Namaste with a Twist! Brew and Asana Book Publish Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Adrienne Rinaldi
aka BeerSnobChick
(602) 999-6145
adrienne@beersnobchick.com
www.beersnobchick.com

Namaste with a Twist!
A Book About Beer and Yoga – Did You Ever Think The Two Could Coexist?

DENVER, CO, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 – “Brew & Asana: A BeerSnobChick’s Guide to Beer and Yoga” is a book about beer and yoga — this first book of its kind! “Brew & Asana: A BeerSnobChick’s Guide to Beer and Yoga” is a book that takes your favorite yoga poses and beers and kicks it up a notch with fun and flavorful pairings. In this book, you will find beautiful illustrations of a beer (brew) and yoga pose (asana) with descriptions of each. “Brew & Asana: A BeerSnobChick’s Guide to Beer and Yoga” is available in paperback on Outskirts Press, Amazon (and Kindle), and soon Barnes & Noble.

From triangle pose paired with a saison to crow pose paired with an American stout, each pairing captures the complexity of the asana and essence of each brew, allowing you to find balance in warrior III or in the bite of an imperial IPA. Complete with dozens of colorful illustrations, this book shows you how to incorporate yoga and beer in a fun and harmonious way. So get ready to toast to brews and asanas!

“Brew & Asana: A BeerSnobChick’s Guide to Beer and Yoga” can be purchased at a discounted price on Outskirts Press: https://outskirtspress.com/brewandasana for $17.96 or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478794518 for $19.95.

About the Author

A hop enthusiast, lover of yoga, and a bit of a beer snob, Adrienne Rinaldi took her fascination of craft beer and launched the blog BeerSnobChick in 2009, which allowed her to explore beers and breweries across the country. After receiving her 200-hour yoga certification in 2012, she hosted rocking yoga classes in breweries which concluded with a beer. Thus, Brew Asana™ LLC was born! Adrienne combines her enthusiasm for beer and yoga to create a unique and fun book that yogis, seasoned and new, and craft beer lovers can enjoy.

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Adrienne Rinaldi adrienne@beersnobchick.com (602) 999-6145
www.beersnobchick.com and www.brewasanas.com

 

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All About Beer

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/yoga-and-beer

A beer tent at the finish line of a 5K is not an uncommon sight, but the latest fitness pairing—yoga and beer—is bringing the workout inside the brewery. Yoga instructors are partnering with breweries across the country, from Hoppy Yoga at San Diego’s Green Flash Brewing Co. to OM Brew Yoga at Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewery, to practice poses between tanks and barrels and follow shavasana, the corpse pose, with a pint or a round of tasters.

An unlikely combination, perhaps, but the brewery and the promise of beer after class creates a vibe not found in the typical unsullied yoga studio, says Beth Cosi, founder of Bendy Brewski & Tapas Yoga in Charleston, SC.

At Charleston’s Holy City Brewing, where Cosi teaches classes from March to November, the brewery’s garage-style doors are rolled up so it’s an indoor/outdoor experience, susceptible to gravel, grass, dirt, leaves and rain blowing in. It’s noisy, with the whirr of the glycol chiller and redolent with a potpourri of hops, sweet malt and sweat.

“Sometimes it can get a little bit overwhelming,” says Cosi, who also teaches in a studio. “I’m sure there have been students who have come and tried it out and it’s just not their thing, especially if you’re used to the fancy, pristine cleanliness, all the props, the very controlled incense smell of a studio, which is beautiful, but it’s very different than that.”

Yoga instructors are bringing beer into the studio, too. Cosi also partners with a local yoga studio for a class and tasting called Ales and OMs, and Philadelphia beer writer Joe Sixpack, also known as Don Russell, and his wife, yoga teacher Theresa Conroy, host Happy Hour Yoga, a one-hour all-levels class followed by a beer tasting.

