In just a month it already feels like a new world. We have a president who wears a mask, recognizes science, and very importantly is making steps in the right direction for our environment. In a lot of ways, I feel that the pandemic has awaken us to what is truly important to us — our loved ones, our health, and our future. While we are navigating this current situation, it is very important to not forget about the other issues on hand. Climate change is hot on our heels! I mean, Texas is frozen over, while ice caps are melting.

We talk about sustainable improvements to our lives, but one of my favorite is fashion. Fashion is notorious for being very wasteful, but it doesn’t have to be! There is an ever increasing array of designers who are eco-friendly and amazing! But while I feel people are starting to notice this, we are not talking as much about one part of fashion that can also be sustainable and vegan, shoes! So, I thought, what would be a better way to show off some amazing sustainable shoe brands than on a contortionist! Side note: Victoria Gibbs doesn’t think she is a contortionist, but if she isn’t she is certainly up there for me. If you can put your feet over your head and put them on the ground, then I’m convinced you are a contortionist!

On addition to showing off amazing shoes in a cool way, Victoria talks with us about health, wellness, being very bendy, and her work with Lupus. To learn more about Victoria, please read our exclusive interview below.

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Foreword by Kira Bucca, Editor in Chief of Jejune Magazine.

Where are you based?
I grew up in Princeton, NJ and now I’m based in New York City.

You are a six-time competitive yoga athlete, four-time New York Regional Champion. Can you please tell us what that means and what got you into yoga?
There is a small competitive circuit of yoga athletes who participate in asana competitions. Think of it as the Olympics for yoga. There are various levels of competition; regionals, super regionals, nationals, and international. The framework is much like that of gymnastics, each competitor has three minutes to complete a six posture routine, four compulsory and two optional. Factors that are included in the judging process are timing, execution, form, and degree of difficulty. All of the athletes are very strong. Generally speaking, degree of difficulty, as well as mindset, are what sets one athlete apart from another. It’s a very humbling process that teaches you a lot about yourself. Likewise, in 2018, I qualified to compete at the International Yoga Sports Federation competition which was held in Beijing, China. An exceptionally beautiful experience competing on behalf of the United States.

I am a former ballet dancer, but after college I stopped dancing “cold turkey” and needed something to fill that void. It wasn’t until I was 26 that I found yoga and it has slowly transformed my life over the years. I’m now 35 and it has been the most rewarding journey.

What you can do with your body could be described as superhuman. Can you tell us a little bit about your flexibility journey? Have you always been flexible?
Thanks to ballet I’ve always had innate flexibility, however, over the last two years is when I have really begun to tap into deeper spinal flexibility. Trying new things and experiencing deeper levels of flexibility truly excites me and I now work weekly with a contortion teacher, Sam Tenen. Mind you, contortion is an art form unlike any other and while I would never consider myself a contortionist, my weekly practice has certainly deepened my flexibility in a way that I never would have imagined. It’s actually very exciting to watch my progression.

To do what you do, you have to train a lot. Can you explain your training schedule?
I actually don’t train as much as people think. I work with my contortion teacher once a week, I practice yoga three times a week and do pilates once a week. I’ve actually recently incorporated weight training into my routine, right now I do that twice a week, however, I plan to increase that to three times a week. In addition, I get weekly homework assignments from my contortion teacher so I generally practice those every other day to ensure that my practice continues to evolve. I never thought that this would be my primary focus in life but I truly welcome it with open arms. It’s given me so much peace and direction in my life.

A lot of people equate yoga practice with wellness. Can you tell us your thoughts on this? Would you recommend yoga to others who are trying to live a healthier lifestyle?
I think that there is a big correlation between yoga practice and wellness. When I commenced my yoga practice, I was totally broken and started to see life differently. I began to have mental and physical clarity that I had never experienced before and it forced me in some greater capacity to work on the things that haunted me, my demons, and less than ideal lifestyle choices.

