Yoga has diversified from working out with goats and horses to doing a downward dog with a beer. Beer Yoga has been gaining global popularity and is now being practiced in Mexico City.

CGTN’s Alasdair Baverstock saddles up to the bar (and the mat) in Mexico City to try it out.

Downward dog, the cobra, and a drink.

This is Beer Yoga, the latest form of the Indian discipline, in which practitioners drink three beers during an hour-long class.

“Before I practiced only yoga, but when I heard about a mix of yoga and beer, I love beer, so it seems a perfect combination. When I get stressed out after work, drinking a beer relaxes me, and yoga relaxes me too, so the combination of both is incredible,” said Veronica Moreno a beer yoga practitioner.

It got its start in Mexico City by Selene Magni, who promotes the discipline not only as an effective form of exercise, but as a good way to get more people interested in yoga.

“We were surprised by the response, because we never expected it to be so popular, but we have classes in many different locations, and we’ve had many different types of clients eighteen year olds to 60-year-old women. It has attracted lots of people because it’s a friendly atmosphere,” Magni said.

Bernardo Vela is a physiotherapist, who says that while Beer Yoga may be a good way to get people interested in physical activity, it shouldn’t be anyone’s primary workout.

“I think Beer Yoga is more about the social aspect than anything else. Yoga is a discipline, and if you want to follow that discipline regularly throughout the week, perhaps on Fridays you can do a beer yoga class to be a bit more relaxed, as long as it’s not something you take seriously,” Vela said.

As Beer Yoga continues to spread around Mexico City, the hope is that newcomers to the discipline will focus more on its health benefits, with the drinking simply an added bonus.