You’re standing, feet shoulder width apart — your weight is spread evenly. You breathe slowly, your hands extended toward the sky, reaching. You inhale and exhale, forgetting the stresses of the week. It’s the beginning of a session, two friends, Jenn McCullough and Stacy Jurich call: “Yoga, Beer & Kombucha.”
Yogi life: The science of being a yogi
Waiting in line at the grocery store, Jenn McCullough, yoga practitioner and owner of Integration Yoga with Jenn, strikes a pose, literally. She can be spotted doing yoga just about anywhere, at the park, the Toledo Botanical Garden and even while filling up her gas tank.
“I am enthusiastic about integrating the principles of yoga into all aspects of life,” McCullough said. “The overall goal with my practice is to inspire each person to access the practice of yoga in someway.”
One day, while McCullough was teaching a summer outdoor class at the Toledo Botanical garden, she met Stacy Jurich, owner of Boochy Mama, a small-batch kombucha producer in Toledo, which led to a friendship.
Chief fermentor–the science of fermentation
Boochy Mama’s Stacy Jurich stays brewing — kombucha, fermented sweet tea or homemade kombucha beer — a craft she learned while living in Hawaii.
“When I moved back to Toledo, I started up a batch and haven’t stopped since. [Kombucha is] sour and weird, and looks funny, and is alive— it has a mind of its own. I love it,” from the way it smells when she blends the herbs, to the flavors of the botanicals, Jurich said.
A combined science
Jurich and McCullough decided to combine yoga, beer and kombucha, a trio with a common denominator: health benefits. When taken in moderate amounts, beer decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, yoga increases muscle strength and tone and protects against injuries, and kombucha detoxes the body.
“People have opened up to the practice of yoga, and have also become more open to other health-related practices and products. I was interested in exploring how I could help Jurich’s kombucha business through my yoga teaching,” said McCullough.
Through the merging of each of their experience, the health event, Yoga, Beer and Kombucha, blossomed.
Each class includes an hour of yoga with Jenn, sampling of kombucha, raffles and giveaways. A flight or glass of beer or kombucha follows the yoga session, along with a tour of the Black Cloister Brewing Co.
“[For] someone interested in the brewing aspect of beer or kombucha, but who hasn’t tried yoga before, this is a great opportunity for them to try it out,” said Jurich. “The yoga will be great, the kombucha will be great, and the beer will be great.”
You can find Boochy Mama Kombucha locally at the Black Cloister Brewing Company, Balance Pan-Asian Grille, It’s Yoga Toledo and Walt Churchill’s Market.
All experience levels of yoga are welcome. Registration required.
6:30pm Tuesday, March 8. $25.
Black Cloister Brewing Co., 619 Monroe St. 419-266-9642. Visit Facebook event page for more information.
