I never looked at magazines before I started modeling. I was 13 or 14, and none of my friends were into magazines. We were into the fashion of the day, though.

Ayurveda is a sister philosophy to yoga. It is the science of life or longevity and it teaches about the power and the cycles of nature, as well as the elements.

Yoga has brought me to the part of religion I really like - the positive sides of religion, the parts we all share, rather than the things that create separation.

Parents should not smoke in order to discourage their kids from smoking. A child is more likely to smoke when they have been raised in the environment of a smoker.

If Mom is healthy, then her child is more likely to thrive, more likely to have a better quality of life and, ultimately, better able to provide for his or herself.

I want my daughter to see that I am a professional and have commitments, but that I'm there when the family needs me, and so is their father. In some cases, more so.

I have healed myself through sharing my birth story as well as others' stories in my film 'No Woman, No Cry,' and in various writings and talks about maternal health.

Giving birth was probably the most empowering thing I've ever done physically. I was like, 'Now I can do anything. I can run a marathon... I can run three marathons!'

In parts of the world where basic infrastructures like paved roads and transportation systems are underdeveloped, people walk for days to reach a health care provider.

I don't think that artists of any kind would or could sacrifice their artistic freedom by being more responsible with their influence on people, especially young people.

If we truly value humanity, life, and all that it represents in its highest form, then we need to do all that we can to promote quality of life over the quantity of life.

Yoga is so universal in its principles and so holistically beneficial, it is possible for any person, young or old, religious or agnostic, to embrace and enjoy a practice.

I usually run in the morning and like to have something substantial but light to eat before and after. My go-to choices are either a banana with almond butter or a smoothie.

It turns out that cholera is new to Haiti. It was inadvertently introduced by a group of U.N. peacekeepers stationed in central Haiti who had come from South Asia where it is endemic.

After delivering my daughter in 2003, I endured and survived a hemorrhage, the leading childbirth-related complication that takes the lives of thousands of other mothers all over the world.

Those of us focused on issues related to social justice and equality are grateful for the significant steps President Obama has made to advance women's equality and status all over the world.

Even though Haitian women are considered the 'poto mitan' - the 'central pillars' of the family and their communities - they are often the most underserved members of already poor communities.

My weight fluctuates, and I haven't always been skinny. I became curvier in my twenties, but I never felt self-conscious about it; going through different periods is all part of being a woman.

In the world of maternal health, cell phone technology is being used to provide prenatal care, linking pregnant women to health care providers when they can't otherwise reach healthcare facilities.

In retrospect, I think a lot of '80s fashion shoots are the ones that look the most modern. The fitness-based ones that are really minimal. It's clean, healthy, t-shirt, beach hair... it's athleisure.

There are disparities in accessing quality maternity health care in most every country, and most all health systems could and must be improved upon if we want to create healthy families who will thrive.

Yoga is an integral part of my daily routine. That definitely helps me approach all aspects of my life from a place of mindfulness and clarity, through the meditation that usually accompanies this practice.

When 1970s feminism hit the United States, women demanded the right to natural childbirth and to have their husband or another support person in the delivery room. My mother gave birth to me during this time.

As long as I was breathing with the contractions and not pushing against them, I felt better. That idea is fundamental-to feel pain and not to resist; to go towards it. It is an incredibly spiritual practice.

I have good skin, but it's dry - drier than you would think, considering I have Latin skin. It's fairly transparent, too, so I'm constantly trying to give it nourishment and moisture, but nothing really holds.

I always run without music. Being disconnected is what I'm addicted to more than anything. There aren't many places where you can be without your phone and computer. I've started to crave and enjoy that time alone.

Getting older is baggage for so many people but I don't spend time on things I can't control. Wrinkles don't scare me; they're a part of life, and I will and do embrace them, but I look at surgery, and that scares me.

I've always loved those portraits that Alfred Stieglitz did of Georgia O'Keeffe over several years, which really convey the idea that there's not one image that can capture a woman, because we're changing all the time.

There have been so many photographers and editors who mentored me over the years. At the very beginning, the person who taught me the most was Arthur Elgort. I always loved working with him. We traveled a lot together.

