Yoga and Wine

By Dana Meltzer Zepeda

On the surface, yoga and wine may not seem to have very much in common (if thought of with strict convention). One is an ancient practice that gradually trains your body and mind to be in a constant state of peace. The other is a fleeting remedy, which can raise your spirits and relieve your inhibitions. But take a closer look and you’ll discover that yoga and wine have far more in common than you might think. “Yoga teaches you how to age gracefully just like a great bottle of wine ages gracefully,” explains David Romanelli, an instructor at Exhale Santa Monica who teaches yoga and wine workshops across the country. The zen Lakers fan, who regularly works life lessons from NBA games into his classes, believes anybody can embrace yoga—young, old, tall, short, male or female—with a few humorous words of encouragement. So, in a city with a yoga studio on every block, Romanelli has risked his reputation with unconventional yoga and wine workshops.  “Pouring a glass of wine is a celebration of one moment in your day that you want to hone and protect.”

Although many traditional yogis would beg to disagree—since Romanelli says that alcohol is strictly prohibited by traditional Ayurvedic medicine-- it’s important to be flexible both on and off the mat. “The bottom line is, for yoga to keep growing, it has to break through demographic barriers,” he says. “The absolute purity of yoga is not going to play if somebody is busting their butt all day long, working hard, raising a family and they’re intrigued by yoga but somebody says, ‘If you do yoga, you can not drink, you can not eat meat.’ Those people are going to be like, ‘This is not for me!’”

The key to drinking mindfully is moderation, says the co-leader of Romenelli’s workshops, sommelier-turned-yoga teacher Angela Gargano. “Think about how you feel after a yoga class,” says Gargano who teamed up with Romanelli after he taught a workshop at her Wisconsin yoga studio. “Your mind is calm so I think it’s the optimal time to have a glass of wine because you’re really in tune with your senses.” In the pair’s yoga and wine workshops, they teach students to take an entirely new approach to the way they sip a glass of merlot. “In America, most wine is consumed as cocktails,” says Gargano. But, than drink large quantities before and after meals, “You can change your approach so it’s part of a balanced lifestyle. I definitely believe in the European model of drinking in moderation.”

In the midst of our fast-paced lifestyles, though, is it really possible to re-energize—and find relief—in a glass of wine? “The key is to really engage all of our senses,” says Gargano. “I think we live in kind of a fast food nation where we’re in a hurry, so it’s really changing the way we approach our lives.”

Says Romanelli, “The wine has nothing to do at all with relaxation and losing inhibitions. We don’t drink the wine in Yoga and Wine until after the yoga is finished. The wine is highlighted as an everyday passion that, when explored mindfully, can serve as an accessible means to the present moment.”

Read on for Yogic wine-drinking techniques...

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