The nontraditional format and space attract a diverse crowd, says Cosi: Her classes are usually split 50/50 between men and women, with students ranging from ages 12 to 55 (beers are served only for the over-21 crowd, of course), clad in everything from Lululemon gear to Carhartts or swim trunks.

The beginner-oriented 45-minute Hatha and Yin style class is followed by four 4-oz samples. A drop-in class costs $15 with tasting included, or a $60 five-class card is available for classes at any of her locations, including Holy City, Freehouse Brewing, Frothy Beard Brewing and Highwire Distilling Co.

Classes also bring new customers into breweries. And in brewery-rich Denver, where Adrienne Rinaldi founded BrewAsanas, there is no shortage of breweries willing to sweep their floors and open their tasting rooms for class. BrewAsanas holds hourlong classes at Denver- and Boulder-area breweries including Jagged Mountain Brewery, Diebolt Brewing Co., Kokopelli Beer Co. and Crystal Springs Brewing Co. She also started a class of vinyasa flow and deeper yin poses, followed by a drink of the fizzy, fermented tea known as kombucha, at Denver’s Happy Leaf Kombucha.

Rinaldi, who is also author of the beer blog “The Beer Snob Chick,” says that after one recent class a student tried a porter and discovered a new favorite style.

“You’re trying something new—yoga in a brewery, right?—so I think people are open to trying new beers and different breweries,” she says.

Mia Sabatino and Lynne Officer, founders of Hoppy Yoga in San Diego, even have a name for that effect of feeling relaxed, blissful and open to meeting new people after a class.

“We like to call those yoga goggles,” Officer says. “It makes people much more open to socialize after they’ve completed their yoga classes.” Sabatino and Officer started Hoppy Yoga a little over a year ago, growing it from a few friends to a loyal following who attend their classes at Green Flash, Mission Brewery, Modern Times Beer and Saint Archer Brewing Co.

It’s also not uncommon to see bartenders and brewery staff join for a class and then get behind the bar afterward, says Sabatino, citing a laid-back like-mindedness shared between the beer and yoga communities.

“The brewers have got to be on board,” agrees Cosi, of Bendy Brewski. “They’ve got to feel and know the benefit of the yoga class. It’s like a tribe.”

Chris Brown, partner and head brewer of Holy City Brewing, met Cosi when they worked together at EVO Pizzeria in North Charleston. She would teach classes there to friends in the food and beverage industry whose lower backs, arms and shoulders often ached. After Holy City Opened, they moved classes to the brewery, where he still joins in weekly.

“We’re on our feet all the time, sometimes nine to 12 hours a day, and we’re lifting lots of things,” he says. “We do the class, stretch it out, have a little bit of beer, and then start the work week.”

Whether it’s yoga after beer, or beer after yoga, the unlikely combination fits together like yin and yang, as Cosi says.

“People who are really into craft beer and things that are locally made, they want to put things that are more fresh and delicious in their body. … With yoga, it’s the same thing. It’s being more mindful and paying attention to your body and feeling a part of something that’s larger than you—being able to come together as a community.”

This story appears in the July issue of All About Beer MagazineClick here for a free trial of our next issue.

Yoga Basics

www.yogabasics.com/connect/yoga-blog/yoga-and-beer

Like peanut butter and jelly, wine and cheese and all those other matches made in heaven—beer and yoga have finally found one another.

OK, so not everyone is so convinced that getting your bandhas and a buzz on at the same time is necessarily a good idea. But it’s true that yoga classes at breweries—though not entirely new—seem to be growing in popularity this summer. And why not? It’s hot out. People like beer. People like yoga. Breweries are trendy, yoga is trendy, so on and so forth.

