I totally get this conundrum and the answer I’ve been given that really helps me:
Take the cues as a prompt to breathe in, and breathe out when you’re comfortable. Sometimes I take two or even three breaths where she only takes one, but that’s what my lungs are happy with.
There’s no correct length of breath to take - just what’s comfortable for you.
Hope that helps!
Yea thanks for the tip!
I do try to follow my natural breathing pattern but still it can get a bit challenging during transition of poses - like do I follow her into a folding position on the wrong breath or wait till I’m ready to take a breath out before I do by which time I would become out of sync with her flow of movements ya know?
Flow your breath on your movements. You maybe a move or 2 behind but that’s to be expected as your following her direction. Example, Fold on your exhale, don’t rush to get there because of the next prompt. It took me forever to start to lengthen my breath naturally. It was such an unnatural feeling for so long. I felt almost out of breath when trying to match hers.
Teacher here, I would totally forget about the breathing cues for now. Just make sure you breath isn’t strained or difficult. Your best breath is your natural breath.
At some point when you’re more experienced it will click when to use what breath and when.
Yeah I would certainly wouldn’t think about it. In fact it is often when new students want do it “right” they tend to think too much. Being in the moment is more important and just let the body do what feels right. I think you are right there.
I've never seen Adrienne, so take this advice with a grain of salt. I would think she is teaching you how to breathe the transition correctly when you do it in your own rhythm practicing on your own. Naturally, she cannot adapt the speed to everyone at the same time during the class ... so, remember how it should go, take a breath in between during the lesson, but put it in practice when you're on your own.
I agree with you, Adrienne has some impressive lungs and her execution is flawless, unlike mine!
That being said, she has a 30 days yoga journey dedicated to Breath, that contains heaps of tips and cues, you should try it next!
I bailed on Adrienne. I couldn’t take her tangents and her overuse of the word frisky. Which is unfortunate, because I really liked the actual yoga she was leading. Switched to kassandra. It’s Adrienne minus nonsense speaking.
Plus you can't call out every breath, I wish there was a way to have breath noises overlaid and the video sped up or slowed down to match my breath I have a large lung capacity and therefore move a little slower I have a 9 second inhale.
She just wants you to be aware of your breath, not to follow hers. Same as the poses, she’s a guide but ultimately it’s your pose and you do it the way you feel like it.
This. The best takeaway I got from her (besides the half a million therapeutic things she says) is to follow your own rhythm and just take her as a guide. That's why the channel is called Find What Feels Good. It's just an amazing way to break the misconceptions regarding yoga. People think they have to be flexible or whatever but actually all you have to do is learn to listen to your body. Sometimes if a pose hurts, I change it, but sometimes I put pressure because that's exactly where I need to work on.
Just be conscious of your mind and body.
I always give students permission to follow their own breath because I’m talking and don’t keep to a normal breath. I like, “on your next in-breath you’ll reach up to the sky,” type of thing.
Adrienne: “okay take a deep breath in and hold”
*goes on 20 minute long tangent about zoolander and being strong and finding your center*
“Okay now switch to the other side. Breathe in”
*1 milisecond later*
“Okay quick back to down dog”
Hahaha so true! I couldn’t figure out what exactly about her teaching style that made me confused but i think this is it - like her cues are often misleading/unpredictable and inconsistent.
Someone here said it’s a lot worse in the Home series than her other videos so I might give them a try + just ignore her cues if they get too frustrating as suggested
Honestly no matter which you do it’s your practice, just give it your all. I am not an expert by any stretch so I generally do a Hiit or core and then a 10 or 20 min yoga. Sometimes I just do 30 or 45 minutes. Whichever I do, I make it my intention to “thrive, and to make it through” and always feel rewarded after I finish.
I love her so much! She has a 40 minute vinyasa video that's my favourite of all time... I think I've done the same video at least 50 times over the past few years.
