If you’ve ever set your laptop on the coffee table, laid a mat (or beach towel) on your living room floor, and put on a stretching video to wind down from the day, you may have come across Yoga by Adriene.
Austin, Texas-based online yoga giant Adrienne Mishler has amassed 12.7 million followers on her YouTube channel since posting her first video in September 2012, and she has the pretty slick production to prove it.
Yoga With Adriene’s extensive video library features everything from hour-long power flows to 23-minute upper-back sessions that are sure to straighten your spine after a day hunched over a keyboard like a sad question mark. But it’s Mishler’s drawl of humor and relaxed approach that keeps you coming back. She’ll burst into song mid-instruction, or fold her fists over her fists like bubblegum in a saucer. The gentle presence of her Blue Heeler mix, Benji, who stretches nearby and lumbers along at her feet, adds to the understated charm.
On July 6, Mishler will be in Toronto to lead a live outdoor class hosted by The Bentway in Fort York called “Yoga With Adriene.” We caught up with her by phone from her home in Austin.
What appealed to you about the offer to teach to thousands of people in the city centre?
“Honestly, my background is in theater. The irony is that while we have a big opportunity to come together online and practice virtually, my heart is in live gatherings and experiences and the magic that can only be fostered by people coming together in real time. We haven’t done anything like this since before 2020, so it’s definitely an exciting moment for me. I’m a little nervous. We have to care for a lot of people. But we’re not treating this like a big fitness class. We’re treating this as a multidisciplinary, location-specific moment.”
Have you been to Toronto before?
“Actually, this is my first time in Canada! I’ve heard so many great things about Toronto, and I want to bring awareness and energy to this non-profit arts organization, The Bentway. This year’s theme is ‘Soft City,’ so I said, ‘OK, I’ll participate.’ One of the things I want to practice while I’m here is how powerful it is to create softness in yourself, no matter what your environment. The message I receive is, [from our culture] So if we can always rely on kindness, I think that empowers us to bring about collective repair.”
Do you remember the first time you recorded your Yoga with Adriene video?
“The first video was almost like a practice video, so it never ended up being used. I’m afraid it will come out at some point and be really embarrassing. I took it very seriously. There weren’t many examples to really look at.”
At first, it was like they were shooting in a hallway, then they did a 30-day challenge in a glass palace overlooking the forest and I thought she looked super stylish.
“When I did my 30-day yoga journey in a space with glass windows, people thought it was my new home. I wish it was. The reason the space looks different in 30 days is because I spend so much time filming. I’m there for two weeks and my setup takes up my whole living room. So as soon as I had saved up a bit of money, I started looking at doing the project in a rented house to have the space.
But we really started out in a little bungalow in East Austin. I was working with what I had. And it was the same when we moved, I wanted it to feel as real as possible, not too staged, and at home. We just started releasing videos that were shot in my new home, which is mine and my husband’s first home here in Austin.”
What about Benji?
“This morning he looked really healthy and happy and it brought me a moment of happiness and joy because he’s getting older. I, like a lot of people I know, have lost a loved one, a best friend, and I can’t help but think about that. But he’s doing great and he really deserves all the attention. I always thought, ‘Oh, I have to keep my puppy out while we’re filming,’ but then one day I didn’t have anyone to watch him so I put him in a video and people started commenting on him so I thought, ‘OK, that’s it, I’ll let him do what he wants.’ He’s such a lovely dog and he loves to be around. They call Blue Heelers Velcro Dogs because they love to be attached.”
Like many people, I started making your videos more frequently when the pandemic closed yoga studios. What was that period like for you?
“It was very nerve-wracking. I’m also a co-owner of a studio here in Austin called Practice Yoga, so in a weird way I got to experience both sides of it. I’m not making any money from the studio, so I’m proud of the effort I put into taking care of my instructors. To support the studio, I hosted monthly live yoga classes on Zoom. I still host them quarterly, but I don’t take any money from them and everything goes back to the studio.
