The Untold Truth Of Yoga With Adriene's Adriene Mishler

Whether you occasionally put on an at-home yoga video or you show up on your mat each and every day, chances are, you've come across Yoga with Adriene. Since its inception in 2012, the YouTube channel and its down-to-earth host Adriene Mishler have become extremely well-loved in the yoga community. Mishler offers slow-paced, accessible yoga classes that give beginners the chance to connect with their bodies and minds from their living rooms. Plus, the videos are completely free of charge.

For first-time viewers, it may be surprising to hear that Mishler has taken the yoga world by storm. Her videos feature awkward jokes, baggy t-shirts, a country music intro, and surprisingly few camera or lighting tricks. In other words, Mishler's videos are strikingly down-to-Earth. While this sets her apart from other online yoga influencers, it's also what makes her so beloved by her fans. As one fan told The Guardian, "You just want to be her friend."

If you're also totally enamored with Mishler, you may want to get to know her a little better. So, without further ado, here's the untold truth of Yoga with Adriene's Adriene Mishler.

Adriene Mishler has definitely made a name for herself with her YouTube channel Yoga with Adriene. As of 2021, the channel has nearly 10 million subscribers, while her most popular videos have upwards of 20 million views. But despite her YouTube fame, Mishler wasn't always planning on making a living through yoga teaching. In fact, when she was younger, she had dreams of making it big in Hollywood. "I grew up in an art and theater family," she told Paper. "My parents were actors and writers and directors." 

Apparently, Mishler assumed she would follow in their footsteps. She acted throughout her childhood and studied theater in college. And for a while, Mishler's career seemed to be on the right track. For one, she starred in Joe in 2013 opposite Nicolas Cage. As she joked to the Independent, "It doesn't get any bigger than that, you know? I pressed my bare chest up against Nicholas Cage's back."

Mishler decided to train as a yoga teacher to supplement her acting career. Of course, eventually, it took over. As she put it, she's "no long interested in becoming a famous actress. I'm famous enough."

Like most industries, yoga has fallen prey to certain trends over the years. For Adriene Mishler, she believes some modern versions of yoga do more harm than good. As she told The Guardian, "I don't want to criticize people doing the pretzel [poses], but I think there's a lack of awareness." For Mishler, yoga isn't about contorting the body into impressive shapes — it's about connecting to the body. As her motto states, "find what feels good."

And, of course, some modern yogis have been accused of cultural appropriation. "I get why people from India are going, 'Hey, what the hell are you doing?'" she continued. But this is where Mishler stands apart from the crowd. As she put it, she's always "tried to teach the real traditional style yoga... I really want to honor the philosophy."

Mishler also discussed the dangers of modern yoga culture with Refinery29. For newcomers to yoga, it means people often feel out of place. Her channel has become a place "for all the people who aren't getting it or for the people who need it the most but feel like they don't fit into yoga culture."

Because Adriene Mishler is committed to bringing a down-to-earth yoga experience to her viewers, it took her a while to start embracing some common marketing practices as she felt they were too inauthentic. As Mishler's channel became more popular, her business partner Chris Sharpe realized the need for more rigorous marketing. As she explained to The Guardian, it wasn't easy selling out. "I didn't not want to call anything 'yoga for weight loss' in the beginning," Mishler recalled. However, when she finally caved and tried the title, she had to admit, Sharpe was onto something. "It did so disgustingly well," she said.

Over time, Mishler began to understand the need to market her videos with some questionable phrases. For instance, she and her partner used the phrase "Six Pack Abs," as it performed well. However, as Mishler confessed, getting a six pack is actually anatomically impossible for a woman. However, she stuck to her morals and explained at the start of the video, "If you know me at all I don't really subscribe to that obsession." We have to say — Mishler's approach to fame and fortune is seriously refreshing!

As most fans of Yoga with Adriene probably already know, almost all of her videos are shot in front of a white wall with a few plants dotted around the edges of the frame. To that end, this iconic backdrop has become very familiar. But have you ever wondered what else is in the room? Well, as Adriene Mishler revealed to Refinery29, the beautiful yoga zone is actually part of her dining room at her home in Austin, Texas. "There's my dining room table now permanently pushed back to the wall," Mishler said.

