"Knowing is not enough; We must apply. Willing is not enough; We must do." –  I hate to break it to you, but your yoga journey is never over!
Yoga is a continual practice and as your practice evolves... your life evolves. So, how do you REALLY advance your yoga/asana practice? Practice What You Resist – It’s What You Need The Most - If you are constantly looking for movement, be still in your poses and learn to hold them. If you are looking for more "advanced" expressions, practice the basics and get your foundation aligned before you misalign yourself to feed the ego. If you resist savasana or poses where ease and less effort is needed, engage in those with more frequency. Be Humble And Open To Learning - Pretty basic,right? Check your. ego at the door and always understand that you are always a student first and. forever, and there is no mastery of anything in yoga. Ask questions and be willing to learn how to get into variations of poses that suit your body's needs - Again, always understanding that there is a basic schematic to poses, but not all poses are for every-body. Use Props -- Blocks, straps and other tools for modifications accentuate poses and make the poses more accessible in a functional manner. The strongest practitioners I know always start their practice by gathering their props and using them effectively instead of shunning them thinking they are crutches or not needed. Don’t Be Afraid To Take One More Breath - Get out of your comfort zone, take one more cycle of breath, be ok with going at a varying pace... as my teacher used to say, "the pose begins when you want to get out if it!" PRACTICE EVERYDAY: Whether it's meditation, breathing work or poses... you'll never just fly into Crow for example if you don't self study and do it over and over and over again. As that above Bruce Lee quote states, just do it. Or, is that NIKE™ that says that? Oh.... and HAVE FUN! I know, I know... we take ourselves serious on the mat. I DO TOO! But being lighthearted, not as hard on yourself will have you more open to explore, sets a good mindframe for enhancing your pose work without feeling so stressed about doing it "right" or "mastering" an expression of an asana. Schedule: MONDAY -- 6/29/2020 7:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:30 pm -- Vinyasa Flow TUESDAY -- 6/30/2020 7:00 am - Wake up Vinyasa Yoga 6:45 pm - Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 7/1/2020 8:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:30 pm -- Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 7/2/2020 8:00 am -- Vinyasa Yoga 6:30 pm -- Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 7/3/2020 7:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 7/4/2020 10:00 am -- Sweaty Saturday Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 7/5/2020 10:00 am -- Church of Vicyasa™ *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES: (NEW OPTIONS) Your support will be greatly appreciated. I've worked hard for months to create this seamless, streamlined and easy delivery system for all of your yoga needs. All classes will be in your inbox 15-20 minutes before start time. Log-in to the ones you want and join in on the fun! **Subscribers have access to our Yoga in the Park series at LIC's Gantry Park and Astoria Park.**
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 Paypal -- Victor@YogawithVictor.com This AMAZING community we have built would not be possible without your unwavering encouragement & fierce support! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™
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“Yoga is the artwork of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.”  Yoga is a tool to help us find ease in the body, silence the occupied mind, and get in touch with our true nature. It can also be a way of helping us tap into our creative selves.
The art and science of breathing with a keen sense of awareness in our meditation and the practice of staying in control during our asana [poses] practice grant us access to the deepest places of our psyche and consciousness that arouse and trigger creative ideas to emerge, while simultaneously offering us tools to work with some of our biggest mental & emotional obstacles. Regardless of what arts, innovative or inspiring hobbies or general work you engage in that exhausts cognition, your yoga practice can fully connect you with your creative mind, body, and soul. Asana and pranayama [controlled breathing] help fuel the creative process by increasing and directing the flow of prana, the intelligent life force, through the energy conduits in our body. By mindfully observing and inspecting the full range of our experience on and off the mat, we pave a path to be more creative and embrace our authentic self. Home sweet OM: Your Yoga at OM schedule: MONDAY -- 6/22/2020 8:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:30 pm -- Vinyasa Flow TUESDAY -- 6/23/2020 7:00 am - Wake up Vinyasa Yoga 6:45 pm - Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 6/24/2020 8:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:45 pm -- Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 6/25/2020 7:00 am -- Vinyasa Yoga 6:45 pm -- Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 6/26/2020 8:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 6/27/2020 12:15 pm -- Sweaty Saturday Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 6/28/2020 10:00 am -- Church of Vicyasa™ *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES: (NEW OPTIONS) All classes will be in your inbox 15-20 minutes before start time. Log-in to the ones you want and join in on the fun! (Subscribers have access to our Yoga in the Park series at Gantry Park in LIC and Astoria Park)
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 This AMAZING community we have built would not be possible without your unwavering encouragement & fierce support! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ “There is no moment more precious than the exact moment they are living. And that exact moment has a lot to do with how future moments play out.”  It’s challenging enough to keep up a consistent wellness practice under normal circumstances.