As for online, thankfully, there was a real surge in online yoga, which I had been doing before. Unfortunately, that period was so intense that I was saying yes to everything from teaching yoga on major news shows to virtual retreats. I had a lot of friends and family who weren’t working, so the opposite, working 24 hours a day, felt kind of weird. I probably wouldn’t change that, and it felt good to show up in that way, but I definitely felt a little burned out personally in 2022. I forgot to be kind to myself.
Since you’ve been online, have you felt like people expect more from you?
“Yeah, 100 percent. I often feel like the standards that people hold me to are probably a little bit unrealistic. But at the same time, I love that especially the people that I train with set the bar high in terms of how I use my voice and my platform. I mean, that’s what a good friend does. But a good friend also gives you a little bit of space to grow as a person.
To be honest, there was a time when I felt pressured by the internet to live up to everyone’s expectations. My channel has over 12 million viewers. With the help of an amazing therapist, I think I’m now able to broaden my perspective and start to realize that I’ll never reach 12 million viewers all at once. But I can continue to do my best by always striving and acting with integrity to ideally help someone, even if it’s just one person, not everyone, that day.”
What do you do when you’re not on our screens?
“I have a lot of great friends in Austin and my parents live here, so it’s been really fun bouncing back from a period where I was a little bit drained and nurturing those relationships. I love to be physically active. I really love doing yoga and taking long walks with Benji every day. And I do a lot of reformer Pilates in my community – it’s a breath-focused workout and I really enjoy being a student rather than a teacher or guide.”
I am also currently enrolled in a three-year Yoga Therapy program. I feel that much of what I do is already therapeutic, but this program will give me the proper training to extend this ancient practice to more corners of health care.”
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Recently, I had some severe wrist pain and was worried I would be unable to do yoga for a few days. Has this happened to you?
“For me, it started when I injured my tailbone in my 20s. I remember thinking, ‘Oh no, I can’t do yoga again.’ You panic a little bit. What I always tell my students, friends, and myself is, ‘Hey, remember that your body is great at healing. Keep that in mind.’ When people email me about their injuries, I usually say, ‘This is a great opportunity to work on your breathing.’ I know that’s not what people are looking for. They’re asking, what video should I take while I have a broken leg? I can provide that. But it’s an opportunity to diligently learn other aspects of yoga so that when I do return to yoga, it will keep my physical practice more interesting. Now I’m almost 40 and I’m doing boat pose because my tailbone has healed.”
I loved my Danielle Frankel wedding dress with the pleats and low back!
“Thank you so much! I wanted to be an easy-going bride, but I am obsessed with details and meaning, so after talking to Danielle and her team so much, I knew this was it. They made my dress for me with love, which was amazing. Some of the women who made my dress are people I practiced with at Yoga with Adrienne when I was in her studio in NYC, so it wasn’t just a transaction for me. I feel so blessed.”
It felt like a dream to wear it.
“Yes. If you want to hear something crazy, this might be the biggest lesson in non-attachment ever. The dry cleaners who cleaned my dress…”
[Gasp.]
“Friend, your dress has come back without pleats.”
Oh no. Maybe it’s a whole new dress now, just different and that could be nice too.
“Oh, actually, I really liked that. Interesting. I really needed that. The first step is to share it with you.”
The last question is very practical: What three things would you suggest we do to feel better when we’re hunched over a computer or phone all day?
“I love a little daily neck workout, which you can do anywhere: in the shower, at your desk, in the car. I like to start at my nose and work in circles, so you’ll look super cool when you do this in public. Another great way to work this is to turn one ear towards your shoulder and reach up with the other arm.
The next tip is exactly what Adrienne did: Energy flow upwards in the front and downwards in the back. I still do this at my desk. My chest and sternum rise and my shoulders roll back. It just naturally changes my posture.
Finally, here’s some advice you may have heard me give before: breathe in a lot of love and breathe out a lot of love. I think this is a great prayer to do when you’re stressed, when you’re feeling bad, when you’re not feeling great. It’s like a reset.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.