Gina Caputo is ‘sincere, not serious’
and maybe we should be, too
Gina Caputo has spent decades exploring what it means to practice sincerely—without posturing, perfectionism, or performance. As a headliner at the Bend Yoga Festival, a multi-day yoga festival in Bend, Oregon, she brings a grounded, integrated approach to yoga, meditation, and community.
In this conversation with BYF, she reflects on integration, authenticity, and why taking the work seriously doesn’t require taking ourselves so seriously.
Whole Health as a Living System
BYF: Gina, your path weaves together yoga, meditation, strength training, nutrition, and behavior change coaching. When you look at your own life, how do those disciplines actually relate to one another?
Gina: I experience them less as separate lanes and more as a single system. Yoga grounds me in my body and self-awareness. Meditation trains my focus and my relationship to discomfort. Strength training builds capacity and confidence. Nutrition supports energy and recovery. Behavior science supports all of it—it’s the through-line on my lifelong evolutionary journey.
BYF: And when you’re working with others, how do you help people integrate all of that without it becoming overwhelming or perfection-driven?
Gina: Integration of the whole self is the key. I help people stop chasing perfection or “perfect conditions” and instead build systems that fit their actual lives. We look at nervous system state, habits, identity, environment, and expectations. Whole Health becomes something you live, not something you perform or achieve.
“I help people stop chasing perfection or “perfect conditions” and instead build systems that fit their actual lives.”
Sincere, Not Serious
BYF: You founded The Yoga Potluck as an online community rooted in exploration and shared practice. What sparked its creation?
Gina: The spark was two-fold. The online yoga I was teaching elsewhere began to feel inauthentic to me—too polished, too driven by profit. I wanted to create a space that felt human, grounded in curiosity, and rooted in real relationship with a community of seekers.
BYF: You often describe the Potluck as “sincere, not serious.” How does that philosophy show up there?
Gina: We take the Yoga body of work seriously, but not ourselves. We explore honestly, we laugh, we share what’s working and what isn’t. We celebrate epiphanies and also unpack confusion or hard feelings. It’s a communal place where practice meets real life—without posturing or perfectionism. When I say “come as you are,” I truly mean it.
What Teaching Really Asks of Us
BYF: You’ve taught around the world and owned studios in multiple cities before settling into your work in Boulder and online. Looking back, what have those different contexts taught you about the heart of teaching yoga?
Gina: They’ve taught me that the heart of yoga has very little to do with style, sequencing, or trends. What matters is presence. Attunement. Humility. People everywhere want to feel seen and supported. More than being impressed, they want sincerity and authenticity from a teacher.
BYF: What tends to create the most meaningful moments for you as a teacher?
Gina: Creating conditions of acceptance and permission. Permission to feel, to rest, to try, to be exactly where you are. That lesson continues to shape how I teach and coach today.
Meditation, Change, and Community
BYF: Meditation—especially Vipassana—is a central practice for you. How has it shaped your approach to yoga, coaching, and community building?
Gina: Vipassana taught me how to stay with what is actually happening, rather than what I wish were happening—and to trust that what’s happening is impermanent. That skill has changed everything.
In yoga, it softened my need to control outcomes or how my teaching is received. In coaching, it helps me listen beneath the words and empathize more deeply. In community building, it reminds me that people don’t need to be managed—they need to be met. Meditation gave me patience, discernment, and a deep respect for inner experience.
Why Behavior Change Actually Sticks
BYF: Behavior change is central to your work. What’s a misconception people often have about change—and what’s the first step most people skip?
Gina: Many people believe motivation comes first—that they need more discipline, more willpower, or better conditions before they begin. What they often skip is excavating their values: the deeply meaningful why behind wanting to change.
They also tend to skip stabilizing their environment and expectations and jump straight into action, which rarely lasts. Real change begins with values and with designing conditions that make follow-through easier and self-trust possible. Change sticks when it feels doable, identity-aligned, and supported—not heroic.
“Change sticks when it feels doable, identity-aligned, and supported—not heroic.”
Retreat as Remembering
BYF: The retreats you lead—from Ubud to other destinations—blend movement, mindfulness, and cultural immersion. What’s an unexpected transformation you’ve witnessed on those journeys?
Gina: One of the most unexpected things I see is how quickly people soften and become curious when they step out of their usual roles. Away from caretaking, productivity, and routine identity, people remember themselves—not just who they are to others, but who they actually are.
I see people reconnect with playfulness, strength, creativity, and agency in ways they didn’t realize they were missing. The shift may not look dramatic on the surface, but it’s profound internally. They return home more available to their own lives.
Gina Caputo will be presenting at the 2026 Bend Yoga Festival in Bend, Oregon, where yoga, meditation, and immersive outdoor experiences like forest bathing and hiking meet in community-centered practice.