Back to nature - Keely Shaye Smith

A respected environmentalist, Keely Shave Smith embraces healthy living by connecting with the great outdoors

It's hard to imagine Keely Shaye Smith sitting still--even for a moment. To renew herself, this busy television journalist, first-time mother and environmentalist likes to meditate by doing yoga in the warm sun at her oceanfront home in Malibu, California. Performing the peaceful postures helps her unwind.

"The beach is a perfect place to do yoga because the movements are all about breathing," says the 34-year-old mother of Dylan Thomas, her 18-month-old son with long-time companion Pierce Brosnan. "When you hear the waves, there's a rhythm to them that is reflected in your breathing. You can achieve a great workout and clear your mind."

Smith appreciates the logistical versatility of yoga. "Sometimes it's hard to find a gym where I travel," says the former "Entertainment Tonight" and "Unsolved Mysteries" correspondent. "But I can take yoga with me everywhere I go."

Energized by nature, most of Smith's outdoor pursuits involve water sports. Swimming, body surfing and diving take top priority when she travels to the Cayman Islands, Fiji, Mexico, Australia, Tahiti and Jamaica. On a recent trip to Ireland, she went free diving with dolphins. "Scuba diving provides access to a whole other world," says Smith, who was born in Hawaii and later raised in Orange County, California. "Imagine an underwater environment with canyons, land masses, furrows and the most incredible colors.

"I dive mostly to check the status of the kelp forests and coral reefs," adds the beautiful brunette. "I also like to go diving with turtles and stingrays--even sharks."

Smith holds a special fondness for the ocean and its inhabitants. Along with Brosnan, she devotes much of her time to protecting marine life. The couple's latest project involves raising money to save Laguna San Ignacio, a gray whale sanctuary in Baja California. Through a joint venture with the Earth Island Institute and National Resource Defense Council, Smith hopes to preserve one of the last pristine habitats for the whales to birth their babies.

"There used to be three beautiful areas in Baja where these whales could go, but two have become salt plants," says Smith. "I'm hoping we can get out there and make a difference."

Fellow environmentalists value the couple's commitment. "They are more than just celebrity faces lending casual support to marine mammals, says Nathan LaBuddy, program associate for Earth Island Institute in San Francisco , California. "Keely and Pierce have a deep, personal bond with whales and dolphins--it's something that really resonates with the They understand you have to be active to protect these animals.

"Doing the right thing isn't always easy," he adds. "But Keely's someone in Hollywood who does what she says she's going to do. She makes time when she has no time."

Documentaries provide another forum for Smith to support wildlife conservation. She's traveling to Africa this summer to film a special on chimpanzees with renowned scientist Jane Goodall, Ph.D. "In the Wild," an on-going PBS series, will spotlight Goodall's studies at Gombe National Park, a mountainous 30-square-mile forest located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, where more than 150 chimpanzees thrive in several communities. Smith's segment is tentatively scheduled to air this fall.

While her work as an environmentalist gives her peace of mind, Smith's approach to fitness allows her to stay in excellent physical shape. She follows a disciplined schedule by working out with a personal trainer five days per week. Smith uses a stair machine, stationary cycle and treadmill on alternating days to add variety to her cardio vascular routine. She also trains with light weights.

"I am more interested in being strong and fit than I am in losing weight," says the 5'9", 130-pound Smith. "But I think all women have areas of their body where they want to lose inches."

To keep inches down in key areas like the hips and thighs, Smith incorporates lifts and circles into her leg routine. She tightens her abdominal muscles by performing four or five sets of 20 sit-ups at each workout session. "Keely's stamina is excellent," says Mary Michaels, Smith's personal trainer for the past six years. "She can go all day. She has an enormous amount of energy because of her workout.

"Keely has a great attitude toward working out, adds Michaels. "She likes to exercise because she sees results."

Smith has always been active, but her lifestyle changed when she began her professional career. She often found herself caring heavy business lunches and waiting until late in the evening to have dinner. Subsequently, she became determined to start exercising on a regular basis. "I saw a real shift when I turned 29," says Smith. "My metabolism started to slow down because I was sitting more and traveling a lot on planes. My goal was to get into the best shape of my life.