(Shape) - When I first read about Drunk Yoga, a 45-minute beginner Vinyasa class hosted by yoga instructor Eli Walker, I figured it would be easy on the body and light on the alcohol. After all, drinking while working out isn't an idea most fitness professionals would recommend—alcohol is a diuretic and can lead to dehydration and cramping. So it's not like I thought we'd be taking shots in chair pose. (Related: Is Blacklight Yoga the New Rave Party?) 

Walker's "vino"-yasa is hosted on Saturdays at noon at a Lower East Side bar in NYC (where I definitely used to drink too many Red Bull Vodkas as an early 20-something ). I showed up at the bar this past Saturday to find nine other people already sipping prosecco, white wine, and rosé from bottles sweating in an ice bucket on the wood-paneled bar. I assumed this was the wine portion of the event—we'd sip and mingle, then get down to yoga business. (For $30, you get a spot in class and access to the open bar.)

That was not the case. After we set up, Walker instructed everyone to bring their drinks to the mat with them. "Drunk yoga is an idea I came up with when I was drunk," she told us as we settled in. (Of course!) "It's meant to be an experience where you can be silly and have fun. You don't need to be perfect on your mat to get something out of drunk yoga."