Drunk Yoga: Gimmick or Good For You?

There’s Tantrum Yoga—a guided release of our inner child with temper tantrums (yes, you read that right) alongside other outside-the-box practices like Goat Yoga, Yoga Raves, and Drunk Yoga.

Yoga combined with wine—talk about making yoga completely irresistible. I don’t know about you, but the idea of getting into Balasana with a glass of rosé just inches away from the top of the mat sounds heavenly. Luckily, Eli Walker thought the same thing and created Drunk Yoga because she wanted to bring fun back to a community that might have become a little too serious. Works for us!

Eli Walker, founder of Drunk Yoga and author of Drunk Yoga: 50 Wine & Yoga Poses to Lift your Spirit(s), has been teaching yoga professionally for more than five years in New York City, Los Angeles, and internationally. The certified yoga instructor and astrologist created her own interactive niche built on a foundation of self-care and mental wellness.

Chilled sat with Eli to ask her about finding inner peace with a drink in hand.

Tell us about drinking while doing yoga.

The concept of finding “inner peace” in any setting is always about carving out space and time for yourself to slow down, reflect, and observe your surroundings and your responses to those surroundings sans judgment. How you build the container to hold that space and time is up to the individual.

What was your inspiration for Drunk Yoga?

My moment of inspiration for Drunk Yoga happened one evening in 2017 when I was out with some friends at a bar downtown, and an old friend of mine said, “You should teach me yoga, I can’t even touch my toes.” And then he did, and said, “Oh. I guess I can do it when I’m drunk.” It’s important to note here that while Drunk Yoga is not about getting “drunk” and doing yoga, I chose the provocative name because I realized all the benefits there are in breaking barriers between “yogis” and “non-yogis” by turning it into a social experience. Let’s be honest: happy hour IS the great equalizer, is it not? I thought, what better way to make yoga accessible to newbies than by making it fun, beginner-friendly, and by turning it into a party where EVERYONE is invited? Now, we’ve “appropriated” the word “drunk” to signify being “intoxicated with joy, community, love, and kindness.” Drunk Yoga is a celebration of unity through community. Often, with wine.

Is Drunk Yoga coupled only with wine?

No! While Drunk Yoga originated with wine in-hand in the back of a bar, we now offer all sorts of curated classes, under the umbrella of “demystifying” yoga through interactive classes. In addition to our signature “wine yoga” classes, we also offer Coffee Yoga, Spirit(s) Yoga (our signature sober yoga class, sans beverage), as well as some special events that include beer at breweries, or even high alkaline vodka, mimosas, green juice … whatever lifts your spirit(s).

There are noted health benefits to drinking wine and also to doing yoga, but what about the health benefits of doing them together?

In short, we believe that happiness is health. Too much of anything is a bad thing. That includes drinking too much alcohol, but it also includes taking a ritualistic practice like yoga too seriously. Our fun spin on traditional yoga is meant to–quite literally–lift spirit(s). My mission is to cultivate joy through community so that my students leave Drunk Yoga feeling “drunk on joy,” and empowered to go out into the world and uplift others. We do this through socializing, storytelling, partner poses, and some conventional stretching. Adding yoga with wine isn’t inherently “healthy,” but the way I’ve stylized this uniquely curated experience is food for the soul, as it sparks smiles, laughter, and whole-hearted wellness through a sense of “belonging.” In our ever-evolving world of technology, it’s no secret that urbanites are lonelier than ever. Drunk Yoga combats this by infusing conversation, jokes, and partner exercises into the class that aim to de-stress and uplift … and it works every time!

Tell us about your partnership with CheapCaribbean.

This partnership with CheapCaribbean is proposing a great way to ignite the “slowing down” process by literally changing your setting (i.e. Hopping on a flight to Cancun for the “New Year, New You” retreat and luxuriating on the beach with your favorite drink in-hand). Changing your container—like your physical location—offers new perspectives that’ll help “re-write” some of your life’s narratives that keep you feeling stuck. And, when you refine your relationship to “the one” who is writing the stories (ahem, YOU), you can thoroughly develop (and enjoy!) your unique sense of inner peace.

Want more Drunk Yoga? Walker says the concept of finding inner peace with a drink in hand on the beach is all about making time for yourself to slow down and reflect.

Join Eli this February at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa to be a part of her relaxed itinerary that includes Drunk Yoga classes, personal birth chart readings, sunrise beach yoga, Eli’s signature Divine Your Story workshops, a copy of her book, and creatively curated cocktails!

This year, Eli Walker teamed up with CheapCaribbean to launch their brand new, limited time, “New Year, Do You” Retreat, to help you start your 2020 off on a realistic (but still exciting) foot! On this extended beachy vacay, Eli is your guide to help you find your inner balance with daily yoga classes, meditation, and even one-on-one birth chart readings.