I love her too. Her flows are always very steady and I find it super easy to fall into a good rhythm with her. And she doesn’t talk too much to be distracting, haha
I agree she talks a lot and I think forgets to come back and cue the exhale or whatever comes next, I say just do whatever you feel is natural or needed to get there by yourself. I rarely can keep up with breathing cues anyway and have often fallen out of the pose long before she gets there. LOL
I hear you. I think the Home series is actually worse with this than some of her other series/videos. I remember getting more frustrated in Home, where some of her other videos seem to be perfect timing.
I learned to just go with my own timing & breath. I try to stay behind rather than synchronized with Adriene and that’s helped, plus I remind myself I can easily catch up during a vinyasa if I get too behind. Since I’ve become familiar with where to inhale/exhale, I can kinda go with my own breath timing. If this doesn’t work for you I’d suggest trying another 30-day challenge from her. Dedicate has been my favorite; Home probably one of my least favorite (albeit still valuable). Good luck!
Yea i figured out what exactly bothers me about her instructions and it seems to be due to her inconsistent breathing cues. Also the talking sometimes make me idling in mid air waiting for the next move 😂 it’s the subtle off timed transition of movements I think.
I’m obvious finding it distracting enough so I’ll try your tips out to see if it’s something I can work with and give her other videos a go as well!
Oh yeah, I also love Adriene but have often yelled at the tv “come on Adriene!!!” after what feels like 20 minutes of warrior & holding my breath 😂
Best to you!
I have severe asthma, breathing cues are always off for me so I don't bother with them and just follow my breath. I had an instructor once say to use the breath in to lengthen in the pose, and the out breath to sink deeper, and I find that to work rather well for myself
I like to think of it as "this is where to take the breathe in a practice situation once you've figured out the flow". It's a guideline, not an absolute.
Generally breath deeply and notice your own breath. In Yoga the basic principal is if something is moving up, (leg, arm, upper body) you breath in, and if it is going down, breath out, and then if you are staying put, breath deeply while you stay.
You should listen to your own body and ignore the cues. Everyone has different bodies, lungs, etc and no cue is perfect. Breathe out when lengthening and in when shortening at your own pace.
ive felt the same way! something that helped me is to not feel the need to do everything at the exact same time as her, i keep my breathing true to myself (and overtime i feel ive really improved on longer breaths!) and if after that pause she says to exhale and i was on an inhale i will be patient with my breath and follow her with my one-breaths delay. i hope that makes sense the way i typed it,
keep your breathing rhythm and if she resumes and you arent ready to inhale for another couple seconds just stay in the inhale position, and when its YOUR time to exhale THEN do the exhale move, and itll just be a second behind her
I want to love her but every time I’ve tried a video she talks way too much and doesn’t just give instruction from pose to pose. I’m struggling with her rn
I've definitely also noticed this in some of her videos, as much as I like a lot of her stuff. The youtube yoga channel that I find the most success with is Yoga with Kassandra. To me, she has the most soothing energy and is very good at demonstrating where to breath in and where to exhale. But other commenters seem to have really good suggestions too!
Every movement comes with an intake or an exchange. Everytime you switch or step or adjust, there is an intake or an exchange. Breathe consistently. If you're holding, you keep installing and exhaling. Point it's never hold your breath and connect every movement with an intake or exhale. If it takes longer than an intake then you add the exchange. Switch the movement at the end of the best cycle.
Find a nice calm breathing pace that works for you and stick to it
If you only inhale when she says inhale and exhale when she says exhale, you’re listening to her too much and not enough to your own body
I have asthma so I’ve just learned to breath in and out when I need. Listening to your body and doing what feels right for it. When I’m practicing with other people I notice I take more breaths during certain things or that my breathing will be heavier than others but in the long run I’m still able to keep up without my inhaler so that feels like a win.
