How Social Support Shaped my Yoga Practice

Ever since starting a daily yoga practice back in December 2020, I noticed a change in my mental and physical health. During the pandemic, my local gym shut down, and I started to look for new ways to keep my body moving. I turned to yoga and decided to finally dedicate my time to doing one Yoga with Adrienne Youtube video a day. If anyone is interested in yoga and has not checked out Adrienne on Youtube, do your mind and body a favor and check out her free Youtube Channel. I have explored Yoga with Adrienne before, if I ever had a day that I wanted to skip the gym and do a quick yoga video, but this was the first time in my life that I tuned in every day to Adrienne’s channel and followed her monthly yoga calendar.

Something that surprised me during my new yoga journey was how much I enjoyed reading the comments section on under each Youtube video. I realized that I became a member of a new social network, and suddenly was connected with millions of yogis who were also following along to Adrienne’s daily yoga videos. Ever since I started reading the comments, I never again ignored them. The comments were both motivational and personal; people (of all genders and ages) shared personal stories of how yoga has carried them through the pandemic and difficult times in their life. For the first time, I truly felt CONNECTED in my practice. I found comfort in the fact that I got to choose my level of engagement; for me, I found pleasure in simply “liking” comments that resonated with me.

Perhaps this was why I never felt obligated to do yoga every day before; I I did not feel integrated in the Yoga with Adrienne community. Now, I always go through and take time to read the first page of comments before starting the practice. This is because on the days I feel sad, lonely, and unmotivated, I know there will be someone in the comments expressing the same emotions and encouraging me onto the mat. There is always someone in the comments I can identify with, whether it be someone expressing how easy or difficult a certain yoga practice was for them. I find myself thinking, “I feel that!”

Now, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and living at home, I am now a part of a new community.