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If nerds who play role-playing games represent a low form of intellectual life and yoga practitioners seek the highest level of consciousness, what happens when the two converge in a Namaste moment?

Downward-facing dungeon master?

Artist Scott Wayne Indiana has created Dungeons & Dragons Yoga, a class in Brooklyn that he says may be catching on in Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas.

In the fantasy role-playing game known as Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D, players take on different fictional characters like paladins, wizards, and half-elf rangers. One player is the "dungeon master" or leader of the game, and the team works together to stop the forces of evil.

But in Indiana's creation, the dungeon master stands in front of a yoga class and narrates an action scenario. Yoga instructor Sarah Dahnke then directs the group, all in spandex and on yoga mats, to do specific poses that she has created for the game.

In one recent game, the players were asked by Indiana to imagine they were one character -- "a roguish rugged individual who has run afoul of the local law" and to envision delivering a package to an ancient wooded temple.

A normal yoga pose like "warrior pose" or "cobra" might be a new move called "sword one" or "dice rolling" in the D&D version of the practice.

Hilaria Baldwin does yoga while flying first class.

The 10-sided die, or 10D, as it is known in the nerd game, sits beside each yoga mat. Typically, the roll of the dice helps the dungeon master determine complex games moves or what each character will do next.

Excerpt from:
Dungeon Master Meets Namaste in New Role-Playing Yoga

Whats the difference between a Dungeon Master and a yoga instructor? One sits in a room of people and slowly twists them into knots with nothing but the sound of their voice, and the other does pretty much the same thing. OK, its not necessarily the worlds most natural mashup, but that didnt stop artist Scott Wayne Indiana, interactive artist (and Dungeon Master) Eric Hagan and movement instructor Sarah Danke from somehow transforming a D&D campaign into a yoga class. In the video above, which describes itself as the world premiere of D&D yoga, you can watch clips where they transform common D&D actions like slicing at a foe and flipping a switch into poses. (Yes, theres even a Dice-Rolling Pose.)

To keep things simple, all of the participants also yoga-played as the same character, a roguish rugged individual who has run afoul of the local law. Participants were given a character sheet when they entered the studio, as well as a both a ten-sided die (d10) that Hagan said allowed for the easiest calculation with multiple simultaneous players.

The goal was to complete an entire quest, in this case returning the mysterious package to an ancient temple to absolve yourself, Hagan told WIRED. The participants rolled dice at key points in the story: during battle, to check for success in hiding, climbing, searching the room, and also to avoid the trap which sprung out at them In future versions I would probably re-work the roll of the die to be more pivotal in swaying the story, but it was amazing to have a whole room full of people in sync rolling to determine their fate.

If youre motivated enough, it could even come to a yoga studio near you: on the projects Vimeo page, one of the organizers offers to help facilitate D&D Yoga in other locations and even share the full audio of the event via Dropbox. Bring your own chain mail.

Update 1/30/14 5 PM EST: Response from Hagan added.

Read more:
Downward Dragon: See What Happens When Yoga and D&D Collide