Connecting and disconnecting clipless bike shoes from Shimano pedals I bought my first pair of clipless bike shoes (Northwave MTB) and pedals (Shimano 8100).  The connection is SPD, since they're MTB shoes.
I had them show me in the store how to connect and disconnect the shoes:

to connect: first push the cleats forward into the pedal and then press down hard on the heel of the shoe to connect the back part
to disconnect: push down hard on the heel of the shoe and then rotate the heel outward

I didn't manage to get it working in the store and after a while I decided to try it at home, since I wanted to leave the store due to a long time in an enclosed space in these Covid times.
My question is: is it possible to break the cleats/shoes/pedals if I do the motions wrong?  If so, what do I want to do (apart from the motions listed above), and what do I NOT want to do?
Thanks for the help and any other suggestions!
You're not going to break them, and really, their advice is too complicated.
To clip in, just stomp your foot on the pedal in the right spot. If you don't get it right, try again. Pretty quickly it will become second nature.
To clip out, rotate your heel outward. That's it.
This pedal lets you set the disengagement resistance with a screw on the back if you want to make it harder/easier to clip out. You'll need to set it for both sides. And you can reposition the cleat on the shoe to get a better position, but make sure to really tighten it down—if you don't, the cleat can stay locked in the pedal and the shoe will move.