Mishler went on to explain that the room had become more of a filming space than a dining room. Next to the table are, "a bunch of blankets and blocks and an extra yoga mat. It's just a dining room turned yoga room," she explained. We totally love to think that this YouTube superstar is still using a makeshift studio in her dining room.

As fans of Yoga with Adriene's Adriene Mishler may have noticed, the yoga instructor does have a slight Texan twang to her soothing yoga voice. It turns out, she was born and bred in Austin, Texas. As the YouTube star explained to USA Today, "It's always a joke among locals that you rarely meet someone from Austin who was born here and is still living here, and I'm not sure why. But I'm still here." She added that she almost moved first to New York to pursue theater, then to L.A. to pursue film. "But I ended up staying in Austin, not for those careers but for Yoga," she continued.

It's clear that Mishler is still head-over-heels in love with her hometown. In fact, in 2017 she even posted a vlog on her yoga channel taking fans to some of her favorite local spots. On her tour, Mishler visited a colorful juice bar, where some of her original Yoga with Adriene promo shots were taken. Then, she visited a local yoga studio where she works when not teaching online. Finally, Mishler headed to a Mexican restaurant. Mishler definitely loves her city!

While Adriene Mishler's yoga videos are definitely one of a kind, it turns out, she did use a little inspiration to find her unique style. As the yoga instructor confessed to Paper, she didn't have many references when it came to fitness videos. "The only reference I really had outside of Jane Fonda... were the Rodney Yee DVDs and my mentor, who was a student of Rodney's," she revealed. As she went on to say, she didn't look at any online yoga teachers. "Our whole intention was for it to not feel like anything else you experienced, or like this highly produced thing," she explained.

In an interview for USA Today, Mishler revealed a slightly more surprising inspiration. "A big inspiration for Yoga with Adriene – and it originally came from my business partner and then resonated with me — was that of a Mr. Rogers episode." That's right — Mishler wanted to be the friendly neighborhood yoga instructor. As she put it, Mr. Rogers showed the importance of "really just letting people see me and speak my mind and just be a real person."

Adriene Mishler is without a doubt the face of Yoga with Adriene. However, the YouTube channel isn't solely her creation. In fact, she has a business partner who runs everything behind the scenes. 

Mishler met Chris Sharpe on a film set of a horror movie. While the movie was never finished, meeting Sharpe proved to be life changing for Mishler. Sharpe had worked with his wife on a successful cooking channel on YouTube, so when he had the idea for a yoga channel, Mishler was intrigued. "Back then, it really truly was still like cat videos on YouTube," she explained to USA Today. "Instructional, educational content on YouTube just wasn't a thing."

As Mishler went on to explain, their initial videos were seen by very few people and were really a matter of trial and error. "No one actually watched in the early days, but we stayed consistent," she continued. As time went on, they learned the tricks of the trade and developed the signature style we know and love today.

Adriene Mishler rarely mentions her heritage in her yoga videos, so fans may be surprised to learn that her mother is actually Mexican. In an interview with The Guardian, she shared that she'd recently begun to embrace that part of her heritage. "Not that I've ever tried to hide it — hell no," she clarified. "But I wasn't raised bilingual and I happen to be fair-skinned." 

At one point, Mishler suddenly realized that her Mexican heritage was something very few people knew about. So, she began learning Spanish. "My goal is to be able to do a playlist on my channel that's all yoga espanol," she continued.

As Mishler explained in a piece for The Times, her aunt on her mother's side helped her to realize the importance of getting in touch with her heritage. The pair are even watching the same Spanish soap opera as it helps Mishler pick up the language.

Ever wondered what's actually going on in Adriene Mishler's head while she teaches a yoga class on her channel? Well, the instructor opened up to USA Today about her internal monologue during her classes. 

As Mishler explained, she's always aware of what the class might be triggering in different students. And that's not all. "I'm trying to take care of one person whose belly just popped out of their pants," she revealed. "And I'm also trying to think of a person that has never done anything physical in their life." 

