At first mention, many people assume beer yoga is just getting drunk and acting silly. Many traditional yogis frown upon this sacrilege of thousands of years philosophy and study. Well I'm here to remind you that yogis are supposed to practice non judgement and there certainly is a lot more to beer yoga than you first assume.
The word 'yoga' translates to yolk, or bring together. To me, this means a few things. Bringing together the mind, body, & breath in your yoga practice, as well as bringing people together. A yoga community gathers together a group of people seeking to feel better, find like minded people, and in our high stress, heavy screen time lives, get a bit of an escape from day to day life. At the end of the day, we all just want to feel a little bit of relief. Am I right?!
Now think about your favorite local brewery. It's most likely a small business owner and you have gone there with friends and family for a birthday, a baby shower, or TGIF happy hour. They have community tables, a beer garden to play games, trivia nights, local live music, & they maybe even sponsored your Wednesday night middle aged softball league. Lest we forget the best part, the dogs. OMG the amount of awesome dogs hanging out at breweries! Life is great!!! I digress. Even if you don't like beer, you've been to a brewery for at least one of those mentioned events (& probably drinking some shitty Rose, just saying).
Breweries are a keystone in any community for bringing people together and are often the first business to look towards when a neighborhood redevelopment plan is en route. Why? Because people are seeking a gathering place to feel better, find like minded people, and in our high stress, heavy screen time lives, get a bit of an escape from day to day life. At the end of the day, we all just want to feel a little bit of relief. Sound familiar? AM I RIGHT?! Holla.
So let's add this up. Yoga helps you destress & feel great. Breweries and beer allow you to destress and feel great, in moderation of course. So here we are with the perfect pairing, beer yoga!
It's important to mention that one of the primary things I learned in my yoga teacher training was that our main job was to keep people safe. That is what I strive to do in these classes. We don't chug from the minute class starts or get sloppy. We mindfully roll through a yoga class, strengthen the body, and then as a treat and an added challenge we incorporate the beer in to the final yoga poses. Using a pint as a prop you can engage different muscles. You certainly don't want to spill your beer so you focus and work on proper alignment. You're more in tune with your body so the beer hits your tongue and it's refreshing flavors are relished. You give the person next to you a smile & a cheers. After class you chat over an ale about the class, what you tried on menu, other activities, etc. You've connected body, breath, mind & community.
The pairing is perfect. Yoga and beer. Bringing people together to leave your worries outside the door for an hour or two. Don't believe me? Come to one of my classes! Or ask one of our community members that I can now call friends and family.
Alyssa is the founder of ALES & ASANAS®, Inc. We utilize local breweries to foster a community of fitness and beer enthusiasts in a welcoming atmosphere. We like to get social after class and sample craft beer while getting to know our neighbors and supporting local businesses. Whether it's your first class or 500th class we hope you feel stronger, relaxed, and a little hoppier.
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