on the day of practice
3. I will send the Zoom link one hour before class (please check spam folder)
* For the Mid-week Metta Meditation, skip step 1, and email me your interest in receiving the link.
I am offering each class on a pay-what-you-can basis from $4-$18.
Payment options: I do not currently offer any memberships, per se. However, you can make advanced payments for classes you intend to take over a monthly/bi-weekly or weekly basis.
Recordings
Please continue to reach out for recordings when you are going to miss or missed a class, so you can best fit it into your schedule. Recordings are available for a few days after the class time.
Mid-week Metta Meditation Wednesdays 7:30-8p ET
I am continuing to offer a free guided metta meditation. The offering will include a guided metta meditation practice and some time for check-in and questions before and after. To join, please message me for the link and I will send it before the session begins.
I wish you much peace, health, strength, and joy through the holidays, and hope to support you with some degree of stability, strength, and the courage to be you.
I will leave you with these words of Swami Vivekananda that support our resilience:
“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in the future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.” – Swami Vivekananda
Much love and appreciation,
Vito