Weed, Yoga and Brunch with Blackbelly's Hosea Rosenberg

The best Sunday possible in Colorado: You arrive at a remote farm location, drink tea, do over an hour of yoga with a hard-core instructor, then eat a delicious, locally sourced brunch cooked by a top chef — and smoke weed. Mason Jar Event Group, Headquarters and Blackbelly Market's Hosea Rosenberg hosted their second too-good-to-be-true event, Yoga With a View, on November 8.

The free shuttle left bright and early for the farm in Longmont, stopping on the way at a Headquarters dispensary. There the passengers were rewarded for getting up and out: The friendly staffers handed each one a gift bag that contained a Headquarters candle, a rhubarb muffin from Love's Oven, papers from Leafly and a variety of teas from The Tea Spot, as well as a cannabis-filled goodie bag containing .5 grams of live resin wax from Green Dot Labs, a gram of B4 in a Mason jar, and a pre-rolled joint of CBD Diesel — all strains meant to be enjoyed during particular courses throughout the day. The event was held at Lone Hawk Farm, and the day was beautiful, the temperature a practically perfect mid-seventies that no one could have anticipated this time of year. Yogis assembled in the back area of the barn to drink tea, eat sticky buns and take dabs meant to be paired with the first course. As a beginner yogi, I should have waited on the dabs until after the intense session, simply to avoid the head rush that came on once or twice. But as even the most seasoned smokers can tell you, taking a dab at 10 a.m. can be a delightfully high challenge no matter what your day has in store. 

Then the yoga mats were handed out, and guests started practicing yoga to the sound of drums, rain sticks and simultaneously calming yet upbeat percussion from a stage in the barn. Instructor Larissa Ortiz was amazing: An independent teacher for Little Yoga Studio and the Yoga Pod, she kept reminding the class of fifty or so yogis that no matter where you are on the yoga spectrum, you must listen to your body — focus on your breath and feel how amazing it is to have nothing to worry about. She began and ended the session with fifteen-minute meditations, and in between guided everyone through a strength-based class.
For many yoga enthusiasts, cannabis helps meditation. It has been a part of different meditative practices for centuries, and seems to fit naturally with the health-conscious stoner lifestyle that advocates in Colorado are cultivating. No one has helped to cultivate this lifestyle more than Kendal Norris, mastermind behind the previous Headquarters X Black Belly event and founder of Mason Jar Event Group. Norris had invited two guests from a handful of dispensaries in Boulder and Denver as well as members of the press and other random industry vets to enjoy the private event; she said she was using the day as a way to give back to the cannabis community. "So many ask, 'So why do you do this?' And I say, 'So we can have the perfect Sunday.' Because of the way the law is now, I can't sell tickets to the public," she explains. "So until that day, the point is to show the industry love, and it's just going to be a great day."

Crystal Sagan, owner of Three Chicks Bartending, was the drink purveyor; she started with Coconut Cabana Tea, to be paired with the Green Dot Labs extracted Goji OG X Girl Scout Cookies live resin. After the yoga, she brought out Boulder Breakfast tea, which went with the yogurt parfait. Then came fresh-squeezed pear juice Bellinis, paired with Headquarters strain B4; the sweet notes and rich, sultry smoke went together quite well. 

Finally, the giant family-style plates of food began to arrive. Once a Top Chef, always a Top Chef — and Rosenberg outdid himself with the farm-fresh meal that let every ingredient shine: a vegetable medley of sweet potatoes and red and yellow beets; then arugula salad made with fresh arugula lightly tossed with lemon, salt and pepper. The salad was light and had no bitterness; it paired best with the pungent CBD Diesel strain. That was followed by Lone Hawk farm-fresh eggs scrambled with Rocky Mountain trout, Lone Hawk farm spinach and creme fraiche. Other dishes passed down the long tables included homemade bacon and herbed breakfast sausage, both meant to be paired with the Boulder Breakfast tea and the B4 cannabis strain.

After all that, I had to save my Love's Oven muffin for a cannabis-infused snack. As one of the new sponsors working with Mason Jar and Norris, Love's Oven owner Peggy Moore had joined us for the day. The medible company is family owned and operated, explained Moore's son, Josh Nettels; its baked goods are sold in nearly 300 dispensaries across the state. Other sponsors included The Tea Spot, Buds and Blossoms, Urban Annie's Decor, Leafly, Green Dot and many more. While yoga, weed and brunch are a lot to take in, Norris, Headquarters and Rosenberg's Blackbelly team made it all come off without a hitch.

See more photos from Yoga With a View below.