Why people are obsessed with Yoga With Adriene. Photo / YouTube
Why people are obsessed with Yoga With Adriene. Photo / YouTube
One of the few plus sides to being in lockdown is the almost unlimited couch time.
But although it might be satisfying to suddenly have all day to binge your favourite Netflix show your spine might feel like you've been resting on a bed of nails after eight hours of Money Heist.
Making matters worse is all the uncertainty that comes with living through a pandemic – financial and health stresses mean most of us are sleeping less and feeling more anxious than ever.
Enter Adriene Mishler. The 35-year-old yogi is one of the most subscribed to fitness accounts on YouTube and although popular in a pre-coronavirus world she's reached a cult-like status since lockdowns began in March.
She's gained more than 500,000 subscribers since then and people watched 5 million more hours of her YouTube content than usual in March, according to Paper magazine.
Texas-born Adriene – and her dog Benji – is the brains behind the Yoga With Adriene YouTube channel, an absolute enclopedia of yoga classes and meditations for absolutely everything.
Having trouble with sciatica? There's a video for that. Feeling angry? There's a yoga sequence for that too. There are even videos for writers or those with back and neck pain, which you definitely need if you've been working at the kitchen table for the past five weeks.
What makes Adriene so popular seems to be her no frills approachable style, which contrasts with other fitness YouTube accounts.
There's no fake tan or rock-hard abs on display in her videos; instead Adriene is dressed like most of us probably are at home – in comfy trackies or a singlet and leggings.
"Hop into something comfy and let's get started," she begins most of her videos.
"On screen, Mishler, who is 35, comes across as sweet and wholesome, like the one popular girl in school who was actually kind," the Guardian writes. Paper magazine calls Adriene the "patron saint of quarantine".
"She doesn't edit out her falls or stumbles. Thus, her appeal is the opposite of most influencers. Adriene makes people feel good, not bad," Paper's Jael Goldfine wrote.
Not only do her videos make you feel more bendy and energised, but they're also full of life advice gems that somehow don't feel preachy when they're coming from Adriene.
"The awareness of my own vulnerability has made me more aware of others' vulnerability and more loving and receptive in general," she tells viewers in her Yoga For Vulnerability video, which has more than one million views.
Who is Adriene Mishler?
Adriene is the daughter of actors who also dabbled in the same field, scoring roles on stage, TV and film.
She had always been interested in fitness and loved gymnastics but her life changed when she did her first yoga class at 18.
"I cried tears of joy during my first yoga class and since then I've been obsessed with getting people to come and experience how good it feels to practise," Adriene told Women's Health last year.
Adriene did her yoga teaching the same year she took her first class and described herself as working at "every gym in Austin, Texas".
It was only when Adriene met her now business partner Chris Sharpe on a film set – he had already worked on other successful YouTube videos – that Yoga With Adriene was born.
Adriene worked as an actor before giving it up to focus on her passion for yoga. Photo / Instagram
"Back then, it really truly was still like cat videos on YouTube. Instructional, educational content on YouTube just wasn't a thing. It was starting, but for us, we just didn't really know," Adriene told USA Today.
She posted her first video in 2012 but her rise to fame was slow and steady until "something stated to shift".
"The cost of yoga classes went up from $8 to $24 to $30. As a starving artist who was hustling and who couldn't afford to go to class, I was like, 'Wow, we might really have something,'" Adriene said.
"I started to think that it's not really fair that only wealthy people – and it seemed at the time that it was only wealthy, white people, because it was only getting marketed to them – and that got me really sad and kind of pissed off.
"So then Chris and I realised what we had. So it took on its whole other life as a fun experiment to hone in on the mission: to provide as much free, high-quality yoga to as many people as possible."
Adriene's popularity has been steadily on the rise for years but she says she's been blown away by the response since the coronavirus pandemic.
Why people are obsessed with Yoga With Adriene. Photo / YouTube
"What I did not expect was this crazy traffic boost, so we're all working a little more than usual," she told Paper magazine.
She admits to feeling an enormous responsibility to her following, many of whom have said Yoga With Adriene has been like a therapist during lockdown.
"We received so many emails and comments and messages, it's mind-blowing. A week ago I would have said, 'Oh no. I'm just a girl trying to do my best,'" she told Paper.
"But I've realised that we're playing a part, so I will say, I kind of do (think so), as long as I'm doing my best and inspiring other people to do the same and prioritising that relationship to self."