Personally, I find it a little strange (I’d rather chug a kombucha after class than an IPA), but it’s not altogether surprising. Lately, it seems like everyone is questioning what yoga should or shouldn’t be, what constitutes a “real” yoga practice, et cetera. But if people can do yoga on horseback, yoga underwater and yoga while they get their toes painted—it was only a matter of time before beer-swilling yogis closed the distance between the mat and the taps. (The beer and socializing typically comes after the yoga, though one does wonder what the effect might be if the itinerary were reversed.) Most classes are on the shorter side (typically in the 45 minute range), are geared toward beginners, and are followed by beer tastings and socializing at the bar.

The majority of the classes have punny names like Bend and Brew in Asheville, NC, Bendy Brewski in Charleston, SC, BrewAsana in Boulder and Denver, CO and Hoppy Yoga in San Diego, CA. Cameron Gunter, founder of Traveling Yogini Tours in Asheville and organizer of Bend and Brew yoga classes, describes the classes as “very social and upbeat. We play great music. The poses are energizing [but] it’s not meditative. [The beers are still] brewing while we are bending.”

Supporters of the events say that the laid-back, social atmosphere encourages people to try yoga who might otherwise never step foot in a studio. “I like the idea of yoga and beer because it allows people who might not want to try yoga but love beer feel comfortable in a social setting [and] give it a try,” says Gunter. “It’s especially fun to see the guys [who] come with the girls and are only there for the tasters end up loving the yoga class.”

Those less thrilled about this ‘beerasana’ trend point to the aspects of the pairing you might expect—mostly that yoga in this alcohol-imbibing context cheapens and/or further commercializes the practice. Others say it pulls people further away from yoga philosophy, as well as the meditative qualities that Gunter admits are absent in the brewery setting. After all, happy hour isn’t exactly one of the eight limbs.

So what do you think? Are these classes an innovative way of getting yoga out of the studio and out to the masses? Are they warping tradition? And then of course, there’s the Big Question: Is this “real” yoga?

About Lea McLellan

Lea McLellan is a writer and yoga teacher living in Asheville, NC. She experienced the wonder of her first downward dog in college in Burlington, VT where she also studied Buddhism and Asian religious traditions. She completed her 200-hour, vinyasa teacher training in Boston in 2012 and has been practicing and teaching up and down the east coast ever since.
www.yogabasics.com/connect/yoga-blog/yoga-and-beer

 

The New York Times

I was interviewed in December about BrewAsanas for the The New York Times – my interview didn’t make the cut, but BrewAsanas got a mention!

A chef, 24 yogis and a dog walk into an Art Deco bar. It’s 10:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday, and most of the yogis have just completed a 2.3-mile run through downtown Los Angeles, led by a chef, Rob Rice, who is a certifiedyoga instructor.

Mr. Rice fires up his latest Detox Retox Spotify playlist and guides the class through a series of sun salutations, including a handful of downward dog poses, which arouse the canine into shaming the human yogis when he completes the namesake move perfectly.

Ninety minutes later, the beginner/intermediate class is over. But instead of his traditional signoff of “namaste and cheers,” Mr. Rice extends gratitude to attendees at this inaugural class at Angel City Brewery, which follows Detox Retox’s yearlong success with a Saturday class at Golden Road, a nearby brewery.

Ten minutes later, most participants have paid the $10 fee and traded the drink ticket for a beer at the bar.

Detox Retox is part of a growing trend of yoga paired with post-practice beer. These classes, often placed in breweries, are popping up across the country, and some have cheeky names like Happy Hour Yoga with Joe Sixpack in Philadelphia, BrewAsanas in Colorado (Boulder and Denver) and Three Sheets to the Warrior Pose in Wilmington, Del.

The trend was started two and a half years ago in Charleston, S.C., by Beth Cosi, a restaurant worker turned yoga instructor. Ms. Cosi regularly invited her friends to take her class, but few actually made it to the studio. After connecting with a local brewery, she extended another invitation to her non-yoga-practicing friends to attend a beginner’s class that was followed by a beer tasting.

Ms. Cosi, whose friends showed up, learned that beer is an effective carrot on a stick.

