Courtesy of Steven Frend/Instagram; Olga Koshimbetova
’90 Day Fiancé’ Star Steven Is Learning to Be ‘Patient and Calm’ on His New Yoga Journey
Getting zen! Life for 90 Day Fiancé star Steven Frend has changed drastically over the last few months. In June, his Russian fiancée Olga Koshimbetova arrived in the United States with their son, Alex, and fans of the hit TLC series know that only meant one thing — as soon as Olga touched down, the couple would only have 90 days to tie the knot. But in the midst of planning their courthouse wedding ceremony, become a husband and adjusting to life as a full-time working daddy of one, Steven decided he needed to also learn how to take care of himself and his health. Recently, the 21-year-old started practicing yoga, and he exclusively opened up to Life & Style about his new fitness journey and how yoga has been helping him in all aspects of his new life.
“Well, I’ve always been into fitness. When I was young, I grew up in Ocean City, Maryland where a lot of people skateboarded and surfed, so that’s what I spent most of my time doing growing up in middle school and partially in high school,” Steven exclusively told Life & Style, while promoting his partnership for mens’ yogawear brand Coroa. “So I’ve always had it in me, but I slowed down skateboarding over time. I’m looking to still stay fit and active and I’m finding ways to do that, and that’s how I came across yoga.”
Now that Steven has decided to begin his yoga journey, he’s been incorporating the ancient practice into his daily fitness routine — and it’s something that Steven, his 22-year-old wife, Olga, and their 1-year-old son, Alex, can do as a family.
“Every morning, Olga and I go out for a run and then when we come back, we always do a small bit of yoga as like a stretch for after our runs,” Steven explained. “We’re trying to learn how to do this with Alex as well. Doing yoga with Alex is still really fun, we’re just trying to learn how to get him interesting in what we’re doing.”
But since he’s working dad of one with a busy schedule, Steven rarely has time to hit his local yoga studios. So he’s been guiding himself on his journey with the help of apps and YouTube — and his faves are YogaGlo and Yoga With Adrienne. So far, his favorite yoga poses are child’s pose — which helps with lower back tension — and balance poses like tree pose and warrior pose.
The reality star is also learning some of the practice’s core principles — which are rewarding but also challenging. “It gives Olga and I a sense of mindfulness, and I’ve been learning to be more patient and calm with it,” Steven added. “I had already been doing meditation before yoga, and I’ve been reading that yoga and meditation are kind of the same thing if you get the breathing technique of yoga right. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do, but I’m still at the beginning of everything, so it’s all still really challenging.”
One thing that Steven found particularly challenging is learning yoga breathing and learning to accept his body’s limitations. “I’m still trying to work with not doing yoga with an ego and actually accepting my body,” Steven said. “I’m not very flexible at the moment so I’m trying to get there. I’m trying to practice breathing as well. I learned that if I’m not breathing properly, it just causes tension in my body. So I’m still trying to get my breathing down.”
Steven has only been practicing yoga for a few weeks, but he’s already noticed how it’s helped change him in his personal life. He explained that the lessons he’s learned in yoga has positively impacted his parenting and his relationship. “The biggest thing is being more patient with myself and with Alex,” Steven said and explained that he is still adjusting to life with his family after Olga and Alex arrived from Russia a few months ago. “She’s going through a whole bunch of homesickness at the moment and Alex is still a baby, so I’m still adjusting to myself with being a full-time dad now. It really helps me find myself and to have a calming time to myself to relieve [stress].”