It gets eve more complicated than that, though. "And I'm also trying to think of a person that is a runner who is about to quit this video because they think it's too easy," Mishler continued. "And I'm also thinking about what we're doing and how we can see the big-picture metaphor of how we can stay connected with people we don't agree with in these polarised times." Whoa — that's a lot to think about all at once! We'll definitely watch her yoga videos a little differently from now on.

If you're a fan of Adriene Mishler, you may have already known about her acting career. As she told Paper, she became a yoga instructor to supplement her acting income. However, it turns out, she almost did a very different second job instead. As Mishler revealed on the Hilah's Happy Hour podcast, she actually thought about becoming a sign language interpreter.

As Mishler explained, she'd been studying ASL while in drama school. "I thought, 'Oh, I'll be an interpreter because we live in Austin where the Texas School for the Deaf is,'" she recalled. She added that her aunt worked at the school, so it seemed like the perfect fit. "I had a ton of deaf friends and I loved to sign and I love the connection, you know, mind, body," she continued. Mishler went on to explain that her sign language isn't as good as it once was, but she can still get by. 

Eventually, Mishler found yoga — but just imagine how different things would have been if she'd gone down the route of being a sign language interpreter!

Most people probably assume that professional yoga instructors live on a very, very healthy diet of salads and juices. In Adriene Mishler's case, this assumption wouldn't be too far from the truth. "I'm basically vegetarian but if I'm visiting somewhere by the coast I might order some fish," she explained in an interview with Women's Health. Apparently, she's also had vegan phases, but struggled due to her love of eggs.

Mishler went on to share her ideal menu for a day. "I make breakfast tacos a lot," she continued. Her favorite recipe for these is pretty simple: "egg, spinach, onion, and garlic in a tortilla, which keeps me going into the afternoon." Mishler will also enjoy a few snacks throughout the day such as a banana, nuts, or almond butter with rice cakes. Plus, she added, she loves an Americano. 

For dinner, Mishler tends to make a weekly batch of green soup paired with a bean and quinoa salad. We're impressed!

One of the best things about Yoga with Adriene is that it really does feel like you get to know your host, Adriene Mishler. It can often feel like she's talking directly to you from her Austin home, even though millions of other yogis are watching, too. This is probably because Mishler is and always has been dedicated to staying honest and true to herself. "The unique thing about our community is that I'm really allowing people to see me, period," she penned in an article for The Times. "I always think, 'Don't put on airs, don't perform, you don't have to know everything.'" As she summed up, "We try to keep it real."

This realness has definitely become a defining feature of her channel. It's no wonder she's become the "patron saint of quarantine" during COVID-19, as Paper put it. Compared to all of the other glossy fitness gurus, Mishler always feels like a breath of fresh air.

Even though Adriene Mishler is now a global yoga star, it was an uphill battle. As she revealed to the Independent, she spent the first three years of her Yoga with Adriene career mopping floors at her local yoga studio. And when success finally came, her life was turned upside down. Mishler took to the road for a yoga tour and had to get used to living alone for long periods of time. The pressures of fame also led to vocal stress and serious vocal chord surgery.

Mishler also had to learn how to produce a constant stream of content, even when she was going through a low point in her personal life. She recalled how difficult it was "when I don't feel up for the task, when I have a big pimple on my face, when I'm in the middle of a break-up or when my dog died." Sounds like Mishler certainly went through a lot during those early years.

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, a lot of the world shut down. In America, COVID-19 lockdown restrictions forced Adriene Mishler to change some of her old habits just like the rest of us. Luckily, she'd always worked from home. "What I did not expect was this crazy traffic boost," she explained to Paper. It makes sense — as everyone was forced to shelter-in-place at home, many turned to Yoga with Adriene as an at-home workout option. "We're all working a little more than usual," Mishler continued.

Even though Mishler's channel became more popular than ever, she was careful not to overdo it. "I'm just trying to give myself time and space to respond to how I'm feeling," she added. She went on to say that she used the time in lockdown to "nurture relationships and [tend] to my relationship with myself." Sounds like Mishler is definitely onto something.