Sales of cannabis have brought in about $725 million in tax revenue to Colorado. But who are the users who pay those taxes?” Meet My420 Bus, this marijuana-friendly yoga class, and an Army veteran with PTSD.
When you walk into Amanda Hintz’s Bend and Blaze yoga class in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood, it’s pretty clear something is different. If the name doesn’t tip you off, maybe the smoke will.
Yogis come to this class, set up their mats and break out the pipes. The room is darkly lit, soft music plays in the background, and people spend the first few minutes chatting — something taboo in many yoga classes. Hintz says in her class, socializing is encouraged.
“I really like to tear down those walls, like the ‘I can’t talk cause I’m in a yoga studio and I don’t know anything about this person next to me’ walls,” she says.
When it’s time for the yoga part of the class, the pipes get tucked away and Hintz directs students to the floor to begin their poses.
Student Stephanie Tientze says the pot’s effects help with flexibility and makes it easier to focus on her breath — a key part of any yoga practice. And she says it’s perfect for yoga beginners.
“So they see it as everyone’s going to be high, Teintze says, ‘If I mess up, no one cares.’
Hintz says other “cannabis-enhanced yoga” classes have been cropping up in the Denver area, so the idea seems to be catching on.
