Yogis Uncovered | Meet Caitlyn
In this week’s edition of Yogis Uncovered we sit down with Caitlyn, who you may recognize from her programs including Full Body Resistance Band Workout and Yin Yoga for Hip Release. Subscribe to watch her full interview and to get a peek into her personal life behind the camera and learn more about her impressive yoga and fitness journey!
“Naked yoga is so much more freeing. Yoga is certainly more immersive and meditative when you do it naked.”
My name is Caitlin Sway and I’m from Los Angeles.
How long have you been practicing yoga?
I started doing yoga in 2014 or 15, so almost 10 years.
What has been your biggest challenge with yoga?
In the beginning I tried to recreate what other people were doing instead of exposing myself to many different types of yoga to find what worked for me. I realized it’s okay to make adjustments and you don’t always have to hit the most flexible pose to get something out of it. Just use blocks and use props that help you feel the stretch in the right place instead of just trying to hit an aesthetic pose. That’s something I used to struggle with, because of course you want to be pretty while you’re doing it, but it’s not always about that.
Why do you prefer naked yoga over clothed yoga?
Naked yoga is so much more freeing. You can get a lot more feedback from your skin and your different body parts and how they interact with each other in different poses. Sometimes with clothing you’re fiddling with it, you’re adjusting the waistband, you’re adjusting this and that. Yoga is certainly more immersive and meditative when you do it naked.
What’s your favorite yoga pose?
My favorite yoga pose, gosh. I mean, can I say Shavasana? I like to just lay down at the end and sleep. [LAUGH] I guess it would have to be, Downward Dog. Downward Dog is active rest. If you hold it for a long time or you do a lot of flows, it gets tiresome, but it’s good to just hang out there and feel like you can move through it and feel different things. If you stick with it long enough, you can feel it more in your hands, you can shift back, feel it more in the back of your legs. You can work on getting your back straight. There’s actually a lot more work in it than meets the eye initially.
What do you do for work?
I’m a full-time content creator and model. I have my own YouTube series where I do try on hauls by myself and with other models that I work with to show off bikinis and different brands. I’m also streaming on Twitch at Caitlin Sway. I’m trying to make content work for me and not let content run my life. That’s what most people do, I think. You can be very successful if you’re working around the clock, but that’s not my goal.
What has yoga taught you?
Yoga taught me to breathe. Simply that, but it is true. The idea of stretching by pulling yourself into a pose or pushing yourself into it or jerking into it is how people get hurt. That also causes trauma to your body and your nervous system. So by simply breathing in a deep pose, you can go deeper and you can heal your nervous system. Yoga has taught me that you really do have to slow down. You really do have to breathe. You can’t always force things or walk things off or rush.
If your career was a book what would you call this chapter?
Destroy and rebuild.
What are 3 things you can’t live without?
In general, weed, chapstick, and coffee.
*this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity