Yoga Mat Dinner Party: Too Much of a Good Thing, or Just Right?

The New York Times reports that you might be trading "om" for "yum" after your next yoga class, according to a dinner party meets yoga class trend.

Some might worry that it could be too much of a good thing, a move towards merging two worlds that might have yoga purists losing their appetite altogether. But let's be honest: Who wouldn't want an hour or more of sweat and stretch-filled zen, followed by an equally uplifting multi-course meal complete with wine and dessert?

According to David Romanelli a delicious something to tuck into after trikanosanas is the best way to honor the community and peace that yoga class hopefully inspires. "The world is a better place if people do yoga. And if they come because chocolate or wine is involved, I'm fine with it," says Romanelli in the NYT piece. The yoga teacher has created a session called "Yoga for Foodies" taught in New York City and soon to expand to restaurants in Chicago, Cleveland and Dallas.

And who said you can't still be in your Lululemons while supping on some soup, glass of wine in hand? Isn't the rule about yoga supposed to be that there are no rules? If it happens to be that you eat meat, for example, it doesn't mean that your downward dogs don't count or you are somehow further away from reaching a peaceful mind and heart. Though the ancient texts of yoga are structured around the premise that first you do no harm, the idea seems open to interpretation, depending on who you ask.

Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the hot (heh) yoga "trend," Bikram yoga — in which students sweat inside studios heated to 105 degrees going through a series of 26 poses — doesn't adhere to such strict dietary measures:

"I love to eat at McDonald's," he (shockingly) writes in his book, Bikram Yoga, "and my favorite food is cheesecake with blueberries on top ... So don't worry, yoga is not about eating one 'right way."'

Even still, there are sure to be those who recoil from anything more than a namaste after class.

But therein lies the beauty of yoga: It teaches you to stretch out in the most literal, physical and figurative ways.

It's enough to make you want to open up and say, "om."

Photo courtesy of ThrivingInk@Flickr