I hope you and your loved ones are relatively safe and healthy. 

I am coming up on 17 years of teaching Yoga, and am so grateful for the ancient roots of this practice that strengthens our capacity to be present and open, and also for how it has allowed me to connect with you.

I continue to teach online, and have some new opportunities for us to gather in person to inspire gratitude and strengthen our interconnectedness. I am very excited to be returning to the Sacred Valley of Peru to lead my second retreat there in October 2024, and also, I have started teaching a weekly class at View Boston on top of the Prudential. 

Practicing at the Prudential above the city and its surroundings offers an impressive and humbling perspective, and hints at the expansive experience of Peru, where we visit ancient sites, achieve heights and views, take part in ceremonies, and ground in gratitude for nature’s blessings and wisdom. I am grateful for these new opportunities for us to connect, and for the continued accessibility of teaching online.

“Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and live together and mesh together and breathe together in order for us to take even one more breath of air, that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating human being is a privilege; that we are miraculously part of something, rather than nothing.” – David Whyte

Retreat to Peru: October 19-28, 2024

Open Your Heart in the Sacred Valley: Find meaning and the sacred in everything

It was a privilege to lead my first retreat to Peru in 2019, and I am excited to return to share this AWE-inspiring journey with you. This retreat with International Yoga is full of Yoga, meditation, and ceremony that ground us in a sense of presence and connection...opening us to meaningful experiences including Machu Picchu and other culturally-rich excursions. 

Our amazing guide team, led by Valentin and his family, share their hearts and home with us, including lunch on the family farm. Their heartfelt participation in the retreat offers an opportunity for us to connect meaningfully with Peruvian culture and the heart and soul of the land. Come expand your sense of self, and deepen your connection to nature, community and your place in the world! Here are links for details and the itinerary. Please let me know if you are interested in joining us or have any questions about this life-changing journey.

Yoga at View Boston: Wednesdays 8:30a

On November 21st I started teaching my first weekly public class at the Prudential Center. Since the pandemic started, outside of retreats I have been teaching in-person at Tufts Medical School and in private sessions, trainings, and workshops – otherwise mostly online.  

While I had some initial hesitation about this opportunity, as it surprisingly triggered my public speaking and fear-of-failure anxieties intensely, I am grateful I said yes to the fear. It has been a unique way to thoughtfully share practice with a lot of new people from a variety of Yoga experiences in a spectacular room with a view. The perspective and practice offer an inspired way for us to start our Wednesdays!

I teach Wednesdays at 8:30a. The $34.99 admission price includes the Yoga practice and access to the observatory floor and exhibits before it opens to the public at 10a. I am grateful to my friend Ramsay Trussell, who owns the wonderful studio On The Mat Yoga in Concord, and to Lululemon for this opportunity. Here is a link for details and registration.

“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

Weekly Schedule Updates: https://www.vitoyoga.com/schedule

Practice when it works for you with more classes on demand.

“Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” - Sufjan Stevens

I will close with this touching and inspiring Sufjan Stevens song that raises a question I know I am not alone in asking myself, even though it can feel that way at times. This song speaks to our humanness and longing to belong, be forgiven, feel loved, and matter. Much like metta meditation, it helps us to remember our shared roots of belonging when it is so easy to feel disconnected, alienated, and alone. https://youtu.be/M_I8IGwqva4

I wish you and your loved ones much safety, health, and peace through the holidays and change of season. May your practice ground your attention and be a source of light and connection into the New Year.

Much love and appreciation,

Vito

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