We were lucky to catch up with Gina Aliotti recently and have shared our conversation below.
Gina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
The industry standard when it comes to health and fitness seems to be focusing on going harder, pushing more, doing more where my methods and approach come from a much more balanced approach of doing LESS and using other modalities to calm the nervous system and allow the mind, body and soul to become aligned and it is from that place where all results happen and are sustained. I use the power of movement combined with breath, stillness, meditation and inner reflection to listen into what the body needs not what the individual thinks they need. It is a common theme that to get more results, one has to do more, push more and grind harder but the opposite is true and it has been through my years of personal and professional coaching that has proven this to be the truth. In a world where everyone is being forced to go, it is truly in the slow where all the magic happens. When one can learn to trust themselves, the process and rewire the brain from thinking more is it, suddenly there is more harmony in the mind, body and soul which is where the real inside out transformation occurs. It is my mission to help women find inner harmony and balance so they can free themselves from social norms and standards and finally see that it is in the surrendering to the slow where fitness alignment and freedom lies.
Gina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a mind-body-soul wellness coach born and raised in Monterey Ca now residing in Carlsbad, Ca. Growing up in a health minded family, I found my love for health, nutrition and fitness at a young age. While going to college for a degree in Foods and Nutrition from SDSU, I became a top IFBB Figure competitor, working hard to build my mind and body throughout my career. Hard work became ingrained in who I was and how I tackled my goals. In 2009 the competitive years came to an end as I choose to focus on my marriage and starting a family. As a new mom, I began looking for a new way to channel my competitive nature while connecting with myself and this next chapter of life. I wanted the same “satisfaction” of reaching my goals but one that wouldn’t require the same amount of time commitment or grind- that could potentially lead to burnout and injury. I turned all of my focus towards working out at home and saw the power of doing less and not killing myself with countless hours of working out. I shared my knowledge and style of workouts with other women from all over the world who were also trying to make fitness a priority while living a busy life. Through my 101 coaching and G-Fit App, I have helped 10,000’s of women from across the globe see that less is more and it isn’t about more- it’s about more QUALITY, which in turn leads to reaching your goals in a realistic way.
As a fitness enthusiast, I am always interested in new and other ways to continue to dig deeper, grow and expand in order to tap into and activate our inner potential. After continuing on my own journey and helping women on theirs, I started to see a common theme and mindset that was coming up for everyone- rather than slowing down people are feeling the need to go harder in order to stay afloat in this game we call “life”. People are feeling overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out with no end in sight. In the world we live in and the social influence, people are going against themselves and nature, in hopes to keep up. This race to keep up is only causing inner turmoil, stress, fatigue, weight gain, and feeling completely out of alignment with what is real. I began to see it so clearly that it was NOT about getting in a workout, it was actually about turning inward and cultivating an internal sense of calm and distraction free environment. It was NOT about going harder, it was about going slower and with intention. It was NOT about doing more, it was about doing less and removing the ongoing stress from life.
I personally, found myself trying to stay above waters and overwhelmed by the layers of life. I knew there had to be another way and that THIS was not normal, healthy or sustainable. I was turned onto meditation and everything changed. The inner expansion and answers started to flow. I started incorporating meditation into my personal life and coaching. I started to witness sickness being reversed, bodies being transformed, minds being shifted, women getting unstuck and re-motivated and an overall sense of calm shinning through.
It became very clear to me that while working out and strength is important, it cannot be used as an outlet to bypass the stress and emotion of every day life . Just like in nature, we have the balance of all elements, we must have the same balance within our human design and approach to life. Everyone is focusing on the FIRE but what about the other elements?!
My curiosity continued and I wanted to keep learning more and seeing what else was out there to go even deeper into our soul and hearts. What other modalities can allow us to tap into our own wisdom? My curiosity led me to discover breathwork. Within my first, 1 hour breathwork session, I had such a deep response to the magic of my own breath. I saw myself in a different light. I began to feel myself outside of my fit body, that I had been my identity for all these years. It was in that moment, I started to understand how powerful we are as humans. I started to see clearly that the cry for help and solutions is not outside of us, it is all within us. I have always been fascinated by our ability to change our physical state but now witnessing our ability to change our mental state- this was another level… It is from this state, where real answers lie. It is so much more than a great workout or eating healthy, it is about tapping into our inner potential to witness our power within and use that to guide our path. Knowing that you are your own guru and truly tapping into that, frees you from thinking answers are outside of you. I knew this was a modality I wanted to incorporate into my coaching and became a breathwork facilitator.
Between the early years of competing to expanding into mediation and breathwork, everything has come full circle for me as to what truly cultivates a REAL inside out mind-body-soul transformation. Now it is my mission to share these modalities and teachings with others that are ready to receive their own magic. It is from this deeper state of transformation, we find balance and harmony within our cells and therefore all of life.
My goal is to bring awareness to the magic and power we have within each and every one of us. It isn’t a matter of who has it, it is a matter of when someone is ready to activate their power and free themselves from what has been holding them back all along.