“The biggest surprise is how it’s taken on a life of its own,” she said. “I never envisioned for these classes to grow larger than the one brewery, Holy City, and need to move into other.”

Bendy Brewski classes regularly have more than 50 attendees, so Ms. Cosi added an assistant to help with student adjustments. Ms. Cosi’s most popular class in Charleston’s largest studio? Less than 40, the maximum occupancy of the studio.

Ms. Cosi recently added a class — Bendy Boozey — at a distillery.

The post-class beer adds a social element to yoga. “The largest component is connection: They get permission to hang out,” she said. “People talk and laugh. It’s very social. It’s totally about community. The yoga is secondary. It’s a way to bring people together.”

These classes often include more men than in Ms. Cosi’s traditional classes.

But some purists frown upon adding alcohol to the ancient practice of yoga.Ashtanga Yoga Boston states on its website: “We consider the consumption of alcohol, being both an intoxicant and a poison, to be inconsistent with the practice of Ashtanga yoga. We expect that all students will make a good-faith effort to reduce to a minimum and ideally curtail their consumption of alcohol while enrolled in the school.”

Rhonda Hobgood, the owner of Salt Room Yoga in Seattle, said: “It depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to live yogic lifestyle, paring those two, alcohol and yoga, don’t go together.” She added: “If you’re drinking, you’re detracting from that very subtle process of fine-tuning your consciousness. Alcohol is a toxin. It creates its own state of mental being, which typically people use as an escape. The practice of yoga is the exactly the opposite of escaping yourself. You want to go full into whatever you’re experiencing, without altering it with an external substance.”

Before being lured to Detox Retox with the promise of a post-class beer, Mark Roden had taken about six yoga classes in the last 14 years. In the last 12 months, Mr. Roden has completed about 30 classes and compares the experience to the rise in popularity of atheist megachurches.

“A place for people without spiritual beliefs to get the community aspect of a church,” he said. “That’s what we have at Detox Retox.”

Drink the Nation

Check out BrewAsanas in Drink the Nation!

Brewasanas: Bringing ‘Om’ and Beer Together

by Carrie Dow on Mar 24, 2014 in Culture

Time to get your ‘om’ on Denver! Adrienne Rinaldi, AKA BeerSnobChick, is bringing together two favorite pastimes: Yoga and beer. DrinkDenver is totally on board. We recently attended one of her unique Brewasanasas classes at Jagged Mountain Brewery downtown.

Rinaldi, a certified yoga instructor, brings her yoga classes to her favorite breweries around Denver and Boulder. Enjoy a fun, yet intense yoga class and then receive a pint of beer from the brewery afterward to reward yourself for a workout well done. What a combo!

The yoga offered by Rinaldi is Vinyasa Yoga and the moves can be as easy or as hard as your flexibility can handle. Everyone is encouraged to go at their own pace from beginners to the advanced. The classes focus on fluid sequence (asanas) and breath (pranayama) and will leave you both fatigued, yet invigorated at the same time. Classes are held in the back of the selected brewery so you don’t have to worry about the regulars questioning your posture. Tickets are only $20 and can be purchased by cash or card upon arrival. Get a 3-pack of classes for only $50 or bring a friend and get two for $35. Attendees also need to bring their own mat and some water for hydration during the class. Afterward, the whole class can hang out and chat while drinking pints.  It’s a great way to meet new people and try new beers.

Classes for the rest of March are Mondays at Jagged Mountain downtown Denver, March 24 and March 31, Happy Leaf Kombucha on Wednesday, March 26, and Kokopelli Brewing on Tuesday, April 1, in Westminster. Classes start at 6 PM, but arrive a few minutes early to take care of your payment. Guests can pre-register online at brewasanas.com and pay at the class. Check the website calendar for a yoga and beer event near you.

You can also learn about Rinaldi’s love of beer from her BeerSnobChick.com blog. Om!

