Santa Monica woman speaks out after daring yoga pose on ledge

Amy Powell Image
Friday, September 26, 2014
Santa Monica woman strikes yoga pose 25 stories above ground
A Los Angeles woman is proving that yoga and daredevil are two words that go perfectly together.

NEW YORK -- A Santa Monica, Calif., woman is proving that yoga and daredevil are two words that go perfectly together.

In a breathtaking video posted online, Rachele Brooke Smith stands on one foot on the edge of a building, holding yoga poses 25 stories above the ground in New York City.

"The skills that I did on that ledge to some may seem amazing and hurtful and crazy, but to me they're second nature because I've done them so many times," Smith said.

Smith, an actress and dancer, says she was a competitive gymnast as a child and still loves doing acrobatics. She also practices yoga and martial arts.

She was in New York shooting a fitness video when she did the poses. In another video, she dances on the same narrow ledge.

"The video that I posted used different camera angles and 'movie magic' to make something look very fantastical and amazing," Smith said.

The video has gone viral, but Smith has gotten a lot of negative feedback from people who say her sky-high yoga routine was dangerous.

But was the stunt as death-defying as it appears?

"There were safety precautions taken and the building had tiers that were there, so that if I were by chance to have a mishap, I would have been safe," Smith said.