YogaPhile: Lisa Edelstein

As told to Dana Meltzer Zepeda

The House actress explains to Dana Meltzer Zepeda how yoga saved her back

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a teenager—when I was a kid, they called me Rabbit—but I grew up in a family where we had meat everyday, and where green beans were gray. I didn’t try broccoli until I was 16.

I eat chocolate every day and I have an aggressive life. I drive like a New York cabbie. I’m a bobber and a weaver.

You have to constantly let go. That includes your pain. Pain is always going to come and pain is always going to go. It’s just part of life. These are things that we all know but to have that tangible experience on the mat daily is a nice, healthy reminder.

When you approach postures that are terrifying or painful and you breathe calmly—that is useful for the rest of your life.

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