Yogis Uncovered | Meet Alisa
In this edition of Yogis Uncovered, we sit down with Alisa to learn more about her fascinating career, her journey of self-exploration and expression, and her top yoga tips for those just starting out. Make sure to check out her programs, including Restorative Yoga and Kundalini Yoga for Head, Neck & Shoulder Relief!
“I love being naked outside, you can feel the elements more. …. I feel like when we’re naked, it’s really a lot easier to connect to our natural state of being, our natural essence.”
My name is Alisa and I live in my hometown, Santa Barbara.
What do you do for work?
I’m an intimacy and lifestyle coach, so I support people in getting more in touch with their emotions and their bodies and discovering how that can improve their relationships and their sex life.
My mom was a marriage and family therapist so she was always psychologically aware and always asked me questions about how I’m feeling and so I grew up in a pretty emotionally aware environment. In college I studied psychology and human development and have always been really interested in how we can access more joy and bliss in our lives. After I graduated school, I met my partner and we both were really passionate about lifestyle, entrepreneurship, and supporting others in having a happy, healthy life. So yeah, that’s what I do!
What do you love most about your career?
Just watching people transform. People come into my office and you can just see in their bodies they are super tense and holding a lot, and at the end of sessions or after the end of weeks of working together, they just soften and their face gets brighter, and they feel more joy and more aliveness. It brings me joy to help people connect with that energy.
How long have you been practicing yoga?
I came across yoga when I was 17 and it really awakened me to an awareness of my emotional energy that was trapped in my body. I had a lot of anxiety growing up, so when I started practicing yoga I realized that I didn't have to be that way. I didn’t have to feel anxious all the time.
I’ve been practicing for nine years. I’ve been a dancer since I was little, and a friend in high school took me to my first yoga class that was very movement oriented. It was a vinyasa flow that was connected to music and the rhythm, so when I was using my breath with the music, I felt the music move through me and the yoga teacher. I’m still friends with her to this day, she totally changed my life and created a space for me to surrender and feel like these layers of armor dissolve off of me.
What are the benefits of doing naked yoga?
I love being naked outside, you can feel the elements more. I am also a tantric practitioner and tantra is all about connecting with your senses, connecting with smell, taste, sight, touch and the different energies that we can experience in the body. I feel like when we’re naked, it’s really a lot easier to connect to our natural state of being, our natural essence. In our culture, our perspective on nudity is either really shameful or hypersexualized, so it makes it challenging to just be in a body and let it be natural. I feel like you can use the yoga practice to notice if there’s any shame that comes up or any judgment towards your body, and just use your breath to let that go and accept yourself more deeply.
What’s your favorite yoga pose?
I think plow pose is my favorite, where you lay on your back and you bring your legs and hips up and overhead, so you really get a stretch in your thoracic spine. I find that we hold a lot of tension in our shoulders and our neck, and some people have a challenge breathing in that pose because we're not always breathing in the backs of our lungs, so it opens up the backside and it’s really great.
What’s your ideal environment to practice yoga in?
I live in Santa Barbara so there’s a lot of really nice outdoor spots, and there’s this grassy area right on the beach. So you have the grass and the palm trees and you can look at the ocean. I feel really deeply connected to the ocean. I also love trees, I love the forest. I always feel like a nymph when I’m in the forest.
If your career was a book what would you call this chapter?
I feel like I’m spreading my wings and just opening up to being the butterfly that I am meant to be. And I’m doing it with people that I love. I feel so grateful that I’m not doing it alone. I feel so supported by my friends and my chosen family. So I guess I would say “Spreading My Wings” would be the title.
What’s your favorite food?
I love Thai food. Pad Thai and Panang curry. I eat plant-based, so I don't do gluten or meat or dairy, and that feels really good for my body. I love cooking my own food too. I’ve been really vibing with bok choy. It feels really nourishing. And I love chocolate.
What’s your advice for those struggling to create a yoga practice?
There’s a lot of people who have a misconception that they can’t practice yoga because they’re not physically flexible. I actually find that physical flexibility is a result of practicing yoga, but to start, you don’t have to be flexible. You just need to have an open mind and release judgment on yourself. It’s a practice of learning how to be more present in our bodies. I feel like as with any good habit, it definitely takes discipline to start, but once you get into the rhythm, it starts to feel good. I actually get addicted to it because if I don’t do it, I feel like, wait, I don’t feel as good as when I do practice.
Last words
We all have access to love, and so many of us struggle with self-love or self-acceptance. Acceptance is the first step on the way to accessing self-love. I truly believe that love is an inherent part of who we are. Just try to remember what that feels like and come back to that whenever you forget.
*this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity