By Jessica Jagodzinski
Crowds gathered inside 3 Daughters Brewing Thursday to avoid the chilly weather, get drunk and namaste that way.
Yoga on Tap, an hourlong class taught monthly by an instructor from The Body Electric Yoga Company, blends yoga with drinking alcohol for a $15 cover charge. Yogis of all skill levels stretched their way through the class, which was built for beginners and experts alike.
A new pair to the mindfulness practice, Adrienne Wilson and her 9-year-old son Evan Wilson, were among the first dozen to arrive. They carried beach towels instead of yoga mats as they entered the makeshift studio, unsure of what to expect.
“He’s my little fitness guru. He’s the reason I came,” Wilson said.
The class began at 6 p.m. when instructor Katelyn Grady introduced the theme of the night: surrender.
“More than one person canceled their attendance because of the weather. So, I was inspired to talk a bit about stretching out our comfort zones and the power of the mind,” Grady said. “But to even get to that place, you first have to accept what is. You have to surrender to circumstance which in this case was the chilly weather.”
“For the next hour, I’m going to be lightly bossing you around,” Grady said. “You always want to be getting a little nervous … Trying a little harder.”
Musician Billy Mays III sat behind Grady on the stage, providing the crowd with a beat to stretch to.
Mays has performed his ambient instillation pieces set at the Body Electric studio and has collaborated with them on the Yoga on Tap events for around two years.
“There’s just different kinds of sets that I do. This is more like me improvising. Yeah, I guess these kinds of sets are less focused on me and more [the audience] doing something.”
Throughout the class, participants began shedding their extra layers as the exercises warmed and invigorated them despite the cold January air breezing through the warehouse. Lowering themselves into downward dog position or plank pose provided them the opportunity to sip on their 3 Daughters brew.
As participants wound down in child’s pose, Grady challenged them to fill the room with their voices as they chanted the sound of the universe.
“Sometimes I feel hesitant in chanting ‘om’ in a big space like this. I fear it will get lost in the cavernous room … We just have to be loud,” Grady said.
Grady climbed onstage and cranked Mays’ music louder, filling the warehouse and outside alleys with his “transcendent” slow jam and continuously dimming the lights as she introduced more challenging stretches.
“How will we ever grow if we keep running away from the shit that makes us uncomfortable?” Grady asked the class.
Header photo courtesy of Taylor Brooks
