Dr. Linda Li is a star of the E! Channel’s Dr. 90210 and one of the most sought after and respected plastic surgeons in America. She’s also a longtime, dedicated YAS Venice student. We recently sat down for (a virtual) chat.

You spend your life helping people look and feel better about themselves, so I take it as quite a compliment that you’ve been a regular at YAS for so long. With all the yoga studios and teachers to choose from–from 90210 to Greater Los Angeles–why YAS?

YAS fitness offers me the perfect workout with the most amazing motivational teachers. Spinning gives me an incredible cardio workout that gives me the energy to make it through my day and into the nights when I have to take care of my kids. On the days I don’t feel like giving it my all in the studio, the teachers rev me up and make me want to work harder, which ironically makes me more energized.

Besides being the name of this website, The No OM Zone is the title of my upcoming book and my latest yoga workout DVD. It also pretty much describes my approach to yoga–no chanting, no granola, no Sanskrit–and what you’ll find at any YAS Fitness Center. What is it about The No OM Zone that works for you?

As a Type A personality, I like the idea of something that is directed and to the point. I don’t want to shut off my brain. I find that I get my best ideas and creative inspirations when I’m on the spin bike or in yoga.

Something a lot of people may not realize is how physically draining your work can be.

Plastic surgery has aspects that are delicate and require fine motor skills, but often a lot of the work we do requires us to be physically fit. If you are removing 16 lbs of excess skin or liposuctioning 5 liters of fat, you have to by in good physical condition.

How does coming to YAS help you manage that heavy lifting? 


Spinning has been phenomenal for my stamina. When you are doing a 6-hour surgery, you need a tremendous amount of strength and energy to stay focused and on task. Yoga has increased my upper body strength and made the physicality of liposuction much easier.

How about with stress? I mean, there is obviously a great deal of pressure on anyone who literally takes peoples’ lives into their hands. Is that something working out with us helps?

Plastic surgery is something people want to do, not something they have to do so they have high expectations regarding results. YAS is the perfect experience in my day to help relieve the tensions and pressures that work brings on me. It’s ME time.

On a lighter note–and just in case anyone out there thinks Birkenstocks when they think yoga–could you please describe any one of the fabulous pairs of shoes you regularly wear to YAS?

Shoes and handbags are the two items that always fit–regardless! They can always put a smile on your face. I have a pair of Gucci wedges that look like a sneaker that I love to wear to class–after all, it kind of looks like a workout shoe.