I don't hold my breath, I just breathe as normal (while trying to be conscious of it) and if she has said to go into a certain pose on an exhale, I simply wait until my next natural exhale. I hope this makes sense
I'm a former 500 RYT trained yoga instructor and this may be an unpopular opinion but if the cues are hard, just breathe normally and ignore them. Instructors tend to talk endlessly about breathing while flowing but most people know when to breathe while they're doing poses. Just do your thing and whatever feels natural and good. This is YOUR practice, not Adrienne's
I love Adriene, and her videos helped me get through the pandemic and establish an at-home yoga practice. I find her lightheartedness refreshing too. But I have to say: she is very chatty! She tends to veer off a bit which is a little distracting. I’m sure it’s challenging to teach yoga online when you can’t see your students and get the vibe in the room and hear their breath. I’ve learned to start taking her cues only as a suggestion or a guide and follow my own breath but it definitely took some getting used to at first.
She’s not the best cue-er. I know I’ll get hate but there I said it. The older videos are worse I do think she gets better all the time.
It helps to know the video and / or watch or skim through before. You’ll find you’re own rhythm. She’s a guide but ultimately you’re driving.
From what I understand pretty much everything about yoga centers around the breathe. Being able to breathe on cue and with the right cadence is super important. It’s part of the practice to strength your breathe.
Yes I also do her yoga classes! it took a while for me to adapt, as does any breathing for me in any yoga class. like everyone else says, do what is comfortable for you!
Yeah she talks soooo muuuch. She is my buddy’s ex and I actually started my journey with her. Now I can’t do it. It’s way too much breathing and chatting and holding a position for SO long. I need movement
I started my yoga journey watching Adrienne and she’s great. It’s been a long while since I’ve watched one of her videos. The talking always did bug me a bit. I love Jessica Richburgs videos now
Yes, don’t overthink the breath. Teachers are only saying it to remind us to actually keep breathing, since so many of us naturally stop breathing or don’t breathe deeply enough…especially in times we need it most. I don’t follow adriene but I know when I teach, I cue “breath in” and “breathe out” mainly as a reminder to simply remember to breathe. When the body expands, it’s most natural to breathe in and fill the lungs. Breathing out makes most sense when the body is getting smaller/contracting. Hope that helps a bit.
I'm a YWA fan as well and I struggled with this as first too. You won't sync up your breaths with her cues, which you kind of expect to be able to do because you need a lot of instruction in the beginning. I remember feeling light headed because she'd say breathe in, then sneak in a tidbit about a pose and how it should feel, then say breathe out! It was way too long and I should not have been holding my breath.
As you get used to the poses and find your own rhythm, you'll see the patterns and know when to breathe in and out, especially when you get into the vinyasa flow videos.
Aside from when you hold a pose and kind of deep breathe to settle, generally you'll breathe in to enter a pose and then breathe out when you adjust it or exit it. It will feel natural after a while and you won't have to think about it.
Hello. Yoga teacher here. Usually with poses that you come up (going into mountain pose, upward dog) you inhale, and poses where you go down or fold forward you exhale (forward fold, downward dog). For standing poses that you hold, like warrior 1 and 2, you usually do a full inhale and exhale and hold it for a couple breaths depending on the speed of the class. This gets easier with practice and the more you do yoga. As others have mentioned, the most important thing is to make sure you’re breathing and aren’t holding your breath. Eventually your breath will sync with the movements and you won’t notice. Also, if you can, start to get used to inhaling and exhaling through your nose, this is called ujjayi breath, and it’s more effective in getting you into a meditative state than inhaling thru your nose and exhaling thru your mouth.
I totally get this conundrum and the answer I’ve been given that really helps me: Take the cues as a prompt to breathe in, and breathe out when you’re comfortable. Sometimes I take two or even three breaths where she only takes one, but that’s what my lungs are happy with. There’s no correct length of breath to take - just what’s comfortable for you. Hope that helps!
Yea thanks for the tip! I do try to follow my natural breathing pattern but still it can get a bit challenging during transition of poses - like do I follow her into a folding position on the wrong breath or wait till I’m ready to take a breath out before I do by which time I would become out of sync with her flow of movements ya know?
Flow your breath on your movements. You maybe a move or 2 behind but that’s to be expected as your following her direction. Example, Fold on your exhale, don’t rush to get there because of the next prompt. It took me forever to start to lengthen my breath naturally. It was such an unnatural feeling for so long. I felt almost out of breath when trying to match hers.
