On Thursday, my article on "Yoga for Everything" appeared in Time Out New York (mysteriously titled "Goal Mate" by TONY).
On Friday, The New York Times ran this story, "Days of Wine and Yoga", about a yoga and wine workshop that's touring major US cities.
Hmmmmm, seems as journalists we're cementing a trend. (See what happened to the entrepreneur after she appeared in the Times.)
According to the Times, Yahoo.com is starting an entire "Yoga + " series that will pair yoga workshops with other kinds of learning and "indulgences." Yoga for chocolate is one.
I've watched some reactions to my little article. Yoga for dating raises eyebrows, but is by far the most talked about entry. Some people get indignant, some laugh, some are curious. The more sensible pairings, like yoga for running, or yoga for singers (after all, yoga tones the muscles of respiration and calms performance jitters) doesn't ruffle any feathers.
But what does yoga have to do with chocolate? Or wine?
I can see having a drink after a yoga class: when Go Yoga was still located in the Mini Mall, I used to enjoy stopping in at Uva Wines to taste the night's samplings.
But the Times shows yogis on their mats sipping wine. Mais, pourquoi? What benefit could there be from learning about wine in your gym clothes? (And possibly spilling it on the studio floor.) Is this a product of literal thinking or great marketing?
I think the answer is this: lifestyle.
Ahhh the fresh scent of the wave of the future.