Speaker 1: She has exploded to the top of the fashion world
Speaker 1: at the age of sixteen by grazing the cover of Walk.
Speaker 1: A former supermodel and now one of the best yoga
Speaker 1: teachers that I know, Linda Nivotoba. She talks to me
Speaker 1: about the benefits of yoga for professional athletes, especially tennis players.
Speaker 1: She traveled the world, lived in a lay for many
Speaker 1: many years, but now she calls Slovakia her home. At
Speaker 1: the age of sixteen, were you able to digest that
Speaker 1: everything that was happening around here for you in the moment?
Speaker 1: You just you just go with what everything's been thrown
Speaker 1: at you. What is the tough part of modeling that
Speaker 1: maybe we don't see. We don't realize that it is
Speaker 1: really hard for me? And it was traveling with her
Speaker 1: friends and her family. I think we have the same
Speaker 1: at the beginning, right, and it's so exciting. What is
Speaker 1: the biggest benefit for yourself that yoga gives you. I'm
Speaker 1: affectionist and I can get very into my head so
Speaker 1: and it's just like too much plessure. I just go
Speaker 1: and uh my ownest down after class. We have so
Speaker 1: much in common that we didn't even realize before talking
Speaker 1: to each other and I'm so glad to have her
Speaker 1: on my next episode of the Real DNA podcast. So
Speaker 1: please enjoy it and let me know on my Instagram
Speaker 1: or Facebook or my new YouTube channel how much you
Speaker 1: have enjoyed it. Ninda welcomes so so much on my
Speaker 1: Real DNA Podcast. I can't tell you how much I
Speaker 1: was looking forward to this my pleasure. So, UM, let
Speaker 1: me start with saying that I think we are not
Speaker 1: aware of how similar our first part of lives were.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna make it really short to introduce Linda
Speaker 1: to everyone. Um, she's been in the top of the
Speaker 1: fashion world for many, many years. As a sixteen year old,
Speaker 1: she was on the cover of Walk So that's how
Speaker 1: special our guest is today. Just tell me quickly, at
Speaker 1: the age of sixteen, were you able to digest that
Speaker 1: everything that was happening around here? Not at all, I
Speaker 1: think as as I'm looking back twenty years later, twenty something. UM,
Speaker 1: you when you're in the moment, you just you just
Speaker 1: go with but everything is being thrown at you, and
Speaker 1: I think when you're sixteen you don't really realize everything
Speaker 1: that's going on. I'm sure you can relate to that.
Speaker 1: So when you see yourself on the cover of Walk.
Speaker 1: What are your first initial totes? Um, Well, first of all,
Speaker 1: it was it was a great honor, and I think
Speaker 1: that was kind of the moment that totally shifted in
Speaker 1: my career, and it happened very very soon into into
Speaker 1: my modeling career. So UM, I was really lucky, because
Speaker 1: um I was I was really really young to be
Speaker 1: featured on the cover of k one of the youngest girls. UM.
Speaker 1: I think they after after years after me. I think
Speaker 1: they changed the limit too, I think to be at
Speaker 1: least eighteen years old. So it okay, okay, all right, okay.
Speaker 1: Um When when this happened to you, were you aware
Speaker 1: of the of the fact, how much important and how
Speaker 1: huge that was at such a young age. UM I
Speaker 1: could tell that it was huge by by the by
Speaker 1: the um everyone else around me was saying, and that
Speaker 1: I was getting bigger jobs, and by the bus that
Speaker 1: was created right after that. UM I said at the
Speaker 1: beginning that our careers were very similar, but there is
Speaker 1: a big difference in tennis and in sports in general.
Speaker 1: I'm in charge of the match, so if I have
Speaker 1: a bad day, I'm gonna lose. If I have a
Speaker 1: good day, I'm gonna win with you guys, it's so different.
Speaker 1: How did you take that in when you go to
Speaker 1: an addition and you are fused because of your looks
Speaker 1: or you're accepted by your looks at such a young age. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's so much that's not in our hands. Actually, um,
Speaker 1: not only have to be you always have to be
Speaker 1: in top shape, which like you have to be all
Speaker 1: the time. But even if everything on your part is
Speaker 1: done perfectly, it still doesn't guarantee you're gonna get the job,
Speaker 1: because you can never be perfect for everyone. You know,
Speaker 1: there's always moments when you're like too tall, or too
Speaker 1: blonde or some ridiculous reason, are you just not the
Speaker 1: idea that the client is looking for. So it's really
Speaker 1: important to just forget about it and just move on
Speaker 1: and not identify with the fact that you didn't win
Speaker 1: this one, because in modeling, there's not like second third place.
