Yoga VS Beer

I don't know if yoga and beer are mutually exclusive. But it's beginning to feel like it. I know yoga and hard liquor don't mix. It takes my muscles and nerves a couple of days to recover from distilled spirits. Doing postures is really tough with uncooperative body parts, and meditating with toxins in the bloodstream doesn't work so well, either. But I don't really miss the days when I could drink four Long Island Ice Teas in a couple hours of dancing and still feel confident that I could drive home. That was a lifestyle Xena rescued me from.

However, if I have to give up beer, I will really miss it.

Yoga has strengthened my body-spirit connection. What I'm noticing about beer is that the first swallows create a nice comfortable relaxation which I get used to in about 20 minutes. More beer doesn't increase the buzz. More beer just tastes good.

These days, I fail to notice increased impairement until beer #5. This is way too many calories (I drink the darker, more flavorful varieties). My previous indicator, stopping based on how tipsy I felt, isn't working anymore. I need a new stopping point. So I'm counting empties.

No empties? Open a beer. One empty? Maybe open a second. Two empties? How long until bedtime: more than two hours? Three empties? How much water, exercise, and body work do I want to do the next day?

I like beer's taste so much, the discipline to stop before I'm satisfied is very hard. Two crappy things: even two beers will earn me a hangover now. And: non-alcoholic beers tend to be piss-water pilsners.

I like yoga more than beer. So I guess I know where this is headed.