I would absolutely recommend yoga to others who want to live a healthier lifestyle. Honestly, I recommend yoga to everyone. The more that you dive into both the meditation and asana practice the more you will learn about yourself, and one day, find mental and physical clarity and peace within one’s life. It teaches you about your body and forces one to listen to their body. I crave yoga and anyone that I’ve introduced it to inevitably craves it as well. It’s a win-win. Even my eating habits changed, my body craves healthier things now and I always feel amazing after a meditation or yoga practice and that feeling is what I wish for others.

As an athlete do you keep to a strict diet?
My diet is relatively strict, however, I do indulge from time to time. My sweet tooth is terrible but I don’t crave the sweets as much as I used to. I eat a lot of oats, fruit, protein, and vegetables. I drink only water (sparkling and still), tea, and sip on the nitro cold brew throughout the day. I tend to stay away from carbs but occasionally I eat some complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and squash. Overall, my diet is pretty clean.

Jejune loves that you are an ambassador of the Lupus Foundation of America. Can you tell us a little bit about the Lupus Foundation of America, and what inspired you to work with them?
The Lupus Foundation of America is the most wonderful organization that does everything in its power to facilitate important research on autoimmune disease. They also work to educate and raise awareness around the disease, for those both suffering with and without lupus. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, they raise funds for research.

I was inspired to work with the foundation as an ambassador after I was diagnosed with lupus nephritis in June of 2016. With that, I began to share my story very candidly, attended speaking engagements to educate those about what life is like with lupus, and have hosted various events to raise funds for the organization, which inevitably, is put towards facilitating research. Before my diagnosis, I had never even heard of lupus.

You have had your own battles with Lupus. Can you tell us a little bit about Lupus and your own experiences? What is it like living with Lupus?
Lupus is typically defined as a cruel and unusual disease. It affects the body in a myriad of ways — from constant fatigue, joint pain, to bodily inflammation. I have kidney lupus and work very closely with a nephrologist and rheumatologist and do routine bloodwork to track my health. Prior to my diagnosis, I spent months not understanding what was happening to my body. It started out with a sunburn, and eventually led to sores in my nose and mouth, my hair began falling out in clumps, my face exploded, I was sleeping about 20 hours a day, experienced severe fevers and night sweats, my body was completely inflamed, I had terrible blood blisters on my fingers, I began to lose my motor skills and I was blacking out, which is technically referred to as brain fog. My body was giving up and attacking me and I couldn’t understand why.

Life with lupus is manageable. It has certainly taught me to be appropriately selfish and to listen to my body. If I’m exceptionally tired, it means that I need extra sleep, if I start to notice that my joints are becoming inflamed I get some bloodwork done and check in with my doctor to see if I need to make adjustments to my daily medication. Generally speaking I am fine, but there as some days when I can’t even drag myself out of bed. I try my best to maintain low levels of stress as that can trigger a flare-up. When I get a flare-up, it sets me back significantly. My last big flare-up I spent a week in the hospital and it took about four months before I began to feel like myself. Rest and clean eating are very important as well, I always sleep a minimum of 8 hours a night.

It seems like Lupus is one of those diseases that many people don’t know a lot about. What is something you wished more people understood?
Sometimes I still don’t even understand what I’m dealing with when it comes to lupus. That said, there is nothing in particular that I wished more people understood. However, in general, I wish that people would understand the importance of being compassionate. The disease is so random that if anyone knows someone living with lupus, take some time to educate yourself. I cancel sometimes on people last minute and initially, I don’t think that they understood why. Of course, it’s not because I don’t want to see them, it’s more about the fact that I’m exhausted or feel awful because my body is actively in pain and simply needs to rest.

