--- title: What To Know About Beginner's Yoga description: Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene offers practical, simple pointers canonical: https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/ author: Alison Goldman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-22T19:27:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:14.753Z og:title: 4 Things a Star Yoga Instructor Wants Beginners to Know og:description: Practical, simple pointers og:url: https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b6520debab5d5c/69887ce7f887dc6da9e948b9/ywa-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: YWA image og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Things a Star Yoga Instructor Wants Beginners to Know twitter:description: Practical, simple pointers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b6520debab5d5c/69887ce7f887dc6da9e948b9/ywa-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scared of Yoga? 4 Things a Star Instructor Wants You to Know > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=9c531fa3-fda8-4b60-b73e-b30bf617c1f1&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How to Stay Mentally Strong When You Think You're About to Crack [Watch (HLS stream): How to Stay Mentally Strong When You Think You're About to Crack](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QLgnQEN9.m3u8) (0:39)  _Published 2016-01-27_ by [Alison Goldman](https://time.com/author/alison-goldman/) ## Alison Goldman Feb 22, 2016 7:27 PM UTC by [Alison Goldman](https://time.com/author/alison-goldman/) ## Alison Goldman Feb 22, 2016 7:27 PM UTC We’ll be the first to admit that studios filled with people doing headstands can feel intimidating. Enter yoga teacher Adriene Mishler. She and her business partner, Christopher Sharpe, started the YouTube channel [Yoga with Adriene](https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene) almost three and a half years ago—so people could dip their toes in the downward-facing dog waters without having to feel like they’re on display. If you’re still anxious about hitting the mat, Mishler wants you to know that the best thing you can do is just commit to showing up. “You don’t have to be flexible, you don’t have to be thin, you don’t have to chant, ‘Om shanti shanti,'” she says. “But you do have to show up for yourself and have a willingness to open your mind and open your heart. And then I think you’ll be able to find what feels good.” Here are her other tips for nervous beginners. **1\. Classes are optional**Even Mishler admits to occasionally feeling a little daunted by them. That’s why she says it’s smart to practice at home first with a yoga video, where you’re free from the sneaking suspicion that other people might be judging you. **_Read more:_** [_These Are the Qualities of the Most Interesting People in the World_](http://motto.time.com/4227447/qualities-interesting-people-in-common/) **2\. Taking breaks is 100% O.K.**The beauty of a yoga video is holding the power to hit “stop” whenever you’re no longer up to its demands. “It’s a lot easier to stop the video than to walk out of a yoga class,” says Mishler. You should know that you can always hang out in child’s pose during classes to take a break, too—even experienced yogis do this. **3\. Doing the same routine over and over again is smart** Variety is the spice of life, but perhaps not for beginners in yoga. “It’s nice to return to a sequence and see just how your body reacts to something a second time,” says Mishler. “I think people can be delighted in their muscle memory. The body usually remembers things faster and evolves faster than we think. We just have to give ourselves a chance by returning to the practice regularly.” **_Read more:_** [_7 Daily Habits That Will Increase Your Mental Strength_](http://motto.time.com/4226415/daily-habit-increase-mental-strength/) **4\. Fitness is a journey**“Even if you don’t like yoga, it might lead you to discovering something new about yourself, something valuable that will lead you to something else that feels good,” says Mishler. “We always say that ‘the candy lies in the journey.’” When you start viewing yoga that way—as a process that’s worth the endeavor rather than just a means to an end, there’s no reason _not_ give it a test run. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ]. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/"},"headline":"Scared of Yoga? 4 Things a Star Instructor Wants You to Know","datePublished":"2016-02-22T19:27:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:41:14.753Z","description":"Practical, simple pointers","url":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/","keywords":["motto","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b6520debab5d5c/69887ce7f887dc6da9e948b9/ywa-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alison Goldman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alison-goldman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b6520debab5d5c/69887ce7f887dc6da9e948b9/ywa-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"YWA image","caption":"Yoga with Adriene","creditText":"Yoga with Adriene","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/","name":"Scared of Yoga? 4 Things a Star Instructor Wants You to Know"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Stay Mentally Strong When You Think You're About to Crack","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QLgnQEN9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T15:44:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QLgnQEN9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4214809/yoga-with-adriene-tips/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```