Yoga With Adriene: Change Is Nature's Powerful Way of Being

I chose Yoga With Adriene's Adriene Mishler to be the first in my TEACHERS SERIES because she is the teacher through whom I learned most about self-awareness and the importance of self-care.

Adriene Mishler is an international yoga teacher hosting the YouTube channel Yoga With Adriene. An incredible, gentle, and inclusive community, Yoga With Adriene offers a plethora of free yoga practices for everyone – whether you are just starting out, or, are already on your yoga journey.

A 30 Day Yoga Journey: Exploring Your Beautiful Self

Each month, Adriene and her team create a community theme and invite everyone to join in on a 30 day yoga journey. The journey includes a different practice for each day of the month - Relax, Align, Joyful, Yoga for Forgiveness, Yoga for Back Pain, Yoga for Artists, and many more are among the free classes on the channel.

This month’s community theme is GET TO KNOW, and I sincerely recommend that you try it out. It starts out with a 22 minute yoga practice titled Love Wins Yoga, and goes on to practices such as Yoga for Beginners - Foundations of Flow, Vin Yin - Relax & Flow - 30 Minute Yoga Practice, Yoga for Panic and Anxiety | 15 Minute Practice, Awaken the Artist Within | 40-Minute Yoga Practice, etc.

There is also a monthly calendar, so you can keep track of your progress and plan for the practices ahead. Their June Calendar is available to explore now, and so is their Calendar Archive.

If you are thinking about creating new habits, or exploring a new hobby, Yoga With Adriene is a beautiful place to start.

I've practiced with the Yoga with Adriene community for several years now, and though I gave up daily practice many times on the road to discipline, I always went back to it.

I went back to it partly because I loved the practice and ritual of yoga, and partly because I knew that once I pressed play on one of those videos, I would be welcomed with sincerity, acceptance, and an open heart.

I knew that if I couldn’t manage to be in my asana or meditation practice as I was supposed to be, or as thought I should've been, Adriene would say “If you fall, we’ll catch you”, or “The ground is there to catch you”.

And she was right.

Today, the practice of yoga (both on the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel and on the Find What Feels Good app) is a priority in my everyday life – and every practice is a brand-new discovery in my experience.

And it hasn’t been easy getting here.

Some days, it still isn’t.

For life is not easy, but there is a sense of ease in the grace with which we respond to it.

Relationships are not easy as well, but there is a sense of learning in the way we show up in them, for ourselves and for others.

I call Adriene Mishler THE GENTLE MENTOR, for the practice of yoga in her classes, is, for me, a practice of non-judgment.

It is incredibly gentle of another human being to invite you to try and find what feels good for you, while at the same moment, remind you that we are all different.

In a world where we are greatly judged by our physical form, Adriene makes a conscious offering for human beings to feel comfortable with the differences in their bodies.

Of course, how we explore those differences is paved by the notion that we are all the same – we are all one, and we are all a unique part of nature.

Devastation Age: The Truth About Today's Social Humanity

Being human is at the core of our existence, yet, it seems that we have lost the reverence that exudes from that notion.

We have lost touch with ourselves.

We have lost touch with nature.

We continuously cut our forests ("deforestation is one of the largest carbon-dioxide emitters"), exploit our oceans ("Less than 1% of the world’s oceans are protected from all human activity"), and poison our air ("99% of the world’s population experiences air pollution levels exceeding WHO guidelines,") – the life force that allows us to be here.

We over-consume, or we waste incredible amounts of food, while millions die of hunger (approximately 3.1 million children die from undernutrition each year (UNICEF, 2018a)).

According to a United Nations (UN) report,

​"The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic."

These are devastating, soul-crushing numbers.

No one should die of hunger. Food is abundant on our planet, and still, we are facing a reality that states the complete opposite.

These patterns of behavior are causing us not only to harm, but to forever lose entire ecosystems that are of utmost value to our well-being. The reason this happens can be found, perhaps, in our continual unconsciousness, and an ego-driven way of decision-making.

Turning a blind eye will not stop sea levels from rising, nor will it help children who are starving to death, and it absolutely won't help us to grow and expand as human beings.

Non-Judgement: Being About Love, Service and Kindness

Now, a single human being, by themselves, cannot change the entire world – it is not possible.

What we can do, however, is change ourselves.

Change takes place when the realization of experience is accepted, when we look at truth in the heart, from the depth of our heart - our spiritual heart, rather than the physical.

And, if change is the only proof we have of eternity, why is man so determined to remain the same?

We fear change when we should meet it with respect and embrace the power behind its turning wheels.

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Change is nature’s way of being.

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And so, we should change, and we should do it consciously.

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“The more we are able to recognize and move within what is, the more courageous we become by aligning with a flow state that serves us, that allows us to shine,”

says Adriene.

Adriene Mishler and her dog Benji doing a High Lundge

photo credit: Yoga With Adriene

Being able to go into a state of non-judgment - as a child is - is the most humane thing we can do.

It is in the essence of that state that unconditional love is found.

There, the egoic patterns that we all live with are non-existent, or at least, we are aware of their being. And, maybe, this is precisely what we should try and focus on.

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For, when we act from a place of non-judgment, a door opens.

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One that leads to a clearing – where we can see the scenery better. Where we can hear the melody behind the spoken word, the cry of an animal going extinct, the plead for help in the silence of a loved one struggling - under the noise of it all - where we can be sincere and true, and where we can take responsibility for the ways in which we choose to act.

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Each being on this Blue Dot is utterly unique and holds so much potential, that we should absolutely love, nurture, and give space to them so that free and authentic expression can occur. So that they can thrive - so that the world can thrive.