5280 Magazine blog

Check out BeerSnobChick and Brew Asanas mention in 5280 Magazine’s blog, “Prana Meets Pints.” http://www.5280.com/blogs/2013/10/05/prana-meets-pints-yoga-brewery

Namaste. Stand at the front of your mat, eyes closed, sides of the big toes touching, spine straight, arms at your sides. Now, take a deep breath, inhaling the wonderful scent of hops…

And so begins another yoga class in a brewery taught by Denver resident Adrienne Rinaldi. November marks the one-year anniversary of her first sudsy class, which was held at Boulder’s Twisted Pine Brewing, and the birth of her company, Brewasanas. Rinaldi, 30, now teaches more than a half-dozen yoga classes a month at breweries in Boulder, Denver, Lone Tree, and Westminster. “I love teaching in the brewery setting,” Rinaldi says. “It’s so unique, and attracts people who would never try yoga because they’re intimidated to go inside a studio where everyone is really bendy.”

Rinaldi first got the idea to pair beer and asanas (the Sanskrit word for yoga poses) in June 2012. She’d started a Meetup group to offer yoga classes at City Park and noticed more people came when she included beer afterward. Today, her classes take place indoors, either beside the barrels, in the taproom, or in the brewery restaurant with the tables pushed back, depending on the location. The $20 price includes a pint immediately following shavasana (the final pose). Rinaldi’s business plan is simple: She charges a flat rate per student per class, and the host brewery takes a cut.

Rinaldi is also known as the blogger behind “The Beer Snob Chick,” but she contends that her yoga prowess is just as developed as her taste in beer. Despite the fun setting (and sticky floor), her classes are an authentic yoga experience. Class lasts an hour, and is appropriate for all levels. Rinaldi particularly encourages first-timers, but yoga mats are not provided, so BYOM.

Jayme Moye writes about all things adventure. Follow her on Twitter (@JaymeMoye).

—Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Women’s Health magazine blog

beer-yogaBrewAsanas is listed in the Denver/Boulder (and surrounding) of Women’s Health magazine blog!

http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/scoop/yoga-beer/

Are Breweries the New Yoga Studios?

A new breed of yoga classes combines happy hour with hero pose

August 26, 2013
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You love yoga, and you love having drinks with friends—and now, a hot new yoga trend lets you do both at (almost) the same time. Recently, breweries across the country have started teaming up with yoga instructors to offer hybrid classes and beer tastings.

It all started a couple of years ago, when yoga instructor Beth Cosi volunteered to teach a class at Holy City Brewery in Charleston, South Carolina, to give her friends an added incentive to try yoga (they were always no-shows when she invited them to her studio). Soon, members of the community began to join in… and they stayed afterward to grab a beer. The concept became so popular that Cosi founded Bendy Brewski and has since expanded to three other breweries in the city. Today, she’s one of the many instructors across the U.S. who teaches classes at breweries.

Most yoga-beer classes are 45 to 60 minutes long and range in difficulty, from a slower ying style—which focuses on long, empowering stretches—to a faster-paced vinyasa flow—which emphasizes practicing a series of poses. Some classes are set to music, while others encourage light conversation. Regardless of the class you choose to take, it’ll end in roughly the same way: with a flight or pint of beer (which is often included in the class fee).

Ready to try out the trend? Contact one of these breweries, restaurants, or yoga studios to find out when its next yoga-beer class is:

Breckenridge Brewery Denver, CO

Golden Road Brewing Los Angeles, CA

Harriet Brewing Minneapolis, MN

Holy City Brewery Charleston, SC

Lone Tree Brewing Lone Tree, CO

Mission Brewery San Diego, CA

Raleigh Brewing Raleigh, NC

Ska Brewing Durango, CO

Upslope Brewing Boulder, CO

Upstate Brewing Elmira, NY

Victory Beer Downington, PA

WeYogis Dallas, TX

World Cafe Live Wilmington, DE

Yoga on the Ridge Philadelphia, PA