Speaker 1: You get the job or you don't get it. Um,
Speaker 1: but you just have to quickly forget about it, don't
Speaker 1: take it personally because you know a lot of times
Speaker 1: you know it doesn't if you're not perfect for this
Speaker 1: job doesn't mean that you're not perfect for another one.
Speaker 1: And a change that mindset. So when you go to
Speaker 1: the next audition, you go with like the mind of
Speaker 1: a beginner, you know, and you fully focused on that
Speaker 1: forgetting that you didn't get the last one. Well, those
Speaker 1: are very wise words. What were you able to do
Speaker 1: when you were sixteen? And probably you didn't have this mindset?
Speaker 1: Who or what helped you the most to get through
Speaker 1: moments like that? Um, or maybe you were always in
Speaker 1: this way. I have to say that this knowledge came
Speaker 1: with time, right, But um, in the beginning, of course,
Speaker 1: like you want to, you want to you want to
Speaker 1: get all the jobs right, you want to get all
Speaker 1: the British shots. And uh, you know, sometimes you shoot
Speaker 1: a campaign and indiand it doesn't come out, you know,
Speaker 1: so you go through first few disappointments and then you
Speaker 1: just learn, you know, it's it's a part of the
Speaker 1: job and you kind of have to evolve and go
Speaker 1: with it, and I think it makes you stronger. And
Speaker 1: you know, after after a few years, it just becomes
Speaker 1: a part of the job and it's part of the
Speaker 1: routine and you go to so many additions a day
Speaker 1: and even if you're getting one of ten, it's great success.
Speaker 1: What is the tough part of modeling that maybe we
Speaker 1: don't see, we don't realize that it is really hard. Um,
Speaker 1: I would say for me, and it was a traveling
Speaker 1: and being with for friends and for family, I think
Speaker 1: we have the same is the best thing at the beginning,
Speaker 1: right And it's so exciting. It's so exciting to get
Speaker 1: to see these wonderful places. You meet amazing interesting people
Speaker 1: from around the world. And to this day, I still
Speaker 1: have friends in different places and I can mean when
Speaker 1: when in the in the normal situation, I can just
Speaker 1: go and uh and and travel somewhere and stay with friends,
Speaker 1: and um, it just makes the world kind of a
Speaker 1: smaller place talking about traveling. And we just spoke about
Speaker 1: it a couple of minutes ago. I know, um, how
Speaker 1: much l A means to you. What is it about
Speaker 1: the place that you love so much? Um? L A
Speaker 1: is like my second home. I lived there for the
Speaker 1: past twelve years on and off, and I fell in
Speaker 1: love with that place and that was the place I
Speaker 1: got first introduced to yoga. And I love the whole
Speaker 1: lifestyle of of l A and the importance of taking
Speaker 1: care of yourself, your body, your mind, being healthy and
Speaker 1: making healthier choices. It's kind of really a lifestyle. It's
Speaker 1: there's there's specific restaurants you can go to. People who
Speaker 1: work out all day every day. It's uh, there's more
Speaker 1: opportunity to be making better choices. Now, fast forward forward
Speaker 1: twenty years. Here we are, we both retired from our
Speaker 1: first original jobs. And I have to say I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of you for everything you've done in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, and that I'm able to say that, honestly,
Speaker 1: you are one of the best pictures in the world.
Speaker 1: And I'm really really lucky that I get to practice
Speaker 1: yoga with you. How did you come to it? You
Speaker 1: just mentioned it that the all started in a lafe
Speaker 1: for you. Uh. Is it something that you saw yourself
Speaker 1: doing when you were younger, or just tellt the story
Speaker 1: behind it. I had always Uh, I had always been
Speaker 1: there sporting um ever since I was a little girl. UM.
Speaker 1: I did my short arts, I did UM. I was
Speaker 1: a runner for a long time. I got to the
Speaker 1: gym still um. And uh, where by the way, you
Speaker 1: live much more than me, which I was short to see.