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Inhale Lots of Love In, Exhale Lots of Love Out

"Inhale lots of love in, Exhale lots of love out," is a mantra that Adriene uses often, and if we try and move from such a state, the change that will take place both internally and externally, would be one of kindness and compassion.

Today, though, we live in a world where, for us to be loved, accepted, or even free, we often have to abandon who we truly are.

Fitting into that mould is not easy, but being yourself - being kinder - can be much harder.

And it shouldn't be like that.

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So, who are we?

What will we teach our children?

What sort of world do we want to live in?

Why do we keep doing these things to it - and to ourselves?

Perhaps, it is because we are so eager to belong somewhere. To be a part of something, where, maybe, we won’t be judged, and we won't be the odd-one-out. We are oblivious to the fact that it was judgment that brought us into that state in the first place.

And so, we enter the circle of constantly yearning for outside validation.

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One that is unforgiving in its limitlessness.

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Of course, each passing moment offers a chance for us to go back – being who we truly are, with all of the vulnerability and imperfection that our human condition holds.

Once one is able to accept this – which is a birthright – one can also become aware of the eternal forces that are within them and nature – which are also, a birthright.

Love, Loss, and Grief: A Wavering Ocean of Life

We are creatures of love and immeasurable strength.

You merely need to recall a person, a pet, a song, a kiss, or a moment you love and know this to be true. You merely need to recall someone or something you’ve lost and again, know this to be true.

Life is about loss – we lose constantly.

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It is the way of nature – all is fleeting with a speed unknown to us.

What matters though, is how we lose, and how we are when we are looking into the eyes of that speed's power, once it chooses to face us.

These are the moments that shape us.

No one is spared.

We are all wounded.

We all grieve.

And, grief is not something that goes away.

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Grief is like an ocean.

Some days, the ocean is calm – a weary breeze comes to rest on its surface, and together, they wait for the setting sun. Other times, this ocean rages with all its might – causing crashing waves, fleeing birds, and darkness vowing to never leave its shores - and it feels like you will drown in its waters.

Somehow, though - however impossible it might seem - you don’t.

Because no storm lasts forever.

But they do last, for a while.

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A Powerful Mind: The Rewards of Awareness and Observation

There are times in life for which no one, and nothing, can prepare us.

We have to experience them, be in them, and learn.

These are usually the times that force us to be in the present moment – and they are either of great joy or even greater sorrow. And, we tend to minimize all that happens in between, unaware of our thoughts and feelings, ungrateful for our bodies and the world in which we live, untrue to our hearts, and unconscious of our spirit.

And once we lose, we can gracefully discover that nothing is really lost. Because what matters cannot be lost. Because love is never lost.

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As human beings though, we can get overwhelmed by the power of the unobserved mind. And, an unobserved mind can be a horrifying thing - one responsible for anxiety, panic, and depression.

These conditions are then, almost without exception, manifested into the physical body as pain - no matter the form.

Once this happens, and one needs to operate under the heaviness of such emotions, with an aching soul and body, it gets dark very quickly.

​And there is nothing wrong with darkness – it is an inevitable part of existence.

But we have to be aware of it.

We have to accept its’ being here so that we can master our response to its intensity - whether it's the darkness of our outer world, or the darkness that we carry within.

One way of doing this is self-exploration - a hard, but wonderfully rewarding thing.

It is like diving in deep waters, this discovery – you might not know what the depths hold, but you will come back to the surface with knowledge.

And, yoga is a beautiful practice of self-discovery.

Through breathwork (pranayama) and physical practice (asana), one can go inward and explore.

To be in one’s body, completely aware of its function, driven by the powerful subtlety of one’s breath, can be an extremely healing experience.

It is in that state that one enters into the present moment - and what else is there, after all?

We cannot touch the past, nor we can touch the future.

They are both out of our realm of being.

Our realm of being is here, now.

And, what we do now, is all that truly matters.

Freeing Yourself: The Beautiful Way of Silence and Yoga

So, it is essential that we make time in our day to be in silence (research shows that "being in silence promotes self-awareness, stimulates brain cells, relieves stress, etc."), to be in solitude, to tune in, and observe.

It is critical that we breathe in a way that eases our current state ("studies suggest that "breathwork may be more effective in inducing mental and physical relaxation due to its direct influence on the body’s physiological state through controlled breathing").

It is an act of compassion to move our physical body - any sort of exercise that suits your body (research shows that "physical exercise can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities").

It is an act of love, to heal.

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I believe we are here to serve – ourselves and each other.

Once we realise that, there is no stopping the ripples.

For kindness draws in more kindness.

But we have to, first, open ourselves up to kindness. And, what makes us open to it, I believe, is the acceptance that we carry within us its opposite.

This is when we can make the conscious choice to transcend that opposite and choose to be a vessel of loving-kindness, and a leader of compassionate change, rather than a mere ego-personality.

Be who we truly are.

It starts with each of us – so do take care of yourself reader, and never cease to be curious.

Be self-aware.

Self-care can mean different things to everyone - it can be any type of movement, physical exercise, conscious eating, smart food choices, conscious thoughts, awareness of the thinking mind, breath work, acceptance of what is, gratitude for what you have, and compassion toward yourself and others.

Self-exploration is the most valuable and gratifying thing that you can do for yourself, and through yourself, for the world.

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And, what the world needs is more authentic, true, and compassionate expression.

So, let us ask ourselves, each day, if we are being true to ourselves, and if it happens that we find that we are not, may we find the courage to rediscover ourselves.

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It is in the silence of being, and the love of all, that we can find the answers we seek, if only we pause just for a moment, and listen.

May you love deeply, and may you be loved truly.

Yours,

Meri

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