Sure, she�s a Nike poster girl with clients like Ashley Judd, Heather Graham, and John Cusack on speed dial. But Los Angeles-based yoga teacher Seane Corn is more like you than you think. At 39, she works hard, she�s in a long-term relationship with her partner and his three kids, and even she has days when she doesn�t want to practice. Yoga is her passion, but, as she explains to YogaLife�s Kristen Dollard, it�s also the antidote to arm flab, perfectionism, and all the other dramas of the day

Q&A

Q: What first led you to yoga?

A: I moved from New Jersey to New York City alone at age 17 looking for adventure. This was 1984. I had access to�and indulged in�all of the popular drugs. My first job was at the Life Caf� in the East Village, and when my boss, David Life, and coworker, Sharon Gannon, returned from a trip to India they began to advocate yoga and vegetarianism. [The pair went on to open the Jivamukti Yoga Center, a celeb-friendly space in New York City.] Because I saw such positive changes in them, I decided to try it and cleaned up my own act.

Q: Was there a moment when yoga just clicked for you?

A: I was just doing my upward facing dog and chaturangas and loving the way my stomach looked, and one day in a yoga pose, I cried. I didn�t know why I felt such a release. I was overwhelmed. Once that happened the yoga practice went to places I never expected it to go.

Q: Like where?

A: For example, some people�like me�won�t take a break ever. I need the ceiling to fall on my head before I surrender. When I get to that edge, when I am breathing too hard, my personality won�t back down because I�d feel like I let myself or somebody else down. Yoga has taught me how to ease up.

Q: What have you seen yoga do for other women?

A: I�ve seen women remove their implants, stop eating fast food, and walk away from unhealthy relationships. To me, anytime any woman gets on the mat, it�s a victory because they are taking time for themselves.

Q: Do you have any inspiration for days when we just don�t feel like getting on the mat?

A: Just give yourself permission to do 15 minutes. Say, �All right, I�m going to do a couple of sun salutes, a couple of standing poses, an inversion, and I�m good to go.� And leave it alone. Don�t beat yourself up because you didn�t do an hour.

Q: To some, yoga means living in a pure, spiritual realm. Can you be committed to yoga and, at the same time, live in the �real world�?

A: Believe me, in my 20s I wore the mala [prayer] beads and the hemp skirts and tie-dyed T-shirts. I played out all of it. Eventually balance took over, and I started realizing you can live in the material, physical world�you just do it consciously. There is a feeling in the yoga community that there�s some great blessing in being broke and destitute. I don�t agree.

Q: Do you have material-world weaknesses?  

A: I love to shop. I buy myself one beautiful bag a year. It�s very meditative for me, and once in a while, if I get a pair of shoes, a fabulous pair of pants, or a great moisturizer for a ridiculous amount of money, I don�t punish myself for it.

Q: Your last great purchases?

A: A vinyl Marc Jacobs travel bag. And jeans; I have more jeans than any person ever. I run out and buy whatever someone says is the hottest�as long as they make my butt look good.

Q: In class you joke that you�re a horrible person without 2 hours of poses. Really?

A: I can be hard on myself. I can be hard on the people around me. So if I don�t breathe and don�t move every single day, tension just builds in my system, and then it will come out in other ways.

Q: But you always seem so chill and composed.

A: Believe me, I get triggered. I just came home, and I know someone smoked in my car. I left a very nasty message on their cell phone. I am angry, and I�m not going to be all �Om Namah Shivaya� [Sanskrit for �The Lord who dwells in every heart�] about it.

Q: So dealing with stress and problems is what you mean by yoga �off the mat�?

A: Yes. You do the best you can with what you know. A lot of self-forgiveness, trial and error. In every situation you try to find the grace. Life is hard.

Q: So yoga isn�t all love, peace, and happiness?

A: To me, you are not doing your job if you haven�t provoked someone or something. Yoga is braver than that and more assertive than that. It�s not Pollyanna-ish.

Q: And neither are you.

A: Exactly.