Finding balance
A Tinley Park brewery serves up tacos, beer and dread at its monthly Doom Yoga program
Beer. Tacos. Doom.
“If it doesn’t involve any of those three, it doesn’tmake the cut,” said EricaHough, who has the title of director of culture at Soundgrowler Brewing Company.
It’s a guiding principle at the Tinley Park brewery’s events. And for the past three years— beginning just a few months after the brewery opened — a program known as Doom Yoga has been checking all three of those boxes. For $19, participants get an hour of yoga led by instructor Ryann Jackson, followed by a beer and two tacos.
It might sound similar to a number of
“beer yoga” programs around the suburbs. But what makes Soundgrowler’s version unique is that the whole session is set to doom metal — a subgenre known for tuning the guitars low, playing slow and creating a sense of dread.
Hough acknowledged she had an assist when she conceived the idea.
“Honestly? I was sitting at home on a Saturday night with my husband, Larry, whois the head brewer, having a few adult beverages,” she said. “Om, a doom metal band whose music lends itself to its name, came on and I got up and half-jokingly went through a flow. I then looked at Larry and said, ‘I think this can be our thing at the brewery.’ ”
While music designed to invoke feelings of despair at first glance might not sound the best fit for a discipline seeking physical, mental and spiritual balance, Hough said there is a trick to it.
They use the music of Om, the band that first gave them the idea for the program, “since the music is the epitome of Zen, especially for metal music fans,” she said. “It really does put you in a trance-like state that just works with yoga.”
Jackson said shewas “excited” but also a little skeptical when Hough — a former co-worker at a podiatry clinic — first pitched the idea.
“It’s not the same as a normal yoga class in terms of the playlist, so I was a little intimidated by it,” Jackson said. “But they take care of the music, and I handle the yoga. It’sworked outwell.”
Jackson said she thinks the reason for that is that yoga is all about a lifestyle. Instead of a studio setting designed to exude nothing but calm — “that’s not real life,” she said — doom yoga meets metal fans and beer drinkers where they are. If balance is about the yin and yang, Jackson said this take on yoga provides the yang.
“It’s a cool concept to have,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to have that environment to focus on that aspect of your life.”
Typically, the monthly program would take place the confines of the brewery, with a complementary aesthetic providedby lights turned low and candles lit. But afterCOVID-19 regulations took hold in midMarch, the brewerymoved the program to a space on itswest lawn.
“Pre-COVID, we were selling out every month,” Hough said. “A lot of our regulars are understandably still a bit nervous about being in groups and haven’t returned yet. Going outdoors, we cut the class size in half and are sure everyone has ample space to spread out responsibly.”
Hough said Soundgrowler is hoping to keep up the outdoor classes for one more month — the next is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 14 — and then possibly test the waters for moving back inside with a reduced class size.
“The restrictions are constantly changing, so it’s hard to truly plan for anything,” Hough said.
For now, participants said they are enjoying the outdoor offering, in large part because it gives them a reason to get up and out early on a Saturday. Jackson joked at the start of an Oct. 10 session that she knows some participants might be working through hangovers and she could relate.
Kat Dudaryk made the trip Saturday all the way fromNorridge to participate. She practiced alongside Eileen Mulrenin, of Tinley Park, as the two have done nowas doom yoga regulars for roughly a year and a half.
Dudaryk admitted she is
largely in it for the beer and tacos, but has done events such as goat yoga in the past, too.
“I’m not a yoga person at all,” Dudaryk said. “I’ve been drawn to the things that have something different.”
Yoga brought her to the Tinley Park brewery for the first time.
“I always wanted to come out here and never did,” Dudaryk said. “Forme, this brought it all together.”
Mulrenin said she knows other breweries do yoga programs, aswell, but it is nice to have a program like this close to home. She has largely remained loyal to it because of Jackson leads it.
“Ryann’s great,” Mulrenin said.
“It’s all levels,” Dudaryk added. “You don’t need to feel intimidated.”
Dennis Maher, of Lemont, attended doom yoga with his wife, Amy, andhad the distinction of being the only guy in the crowd of 14. The couple was joined by
Michele Metych, of Chicago, who they met doing yoga at Imperial Oak Brewing in Willow Springs.
It was the group’s first time at the Tinley Park brewery.
“I was following this a long time ago, but I couldn’t get anybody to go until Michele brought it up,” Dennis said.
The group’s affinity for doom metal ran the gamut, starting with Dennis, who wore a skull T-shirt and said he was surprised to not see more people in metal attire.
“I like all kinds of metal,” he said.
Amy could have done without it.
“I’m not really a doom fan,” she said. “I was actually just saying I forgot my earplugs.”
But Metych said they were excited about doom yoga all the same.
“I like country music, but I really like yoga and beer,” she said.
Metych said she looks for any opportunity she can
find to do events like this around the area.
“I just stalk all the suburban breweries,” she said with a laugh.
Hough said while doom yoga has been a nice added offering for regulars, she has found plenty like Dudaryk andMetych, who may never have wandered into the brewery otherwise.
“Alot of customers bring their friends that may not know about us, so it has definitely helped build our customer base with a demographic we may not have touched before,” Hough said.
While that could be said of what programming does for businesses of many types, Hough takes pride in bringing something unique to the table.
“People can see through inauthenticity,” she said. “Doom metal yoga is 100% authentically us.”