Aside from my current offerings, I am currently in the process of creating a program that will bridge ALL the elements together for a full mind, body, soul transformation that can be achieved in a 45 minute sequence. It is through this realistic method we can bring about the most balanced and ALIGNED version of you. Stay Tuned…
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Growing up as a competitor, in order to get to the level of competition, your drive and willingness to take things to the next level has to be ingrained in you. You have to have a no excuse mindset, push yourself, in mind and body, to extremes in order for your body to get past status quo. Any competitor could relate to the time, dedication and hustle you have to have to be at the competitve level. The sacrifice and willingness to dig deep every day was something that got me to where I got. It was a beautiful journey and so many lessons learned however shifting out of that mindset and unlearning the ways of DOING to BEING has been the biggest lesson to unlearn. I also grew up in a household that taught me extreme work ethic and following the mindset of work hard, nobody else is going to do it for you. This again, cultivated so much of waht lead to my success on the stage and in my business evolution however there becomes a time when you have to check in and evaluate what is working and what is not. We are living a world of do, go, more and that was me for several years. It worked well and served its purpose, until it didn’t. The past few years have been about unlearning the old ways to step into the new ways of BEING. Channeling more of my feminine flexible energy. Undoing the person who I thought I had to be to get to where I wanted to be to becoming the person I want to be by doing things with a different mindset. So much of how I lived my life and ran my life was engrained in me on a subconscious level. It was through my deeper dive within and through mediation and breathwork that what was revealed to me was that it is not about the hustle it is about the Alignment- alignment back to your heart. You can be hustling and aligned and things can work but when you are hustling and out of alignment, it can be a sure way to emotional, physical and mental burnout- which is where I landed. It has been a beautiful journey of giving myself more grace, going at my own pace and leaning more into trusting my heart vs. leading from more of a left brain “should”, logical mindset. The more I unlearn the old ways and step into the new, I feel more and more free to be exactly where I am meant to be and trust the process.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I am currently in the midst of a personal and professional shift. Professionally- After working with 10000’s of women from all walks of life I have seen so clearly the struggles women are facing and how they are going about dealing with them. I am witnessing the level of stress, overwhelm and overload that is surrounding us on a daily. The amount of mental and medical conditions that are evolving out of the current “system” and ways of doing things are not getting to the root of the issue. I am BIG on getting to the root of the issue and trusting in our own inner guide to tell us what we need most. Most people come to me wondering how to get in the best physical shape of their life and are blaming everything for why their body is not responding. People are so focused on the FIRE Element- the harder workouts, doing more, never taking a day off thinking that it’s all about the grind to get results. Most want the hardest workout and quickest results. What they don’t realize is the state of physical stress they are putting on their body. Our bodies are constantly being faced with stressors on a daily basis and this is only adding to inflammation causing so many health issues.
They don’t know how to slow down and breathe. They are wondering why they are constantly bloated, having GI issues, unable to lose weight and “intolerant” to almost all foods. The blame is put on things outside of them when in reality it is the internal chaos and nervous system that needs to be addressed. Through my work with my clients, I have helped them get their mind and body aligned and unlearn their old ways of doing things. It is from this place of using the power of LESS, slowing down, leaning in, trusting themselves and re-writing their story we are able to free them from the years (and years) of distress and frustration to finally heal their mind and body and get to the root of what is really going on.
Professionally, I see the importance for the physical (FIRE) element to living a balanced life however just like in nature, it is a balance of ALL elements (fire, water, air, earth, ether) that allows us to come into ALIGNMENT. Just like Nature knows best, our bodies know best. It is important to access all elements and modalities in order to truly live your inside out best balanced life ever.
The first issue is teaching people there are OTHER ways to reach their goals and that includes slowing down. The second issue is helping people to learn how to incorporate all elements into their daily life in a realistic way. That is why I am putting together a sequence that will allow people to experience all the elements for a complete mind-body-soul transformation in a realistic way.
Personally, I have been on my own growth journey and continue to learn any and all natural modalities that allow us to go deeper into the essence of who we are. From expanding beyond strength workouts into yoga and flexibility and now incorporating breathwork and meditation into my practice, the blend of EVERYTHING has truly allowed me to step into a new version of me that feels so free and beautiful. Every modality has its place and definitely helped me to become the person I am today, freeing me from old ways and stories. What I found from all of my trainings is, I would LOVE the teachings but wonder how I would fit that into my every day life. Then I would attend another training and LOVE the teachings and ask the same question… That is amazing and I see the power but how do I now add that into my stacked routine and life. I realized that there is POWER in so many modalities out there but hard to fit it all in. That is where my Ahhaaa came into place.
We need to practice ALL elements on a daily basis in order for us to fully heal and transform our current, past and future selves. in order to live in the business of today, we need a way to add in all modalities from strength, flexibility, stillness, breathing and diving deeper into our hearts to to live a harmonious and healthy life.
This is where my personal and professional shift comes in…. (currently under way)
I want everyone to witness this for themselves. I have seen how much simplifying my life, giving a bit more grace and trusting in the process has unlocked a new sense of confidence, creativity and truth to my life. In a world where we have so many questions, when you become solid in your own truth – everything makes sense. I am on a mission to help people to slow down and trust that they have all the answers- it’s just a matter of if they are willing to do the inner work to listen to themselves.
The biggest shift in my business and personally is that I am leading more from a soul, heart felt intuitive state vs. how I think things “should be” or how I think I “should do things”. When you lean into your heart, everything you produce is felt and transmitted differently.
I am excited about the shifts I am in the midst of and to deliver the magic to everyone ready and willing to learn that there is another way…
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ginaaliotti.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ginaaliotti
- Facebook: CURRENTLY HACKED SO NOT AVAILABLE :(
- Youtube: www.ginaaliotti.com/youtube
Image Credits
Crystal Looney Photography