Sweating for their suds: Beer yoga offered at Ceres, Turlock breweries

There's so much to think about when deciding to take a yoga class: the size, the teacher, the style, the intensity. And in the case of two sessions held in Turlock and Ceres on Sunday morning, there was one more crucial consideration: whether the beer is consumed during or afterward.

Because beer yoga, in case you've been living under a mat, has become a thing. An April 2016 Vice article says it may have originated at Burning Man. A year later, GQ reported that the Germans turned the practice into "a legitimate fitness craze" and that classes are offered around the world, including Australia and several Southeast Asian countries.

Typically, it seems, the beer is incorporated into the yoga routine, even so far as perhaps balancing a bottle on one's head while holding a pose.

That's the way Brittnie King leads her class at Blaker Brewing Co. in Ceres. The 10 women in her intimate, laughter-filled session Sunday grabbed their flights of beer samples — "your four cheerleaders," King called them — before sitting on their mats.

"When I teach beer yoga, it is basically hatha yoga, or a gentle flow," King said, and as the students stretched and held poses, they also held a glass, or sometimes two, above their heads or at arm's length to their sides. "We're gonna make a beer tree," she said at one point, having her students balance on one foot without spilling their suds.

The instructor also does "beeroma therapy," to take in the smell of the brews, and breathing exercises because "when you exhale, you get a lot of the flavors in the back of your throat."

King, a dancer who's performed with Central West Ballet and taught at Strut Performing Arts, teaches community yoga in parks and a church and subs for instructors at various local studios. She's been leading beer yoga at Blaker for at least a year, she said Sunday.

It's not her first time combining alcohol and athleticism. "I did vino and vinyasa (a faster-paced yoga style) at a winery, I was really bummed that we didn't get our vino until after the class," she said. "I love tasting wine and beer and it just made sense to to do a tasting through the yoga."

She started offering beer yoga in her backyard. Her husband, Justin, is a hobby brewer, "and we'd go through a full tasting, from light to dark, in the yoga practice." The gig at Blaker came about when King met Shelly Lucas (Blaker Brewing is a Lucas family business) at a beer fest and "we connected."

King, who has no fixed schedule at Blaker but announces her sessions well in advance on her Friday Community Yoga page on Facebook, said the next one will be Feb. 22. It will be at the brewing company's new taproom, The Tarmac, located on the former Castle Air Base in Atwater. The Tarmac has its grand opening this Friday, Jan. 24.

She's had as many as 30 students in the $25 class in warmer weather, and her participants range from hard-core to those who never otherwise practice yoga and "are here for the beer."

Sunday morning, AC/DC's "Have a Drink on Me" was part of the background music — a playlist of drinking-related songs King created.

Student Maggie Roberts is a longtime yoga practitioner who said she also "loves" Blaker Brewing. Roberts, who's from the Modesto area but lived eight years in Portland, said beer yoga can be a way of introducing hipsters to yoga. "It's opening it up to a new generation, if that makes sense," she said. "I think the beer just makes the yoga a lot more fun."

"Fun" also is the word Jessica Egli, a third-timer at the Blaker class, used when asked what beer brings to yoga. She loves yoga without beer, too, Egli said, but a little drinking "kind of does help you loosen up a bit."

Warrior Yoga at Dust Bowl

Farther south Sunday, a dramatically different yoga class was in session at the Dust Bowl Brewing Co. in Turlock. About 60 people — mostly women, but at least a half-dozen men — were led by instructor Lorie Wilson and her assistants in an hour of hot power yoga.

Using a headset and speakers, Wilson kept up a steady flow of directions to her students, who for the large part looked like they knew the drill. Her aides wandered the sea of yogis, offering assistance with poses.

With her husband, Sean, Wilson has owned and operated Warrior Yoga for nearly four years and started offering sessions at Dust Bowl shortly after opening. They have events at the brewery every few months, she said Sunday, and the next is not yet scheduled.

The partnership works both ways, Wilson said, exposing some Dust Bowl fans to yoga — "They hear, oh, Dust Bowl? Beer? I'll try it" — and some of her Warrior Yoga regulars to the brewery. A few years ago, she'd heard a little about beer yoga, didn't realize how popular it was becoming, but was open to connecting with Dust Bowl when someone suggested it to her.

But unlike many instructors, she definitely does not want students drinking before or during a session. "I'm not a big fan of that, because the intention of the practice is to get clear and grounded and focused," and the beer would be a distraction, she said. "Even though it's a fun event, we're still practicing. I try to make it super fun but I do want to share the aspects of the practice that are beneficial."

The Warrior Yoga at Dust Bowl is $20, which includes a 16-ounce pour or a beermosa (orange juice and beer). Sessions are advertised on dustbowlbrewing.com, under Events, and on www.warrioryogaturlock.com, also under Events.

Sunday's class looked to be mostly 20- and 30-somethings, but there were some middle age and a few seniors. Of Warrior Yoga in general, Wilson said, "It's for all walks, I have all different levels in all my classes. Some people use a chair. It's adaptable to everybody."

One of Sunday morning's students, Victoria Vasquez, said she's studied under Wilson "off and on since Lorie opened her first studio." A friend told her about the sessions at Dust Bowl, and she'd been wanting to try one. Vasquez, whose Dust Bowl beer of choice is The Therapist, brought along her husband, Zachary, a Hops of Wrath fan.

His wife probably could have talked him into taking a yoga class anyway, Zachary said, but beer sealed the deal. "I enjoyed it," he said after class. "I do a lot of different fitness activities throughout my week, and coming to do this was challenging. It felt good."

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