Speaker 1: So that's the one thing I love about Linda that
Speaker 1: obviously I think we both don't look like it, but
Speaker 1: I think we can lift some heavyweights, so you know
Speaker 1: you the same. Yeah, I think I think in uh
Speaker 1: in sports just like in in in food. Uh I
Speaker 1: think movement is a nutrition part about it, just like
Speaker 1: food is. And you want to have a wide variety
Speaker 1: of of different kinds of food that you eat, a
Speaker 1: different kind of sports, different types of movements that you practice, UM,
Speaker 1: different types of loads. Right, you work with your with
Speaker 1: your own body weight or with some edit weight UM
Speaker 1: to load more the tissue. I think it's really important
Speaker 1: because you always surprised the body UM and you just
Speaker 1: have a different variety which I think can this way
Speaker 1: you can target um in in many many different ways
Speaker 1: the body, which keeps it healthier in my mind. And
Speaker 1: so basically you had this ever since you were a
Speaker 1: little this active lifestyle in you and probably in l A.
Speaker 1: The idea to actually go for it and start focusing
Speaker 1: on yoga was more clear for you. Yes, So I've
Speaker 1: been wanting to try yoga for a while and it
Speaker 1: was the first time I came to l A. Then
Speaker 1: my roommate took me to yoga class and uh I
Speaker 1: it was a lot less for site. It was so hard,
Speaker 1: which I love a challenge, UM, but also for it
Speaker 1: was hard for the body and for the mind. And
Speaker 1: when the class ended, I just really felt uplifted and
Speaker 1: I signed up in the studio for and I practiced
Speaker 1: every day for a month and until I was living
Speaker 1: in l A. In the Ever since I've been, I've
Speaker 1: been practicing yoga. UM still practicing out of sports as well,
Speaker 1: but yoga became a part of my life and slowly
Speaker 1: UM as some managure very curious, I wanted to learn
Speaker 1: more and go deeper and I'm just and things, and
Speaker 1: I started taking some courses seminars until I got to
Speaker 1: teacher training a few years back, and I took the
Speaker 1: I took a teacher training just to learn more for myself,
Speaker 1: but part of the training was to teach a class.
Speaker 1: And I had a lot of friends around me who
Speaker 1: were asking me a lot of questions. So they wanted
Speaker 1: to advise on their on their poses or on their alignment.
Speaker 1: How do we're practicing. Some of them had some injuries.
Speaker 1: They wanted to understand why what are we doing wrong?
Speaker 1: So I started teaching them and they became a clients,
Speaker 1: my first clients. Some of them to this day still
Speaker 1: UM and Uh, I really I really liked teaching. I
Speaker 1: realized it, and at that time I was still modeling.
Speaker 1: So the transition was very smooth and slow, and the
Speaker 1: progression took a few years. Um. But I got to
Speaker 1: a point when I had drugula clients and I was
Speaker 1: teaching a lot, and I just decided that I have
Speaker 1: to close one door to see the possibility of another one.
Speaker 1: I really, I am a strong believer that you kind
Speaker 1: of do this halfway. I mean you can't, but the
Speaker 1: result it's going to be helpfuay halfway exactly. So, UM,
Speaker 1: I got to a point when I think I fulfilled
Speaker 1: my need for modeling and I wanted to settle down
Speaker 1: a little bit more. And I came back to Bratislava
Speaker 1: as well. And it was a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: and ever since I was teaching in a lot before,
Speaker 1: but ever since I've been in Bratislava. Um, there's been
Speaker 1: a full time top for me. And it's another story
Speaker 1: that we have so similar that I'm so proud of
Speaker 1: you how you were able to make that transition from
Speaker 1: one job to basically something completely different. And I think
Speaker 1: we both know how difficult it is, and I think
Speaker 1: that's why we appreciate this new opportunity, but now we
Speaker 1: have a new life. And what what was maybe something
Speaker 1: that challenge you at the beginning being a teacher instead
Speaker 1: of a student of yoga? UM the responsibility because UM,
Speaker 1: practicing is different than teaching, very very different, and there
Speaker 1: is I It was interesting because by teaching I got
Speaker 1: to learn a lot more about yoga by observing different
Speaker 1: bodies and different struggles that people have. UM. I got
Speaker 1: to learn so much more about about poses, about people's
Speaker 1: needs and how to help them. And interesting thing was
Speaker 1: that I think from the beginning I started teaching UH
Speaker 1: yoga one on one. I thought some group classes, but
Speaker 1: I might prefer one on one because you can get
Speaker 1: very specific. And I like the challenge of being a
Speaker 1: little bit of a detective. What your body needs, where
Speaker 1: is the misalignment? What could help you, and then we
Speaker 1: will work on it. And I think that's I find
Speaker 1: that very interesting because you guys so wide and there's
Speaker 1: so many styles, so many yoga offers, so much UM.
