Vino and Vinyasa at Circa 39: Yoga Class Capped Off with Wine

We've all been there: it's Friday and the clock is about to strike five when you're all like T.G.I.F, but then remember you haven't worked out yet. All of the sudden your brain and body engage in an internal conflict between happy hour and downward dog. Well, what if we told you that you don't have to decide because you can have both your cake and yoga too?

That's cause Vino & Vinyasa is taking up residence at Circa 39 every Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The boutique hotel nestled on the mid-beach corridor recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, and to celebrate its new enchanting tropical-vintage courtyard they partnered up with Lululemon to bring hour-long classes as a way to kick off the weekend.

Three teachers take turns guiding your practice: Tash Golden, Liz Grant, and Yana Guseva. You may have taken Golden and Grant's classes at Green Monkey before, or Guseva's at The Standard. If you haven't, fret not — this is the perfect chance to get your stretch on with them. Disclaimer: come ready to sweat. We assumed this was going to be a light workout and boy did we get our asanas kicked. (Both the Miami humidity and Golden's awesome guidance are to blame for that).
Not only are you doing yoga in nature so you can focus your drishti (yogi talk for where to center your gaze) on a tree and get a fresh breath of air, but feel good spiritual music enhances the overall experience. While my class only had three people, nine people are already RSVP'd for tomorrow's event (the limit is 20). I actually enjoyed the intimacy, as there was more vino and food afterwards and we got to bond with both Golden and the other attendee. 

Anyhow, after 60 minutes of downward dog, one too many sun salutations, not enough child poses, and some inversions, shavanasa finally came. Although in this case we were more excited for what came after corpse pose: vino. Artisanal wines are courtesy of Wunderbar and rotate weekly, but rest assured you'll have plenty of variety. We sipped on rose, malbec, and tempranillo.

Circa 39 and the Palms fall under the same ownership, so naturally they're taking full advantage of the fact that Essensia is just a short walk away and that the queen of green herself Julie Franz makes one of the best kale salad's in town, which you'll get to try after getting your yoga on. In her signature kale caeser: local kale, shaved parmesan, toasted sunflower seeds, house croutons, and from scratch anchovy vinaigrette. While the salad is a mainstay on Friday, other options alternate (on our visit it was caprese). 

Vino and vinyasa costs $25 per person in advance or $30 at the door. Tickets are available though brownpapertickets.com