This past weekend afforded me the chance to bring two of my great loves together:
Yoga and Wine.
I’ve often joked with friends and students saying these two things have brought me the most peace.
I watched this personal truth come to life for others this past Friday. To see these two, seemingly different worlds bring happiness to others confirmed my sometimes tipsy suspicions. To wit, my cup was overflowing with joy.
I witnessed a yoga class of 32 people synergize at the wavelength of synchronized breath and movement. The type of connection that only comes from breathing and moving at the same time. This was followed by a night that further proved the accuracy of the phrase *in vino veritas. The truth of laughter, great wine and delicious food flowed as people conversed, and cajoled while raising glasses and dining on fresh pastries. The slow down and savour properties of wine took effect. That magic, yet subtle cloak of complete enjoyment enveloped us. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time.
I had conversations with students I’ve known for years within the context of a yoga class. Wine and food pulled back the social veils. Who we were outside of the studio came to the foreground. All the cheesy wine jokes I cracked were met by equally hilarious remarks. Things got pretty “lit” as they say.
I shared with the group how I see the two worlds of yoga and wine as the perfect pairing. 5 ways yoga and wine are long lost twins;
1) Both make life better….when used in moderation
Yoga has the potential to enhance our lives and bring a deeper sense of purpose to our everyday world. We can use yoga to enhance our interaction with the world. It makes us stronger, more aware, more in tuned to our senses, leaving us capable of truly enjoying life. But go overboard with yoga, especially the physical practice, and you can end up injured if you’re not mindful.
The same goes for wine. It has the potential to enhance evenings spent with a loved one, compliment, even accentuate a masterful meal, bring frivolity and relaxation to an event (if you’ve ever been to a dry wedding, you know what I mean. Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding for a reason folks. Please don’t subject people to a dry wedding. I’m pretty sure its bad karma) Even so, as wonderful as this beverage can be, have that fourth or fifth glass and wake up with the hangover from hell.
Enter both of these worlds with wisdom and moderation and receive their blessings in abundance. Over do it? You can end up with pulled muscles or pounding headaches.
2) Just as they say in vino veritas – in yoga you will find your true self.
We’ve all been there. Having a wine night with friends or family and sure enough, once the fermented juices get flowing, so do the overshares. Aunt Judy admits out loud her unwavering love for Nickelback. Jessica finally tells Brad, her office crush how much she loves him via text. You wake up the next morning to see a flurry of Instagram pictures revealing your true, party self out there for the world to witness.
Wine also brings about tender moments of truth. Those conversations that go deep into the night fueled by wine, trust and friendship. Topics we wouldn’t touch in the light of day get unpacked and shared in the dark of night. We reveal hidden stories about ourselves to those we love, and they return the favor. All of this is helped along by a few glasses of ‘truth serum’.
Yoga has the same effect on our relationship to self. You can’t hide on the mat. Who we are, our strengths, weaknesses, desires, and ego meet us every time we to set up to flow or simply sit still and breathe. The truth of who we are is revealed when we dive deeper into the practice.
If you don’t want to know the truth? Don’t drink wine and don’t do yoga….This would be a very sad existence to say the least.
3) There are many different types of wine. There are many different types of yoga – it’s all about finding the ones you love.
I’m more of a full bodied red wine gal. Others enjoy a glass of rose on a warm summer’s eve. Still others would wrestle wild badgers for a glass of Chardonnay at the end of a long work day. None of these preferences make us better or worse than another person. They express our individual preferences. They reveal how we have taken the time to discover and admit to what makes us happy. There are so many different types of wine, just like there are so many different styles of yoga.
I know people who only take hot yoga classes. I also know others who wouldn’t come within a mile of a hot room. I have students who love to move slow and take it easy in a gentle hatha class. I also have students who will do a chatarunga any time the opportunity is offered in a vinyasa class. I’m so grateful for the diversity of yoga. It allows many personalities and body types to find the style that works best for the body and mind they exist within. It’s all about finding the types of wines and the styles of yoga that work best for you and your stage of life. Which leads me to my next point….
4) Both wine and yoga are subjective experiences.
A big bold glass of Californian Cab Sauv might be the dream wine for one person and absolute swill for someone else. Just like Yin Yoga might be what lights someone up inside, while simultaneously driving another person to the edge of their sanity. This does not make one style of wine or yoga superior, nor does it make one person’s opinion more justifiable than anyone else’s. Someone’s experience of a glass of wine or a yoga class is subjective.
If one person smells gooseberries in a Gewurztraminer while another person smells lemons, does that make one person’s nose more accurate? Absolutely not. Both are expressing their experience.
If one person adores a particular yoga class, while the person in the back corner feels like they are in the midst of a torture session, does that mean the class is horrible? Hardly. Both are having an individual moment, and both moments hold a certain amount of validity.
There are universal truths as to what makes a good yoga class, just as there are universal truths as to what constitutes a good wine. However, a great deal of both subjects are opinion and experience based
So the next time someone tries to say what you smell or taste in a wine is wrong, politely explain to them there is no wrong answer. Wine holds the grading system used for millenials; you get a participation ribbon by just showing up, drinking and having an opinion! It’s a win win! (Because I was born in ‘84 technically I am a millenial, so I can say these things without bias).
Concurrently, if you did not like a yoga class, don’t go back. Even so, keep searching for the one that really does light you up inside. Search for the yoga classes that leave you feeling like you just had a really soothing glass of exceptionally well made wine.
5) Both are a way of life
I fell far down the rabbit hole of the wine world and never truly left. By studying wines and learning to appreciate them on a deeper level, my enjoyment of the eternal drink was enhanced. As a result, my understanding of what made a good meal to go with wine also grew. By taking time to study wines, I ended up studying the subjects behind it – agriculture, geography, topography, soil types, weather, farming, global cultures, oenology, culinary arts, history – the list was endless. It opened up a whole new way of looking at the world.
The same thing happened when I stepped onto the yoga mat. I began to understand myself and the world around me a bit better. When I took my first yoga teacher training it opened up my mind to the subjects of anatomy, philosophy, new languages, religion, teaching styles, meditation, breathing techniques, nutrition, incense, spandex – the list was endless. It broadened my understanding of the world as well as my place within it.
An excerpt from the book “The Wisdom of the Body” sums up the way these two entities open us up to the depth and sanctity of the moment;
“To have a sacramental spirituality is to honor that our senses are doorways into the holy. When we bring ourselves intentionally to an experience and let ourselves receive it through our senses, the richness of it and the multi-dimensionality of it shimmers forth”
Yoga and wine get us in touch with our senses. When we set an intention in a yoga class to stay with the breath and experience the class one moment at a time, it helps us experience the richness of life in high definition.
When we tell ourselves to deliberately slow down and savor a glass of good wine by smelling, tasting and absorbing its goodness it fills us with the joy and richness of life that comes from enjoying lovely things that originate from the earth and from the hard work of others.
Both bring us in contact with the world around and within us. Both bring us into deeper union with our senses. It’s no small wonder so many people adore these two things.
This past Friday proved they are not mutually exclusive entities. So I would like to invite you to try the following. The next time you come home from a soul satisfying yoga class, pair it with a glass of soul satisfying, body and mind relaxing wine.
Namaste Tipsy ya’ll.
