In Praise of at Home Yoga Vids: The Adriene Edition

Oh January. The month of. . .well, I’ll call them “Intentions”. We can’t help it, we humans. We are wired for making meaning and nothing invites meaning making and purpose seeking like a new thing, in this case, a New Year. Don’t feel silly, it’s natural. We look out over the expanse of time and think perhaps we should plan a thing to make it more significant. It can involve change but also expansion and deepening. That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I don’t want to do anything new. I want to do more of what I already do in ways that add to my self-concept and my depth of experience.

So of course one of the things that I chose was more of Yoga. I say “of course” because there is a part of me that is kinda embarrassed that I’m doing such a white middle class woman thing. Blah blah blah, yoga, blah blah blah, Nameste. Except you know. . .there is something to this yoga thing. And these days, the incarnation of the yoga thing I am most fascinated with is the apparent epitome of the yoga girl, Adriene. This is her YouTube channel.

Okay so the truth is I love her. I’ve mentioned my love of her in a few of my other posts, in particular one about Yoga at home with my cat. Oh, goodness, did I actually just write that, “at home with my cat”? Yes! I did! It’s my cat and my home and I do yoga with a YouTuber. Sometimes I don’t wear pants. I LOVE IT.

Adriene is particular. Somehow, in spite of the demographic, my politics and my inherent cynicism, she worms her way in and makes me want to get on my mat. When I get there, she offers her skill as a teacher. She never asks for too much and always offers as much as you want as far as skill or intensity. She plays. . .with the poses, with her dog, with words. . .with me. She says things about compassion and self love and I believe her. You NEED to understand how significant that is for me. I am a total snob/cynic/curmudgeon when I read or listen to anyone in the popular dynamic talk about compassion. It’s mostly because I’m in the business of offering it as a therapist. I am attuned to garbage words and insincerity and just blah blah blah. Somehow, her blah-ing is really magical. I most especially love when you are curled up in a ball stretching and she says “take a moment to be present in your own personal love cave”. I mean, who says that and gets away with it? Adriene.

Even when you think she is going to blow it, like a video entitled “Yoga for Weight Loss”, she manages to nail it. The title was misleading. I suppose it’s great for searches and stuff. Once you start it, you only hear good things about what your magnificent body can do. Yes, she gets some heat going, but it’s not about punishment or paying for it. The heat is the flow of your energy. The heat is healing.

She sings stupid songs. She loses her thought process and makes jokes. She models making mistakes and then trying again. Each moment is one in which we can learn, attune and be with ourselves, no matter what that looks like. Her mindfulness and spirituality are genuine and relatable. Her sincerity should make me want to roll my eyes out of their sockets. But I don’t. I believe in her way and I’m so grateful to the light she shines out to the internets. Namaste Adriene, I mean it. 🙏🏻

Stay tuned later today for duelling at home yogis. Catherine will post about yoga with Kassandra.