7-minute Yoga Video: The Ideal Content for Younger Audiences
Video content is one of the most popular forms of digital media today, often directly associated with the platform YouTube. YouTube platform user Yoga with Adriene is a popular creator of yoga videos for her followers to enjoy. She often uses a short-form video style, crafting practices like 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga — Yoga With Adriene, a popular video sporting over 3.5 billion views. As an avid yoga fan myself, I love content by Yoga with Adriene and appreciate this short, calming bedtime practice. New digital media YouTube content 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga by creator Yoga with Adriene is styled in a way that favors use by younger audiences who have less time, want a way to destress and improve sleep, and have a focus on health and fitness.
Younger audiences, as used in this analysis, include people aged 13 through 35. This includes Generation Z (individuals born between 1996 and around 2007) and Millennials (individuals born between 1985 and 1995) (Generational Breakdown: Info About All of the Generations).
7 Minute Yoga workout content is more appealing to younger audiences because of its short nature. Individuals in school will often experience a lack of leisure time because of academics, homework, and extracurriculars taking up much of their available time. On top of all those time-consumers, technology takes up much of the additional leisure time students have left. Adam Alter states in his Ted Talk Why our screens make us less happy that people spend an average of 27 minutes per day on internet applications for “dating, social networking, gaming, entertainment, news, [and] web browsing” (2017). All of these activities combine to claim a majority of a young person’s time. This constraint on available time means a person might have to get creative if they wish to engage in physical activity. A two-hour game of pick-up basketball might not be feasible, but a seven-minute yoga workout might easily fit into a busy schedule.
Young adults around the ages of 20 to 35 are often in the stage of life where they start a career or get married and start a family. This time-period can be especially busy for them because success in a career could mean long days at the office and working overtime. Children will also keep a parent working throughout the day or late into the night, taking over much of their parent’s available leisure time. These constraints could also come together because some parents balance their career and caring for their children at the same time. 7 Minute Yoga content is appealing to these young adults because the workout can be squeezed into their busy schedule, whether that be working out during a quick work break or doing some yoga while a child naps.
The many time constraints on a person’s day can increase stress and alter sleeping patterns. 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga can be beneficial for destressing and creating better sleep through relaxation. At the beginning of her video, Adriene begins by talking to her audience about what they are doing: “start to give the thinking mind a little bit of a break”, “close the eyes”, and “begin to tune into the sound of your breath” (Yoga with Adriene, 2017). Adriene is bringing participants to a relaxed state where they can be mindful of their breathing and notice “where your energies lie” (Yoga with Adriene, 2017). Her directions here encompass basic destressing tactics, such as deep breathing and clearing the mind, and mimic meditation in her focus on mindfulness. Adriene’s practice is designed specifically to “help you calm the nervous system and prepare for a healthy night of rest” (Yoga with Adriene, 2017). This can be beneficial to a student, career-oriented adult, or a parent with children because too much stress or a lack of sleep can be detrimental to their health or ability to perform necessary tasks.
Health and fitness are prominent themes in the current American society. Physical exercise and mental well-being are important aspects of this health and fitness era. Yoga focuses on stretching and strengthening while being mindful of body placement and breathing. Adriene is utilizing yoga for calming the nervous system and stretching in this specific 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga practice. Physical activities can “have immediate, long-term health benefits” and “improve your quality of life” (Physical activity — it’s important, 2018). And while 30 minutes per day is recommended, there will always be days where a person might not feel up to doing 30 minutes of exercise or does not have the time. In these instances, a 7 Minute yoga practice is the perfect solution to still getting some physical movement accomplished. While seven minutes might not seem like enough time, Adriene states in her description that her ‘Yoga Quickies’ (short yoga videos) “show us that we do not need 30, 60, 75 min[utes]” (Yoga with Adriene, 2017). Adriene establishes in her video description that “a little [yoga] goes a long way” and “the good stuff actually just arrives when you do too”, meaning that showing up and doing any duration of physical activity leads to results (Yoga with Adriene, 2017).
In addition to garnering physical results from this yoga practice, participants can experience a decrease in stress through Adriene’s guidance. Stress can have detrimental physical effects on the body such as consuming extra energy “which could otherwise be used to protect the body” from illnesses and psychological effects such as irritability, anxiety, depression, and harming sleep (Reducing stress, 2009). Eliminating these effects can be vital for certain individuals leading a stressful lifestyle, as adequate immune health, proper sleep, and good mental health are important for an individual. A busy person who wants to maintain an active lifestyle and assist their mental health can find an ideal solution in the 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga practice by Yoga with Adriene.
Short video workout content such as 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga by creator Yoga with Adriene is ideal for younger audiences. Individuals who wish to incorporate fitness into their lives can partake in this yoga practice to calm the nervous system, decrease stress and its effects, and stretch the muscles. Decreasing stress lends to improving sleep, as the body and brain relax. This short practice can also be squeezed into even the busiest of days, allowing participants to reap the yoga practice’s benefits. The 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga practice by Yoga With Adriene offers a unique way for younger audiences to fit health and fitness into their busy schedules. With so much time spent stressed and on the go, it can be beneficial to take the time to yoga.
References
Alter, A. 2017, April. Why our screens make us less happy [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_alter_why_our_screens_make_us_less_happy
Generational Breakdown: Info About All of the Generations. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://genhq.com/faq-info-about-generations/
Physical activity — it’s important. (2018, August). Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/physical-activity-its-important
Reducing stress. (2009, December 21). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://healthengine.com.au/info/reducing-stress
Yoga with Adriene. 2017, February 8. 7 Minute Bedtime Yoga — Yoga With Adriene [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI9upn4t9n8