As a Global Maternal Health Advocate, I get to travel the world quite a bit, meeting individuals and visiting programs with tremendous potential and incredible vision to improve the quality of life for countless others.

Every year, more than 1 million children are left motherless and vulnerable because of maternal deaths, and children who have lost their mothers are up to 10 times more likely to die prematurely than those who have not.

I think mothers are so important. I mean, it seems like such an obvious thing to say, but I think we don't really express that enough, apart from one day a year. So I think we need to come together and celebrate us every day.

When I was seven months pregnant with my son, my mother and I took a trip to El Salvador, where she's from. Frequent visits with her to see my extended family have taught me how different life can be if you are born into poverty.

As a global community, we have to start thinking more seriously about whether there are limits to what our earth can bear and if we're willing to cope with the struggle for limited resources, which only seem to increase as our population does.

I'm flattered by the offers I receive, but there's no real strategy to the way I choose what to do these days. If I'm in a good mood and have the time, I'm more likely to consider it. Often the photographer and team are important factors, too.

Every Mother Counts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. We inform, engage, and mobilize audiences to take action and raise funds that support maternal health programs around the world.

We're living in miraculous times where connections are made at the blink of an eye, the tap of a thumb, and the click of a mouse. We can never replace human interaction, but these simple actions can be powerful and meaningful to those we connect with.

Like so many new moms, I felt anxiety over the impending birth of my daughter. However, most of the anxiety I felt was around the idea of raising a child. I wasn't focused on potential risks to my health or hers that could occur during the actual birth.

Imagine a world where mothers take as good care of themselves as they do their children and a world where mothers are so supported they're able to do that. That's the world we all need to create because our children, families, and communities are depending on us.

I remember doing a shoot for Herb Ritts, hanging off the Eiffel Tower - that wasn't your usual day at the office. It was terrifying, and in the end, you couldn't really tell how high I was because the photographer was scared of heights, so he was quite far away from me.

I grew up Catholic. My mother is from El Salvador, so my family on her side is Roman Catholic. My father is Protestant, and while he was spiritual, he wasn't much of a churchgoing person. I think it's fairly common for families to be brought up in the mother's religion.

One thing that has become abundantly clear to me as I have advocated for the health and well-being of girls and women over the years is the innate power we each have within us to establish deep connection with one another and heal ourselves simply by sharing our stories.

I enjoy the celebration of my birthday as much as anyone else does, but I always remember to start my day thanking my mom because she did most of the work the day I came into the world, not to mention all she has done throughout my life that has contributed so much to the woman I am today.

My middle name is Nicole. It's so weird because my mom is from El Salvador, but my sisters and I have Irish names - Christy, Kelly, and Erin. And Christy and Kelly, they're not even girls' names! In Ireland, they're boys' names. And somehow, my mom was in El Salvador dreaming about Shamrocks before we were born.

You know, all these sentiments about beauty coming from within, they've always resonated when I've read them, but it takes a bit of living to truly appreciate them. To realise we are so much more than our experiences, that we are who we are because of the lessons we've learnt, now that's what true 'beauty' is for me.

There's nothing that hasn't happened before, guys. In the '80s we were all doing the '60s. In the '90s, we were doing the '70s. There's not one way to wear jeans anymore though. Flared, skinny, ripped, high, low, whatever. It used to be that there was one cool jean. There was a while where it was stonewashed, god forbid.

I survived a potentially life-threatening childbirth-related complication after delivering my daughter. I learned that hundreds of thousands of girls and women die each year due to similar and often manageable complications. They die because they don't have access to critical maternity care that could easily save their lives.

I never looked at magazines before I started modeling. I was 13 or 14 and none of my friends were into magazines. We were into the fashion of the day, though. Designer jeans were really popular - Sasson, Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein, Jordache. Once I started modeling, I began to learn about these things, and magazines helped me to understand who was who.

I don't really have an anti-aging strategy. I accept it. It is what it is. I think about how I feel. So to me, yoga and running and doing work that is meaningful to me is the best way to look and feel good. I think happiness and living a life that you feel good in and you don't feel compromised - that all makes a big difference to the way that you look. I don't give a lot of thought to aging.

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