A New Social Network: The Yoga With Adrienne Community

In March 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic caused me to come home from my senior year college spring break trip and to go back to full-time living with my parents and sister. Needless to say, living at home again took a toll on my mental health and brought back some symptoms of my generalized anxiety disorder, which I have worked so hard over the past year to mitigate. Although I was surrounded by family and people that I loved, I suddenly felt lonely.

When I started to do the Yoga with Adrienne YouTube videos on a daily basis, which was something I decided to do as a new year’s resolution, I was able to find a support system that I did not know how badly I needed. In the past, when I thought of a support system, I tended to think of a single friend or family member. I never thought of millions of people doing yoga along with me (virtually) being a type of support system that I would benefit from. Little did I know that I was in need of a very large social network. In addition, I was able to depend on Adrienne each day and know she’d be there to be my daily yoga teacher. I felt a true, valuable social tie to Adrienne…and surprisingly to her wonderful dog, Benji!

Whether it be a yoga community, an online support group, or a group of friends, I think everyone is in need of depending on a social network during these difficult times. In honor of the COVID-19 pandemic hitting its one year mark, I think it is crucial for every individual to reflect on themselves and their mental health. While doing this check-in, it is important to also reflect and see if there is a social network present in in which you are able to be in touch with on a daily (or as often or as little as needed) basis in order to attend to your mental health.