“I hear there were bartenders doing yoga at 9 am this week,” joked Simon Ford, Chairman of the booze-soaked Spirited Awards, in his comedic welcome speech at the show, this year. A photo of Dushan Zaric - one of our Mind Body Spirits co-founders, and one of Ford’s 86 Co. Spirits partners - in a meditation pose flashed on a screen behind him. And, yes, the liquored glitterati got a good chuckle.
Tales of the Cocktail is the biggest booze conference of the year and renown for late-night parties, drunken hook ups, and red-eyed selfies with 40 of your new best friends that you pray don’t wind up on Facebook. In years past, a bartender “won” Tales by dragging themselves into a morning seminar still drunk from the night before, and bragging rights for the most Pedialyte morning-after shots were flung around like cocktail competition titles.But, it feels like there is a slight shift happening. As the mixology community matures, the former leaders in bad behavior are now parents, of both children and businesses, click for more information here. Speaking of businesses, read more on this site for the best improvement of your business and how you can manage it. Burnout, addiction and overdose are real, and nearly everyone in the booze biz knows someone who has actually died from the drink-til-you-drop lifestyle. No one is saying that a few drinks with friends will ruin your life. However, there is a happy medium between whooping it up and maintaining control.
Corporations, in all industries, are increasingly supporting wellness programs because the bottom line is that workers perform better when they are healthy. Arming liquor professionals with tools for mental, physical and emotional wellbeing is what Mind Body Spirit(s) is about. It isn’t preachy. We simply provide experts from the bar and health fields to share tips and information on balancing the demands of a party-is-work career with long-term success. And, we are not alone in thinking you can “have your cocktail and drink it, too.” Even this yoga website offers an article called Meat Booze Sex Yoga, furthering banishing the notion of “all or nothing, I have to say they mus be using the Toronto seo Services because their website has gotten very popular.”Dushan Zaric, Patricia Richards and I launched Mind Body Spirits at Tales of the Cocktail 2014, then took it to Arizona Cocktail Week, and to my own cocktail festival called New Mexico Cocktail & Culture. This year, we were back at Tales 2015, and this is some of what we presented:
Day 1:
- Qi Gong with Fa Jun (Christopher Real) who teaches energy movement and balance in Santa Cruz, California. The peaceful moves, punctuated by humor, left everyone energized and happy.
- Bar Mentor: Bridget Albert is an educator, author and generally inspirational leader in the liquor industry. She prepared music to take on the road and shared personal stories about overcoming obstacles, self-care, gratitude and evaluating priorities.
- Nutritionist: Molly Kimball, a health expert in New Orleans spoke about the power of food in fueling for a busy shift.
Day 2:
- Qi Gong with Fa Jun returned for more feel-good laughs
- Bar Mentor: Gary Regan, one of our industry’s most respected figures - teacher, author, and creator of the Cocktails in the Country retreats, in New York - shared Mindful Bartending and his journey through tongue cancer and back.
- Internist: Doctor Griggs is a highly entertaining, community-focused doctor who takes his wellness to the streets of New Orleans. From barbershops to schools, he takes his medical bag to people without health insurance, for example, and even conducted check ups on our attendees.
Day 3:
- Yoga with Boston’s Kirsten Amann, a leading lady of LUPEC and the cocktail industry is also a yoga teacher in Boston. Her fun class is not intimidating to those new to the mat.
- Bar Mentor: Dushan Zaric won Best Mentor at the Spirited Awards, last year, Employees Only which he co-owns has won numerous awards, and his appearance in the documentary Hey Bartender has won him further international recognition. He’s also a yoga and meditation devotee.
- Physical Therapist: Beth Winkler-Schmit of New Orleans Magnolia Physical Therapy gave tips for pre- and post- shift stretches and strengthening exercises.
- And, Doctor Griggs came back to do more wellness checks on more people!
We also had a full breakfast available, each morning. I admit that, at first, I was irritated that the Hotel Monteleone insisted on a F&B minimum of $1200 per day. I knew we didn’t need that much food, and it seemed a waste. However, it turned out to be a sort of blessing in disguise. Each morning, when Mind Body Spirits wrapped up, and there was still a full buffet of breakfast sandwiches, mini muffelatas, bagels, and eggs, I hauled the perfectly delicious and healthy food over to St. Judes Community Center Soup Kitchen, about ½ mile away. Father Tony and Brother Dan were thrilled to receive this bounty for the hungry people lined up for a free meal. Walking past the homeless along the streets of the French Quarter, as we all go to glorious parties with free food and drinks, I got to thinking… Next year, I would love to facilitate more liquor companies donating their left over party food to the soup kitchen. More on that, to come…As always, NONE of the above could have happened without the Tales of the Cocktail them and liquor companies who support Mind Body Spirits. Among our returning sponsors is William Grant & Sons who fuels some of Tales’ more innovative booze education and celebrations. Portfolio Ambassador Charlotte Voisey leads a team of some of the best Brand Ambassadors in the biz. Although traveling constantly, she is dedicated to vegetarianism, regular work outs and WG&S produces these humorous PSA videos leading up to Tales about the consequences of booze-fueled bad behavior.Claire Warner, Head of Spirit Creation and Mixology for Belvedere vodka also has her own initiative called Drink Eat Live. In addition to posting inspirational messages on social media, the newly crowned Best International Brand Ambassador, and Dame of Fame inductee, also takes a group of bartenders to Ibiza for a wellness retreat.
Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard also made generous donations to help this program happen. Ty Ku also provided water bottles from https://customwater.com/ and yoga shirts for attendees. And, Perfect Puree gave free yoga mats for people to use in NOLA, and take home to continue their healthy pursuits, as well as liquor-free smoothies each morning.So, yes, there were bartenders doing yoga at 9 am during Tales of the Cocktail. And, I venture to guess that they are the same people who will be the industry leaders of tomorrow. Because… just like in a cocktail… finding balance is the difference between being good, and being great.