Speaker 1: But working with one on one specifically, you're targetting the
Speaker 1: person's needs. UM. That's what it's interesting for me because
Speaker 1: you progress so much more and you can see the
Speaker 1: results very quickly. Well, that's what I love the most
Speaker 1: when we have a class together, that you really listen
Speaker 1: to your clients and you listen to their needs. You
Speaker 1: you feel their body and really customize the class because
Speaker 1: I think for a professional athlete, it's always the danger
Speaker 1: that yes, you know your guys good. But so many
Speaker 1: times I wanted to do it and my coaches were
Speaker 1: like they weren't really sure because they knew that I
Speaker 1: was risking an injury. Where when I started practicing yoga
Speaker 1: with you, I knew that I was never having to
Speaker 1: worry about it because you really you you see the
Speaker 1: body of the client, and thanks to that, the class
Speaker 1: is always going to be amazing. But there was an
Speaker 1: interesting point what you said about not doing things health way,
Speaker 1: when it was the point for you, UM that you
Speaker 1: realize that, okay, it's time to close the door and
Speaker 1: move on to a new chapter in your life. UM.
Speaker 1: It was more like a feeling, like an internal feeling.
Speaker 1: I I had this need of having things more in
Speaker 1: my hands because the modeling, you don't really have it.
Speaker 1: You're always waiting for something for someone, for the client
Speaker 1: to decide for the option to confirm or not UM
Speaker 1: and I really wanted to have something in my hand
Speaker 1: that I would be creating and working on and getting
Speaker 1: better and growing. And there was the other game is
Speaker 1: it really did and uh, and I could really feel
Speaker 1: that this is what this is what I needed to do,
Speaker 1: and this is the direction that I need to go.
Speaker 1: So I tend to listen actually emerge myself. Um, this
Speaker 1: is the subject that I'm most looking forward to to
Speaker 1: be discussing, and that is yoga and professional sports, especially tennis.
Speaker 1: What are the main benefits and why you do you
Speaker 1: think it's so good for at least two to be
Speaker 1: practicing it as well? So we said a little bit
Speaker 1: about like having a variety of movement because especially professional athletes, um,
Speaker 1: are so specifically oriented on like that skill that you
Speaker 1: need you know that that that like angle that you need, right,
Speaker 1: and and I think this is what causes injuries, Like
Speaker 1: you can predict what are your weak points by playing tennis, right,
Speaker 1: It's different for different athletes. Right that work with some
Speaker 1: hockey players as well, and I have some golfers. You
Speaker 1: seem to be working with all the sports just with
Speaker 1: one rotational at least in tennis we have two sides,
Speaker 1: but still a lot of rotation exactly. Um. So UM
Speaker 1: this the repetitive movement causes injury after a while, right,
Speaker 1: But UM, I think yoga offers also recovery. You know,
Speaker 1: you can you can strengthen the joints, you can balance
Speaker 1: left and right side so you have more symmetry and
Speaker 1: there's less compensation. Um, it improves your balance. Um. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of health benefits, but I think the main
Speaker 1: one would be the connection of like you guys, more
Speaker 1: mind and body. So I'm sure I don't have to
Speaker 1: explain to you how important it is to be really
Speaker 1: focused before you serve, right, and everything that goes in
Speaker 1: your mind. How to quiet the mind so that you
Speaker 1: can really be here and now and just breath quite
Speaker 1: the mind, but also being able to stretch it. And
Speaker 1: that's one thing you mentioned ones in our class together.
Speaker 1: And I absolutely love the fact open my mind in
Speaker 1: so many different ways that yoga teaches us with the
Speaker 1: stretching and being in positions that are uncomfortable to be
Speaker 1: the same with our mind, to push us, push ourselves
Speaker 1: and face the things that we don't really want to face,
Speaker 1: and just open our perspective on life. And I think
Speaker 1: that's where I feel the main connection between the body
Speaker 1: and mind. It's um do. Yoga poses are just tools
Speaker 1: and we can use them in different ways that you
Speaker 1: choose for the anatomical benefits, but also as you as you,
Speaker 1: as you said, observe because the poses are like situations
Speaker 1: in our life. It's very like you can take this
Speaker 1: out of the man into the real world and just
Speaker 1: observe and did to know yourself? How do you react
Speaker 1: when things get tough? M when things get challenging? Do
Speaker 1: you do get angry at yourself that you're strong enough
Speaker 1: to criticize? Do you hate the teacher and she's keeping
Speaker 1: you there so long? Um? Do you compare yourself? Right?
