This Yoga Life

By Paige Greenfield

One woman and her practice

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.

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