When life becomes disordered, as it has the last few months, it can seem daunting to do the things we know we need; commit to self care and stay healthy physically and mentally. Our motivation for sustaining our practice can be gobbled up by anxiety, fear, sadness, or anger. These are the times when we most need the strength that our wellness practices teaches us how to cultivate. “Rolling out your mat” is such a useful starting point because it’s an opening ritual. This prepares us for practice and separates your focused self-care routine from the mundane activities of the rest of the day. Your mat creates a space in your life for wellness. Your mat is a sanctuary. Yoga interrupts the cycle of the stress response, and during our practice, we give the body & mind an opportunity to heal. Home sweet OM: Your Yoga at OM schedule: MONDAY -- 6/15/2020 7:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:30 pm -- Vinyasa Flow TUESDAY -- 6/16/2020 8:00 am - Wake up Vinyasa Yoga 7:00 pm - Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 6/17/2020 7:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa 6:45 pm -- Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 6/18/2020 8:00 am -- Vinyasa Yoga 10:00 am -- Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 6/19/2020 7:00 am -- Morning Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 6/20/2020 12:00 pm -- Sweaty Saturday Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 6/21/2020 10:00 am -- Papa's Day Flow Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES: (NEW OPTION)
(If you want to know how many classes you have remaining, when is your subscription date ending or any other inquiries, feel free to reply to this email. If you do not receive emails during the week when classes are about to begin, it means your subscription has ended or you don't have any more classes.) PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 Without your support, this AMAZING community we have built would not be possible. Your support will always be honored in my heart. NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ The sensitive awareness of the body and the intelligence of the brain and heart should be in harmony. The brain may instruct the body to do a posture, but the heart has to feel it too. The head is the seat of intelligence; the heart is the seat of emotion. Both have to work in cooperation with the body. - BKS Iyengar  Why does it feel so good when we practice ASANA (yoga poses)? The magic of asanas is that they allow the principle of unity (body and mind, body and soul, with divinity) to be initiated and experienced on a physical level, with ripple effects into mental, emotional and spiritual levels.
When we combine the practice of movement with the control of our breathing, it has a complete effect of unification. In The Heart of Yoga , DKV Desikachar states that breath and movement need to be consciously linked, as breathing is a vital tool to amalgamate the inner and outer selves: “For breath and movement to be coordinated, our mind must attentively follow their union … The rules for linking breath and movement are simple: when we contract the body we exhale and when we expand the body we inhale”. Energy flows where attention goes -- you can choose to focus on activities that connect you to a benevolent force that unifies and lovingly supports all beings. The Yoga practice has the potential to not only transform your life but, through ripple effects, it can bring many positive benefits to others. In this way you can actually become a potent force for change! Here's the schedule for this week: MONDAY -- 6/8/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 6/9/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 12:00 pm: Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 6/10/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 6:45 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 6/11/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 6/12/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 12:30 pm: Vinyasa 5:45 pm: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 6/13/2020 12:00 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 6/14/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES: (NEW OPTION)
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 SEE YOU ON THE MAT & THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move. -- Osho  Hello YOGIS,
I've heard a lot over the course of this quarantine how "my practice has changed," how "my asana [poses] practice has become more refined, focused and stronger," as our awareness has grown... We've become less dependent on ambient heat or prefabricated heat to create an ignition inside of us and to move with a sense of structure and organization to experience intensity and to learn to move forward and develop a self study of movement based on love. We are moving with joy and thus creating a sense of playfulness without losing the "work" and potential vigor we can facilitate through mindfulness and self-awareness of asana. Movement when done with a sense of care, respect, honor and love... gets met with effervescent and blissful reactions in return. I speak about taking your Yoga practice off the mat... Lets, with regard to others, and to the world we live in, move with LOVE and spread the practice of Yoga by operating and conducting ourselves with LOVE when we are in Warrior-Two and when we are transcending the shapes we've learned on our mat to behaviors off the mat. Here's the schedule for this week: MONDAY -- 6/1/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 11:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Power Flow Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 6/2/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 12:00 pm: Vinyasa 7:30 pm: Power Vinyasa (45 minutes) WEDNESDAY -- 6/3/2020 7:30 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 6/4/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 6/5/2020 7:30 am: Vinyasa 12:30 pm: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 6/6/2020 11:00 am: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 6/7/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES: (NEW OPTION)
(If you want to know how many classes you have remaining, when is your subscription date ending or any other inquiries, feel free to reply to this email. If you do not receive emails during the week when classes are about to begin, it means your subscription has ended or you don't have any more classes.) PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 SEE YOU ON THE MAT! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ “In asana practice we learn to cherish each breath, to cherish every cell in our bodies. The time we spend on the mat is love in action” – Rolf Gates  It is true that a consistent yoga practice will lead to a healthier body physically by helping to increase flexibility and build stamina. It will also encourage you to be more mindful about how you treat your body and mind. When you fall in love with another person you honor that person and value their thoughts, feelings and behaviors -- when you yoga, you have self-love!
