Yogis Uncovered | Meet Olivia
In this edition of Yogis Uncovered, we sat down with second-time True Naked Yogini, Olivia! An artist, performer, and true Renaissance Woman, Olivia was raised in a hand-built, solar-powered home deep in the Northern California woods. Her free-spirited upbringing shaped her love for movement, self-expression, and, of course, being nude. An experienced rock climber, she thrives on adventure—whether scaling cliffs, practicing yoga, or dancing the night away. She also pours her creativity into art and sustainability-focused projects. Get to know Olivia in her full interview!
“I [was] always the naked child… Even going into my teens, if we were out on a hike or something, I would just somehow find an opportunity to take my clothes off… I still find opportunities to be naked, especially out in nature. It just feels so right.”
My name is Olivia, and I’m from Northern California, and I actually just moved back there.
What was it like growing up there?
I grew up in the middle of the woods, in a big, beautiful, solar-powered straw-bale house that my family was building throughout my childhood. We started with no house, living in little trailers. We got it to a point where we could live in it, and we were just building it as I was growing up. I went to a tiny little school with under 200 kids, and it was just a really magical, wonderful way to grow up, deep in the forest, surrounded by creeks and rivers, and entertaining myself out in nature.
How did you get into yoga?
I got into yoga actually at my rural high school. There was a woman who started teaching there, and so yoga became a PE option. I started doing yoga in lieu of traditional PE, and it was a wonderful way to get my body working instead of playing capture the flag with boys.
What’s your favorite yoga pose?
Honestly, pigeon pose. I have fairly tight hips, and pigeon pose is a wonderful release, not just musculature-wise, but energetically. I always feel a big release when I do pigeon pose.
What do you do for fun?
I love to go out dancing. I love to rock climb. I do art, I read, I get together with friends, I go on hikes.
Do you have any pets?
I do have a pet. I have a black cat named Skid, who is ridiculous, and I inherited him from the house I lived in for years in Pasadena. He is a gremlin, but I love him.
What is a quirky fact about yourself that most people probably don’t know?
I went streaking when I was a freshman in high school at our homecoming football game with a friend of mine who was a senior, and it was very fun because, again, I’m from a really small town, so nothing like that really happened. We made the news in the county below us because it was something that doesn’t happen very often. It was fun. I got suspended for two weeks. We didn’t hide our identities, so we got caught, but it was worth it. It was very fun.
How did you become so comfortable being nude?
I [was] always the naked child. My cousins love to talk about how I was always naked as a kid, and then as we got older and they would have their clothes on, I would just not have mine on. Even going into my teens, if we were out on a hike or something, I would just somehow find an opportunity to take my clothes off. So yes, I’m the naked cousin, the naked kid. I’ve always just felt fine. I’ve gotten a little more inhibited as I’ve gotten older, I suppose, but I still find opportunities to be naked, especially out in nature. It just feels so right.
Was that something that was accepted in your family?
Yes, I had a very hippie upbringing, and my dad’s side, probably not as much. He was from Massachusetts, but on my mom’s side, she’s from Southern California. Growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, she had very open-minded parents, and they were always naked. It seems to run in my family.
What is your favorite food?
Just fruit in general. I love fruit. I think of myself as a fruit bat.
What is your favorite self-care practice?
Oh, taking baths. My family home has a bathtub. We brought our bathtub with us when we moved from Oakland in my early childhood. So we have a big, beautiful clawfoot bathtub. That’s my favorite thing to do with a salt rock lamp on.
What’s a philosophy or motto that you live by?
In general, with every area of your life, find grace for yourself. That’s been a huge journey for me. Within any practice that you’re embarking on for the first time, or growing as a person, or letting go of whatever—just finding grace for yourself, I’ve found to be incredibly important.
*this interview has been edited for brevity and clarity