Deal with your stress. Ali Sacach-Johnson, 36, says that�s one of the best pieces of advice she has ever been given. It led her to discover yoga. An expert skier and a brand-marketing manager for Salomon, Sacash-Johnson lives with her husband, Steve, in Portland, Oregon. Here�s how her practice shapes and changes her everyday life.


How she got started
We were coming off a particularly hectic winter, including a 6-week stint at the 2002 Olympics. I was pretty new in my job, and all the things that happen when you�re new�lots of stress, both personal and professional�really got to me. My boss telling me to find stress relief was one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. My first Ashtanga class was cathartic. My muscles were quaking in some of the poses, and I couldn�t complete many of them, which gave me something to work toward. And although I now know how important it is to focus inward, I was completely inspired by the amazingly fit bodies practicing around me.

When she knew she was hooked
Last year I was hiking with my husband in Tasmania for our honeymoon, and all of a sudden I felt a little empty. I started to almost mourn not going to my Ashtanga classes. When I got back, I started going religiously and started practicing nearly every day.

Her yoga life
I have a theory that different types of yoga work for different types of people. As a former competitive gymnast, I found that Ashtanga�s mix of strength and flexibility was a lot like my gymnastics background. Most important, yoga has simplified my life. I used to concoct crazy workout schedules to get in my strength, cardio, and flexibility. Inevitably, I would let myself down by not accomplishing the half of it. By doing Ashtanga four or five times a week, I hit all three core aspects of fitness, plus got the benefits of meditation.

Her attitude adjustment
The way that yoga has taught me to work methodically on a difficult pose also provides the skills to attack a sketchy slope. If you just hurl yourself at it, chances are good that you might get hurt. But if I breathe and focus on what specific muscles are doing, I begin to deconstruct what is going on. That enables me to have more control, which makes me more confident to go for ski runs that I might not otherwise attempt.

Her words of wisdom
We all have wants. Wanting to weigh 5 pounds less. Wanting a new car. I think that right now my practice is helping me really take stock and really cherish and enjoy what I have. That�s the great thing about yoga. When you first start, it�s all about the poses and the stretching and the physical stuff, but then it deepens. Now it affects me in a much deeper way, and it has spread through my life.