How has Lupus impacted your yoga journey?
Initially, lupus impacted my yoga journey in a big way. Prior to my diagnosis, I was so sick during a National yoga competition in May of 2016. I was already struggling terribly at that time and when I stepped on stage to compete, I literally collapsed. I stopped practicing immediately after that and honestly never thought that I would practice again. My lupus has taught me that I can’t practice the way in which I would like to every single day. I’m very selective about my workout routine and if I start to feel bad, I take a few days off from yoga and just let my body relax. It’s not what I want to do, I actually feel lazy during those times but it’s taught me that I have no choice, it’s either rest or have a flare-up. In addition, because my practice is a bit more extreme and intense than the average person, yoga has actually taught me when my body is doing well versus when it’s not. If I can’t do the extreme backbend or my joints hurt while practicing, it’s definitely a sign that I need to take a few days off and relax. It’s hard because I thrive on physical activity and I truly believe that the mental and physical benefits of yoga have helped me more successfully manage my lupus nephritis. However, I’ve learned to listen, reluctantly slow down sometimes, and give my body what it needs.

What advice do you have for anyone suffering from Lupus?
My biggest advice is to listen to your body and stay close to one’s physicians. It’s so important to ask questions, educate yourself and those around you, rest, eat well, maintain low levels of stress, and keep up with an appropriate amount of physical activity.

What advice do you have for people interested in getting into yoga or taking their flexibility to the next level?
I would tell people who are interested in trying yoga to just sign up for a class and show up with no expectations and keep an open mind. For those interested in increasing flexibility, if you’re brand new, then taking a yoga class with a person that you respect/admire is a good place to start. Already practicing yoga and looking to improve flexibility, find a person whose practice you respect, reach out to them, and see if they offer private lessons or if they can recommend you to someone. I think that one on one lessons are so valuable and definitely recommend them for people who want to improve their practice. I have a few clients that I work with privately, their practices are all so different and I can get very detailed working with them individually as opposed to if they were taking my group class.

It looks like you have a few retreats coming up. Can you tell us a little bit about those?
I do have some retreats coming up. I have one in Greece that is scheduled for September 2021 and one in Morocco that is scheduled for March 2022. My Greece retreat is a bit more relaxing and luxurious, with daily yoga and meditation and lots of spa treatments on the beautiful island of Crete. My Moroccan retreat is very busy; daily yoga and meditation but we’ll be city hopping and really immersing ourselves in the culture.

Have you had to make adjustments because of COVID?
Both retreats were rescheduled due to covid and to be honest, my Greece retreat might be rescheduled again. It’s so hard, while people are ready to travel they are still scared. I personally would like to move on and live my life but I don’t want to be irresponsible. That said, while dates technically are to be determined, at some point, I will have these retreats!! Hop to my website to learn more.

Studios across the world have been closed down because of the pandemic. How has this impacted your training?
Oddly, it hasn’t impacted my training at all. The studios that which I frequented quickly shifted gears and began offering virtual classes. They didn’t skip a beat and neither did I. Actually, I began taking different classes that I probably never would have considered if it weren’t for the pandemic. Granted, I do miss the physical presence of community but the virtual offerings have brought about a different sense of community that I have gravitated towards. Initially, virtually practicing contortion with my teacher was challenging, but I made the most of it. However, I’m very grateful to be safe working with her in real life at this time as my practice is improving at a more rapid rate.

How are you staying positive during a shelter in place?
I’ve definitely gotten into a pretty solid routine of taking classes, teaching classes and creating content. In the beginning, it was challenging, my lupus was flaring up and I have not spent more than a long weekend at home in Princeton since high school. It was a shock to my system, I was starting to lose it a bit, my body was failing me, and I was starting to panic. When my lupus began to improve I started practicing and teaching yoga again, I got back into my meditation and stayed completely aware of my surroundings and how they were making me feel. I spoke up and let my family know exactly what I needed in order to thrive. It was hard but we worked together to find the balance. I constantly manifested good vibes, did everything in my power to stay completely positive, looked for new work opportunities, and just kept planning for the future. Likewise, staying connected to my extended family and dear friends got me through.

To learn more about Victoria Gibbs, please follow her via the below platforms:
www.whatgibbsnyc.com
Instagram: @whatgibbs

Team Credits:
Photography: Kira Bucca
Stylist: Rudy Reed
Hair and Makeup: Asha Smith
Photo Assistant: Michael Newman
Illustrator: Seb Westcott

COVER - The Wellness Of Sustainability