Speaker 1: Were like, oh I really knew this, how come this
Speaker 1: is not happening today? Or when you have when you
Speaker 1: don't have balance, you know what's throwing you out of
Speaker 1: your balance? There's so many, so many questions and answers
Speaker 1: as you can get um if you attention. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: That's so well said. I think it's also very similar
Speaker 1: yoga with a tennis match that it really reflects everything
Speaker 1: that's going on inside and more so when you're playing
Speaker 1: appropriatch or when you're on the math doing practicing yoga
Speaker 1: because you really have to face yourself so the issues
Speaker 1: come out even stronger. I would say, what is the
Speaker 1: biggest benefit for yourself that yoga gives you. I think
Speaker 1: it gives me grounded. I always turned to come back
Speaker 1: and turn to come back to yoga when they're stuff
Speaker 1: going on. And I'm a perfectionist and I can get
Speaker 1: very into my head. So when it's just like too
Speaker 1: much pressure, I just go and move and breathe, and
Speaker 1: the mind always fights down after a class and and
Speaker 1: instead of reacting, now I have time, I processed a
Speaker 1: little bit, and I can make better choices. Being a
Speaker 1: little bit more specific, for tennis players, when is the
Speaker 1: best time that you would suggest to make yoga during
Speaker 1: the tournaments or during the practice weeks. So I would say,
Speaker 1: you don't want to really do any intense big stretches
Speaker 1: right before you're about to play. UM. I would keep
Speaker 1: yoga for either after the match if you want to
Speaker 1: do this a recovery or stretch, or maybe on your
Speaker 1: days off in between matches. UM, then you can really
Speaker 1: work on the flexibility and and mobility and or like
Speaker 1: or even stretch. UM out of hockey players go first,
Speaker 1: and tennis players who is more stafferent. Similar, right, guys
Speaker 1: need to be more stiff in general. Um, the girls.
Speaker 1: So that's why girls think. I mean, there's this new
Speaker 1: The girls are better at yoga. Girls are reflexible. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I just love their reactions. Whenever we go to
Speaker 1: practice yoga with other athletes, guys they think, oh, this
Speaker 1: is so easy, right. I think they have the impression
Speaker 1: that you guys just for girls, And then it's nice
Speaker 1: to see them shaking and sweating and realizing that this
Speaker 1: is not stretching to have a class full of guys
Speaker 1: on this like ten athletes. You know, they come, they're
Speaker 1: really strong, but they've been trained in a different way,
Speaker 1: so it's different kind of strength and it's different kind
Speaker 1: of challenge. So this wedding they giving me looks, yeah,
Speaker 1: just quickly and tell me. I know how busy you
Speaker 1: are and how tough it is to for myself to
Speaker 1: get a class with you, which is absolutely great. How
Speaker 1: can people reach out, how they can see maybe some
Speaker 1: of your classes, or how they can have a one
Speaker 1: on one with you. I'm still working on some on
Speaker 1: some online content. Uh, hopefully we'll be coming soon on
Speaker 1: my website. But for the moment, you can reach me
Speaker 1: on Instagram. Um it's Liva oltover Um. You can DM
Speaker 1: me for if you want. UM zoom class I'm teaching
Speaker 1: online especially now, still teaching some life classes here in Slovakia,
Speaker 1: but I know around the world it's a little bit
Speaker 1: more complicated. I have some clients in uh in the US,
Speaker 1: so I know they're staying home. They're very grateful that
Speaker 1: they can still practice. UM. So yeah, dear me on
Speaker 1: on Instagram. So it's actually one of the coolest things
Speaker 1: in your job that you can do this pretty much worldwide,
Speaker 1: not having to travel, and you get such an international crowd. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's good. Um, I'm really happy about this and also
Speaker 1: to be able to see my friends. But I hope
Speaker 1: that we can travel some again and see them life
Speaker 1: because I's like life is always better what we can travel. Right, Okay,
Speaker 1: I know we are about to do finally a class
Speaker 1: together and we're gonna do some videos as well, so
Speaker 1: can people actually can see some of your stretches specific
Speaker 1: four tennis to on our Instagram's YouTube. We're going to
Speaker 1: put it as well, so there's gonna be plenty of content.
Speaker 1: So before making it any longer, let's move to the
Speaker 1: second part, and thank you so much again for our
Speaker 1: podcast today. Yes, and we'll see you actually all very soon.
Speaker 1: Hi there, I hope you have enjoyed today's episode of
Speaker 1: the Real DNA podcast. Don't forget to subscribe either on Spotify,
Speaker 1: EPO Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts from.