By MaiLynn Stormon-Trinh
I’m not sure what circumstances or intentions brought others to the Urban Yoga studio for Yoga by the Glass. I, however, couldn’t resist an opportunity to combine two of my favourite things.
Although I’ve enjoyed both for many years, I don’t consider myself to be a yoga master nor a wine connoisseur. In risk of sounding just as condescending, I admit I’m easily put off by people who claim to be authorities in either of these areas. But Elissa Jordan, who led a 90-minute yoga class followed by a wine tasting session, didn’t have a pretentious bone in her body. She obviously knew her stuff but she shared her expertise in simple, accessible ways.
Elissa had a straightforward teaching style. Her cues were direct. There was neither music nor mention of prana. She described her classes as “challenging”, which turned out to be a fitting adjective to use. In a room packed to capacity, I vasisthasana to chaturanga dandasa-ed myself into a sweaty heap. As I lay in sivasana, I could think of little else apart from how utterly fantastic that first drop of cold sparkling wine would taste as it hit my tongue (which, by the way, I understand is not the most ideal way to spend sivasana).
Then, in an oddly natural transition, we said our “namastes”, put away our bolsters, rolled up our yoga mats and proceeded to get, for want of a more graceful word, tipsy.
I’ve been wine tasting enough times to know that I’m not really interested in determining what sorts of flavours ignite different parts of my palette. However, I am in to the merriment that often ensues from the activity itself – and that’s just what I got. For two hours, we sat around in a big circle, sipped and discussed a healthy pour of four very different wines, and, mostly, we immersed ourselves in camaraderie born from a combination yogic endorphins and libations shared among likeminded people.
All in all, I left the yoga studio that afternoon feeling energised, connected and cheery. There’s not much more I could ask or hope for.