Yoga and meditation encourage you to turn your focus inward and to listen to your deeper, more intuitive thoughts. As you gain more insight into your true nature, your values and your goals become much clearer. From such a loving, sacred place within yourself, you can make decisions about what you want, and don’t want, in life. By living such an authentic life you are showing nothing but love for yourself. Regardless of where you are in your practice, yoga will teach you to appreciate your body and its abilities. It’s common to start yoga and think you should immediately be able to do an inversion or arm balance and when you can’t - we beat ourselves up for it. It doesn’t take long, however, before the essence of yoga grabs you and you become aware of the negative self talk and find a way to switch it off. The more you turn up and tune in, the easier this gets. The more you come to see your body in a different light and realise that it is truly amazing. We then cherish what we can do, what we can accomplish and not look at ourselves with judgement, but with a love that only comes through when we embrace a practice that is devoted and adoring the self! Here's the schedule for this week: MONDAY -- 5/25/2020 (Memorial Day) 8:00 am: Vinyasa 11:00 am: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 5/26/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 12:00 pm: Vinyasa 7:00 pm: Vinyasa (45 minute quickie Flow)* WEDNESDAY -- 5/27/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 5/28/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 5/29/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 12:30 pm: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 5/30/2020 12:30 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 5/31/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES:
(If you want to know how many classes you have remaining, when is your subscription date ending or any other inquiries, feel free to reply to this email. If you do not receive emails during the week when classes are about to begin, it means your subscription has ended or you don't have any more classes.) PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing. - Charles Schaefer  Ever wonder why you feel more relaxed, at ease and find a sense of relief after a session of purposeful play? It's scientifically proven how our bodies release tension, our mental state and ability to reason are at higher levels of cognition, and our social interactions are enhanced and more functional after being playful and/or letting loose physically and inviting playfulness during exercise or work.
Do you find yourself being tense all the time in your practice? Here's a cheat-code for your asana (poses) and pranayama (breathing) practice... stop trying to engage every muscle to a point of tightness, invite some sweetness into your sessions and even be PLAYFUL, especially when arm balancing or inverting. I often say in class, "our mats are our playgrounds and sandbox to play in." That's when we have opportunities to channel our inner youth and hone our practice with a sense of lightness that children engage in in their formative years, when humans develop the most. This week... step onto your mat with an intention to have fun and watch your practice grow and blossom into something different. And instead of always going hard thinking you are working your muscles, invite sweetness and play so in actuality, the muscular engagement and opportunities to ease into more difficult poses can be achieved. I often see students cursing or being disappointed in themselves when they fall out of poses or concentrating so fiercely, they become tighter, more exasperated and can't access poses being performed. BE PLAYFUL! At the end of the day, if we are working together creating weird shapes with our bodies and breathing funny. Even catch yourself being too serious and see the humor in it. Here's the schedule for this week: CHECK OUT MY SPOTIFY for new playlists to go with our classes. CLICK HERE for my account. MONDAY -- 5/18/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 12:00 pm: 12pm (45 minute Flow) 6:30 pm: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 5/19/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 7:00 pm: Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 5/20/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 5/21/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 5/22/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 11:15 am: Vinyasa (45 minute Flow) SATURDAY -- 5/23/2020 12:30 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 5/24/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES (unless noted next to the class) (All classes via Zoom.us platform) RATES:
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 Thank you for the support... lets play on the mat! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™  They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. ― Tom Bodett Yoga, Yoga... & Yoga!
