Our fourth interview in the ‘Wellness Conversations’ series features Olivia Otten, a yoga and meditation instructor at Open in Los Angeles. With a background in tech startups, wellness, and community building, Olivia combines almost a decade of teaching experience in styles like Vinyasa, Yin, Trauma-Sensitive, and Restorative Yoga with her passion for holistic wellness, creative expression, and mental health awareness.
Here, Olivia shares her perspective on wellness, the practices that help her stay balanced, and how she navigates her well-being while traveling.
What does wellness mean to you?
Finding a balance between periods of stillness, silence, introspection, and solitude, and periods of connection in the community, play, silliness, and exploration. Puritanical wellness culture is not it. To live well is to embrace a holistic perspective, yin and yang. Balance is key.
What daily rituals or practices do you engage in to foster balance and well-being?
I try to meditate for at least 20 minutes a day. I try to read, journal, get outside, and move my body every day too. Sometimes I forget or am too busy, and that’s also okay. My most profound practice is trying not to be so hard on myself. I also got really into herbalism during the pandemic, so I make herbal tea blends that I drink every day to help support my immune system and hormones. I adjust my schedule and practices in alignment with my menstrual cycle (i.e., more output and movement during my follicular phase, and more rest and solitude during my luteal phase). I give myself an allotted time per day to dissociate on social media. Balance is key.
When you travel for work or leisure, do you find it challenging to maintain your daily wellness practices? If so, how do you adapt to ensure you stay committed to your well-being while away from your usual routine?
I don’t find it challenging, as giving myself periods where I am focusing on fun and exploration is part of a holistically “well” life for me. I know I’ll come home and get back to meditating daily, but if I miss a few days while traveling because I’m spending time drinking wine with friends and sleeping in, that’s okay too. I use the Open app to practice meditation and breathwork on the go (I buy what I sell) and ClassPass to keep my body moving while traveling. I love discovering new yoga, meditation, and Pilates studios in different countries.
During times when you’re facing challenges or experiencing a low mood, is there a specific quote, piece of advice, or song that helps to raise your spirits and motivate you?
I try to lean into the universal truth that all things change and that whatever I’m feeling or dealing with will pass. I listen to and am comforted by mantra music a lot, specifically this playlist. And I always return to this quote by Pema Chodron: “Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
INTERVIEW ABHISHEK SINGH
FEATURED PHOTO OLIVIA OTTEN