By Susan Whaley
The (Boise) Idaho Statesman

Hemingway

Standing in her yoga studio in Ketchum, Idaho, Mariel Hemingway gazes through windows at towering snowy peaks lit by late afternoon sun.

"It's so powerful," says Hemingway, who has turned to those same beautiful mountains as a source of strength throughout her often difficult life.

Power is a topic the actress explores in her new memoir, Finding My Balance (Simon & Schuster, $24). The 41-year-old wife and mother and granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway tells the story of how she gained control over her fears in a family plagued with depression, alcoholism and mental instability.

Her personal story is a success thanks in part to yoga, which Hemingway discovered in 1976 and took up seriously about 10 years later. Each chapter in her book begins with a description of a yoga pose and the practical opportunity it provides to ask questions and listen to her thoughts.

"I go from that pose to a story of my life," says the first-time author. "I wrote it to share what yoga has done for me and how it has helped me to become my own therapist."

Problems began early for Hemingway, the youngest of three daughters born to Jack and Puck Hemingway. Although her family was rich in love, it was troubled by her parents' unhappy marriage, her mother's cancer and her sisters' (the late Margaux Hemingway and Joan "Muffet" Hemingway) struggles with addictions and emotional problems.

Margaux died in 1996. Her father died in 2000.

As a young girl, she discovered that hiking in the neighboring mountains gave her a peace she couldn't find at home.

"I came from a dysfunctional family like most of us," Hemingway said in a recent speech. "I love my family very much, and there is no blame in my book."

Instead, she tells how she came to a quiet acceptance by maintaining a clear-eyed focus on each moment and finding pleasure in it, aided by daily exercise, meditation and a well-balanced diet that eschews caffeine, alcohol and sugar.

"Yoga has helped me to know that doing one thing well is better than trying to do everything," says Hemingway, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Ketchum with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Her film credits include Personal Best, Star 80, Manhattan and the first film in which she appeared at age 13 with sister Margaux, Lipstick.

While yoga works for her, she says it may not be right for everyone. The important thing, she says, is to find a form of exercise that leads to awareness of one's body, breath, mind and spirit.

"Being present is a powerful place to be," she says. "You can't really be present unless you let go of the demons of the past."

She is planning a second book, another reflection from her life about raising teenage daughters.

In the meantime, Hemingway continues to tell her life story in the hope that it will provide comfort and guidance to others.

"It has transformed me," Hemingway says. "I understand that I am open and vulnerable, and that's a great place to be."