Reverse psychology
Keva Victoria inspires people to combine movement, mindfulness, travel and nature.
INTERVIEW: Keva Victoria of Nomadik by Nature
The holistic lifestyle practitioner loves being naked: but it wasn’t always the case
Not all of us are shaped by our upbringing when it comes to arriving at our ultimate attitude to nudity. Many people are brought up to believe that being naked is somehow wrong. Or odd. Or shameful. And then discover naturism as a reaction. In Keva Victoria’s house, things were different.
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and growing up as one of eight children in a liberal environment, Keva explains that her parents “were very comfortable with being nude and would often walk around the house naked. As a kid I thought it was weird! It wasn’t until I got older that I began to understand the freedom and liberating nature of being naked. It probably helped that I was athletic as a kid, participating in track, lacrosse, dance and even rugby in school and college, which involved a lot of time in the communal showers. But what really opened my eyes, after graduating, was taking a gap year to travel around Europe with friends. As an American, it was another world seeing people so comfortable wearing next-to-nothing, and in lots of cases nothing, on the beach. But I still wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge myself.”
Armed with a degree in Hospitality & Tourism but still unsure as to which career path to take, Keva combined work as a freelance producer and performance artist with further travelling, visiting Australia, Hawaii, Colombia and Israel “which left deep impressions on my soul,” she admits. “In Australia and Hawaii in particular I was barefoot, most if not the entire trip. Allowing my feet to connect with the earth on a daily basis felt so natural to me, and made me curious how it would feel to free other parts of my body.
“The first nude beach I went to was on the Big Island of Hawaii after an amazing ecstatic dance at Kalanis Retreat Center. We walked down to the beach where there was a drum circle of elders and young children alike. I remember thinking how everyone looked so beautiful and free in their natural skin, and I was amazed by the array of glistening skin complexions. I was hooked.”
After returning to Boston, Keva continued with performance art, specialising in living art installations, and to supplement her income began working at a gym and “fell into nude life modelling. By now, I had realised how comfortable I was in my natural state. I had become the one who would rip their clothes off and get naked at a pool party or lake any chance I got!”
Freedom
Fast-forward a couple of years and having trained a yoga teacher, Keva moved to Los Angeles. “I missed the freedom of being naked however, and decided to begin offering naked yoga as a way for me to spend more time without clothes, and to be able to share that experience with others.”
The result is Nomadik by Nature, which Keva describes as “encouraging a holistic lifestyle and embodying freedom. I want to inspire people to combine movement, mindfulness, nature, travel and community, to tap their highest potential and create the life of their dreams.”
The name?
“By nature we are nomadic,” she maintains. “That is to say our ancestors used to roam the land in search of safety, food and water. Change was constant and thus stagnation was impossible. Movement allows us to connect deeper with the energies of the earth, and alleviate common problems such as anxiety, depression and mental health issues. I invite others not only to explore the world around them but to explore their inner landscapes. When anybody feels stuck, whether in a job, a relationship, or creatively, movement can help shake things up and create flow.”
And the naked element?
“I am an advocate of the expression ‘free your body, free your mind.’ Nudity not only removes a physical layer but creates an added layer of vulnerability which allows us to delve deeper into our senses and feelings. By connecting with our bodies through naked yoga, we are able to peel back yet one more layer to reveal our truest selves. Once we tune into that, we can begin to feel, and once we begin to feel, at the risk of sounding trite, we can begin to heal. Trusting your body is the first step in trusting one's life, decisions and quite often purpose.”
So how easy is it to encourage others to initially shed those physical layers?
“My classes are intended to be a safe space for students to practice nude yoga, encouraging self-acceptance, body positivity, and the belief that there is nothing wrong with being naked. But I realise that can often be easier said than done. So when I first started, for beginners, I offered three choices: clothing-optional, barely naked, and naked. Clothing-optional required students to wear tops and bottoms, but less clothing than they would in a normal yoga class: in other words doing away with bras, panties, briefs and the like. Barely naked was for those who were curious about their bodies but still a little shy, and either required tops or bottoms, but not both, offering an opportunity to explore the freedom without actually getting fully naked. Naked is self-explanatory. Over time, I found that most people who tried the barely naked classes ended up taking the naked ones, so now these are the only ones I offer outside of ‘standard’ fully-clothed yoga.”
Interest
Keva has been delighted by the response to her venture. “The level of uptake has been really encouraging,” she enthuses, explaining that having had to postpone most of her face-to-face classes during Covid in favour of online tuition, things are now getting back to normal. And interest is growing from new students.
“I think the pandemic has made more people re-assess their life and their attitude to health and wellness. Naked yoga is also becoming more acceptable. I like to begin my classes with a brief guided meditation where we all disrobe together with our eyes closed, and this helps participants relax, especially if they are still a little uncertain at the outset. I do think society as a whole still has a long way to go when it comes to accepting all body types, and especially nudity. However, I try to impart my philosophy that the human body is beautiful and does not constantly need or want to be sexualized. We live in these bodies. I want to show how we can learn to love and respect them.”
Yoga-wise, Keva is currently teaching two naked classes and two clothed classes a week, which she combines with her other work. This includes mindfulness and meditation classes involving breathwork, chanting, music and the spoken word; embodied dance movement workshops; and Rize, a dance experience held at dawn on rooftops using yoga, movement and the sunrise as a resource for inspiration and healing.
“Although most of my other work is clothed, I am looking at how I can incorporate more nudity into my work in a safe and intentional way,” she adds. “At the moment I am open to teaching naked yoga wherever I am invited, including private groups, women's circles, wellness/nudist retreats and womb healing spaces. I’d also love to eventually bring nudity into my conscious dance work.”
A busy lady, Keva is also in the process of completing her training in Soma Source, a life-coaching method unifying the body, heart and mind, as well as holding sacred ceremonies of movement and heart-centred connection.
As travel opens up, more work is in the pipeline. “I have already taught naked yoga at a women’s retreat in Joshua Tree, California,” she explains, “and retreats are in the planning process for Trinidad & Tobago and the Patagonia region of Argentina. I still have the travel bug. I’m always interested in collaborations, and would love to work with a diverse range of groups.
“I’m also trying to get a series of performance art projects off the ground, bringing movement, expression and healing into art spaces. If that can also involve nudity, I’d be delighted.”