Through the power of union of self, one can love, occupy space and find hope! Someone to love, something to do and acts in which we find inspiration in -- YOGA! Yoga, the practice of unity, introduces you to things that were previously unknown to you and enlightens us to much more that is right in front of us but never noticed. You become aware of your sacred space with no judgments. It is the one place and time that we are truly allowed to be ourselves in every way, shape and form. We can cry, sing and laugh -- for some of us within the same pose. You can cocoon yourself and listen to the sound of your breath, or you can sweat and sweat to release stress and tension. Practice is a sacred time, and once you learn this simple fact, you will fall in love with it. As a lifelong, continuous practice, the very practice of yoga may quickly become one of the major loves in your life from now until forever. There is hope in everything through Yoga. There is fierce occupation in Yoga. There is light ready to be found within, even in the darkest moments through Yoga! Here's the schedule for this week: CHECK OUT MY SPOTIFY for new playlists to go with our classes. CLICK HERE for my account. MONDAY -- 5/11/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 6:30 pm: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 5/12/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 7:10 pm: Vinyasa [45 minute session] WEDNESDAY -- 5/13/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:15 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 5/14/2020 6:30 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 5/15/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 5:00 pm: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 5/16/2020 12:30 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 5/17/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES (unless noted next to the class) (All classes via Zoom.us platform) RATES:
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9 SEE YOU ON THE MAT! STAY INSPIRED YOGIS... AND AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT! YOUR ATTENDANCE, FIERCE COMMITMENT & GENUINE LOVE KEEPS ME UPLIFTED! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™  The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. NOW!
Planting your trees now! The most vital word in Yoga is "now" as that is the moment that matters most. It's the first word of the Yoga Sutras (Atha yoga-anushasanam: NOW through the teachings of Yoga). To stay present and to be in your current state without any attachments of past moments and to be one with yourself. NOW is always the time. And what we are planting with our Yoga practice is the ability to stay in the NOW. So we can savor each inhale and every exhale. So we can become deeper with our love for ourselves and become divine individually. Once those seeds are planted... we can see the flourishing and growth of our trees. What we can do on our mats, how we seed our abilities to be present when we take Yoga classes will later become traits that will empower us, that our loved ones can bask in... we become that brilliant tree! Here's the schedule for this week: MONDAY -- 5/4/2020 12:30 pm: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 5/5/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 7:00 pm: Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 5/6/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:00 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 5/7/2020 6:15 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 5/8/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 12:00 pm: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 5/9/2020 12:15 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 5/10/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES:
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9. SEE YOU ON THE MAT! STAY INSPIRED YOGIS... AND AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT! YOUR ATTENDANCE, FIERCE COMMITMENT & GENUINE LOVE KEEPS ME UPLIFTED! NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™  When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. -- Paulo Coelho The above quote is the epitome of what we are all about during these quarantine times and how we are ALL elevating each other and uplifting each other with our virtual presence & through this soulful practice of connecting with our mind , body and souls via YOGA!
AGAIN... this is why we practice! And it is a practice because it takes time to cultivate inner focus, self-acceptance, awareness & love for ourselves. Staying attentive to your own practice requires focus—a calm and steady focus—and a commitment to being present in what you are doing. WE STAY PRESENT TOGETHER -- WE LOVE TOGETHER! Here's the schedule for this week: MONDAY -- 4/27/2020 11:00 am: Vinyasa TUESDAY -- 4/28/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 7:00 pm: Vinyasa WEDNESDAY -- 4/29/2020 8:00 am: Vinyasa 6:00 pm: Vinyasa THURSDAY -- 4/30/2020 5:00 pm: Vinyasa FRIDAY -- 5/1/2020 7:00 am: Vinyasa 11:30 am: Vinyasa SATURDAY -- 5/2/2020 12:00 pm: Vinyasa SUNDAY -- 5/3/2020 10:00 am: Vinyasa *ALL CLASSES EST *ALL SESSIONS 60 MINUTES RATES:
PAYMENT: VENMO -- @Victor-Cotto-9. NAMASTE, Victor Cotto www.YogaWithVictor.com Instagram: CottoVic Facebook: Yoga With Victor - Vicyasa™ |
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