ENERGY, STRENGTH & HAPPINESS – FOR FREE
Why we should all take up yoga
My friends must wonder if I have a commercial stake in the success of the Find What Feels Good Youtube channel. I’ve probably tried to persuade everyone I know to click on the link. But, as fellow converts know, Adriene Mishler gets to you. She feels like a friend, calls you a hero for showing up on the mat and teaches you achievable yoga in the privacy of your own home. Best of all, in a world where public classes can cost £15 a time and trendy yoga leggings set you back £80, none of this will cost you a penny.
I discovered the online Yoga With Adriene community when I turned 50. Tired of feeling guilty for not pounding the streets or sweating it out in the gym, I was looking for an exercise habit that would stick with me for the rest of my life. Yoga seemed like a good option, but I was nervous about joining a class of younger, more flexible folk. I googled ‘Youtube yoga’ and there she was – Adriene Mishler, inviting me to try a 30-day programme for beginners. I’ve since completed three of the month-long courses, and progressed to mixing and matching the videos to squeeze in 30 minutes or so a day. After the first year, I was brave enough to take my chances in a public class and found that Adriene’s lessons had prepared me well.
It’s a journey I’m so glad I started and I’m not alone. There are now more than 3.5 million subscribers to the FWFG channel. Adriene’s videos have been watched almost 300 million times and she dominates Google searches. This autumn she will arrive in the UK to spend a month teaching live classes for her British fans and the events are expected to sell out.
These days (and I can’t quite believe I am writing this) I’m a club member and practice regularly. I’m not brilliant, but on a good day I can hold my own against the youngsters in the class – yoga doesn’t care how old or thin you are. It’s a hobby that stills my mind in a loud and hectic world and keeps me strong and bendy to counter those hours sat in front of a computer. I wanted to interview Adriene to say thank you, and to introduce her to GH readers because I truly believe that almost anybody would benefit from her classes. Here she tells me why she agrees…
Yoga is having quite a moment…
Without a doubt, sometimes I have to pinch myself. I’ve watched the industry with an eagle eye ever since I was 17 and there were only two yoga studios in my home city of Austin, Texas. I’ve seen it grow. It’s very much on trend and to me that’s awesome, because the more people do yoga, the more the world is a better place.
Why now?
We live in a time that’s very different to the one we were born in – so many screens, so many things telling us where to work, what to wear, how to feel, what slot to fit into – and we don’t realise how taxing this is. But if you’re unhappy in this modern world, feel your life is a mess or have crippling anxiety, then why not try this awesome yoga practice?
And why Adriene?
There are a lot of cuckoo ways of sharing yoga out there! It’s important to me that I don’t just become a big yoga celeb. It’s an ancient practice with sacred roots, and I’m mindful of its future. I decided from the start to support others whenever I can and not worry about the competition. I just feel lucky and blessed that I have a career that is hopefully going to be helpful to people.
Who benefits most from getting on the mat?
Anybody! I’m on a mission to make online yoga videos for women of all ages, but especially for women in midlife. Women are empathetic, we care about people and the only way we can get by without going nuts is to take care of ourselves. I hear people say they’re not flexible, or they wouldn’t be good at yoga, but you don’t have to be good at something to try it. And it’s not all about flexibility and building muscle – this comes with practice – it’s about gaining energy. Are you light, or are you heavy and drained all the time? It’s about feeling like you have the energy you need to do what you want with your life, or just getting through the day feeling happy and lifted as opposed to down and dark. Yoga will change your energy state, and then all the other stuff will come – slim tummy, strong arms, good posture, all the things we crave.
Why is home practice especially good?
Classes cost money, and you want to feel good about spending that money. I’ve been in the studio and walked out feeling worse. One time, the teacher corrected me in a way that made me feel awful – why would I spend $20 to get screamed at for an hour? You want to feel comfortable in your body, the clothes you have chosen to wear and not to worry that everyone else seems to be better than you, younger than you, or in the right pants! Home practice is different – it’s a comfortable space where you choose the video, you press play, you are in charge of the experience and you can stop at any time (or throw the computer
against the wall!).
What’s the idea behind your 30-day programmes?
It is believed that doing something for 30 days will create a new habit. My mission is for people to see it like reading a book over the course of a year – you wouldn’t read a couple of chapters and then skip bits. It’s hard, it’s a challenge and I have so much admiration for those who do the programme.
What’s a typical Texas day like for Adriene?
Up until recently, I was teaching three classes a week at the studio, but we were bursting at the seams. Now we have one event a month at a beautiful venue for around 250 people at a time and folk just pay by donation. I’ve enrolled in a Spanish class, I’m spending some time writing and I have my dog, Benji. I can’t imagine not having Benji to share photos of on social media, I would be living a nightmare just posting pictures of myself!
What would you say to readers who are still not convinced?
Yoga is win-win, just show up and it will serve you. I fell in love with it when I realised I was in charge and could take responsibility for my own happiness – no one else could do that for me. When people get a taste of spending time on the yoga mat, a little spark happens – they feel joy. Once you’ve had a taste of that, you become easily addicted.
YOGA DOESN’T CARE HOW OLD OR HOW THIN YOU ARE