Alisa Martens: Yoga helps you find a point of balance

Alisa Martens is a flow yoga and barre instructor, a certified choreographer, a teacher at the Fizmat sport hub.

In an interview with VITAGURU, Alisa talked about her childhood dreams, how she started to practice yoga and how she copes with challenges of life. She also shared her personal wellness rules and dreams about the sea.

Alisa, please tell us about yourself, how did you find your business?

I have always been attracted by creativity in its various manifestations. Since childhood I have been drawing, studied at the art school, where we had general education lessons and specialized classes: painting, drawing graphics, etc. Then I wanted to become an interior designer, but one day hip-hop bumped into my life with huge jeans and a pierced eyebrow and as they say, life was no longer the same! I was completely absorbed in dancing. Even at the age of 14 on summer holidays I have been teaching hip-hop to teenagers like me.

It was at this period that I had a burning desire to do dancing thoroughly, to study as a choreographer. So I did, and in my third year I decided to earn some money and went to work as a fitness instructor. The fitness club where I worked was just opening, and the business owners taught our team of trainers all the basics: anatomy, biomechanics, physiology, aerobics, Pilates, power training.

In general, it was difficult and interesting at the same time.

After graduation, I decided to go further into fitness, and not to the big stage. First of all, I no longer received such pleasure from all this costumes: feathers, bright stones and stage makeup. On the other hand, I really liked being a coach and communicating with people. And yoga came into my life a little bit later.

How did you start practicing yoga and where did you study?

Before my first yoga class, it seemed to me that yoga is something boring and is not for me definitely. One day I dropped into a yoga class when I was completely upset emotionally.

I was simply amazed how my emotional and physical state could change in 1.5 hours. And that’s all, I fell in love! I fell in love in this physical condition during the class and after, in practice, in the feeling of your body.

This first lesson was in the studio of Vyacheslav Smirnov. For about a year, I did it for myself, and took some movements and principles from yoga into my fitness classes. Then I started to study at his school. I took many courses in parallel: some special features of women training, Pilates, classes for pregnant women, anatomy, physiology, the basics of nutrition, stretching. Then books, films and online yoga courses were added to the list.

How did yoga change your life?

Yoga has brought in a lot and continues to bring in, it is an ongoing process. I would say that yoga has thoroughly washed the “windows” I looked through at life. A feeling of purity appeared, I began to feel, hear and understand myself more. A feeling of inner balance and silence started to appear.

Of course, this does not happen always. I can get angry and unbalanced like any human being. But yoga helps a lot to find this balance point. I experience better connection with my body, emotions and feelings. Meditations are opening the heart for love for oneself, for the others and for the surrounding space.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start practicing yoga?

The main advice is to start! Put on sportswear, and spread a mat at home, or go to the studio! Everything genius is simple! I suppose that if there is an inner need for that, then a person will start. If it’s just a trend hunt, then it’s not worth starting.

Many people have fears that they are not flexible or slim enough, or somewhat “not enough” to do yoga. This is complete false: doing yoga will help your body feeling better. If you want to do yoga, you just need to go to the studio and try it, or start practicing online.

How to choose your yoga direction correctly, find your instructor?

There are really many styles of yoga: ashtanga, kundalini, hatha, flow, bikram, etc. It is really difficult to choose your direction, because adepts of, for example, kundalini yoga, may not like ashtanga and vice versa. But you can only realize that by trying.

There is no best style, there is the style that a particular person needs in a particular period.

If a person has not tried at all and does not know what he wants, which style of yoga will be closer to him, then I would advise you to go to a studio where different styles are presented and try. You can make a choice later. I would also say about teachers: try to work with different instructors, communicate with them, ask about their experience.

You will immediately feel the one whom you have contact with; you will continue working together. It is not necessary at all to choose one style or one teacher for life. You can try one for a year. Then something in you will change, and you will prefer to try something new. This is normal.

How do you cope with difficulties and challenges of life? Does yoga help with this?

I think it depends on what kind of a difficulty it is. Sometimes you just need to make a decision, take responsibility for it and manage it. In that case I just go and manage it.

Meditation helps me in spiritual matters. It helps to track your condition, your thoughts, helps to live through this situation, no to hide yourself from it, to let the negative disappear and to start feeling gratitude.

What does a holistic, conscious lifestyle mean to you? Share your personal wellness rules.

To start with, I will say that it is very individual. What is holistic for me may turn out to be quite opposite for another person.

A conscious lifestyle for me, first of all, is about living now, living at the moment and not putting off life for later times.

When we think too much about the past or the future, we miss the very “now”. We can still act and somehow influence our life right now, but making an impact on the past or on the future it is impossible.

If we talk about the rules that support me, then I have a personal list:

The space around me should be clean and light
Mindfulness makes you feeling the ground under your feet
Imperfection is beautiful
Seek depth
Smile more often
Everything I need comes at the right time for me
Breathe deeply more often
Do what you want and have fun. You are the author of your book of life
Get enough of sleep
Eat the food that gives you energy, not the one which takes it away
Feed your senses with something beautiful more often
Tension takes energy, relaxation – fills it up
Feeling fear is quite normal, just take a small step.

What inspires you, helps you stay productive?

I am inspired by my dreams and loved ones. And it helps to stay productive when dreams turn into an action plan written in a notebook.

What do you think is the most important for success? In any sphere of life.

Success is a rather loose concept.

For me, a successful person is someone who does what he loves, he is confident in himself and helps to grow up the seed of confidence in another person with the help of his love.

Can you call yourself a happy person? What does happiness mean to you?

I think there are happy moments that are worth noticing and experiencing. I know how to do it and it fills me with joy.

For me happiness is being where you feel good and spending time with those with whom you feel good. Doing what you want to do. For me, happiness is in the little things, it is in between the lines. This is when a person smiles to me, when you notice how the wind is swaying the leaves in the trees, or when you wake up and think: “It’s so good that I am who I am, and that I am where I am”.

I can also say that a happy person can have bad days too, and that’s normal!

What are you dreaming about?

I’m a dreamer! Globally speaking, I dream that I will always have the opportunity to do what I want.

And if we talk about something concrete, one of my dreams is to spend some period of my life living on a seaside. I want to feel how it is – seeing every day a big chunk of salty water so close.