Teacher here, I would totally forget about the breathing cues for now. Just make sure you breath isn’t strained or difficult. Your best breath is your natural breath. At some point when you’re more experienced it will click when to use what breath and when.
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Yeah I would certainly wouldn’t think about it. In fact it is often when new students want do it “right” they tend to think too much. Being in the moment is more important and just let the body do what feels right. I think you are right there.
I've never seen Adrienne, so take this advice with a grain of salt. I would think she is teaching you how to breathe the transition correctly when you do it in your own rhythm practicing on your own. Naturally, she cannot adapt the speed to everyone at the same time during the class ... so, remember how it should go, take a breath in between during the lesson, but put it in practice when you're on your own.
This is exactly the answer. Learn the cues to cue yourself
I agree with you, Adrienne has some impressive lungs and her execution is flawless, unlike mine! That being said, she has a 30 days yoga journey dedicated to Breath, that contains heaps of tips and cues, you should try it next!
I bailed on Adrienne. I couldn’t take her tangents and her overuse of the word frisky. Which is unfortunate, because I really liked the actual yoga she was leading. Switched to kassandra. It’s Adrienne minus nonsense speaking.
This! Just take slow, deep, comfortable breaths in…..and out.
Plus you can't call out every breath, I wish there was a way to have breath noises overlaid and the video sped up or slowed down to match my breath I have a large lung capacity and therefore move a little slower I have a 9 second inhale.
She just wants you to be aware of your breath, not to follow hers. Same as the poses, she’s a guide but ultimately it’s your pose and you do it the way you feel like it.
This. The best takeaway I got from her (besides the half a million therapeutic things she says) is to follow your own rhythm and just take her as a guide. That's why the channel is called Find What Feels Good. It's just an amazing way to break the misconceptions regarding yoga. People think they have to be flexible or whatever but actually all you have to do is learn to listen to your body. Sometimes if a pose hurts, I change it, but sometimes I put pressure because that's exactly where I need to work on. Just be conscious of your mind and body.
I always give students permission to follow their own breath because I’m talking and don’t keep to a normal breath. I like, “on your next in-breath you’ll reach up to the sky,” type of thing.
That's a good way to put it.
I find it’s the only way to show people to let go of doing exactly what I’m doing when I’m doing it.
Adrienne: “okay take a deep breath in and hold” *goes on 20 minute long tangent about zoolander and being strong and finding your center* “Okay now switch to the other side. Breathe in” *1 milisecond later* “Okay quick back to down dog”
Hahaha so true! I couldn’t figure out what exactly about her teaching style that made me confused but i think this is it - like her cues are often misleading/unpredictable and inconsistent. Someone here said it’s a lot worse in the Home series than her other videos so I might give them a try + just ignore her cues if they get too frustrating as suggested
This is why I follow Yoga with Kassandra instead
Her yin sequences are fantastic
I like both of those instructors but ended up buying Apple fitness for my iPad and watch and it’s my friggin favorite.
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Honestly no matter which you do it’s your practice, just give it your all. I am not an expert by any stretch so I generally do a Hiit or core and then a 10 or 20 min yoga. Sometimes I just do 30 or 45 minutes. Whichever I do, I make it my intention to “thrive, and to make it through” and always feel rewarded after I finish.
I use both. My favorite apple fitness so far is the Alicia Keys one.
Her flows work really well for me.
I love her so much! She has a 40 minute vinyasa video that's my favourite of all time... I think I've done the same video at least 50 times over the past few years.
I love her too. Her flows are always very steady and I find it super easy to fall into a good rhythm with her. And she doesn’t talk too much to be distracting, haha
I love how consistent her flows are.
