Yoga. Art. Food. Wine. OMGs. LOLs. New friends. Old friends. Rookie Yogis. Rockstar Yogis. Camaraderie. Community. These are the ingredients that make up Align & Wine.

Recipe for Community

I’ve been on my yoga mat for over 15 years. However, there is another little known fact about me: I used to be a personal chef. I have witnessed (and personally experienced) the healing capabilities of both yoga and food. I understood intuitively what would happen when I blended these 2 potent energies together in one event…and my intuition was spot on.

Align

The Align half of Align & Wine is a warm, fun, lighthearted community yoga class. All sizes, shapes, ages, strength levels and degrees of flexibility are welcome. The yoga practice is customized for the students present and how they are feeling that particular day.

The energy within the art museum is also big and creative! This expansiveness usually permeates itself into each class as well – every Align & Wine has its own unique energy level. No two classes are ever alike. Our class size usually ranges from 8 to 35 yogis!

Wine

After Aligning, we wine.

Class ends around 7:30 and we transition to Pane e Vino where we are greeted with a reserved table and a welcoming spread of antipasti platters, warm, fresh breadsticks with marinara and carafes of red wine.

The next 2 hours contain a fusion of the following: greetings, introductions, toasts, handshakes, hugs, eating, drinking, discussions, social media connections (“Facebook me!”), stories, life changes & transitions, more eating, more drinking, bouts of howling laughter. Usually by 9:15ish we are paying our checks and saying farewell to each other until next week.

Creation

For 2 years, this class has been a safe haven for yogis from 20-something to 70-something, tri-athletes and professional couch potatoes, active duty soldiers & retired veterans, doctors, designers, readers and writers, CEOs and assembly-line workers, vegans & Paleo enthusiasts, caregivers & cancer survivors, the I-just-want-to-lose-a-few-pounds, the folks struggling with eating disorders, widows and widowers, 3rd generation Huntsville residents and the I’m-new-here-and-don’t-know-anyone residents.

Align & Wine is much more than a yoga class. It is a community, an extended family. Align and Wine has stayed true to my original vision: it is a living, breathing example for the definition of the word yoga: “To connect.”

10 Tips for a Great 1st Class

Parking can be a challenge, especially in summer months and near Christmas. Please your time accordingly.
Enter museum via main entrance on Church Street – front desk personnel will direct you to our actual location in the museum, it varies weekly.
Students often order their own meal from the Pane e Vino menu. Bring funds for your restaurant tab.
Please bring your own yoga mat. (I have used Hugger Mugger mats since my first time on the yoga mat – I offer them via my shopping cart. Good quality mats are also available to purchase locally at Target or Dick’s sporting goods.)
Worried you don’t know enough about yoga to come? Relax! All levels of experience welcome.
Dress comfortably in stretchy non-binding clothes.
Bring a firm blanket or big firm beach towel to use both as a yoga prop and to keep you warm at the end of yoga practice.
Leave water bottles or beverages in your car – NO food/beverages allowed in the museum.
Although it’s tempting to wine before you align, I don’t recommend it! Just trust me on this one.
Online release forms will need to be completed first – they can be done HERE.

I hope you will join us someday at Align & Wine! It’s the only yoga class in town where “Bottoms Up!” applies both ON and OFF the mat.

Event Information

Dates and Times: Thursdays
Time: 6:00pm – 9:30ish
Location: Huntsville Museum of Art
Cost: Yoga class only $15; Yoga + food/wine $22 (includes platters of breadsticks, antipasti plates and carafes of red wine)