Victoria Fontana
I was born in Rochester, NY, but have centered my life around learning and teaching across the globe. I studied Spanish and Italian, as well as fine arts and theater, at the University of Buffalo, and then, as I come from a long line of educators, I went on to earn a master’s degree in education from the University of Washington. My career and curiosity have taken me to all corners of the world—from Detroit to Kansas, Italy, and Spain—before I finally moved to Madrid in 1999 to study fine arts at the prestigious Arjona Studio. Motivated by trying new things, I love to learn about the human condition through creativity and play in any artistic medium. Yoga began as a personal passion that morphed into a career trajectory. Outside of the art and yoga studio, you can find me kicking around a soccer ball, running, and traveling.
"Be kind. Know yourself deeply and learn to choose your response to life’s events, rather than react unconsciously. Define your own success and align your thoughts, words, and actions to create that vision in your life. Remain open to the unimagined. "
Defining her own success
A healthy amount of curiosity, and a passion for learning and teaching, has led Professor Victoria Fontana across the world, bringing her knowledge of wellness, artistic freedom, and balance with her. Victoria has spent her career expertly combining her love for yoga and mindfulness with fine arts degrees and research in psychotherapy, equality, and inclusion to build her own life of helping people discover their true nature, find more happiness, and find their authentic expression of self.
Victoria credits her teaching jobs for gaining a deep understanding of leadership, compassion, organization, and perseverance. Her teaching experience started just after she completed her master’s degree, when she took on a two-year teaching role at a high school in the United States. Then, before focusing most of her time on IE University in 2012, she taught at two private universities. Through teaching, Victoria quickly learned that sharing knowledge was one of the best ways she could help people become more empowered in their own life choices and therefore create a better world for themselves and others.
For Victoria, learning never stops. After moving to Madrid, she trained to become a mindfulness, compassion, and meditation teacher, and she now holds a Certificate in Contemplative Psychotherapy from the Nalanda Institute of Contemplative Science. Currently, Victoria is finishing up another master’s degree in Mindfulness-Based Approaches from Bangor University in Wales, completing research in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in mindfulness-based teacher training programs. When she’s not in a classroom, she’s helping coach and train people in mindfulness, compassion, and leadership in companies and organizations including the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science in New York, and Con Plena Conciencia in Barcelona. She also guides people privately, through her own company, Mindgazing.
Victoria keeps grounded through her yoga practice, and through visual art, like photography, drawing, and painting—her work has been exhibited throughout Madrid, Milan, and the United States. When she started practicing yoga and meditation, she realized how powerful the mind is and quickly found her own agency. Ever since, she’s been eager to bring that way of life to all of her students. When she isn’t keeping things slow and deliberate on the yoga mat, she can be found playing soccer, running, doing HIIT workouts, and, of course, traveling the world.