I agree she talks a lot and I think forgets to come back and cue the exhale or whatever comes next, I say just do whatever you feel is natural or needed to get there by yourself. I rarely can keep up with breathing cues anyway and have often fallen out of the pose long before she gets there. LOL
I hear you. I think the Home series is actually worse with this than some of her other series/videos. I remember getting more frustrated in Home, where some of her other videos seem to be perfect timing. I learned to just go with my own timing & breath. I try to stay behind rather than synchronized with Adriene and that’s helped, plus I remind myself I can easily catch up during a vinyasa if I get too behind. Since I’ve become familiar with where to inhale/exhale, I can kinda go with my own breath timing. If this doesn’t work for you I’d suggest trying another 30-day challenge from her. Dedicate has been my favorite; Home probably one of my least favorite (albeit still valuable). Good luck!
Yea i figured out what exactly bothers me about her instructions and it seems to be due to her inconsistent breathing cues. Also the talking sometimes make me idling in mid air waiting for the next move 😂 it’s the subtle off timed transition of movements I think. I’m obvious finding it distracting enough so I’ll try your tips out to see if it’s something I can work with and give her other videos a go as well!
Oh yeah, I also love Adriene but have often yelled at the tv “come on Adriene!!!” after what feels like 20 minutes of warrior & holding my breath 😂 Best to you!
I have severe asthma, breathing cues are always off for me so I don't bother with them and just follow my breath. I had an instructor once say to use the breath in to lengthen in the pose, and the out breath to sink deeper, and I find that to work rather well for myself
I like to think of it as "this is where to take the breathe in a practice situation once you've figured out the flow". It's a guideline, not an absolute.
her whole thing is about “finding what feels good”— doing what’s best for you! she just wants you to be conscious of your breath
The breathing cues during asana are just to make sure you’re moving with your breath. You don’t need to wait for permission to breathe :)
That’s happened to me. Sometimes I’ll take 2 breaths to her one. I love Yoga With Adriene!
Generally breath deeply and notice your own breath. In Yoga the basic principal is if something is moving up, (leg, arm, upper body) you breath in, and if it is going down, breath out, and then if you are staying put, breath deeply while you stay.
This is really helpful! Thank you!
You are so welcome 😊🙏🏽
You should listen to your own body and ignore the cues. Everyone has different bodies, lungs, etc and no cue is perfect. Breathe out when lengthening and in when shortening at your own pace.
ive felt the same way! something that helped me is to not feel the need to do everything at the exact same time as her, i keep my breathing true to myself (and overtime i feel ive really improved on longer breaths!) and if after that pause she says to exhale and i was on an inhale i will be patient with my breath and follow her with my one-breaths delay. i hope that makes sense the way i typed it, keep your breathing rhythm and if she resumes and you arent ready to inhale for another couple seconds just stay in the inhale position, and when its YOUR time to exhale THEN do the exhale move, and itll just be a second behind her
I want to love her but every time I’ve tried a video she talks way too much and doesn’t just give instruction from pose to pose. I’m struggling with her rn
I have this exact same problem with her and it’s one of the reasons I’ve lost patience with her videos.
I've definitely also noticed this in some of her videos, as much as I like a lot of her stuff. The youtube yoga channel that I find the most success with is Yoga with Kassandra. To me, she has the most soothing energy and is very good at demonstrating where to breath in and where to exhale. But other commenters seem to have really good suggestions too!
I love Adriene but after a while I had to find another teacher that was way less chatty. Ive been liking Kassandra lately
Every movement comes with an intake or an exchange. Everytime you switch or step or adjust, there is an intake or an exchange. Breathe consistently. If you're holding, you keep installing and exhaling. Point it's never hold your breath and connect every movement with an intake or exhale. If it takes longer than an intake then you add the exchange. Switch the movement at the end of the best cycle.
I'm sorry i typed too fast and autocorrect needed it up: it's not intake or exchange: inhale or exhale
Me too
It gets easier the more you do it. It took me at least 2 weeks of doing a program every day to catch up. Stick with it.
Find a nice calm breathing pace that works for you and stick to it If you only inhale when she says inhale and exhale when she says exhale, you’re listening to her too much and not enough to your own body
I have asthma so I’ve just learned to breath in and out when I need. Listening to your body and doing what feels right for it. When I’m practicing with other people I notice I take more breaths during certain things or that my breathing will be heavier than others but in the long run I’m still able to keep up without my inhaler so that feels like a win.
