Stretching out tired and sore limbs and muscles, taking conscious, deep breaths, feeling a sense of calm and mental tranquility — doesn’t that sound nice? After many of my at-home yoga practices with Yoga With Adriene, that’s how I’m left feeling. With 6 million subscribers on YouTube, Adriene creates free yoga and meditation videos catering to a wide variety of things and people.
Some people may find yoga intimidating. At times where I’ve brought up my own yoga practice to friends, I’ve heard the same arguments of them not being flexible enough to do it. Which, if yoga really just isn’t your jam, no worries, you do you. But if you do have a slight interest and are worried about how you’re going to be able to fit into certain poses, stress no more. Building a yoga practice or getting acquainted with it is all part of the process. In my opinion, Yoga With Adriene was (and in many ways still is) a wonderful resource for me to slowly build flexibility and become more confident in my yoga poses before branching out to an in-person class.
Being inquisitive about our bodies, learning different poses, focusing on our breath and of course getting to see sweet, little Benji’s face are just a few aspects to Yoga With Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga journey. Adriene Mishler is arguably the world’s best yoga teacher. She is very kind, gentle, informative and silly. Integrating all these wonderful qualities, Adriene curates a selection of free yoga videos for those awaiting their own yoga journey. For 30 days starting on January 1, a new yoga video has been released, taking you on a journey of not only different poses and flows, but also messages and words of wisdom. Although this annual series of videos goes live the first of every January, all of Adriene’s free videos can be found on her YouTube channel, Yoga With Adriene.
Home, the title of 2020’s yoga journey, has an array of videos, all building on top of one another. Meaning, for those of you who are newbies, many of these practices are informational and beginner-friendly. Adriene also offers many modifications for specific poses that may be difficult.
This year’s journey has been comprised of a variety of videos, some focusing on physical stamina, strength, and as Adriene would say, meeting your appropriate edge. However, Adriene has a way to make these yoga practices catering more toward physical fitness inviting, encouraging and inclusive. For me personally, I can be left feeling discouraged and unmotivated when instructors are too aggressive, or are overly fixated on body image. On the contrary, Adriene offers many sentiments of self-love and appreciating our bodies. There are numerous practices within this journey where the focus lays on slowing things down, resting and really getting in touch with your breath. It’s refreshing to have a means of getting your body moving, while also focusing on your breath and mindset.