(Copenhagen) Doing yoga yes, but with a beer: in Denmark, “beer yoga” has its followers, who meet by the dozens in the summer on a quay in the port of Copenhagen.
Every other Wednesday, Anne Lund, a sparkling 40-year-old instructor, gathers disciples for an hour of sequences interspersed with sips of beer.
“These are very basic yoga exercises. We drink sometimes during exercise, sometimes in between,” she told AFP.
At the start of the session, she distributes a can to each participant, who will then be able to use it in the postures – cheers ring out when a yogi manages to balance on one leg with the can resting on his head, but also the drink little by little.
After an hour, all the beers are empty from having toasted.
Wedged on a strip of asphalt between a cycle path and an arm of the sea, under a spring sun, the hundred or so amateurs brought their mats or improvised one with clothes.
Here, you don’t need to be an experienced athlete, but only to show good will.
Coming with a friend, Charlotte Mahaffey, a 50-year-old air hostess admires everyone’s enthusiasm.
“Everyone is getting into it and (wanting) to try even though they may never have done yoga before. I’m not a yoga expert, but I try to do my best and drink at the same time, ”she laughs.
In the homeland of Carlsberg, one of the biggest brewers in the world, beer is an integral part of the culture.
It was during a drunken late night that Anne Lund launched the idea four years ago, with a friend, owner of a micro-brewery, who offers the cans at each session.
PHOTO SERGEI GAPON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Anne Lund
“I love yoga, but I also love life and being well,” she says, noting that while similar sessions exist around the world, she is the only one to teach “beer yoga” in Denmark.
With her course, which brings together men and women of all ages, she wants “people to feel good, to laugh and to have a pleasant experience”.
For Jacob, this first experience was a success.
“It was really great to sit here in the sun and do some exercise while drinking your beer, it couldn’t be better! exclaims the 31-year-old musician.