DeKALB — Once a week those looking to practice balance in the body while cracking a cold one on the side can attend Beer and Yoga at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

Angelina McNeela, 27, founded Beer and Yoga in April 2016 thinking it would be something new and enjoyable for those in the area. She said yoga is a low intensity exercise people with body limitations can take part in. By keeping this philosophy, she has helped her students improve their health.

Attendance to the class is $7 with an extra charge for alcoholic beverages. McNeela said the classes aren’t all about the drinks, and attendees can get tea for free during the class. She said the main focus of her Beer and Yoga event is to connect her students with their bodies in a relaxing and new way.

“Yoga is a low impact exercise that should be non-competitive,” McNeela said. “I started doing it for mental health and running reasons, so it’s not just about levitating and vibrating into other dimensions; it’s about self-care.”

McNeela said she works with people at different difficulty levels and wants to help her students achieve a level of comfort in their bodies. One of the things she said she promotes in her classes is gratitude for her students and the people in their lives. She said she wants her students to be thankful for the body they have now and not the body they could have.

McNeela said Beer and Yoga works on what is comfortable to different people, and personal connections are held to a high importance. She said her class does not force people to do yoga poses beyond their level and encourages pacing.

“In terms of all the other exercises, [yoga] is an exercise for the body and brain, which are interconnected,” McNeela said. “It’s not just a hippie thing to say; it’s neuroscience. That’s a big basis of my classes.”

With a focus on the individual and comfort, McNeela said the beer is simply an added touch of uniqueness. She said the goal is not to come in and get drunk but rather to relax.

Schaumburg resident Eve Besser, 38, has attended Beer and Yoga three times and said she enjoys it more with each class as she improves. She said Beer and Yoga has helped her to be a better mother by making her healthier and more at peace.

“The yoga classes are something for me, and I really feel like I need that,” Besser said. “It’s very calm. The first time I came here, it just felt right. I felt like I [could] hear myself after [the class], and I wanted to do it again.”

Pepe Robinson, manager at The House, said he thinks highly of the event, encouraging the community to come by and check it out. Being one of The House’s most consistent programs, he said it has been a great way to bring people together.

“Everyone needs yoga. It brings people in for a purpose, for healthiness and anything that we can connect ourselves with being healthy,” Robinson said. “I am trying to regenerate that relationship with the community.”

McNeela said Beer and Yoga is a stimulating activity, which can also bring calmness to anyone’s stressful schedule, especially students as they prepare for the holiday season and upcoming finals. An ice cold beer in one hand and the other reaching toward the sky in a yoga pose, McNeela said the class is meant to be different and encourage community members to relax, just as it does.