Christy Turlington

Turlington is an avid yoga practitioner, and studied with Larry Schultz and Johannas Van Vugtin in San Francisco. Turlington is the author of Living Yoga: Creating A Life Practice (ISBN 0-7868-6806-6). Owing to this interest in Eastern religions she went back to school in 1994 and graduated cum laude in 1999 from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study of New York University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Comparative Religion and Eastern Philosophy. Despite this interest, she has remained a practicing Roman Catholic since childhood. Previously a vegetarian, she has gone back to being a meat-eater. An ex-smoker whose father died of lung cancer, Turlington is also an anti-smoking activist and an ambassador for CARE.
Christy founded two lifestyle brands; SUNDÃRI, an Ayurvedic skincare line and nuala, a yoga inspired apparel and accessories line. Christy has contributed writings to Marie Claire Magazine, Yoga Journal and Teen Vogue along with contributions to the Huffington Post, Canada’s Globe and Mail and the UK’s Evening Standard. She has also contributed to NBC’s Today Show as a guest correspondent, which included reporting on the status of girl’s education in Afghanistan in early 2002 and an interview with H.H. The Dalai Lama at his home in Dharamsala, India.
In late 2000, she met actor/director/writer Edward Burns at a Hamptons party and within weeks, they were engaged. After postponing their October 2001 Italian wedding due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, just blocks from where they lived in New York City, they broke up. The couple re-united and married on June 7, 2003. It was also the fifth anniversary of her father's death from lung cancer. Despite numerous erroneous media reports, Turlington was not given away by good friend Bono. Bono attended the San Francisco wedding but Christy said, "He (Bono) was there, of course, but I gave myself away. I mean, I was 25 weeks pregnant at the time. Eddie met me halfway down the aisle." Burns and Turlington have two children: a daughter Grace born October 25, 2003, and a son Finn born February 11, 2006. Christy's sister Kelly is married to Edward's brother Brian Burns, and together they have a son born in early 2008. The family resides in New York City, near Ed Burns' old loft that was formerly owned by John F. Kennedy Jr.
In 2005, she began working with the international humanitarian organization CARE and has since become their Advocate for Maternal Health. She has also been an Ambassador for (RED) since their launch in 2006. Her work on behalf of CARE and (RED) inspired her to pursue a Masters in Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School where as of 2009, she is a student.