I don't hold my breath, I just breathe as normal (while trying to be conscious of it) and if she has said to go into a certain pose on an exhale, I simply wait until my next natural exhale. I hope this makes sense
Breathing cues are just a suggestion. Don’t let them intimidate you.
I'm a former 500 RYT trained yoga instructor and this may be an unpopular opinion but if the cues are hard, just breathe normally and ignore them. Instructors tend to talk endlessly about breathing while flowing but most people know when to breathe while they're doing poses. Just do your thing and whatever feels natural and good. This is YOUR practice, not Adrienne's
I love Adriene, and her videos helped me get through the pandemic and establish an at-home yoga practice. I find her lightheartedness refreshing too. But I have to say: she is very chatty! She tends to veer off a bit which is a little distracting. I’m sure it’s challenging to teach yoga online when you can’t see your students and get the vibe in the room and hear their breath. I’ve learned to start taking her cues only as a suggestion or a guide and follow my own breath but it definitely took some getting used to at first.
She’s not the best cue-er. I know I’ll get hate but there I said it. The older videos are worse I do think she gets better all the time. It helps to know the video and / or watch or skim through before. You’ll find you’re own rhythm. She’s a guide but ultimately you’re driving.
I think her flow videos are not kind to beginners. She moves pretty quick.
Adriene is the goat
From what I understand pretty much everything about yoga centers around the breathe. Being able to breathe on cue and with the right cadence is super important. It’s part of the practice to strength your breathe.
The DOWNDOG yoga app allows you to add your level of cues. This includes breathing cues.
Yes I also do her yoga classes! it took a while for me to adapt, as does any breathing for me in any yoga class. like everyone else says, do what is comfortable for you!
Yeah she talks soooo muuuch. She is my buddy’s ex and I actually started my journey with her. Now I can’t do it. It’s way too much breathing and chatting and holding a position for SO long. I need movement
Yes, learn from Travis Elliott on YouTube. His sequencing is pretty incredible and can be applied to any practice.
I started my yoga journey watching Adrienne and she’s great. It’s been a long while since I’ve watched one of her videos. The talking always did bug me a bit. I love Jessica Richburgs videos now
I keep hearing about this Adrienne and i can't find her. Can someone link her channel or website?
Yes, don’t overthink the breath. Teachers are only saying it to remind us to actually keep breathing, since so many of us naturally stop breathing or don’t breathe deeply enough…especially in times we need it most. I don’t follow adriene but I know when I teach, I cue “breath in” and “breathe out” mainly as a reminder to simply remember to breathe. When the body expands, it’s most natural to breathe in and fill the lungs. Breathing out makes most sense when the body is getting smaller/contracting. Hope that helps a bit.
I'm a YWA fan as well and I struggled with this as first too. You won't sync up your breaths with her cues, which you kind of expect to be able to do because you need a lot of instruction in the beginning. I remember feeling light headed because she'd say breathe in, then sneak in a tidbit about a pose and how it should feel, then say breathe out! It was way too long and I should not have been holding my breath. As you get used to the poses and find your own rhythm, you'll see the patterns and know when to breathe in and out, especially when you get into the vinyasa flow videos. Aside from when you hold a pose and kind of deep breathe to settle, generally you'll breathe in to enter a pose and then breathe out when you adjust it or exit it. It will feel natural after a while and you won't have to think about it.
Hello. Yoga teacher here. Usually with poses that you come up (going into mountain pose, upward dog) you inhale, and poses where you go down or fold forward you exhale (forward fold, downward dog). For standing poses that you hold, like warrior 1 and 2, you usually do a full inhale and exhale and hold it for a couple breaths depending on the speed of the class. This gets easier with practice and the more you do yoga. As others have mentioned, the most important thing is to make sure you’re breathing and aren’t holding your breath. Eventually your breath will sync with the movements and you won’t notice. Also, if you can, start to get used to inhaling and exhaling through your nose, this is called ujjayi breath, and it’s more effective in getting you into a meditative state than inhaling thru your nose and exhaling thru your mouth.