Want a better resolution? Improve your life — while having fun — in D.C.

You know you should get active. You prepared by purchasing ugly, reflective running shoes, or wicking yoga pants with a bit of flare. Except you just haven’t gotten around to joining a gym, so the only running those shoes are doing is errands to Trader Joe’s, and the cute yoga clothes have joined the pile of athleisure separates that form the basis of your work-from-home outfits.

But instead of trying to carve out time before work, what if you could get in some exercise at a place you already hang out on weekends — like a brewery?

It’s not as outlandish an idea as you might think. Alexandria’s Port City Brewing has hosted yoga classes and a regular running group for almost a decade. DC Brau’s BrauRunners have met up at the Northeast Washington brewery for runs and happy hours since 2017. Whether you’re looking for casual 5Ks or extended bike rides, you can find them at breweries from Ashburn to Annapolis.

At Port City Brewing, “we’ve always said that craft beer is part of the good life, and staying healthy is part of the good life,” says founder Bill Butcher. BeerYoga, which finds dozens of yoga mats spread out among the tanks in the brewhouse on Tuesday evenings, began as a benefit for the brewery’s packaging crew, Butcher says, as a way to keep them limber amid the repetitive motions of stacking and lifting cases of beer. From there, it evolved into a benefit for customers, too, with dozens joining instructor Melody Abella for an all-levels flow class, followed by a social hour in the taproom. (One beer or nonalcoholic hop water is included in the $20 fee.)

Every Monday, there’s Joggers and Lagers, a one-, three- or five-mile evening run along the Holmes Run Trail, not far from the brewery, beginning at 6 p.m. Two Saturday mornings per month, Port City is home to Pedals and Pints, in partnership with Handy Bikes, a bike shop located a short sprint down Wheeler Avenue from the brewery. There are both 10-mile and 30-mile excursions, and Handy Bikes offers pre-ride tuneups for early arrivals. Both are followed by happy hours in the taproom, which Butcher says have helped a community form. Joggers and Lagers is sponsored by Pacers Running in warmer months, but even when it gets dark early, runners still gather to go out on their own. “We can’t stop ’em, which is great,” Butcher says. “It’s a pretty tight group that runs together and supports each other.”

DC Brau’s BrauRunners were formed when runner Adam Duffy found himself doing a Ragnar relay with DC Brau co-founder Brandon Skall. The two talked about organizing an informal running club, which began in earnest in March 2017. Each monthly 5K run supports a different charity, and all participants get a free DC Brau at the end of the race. The next run is Jan. 21 at 11 a.m., followed by one on Feb. 25.

Initially, Duffy explains, the BrauRunners would start and finish their run at a bar that served DC Brau, but during the pandemic, the format shifted to starting and finishing at the brewery, located along Bladensburg Road NE. Duffy has mapped out five trails that rotate regularly; this summer, they hope to go back to visiting bars. Anywhere from 20 to 35 participants take part, with varying paces, though Duffy estimates most people run once or twice a week. He likes to hang out at the back of the pack to make sure everyone finds their way back to the taproom, where “most of the time, 100 percent” of the runners grab a beer afterward.

Other breweries hosting running and other athletic groups: Annapolis’s Forward Brewing organizes a 10-mile round-trip bike ride from the brewery every Tuesday at 6 p.m., and a 5K run or walk on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Aslin Brewing’s Alexandria taproom offers a variety of events, including total body workouts (Jan. 20, $10) and yoga (Jan. 27, $25). The monthly Yoga and a Beer class at Lorton’s Fair Winds follows an hour-long vinyasa session with a choice of draft beer (Jan. 22, $25). The Brewery Running Series launched in Minnesota in 2012 but has since gone nationwide, including a branch in Virginia, with regular 5K runs at breweries around the state. Upcoming events in the D.C. area include Solace Outpost in Falls Church (Feb. 17), Dynasty Brewing in Ashburn (March 2) and Aslin’s Herndon taproom (March 9).

More than 5 million people live in the D.C. area, but for transplants and long-timers alike, meeting people with common interests can be a challenge. These events might help you connect with new friends to fight the winter doldrums.

Every month, Atlas Brew Works Ivy City hosts plant, book and yarn swaps. They are opportunities for hobbyists to save some money by trading items instead of buying, yes, but also opportunities for discussion. A few hundred people attend each swap, according to events manager Lyn Holland. She founded the plant swap in 2019 (as a way to save money on her own houseplants), and its success inspired a yarn swap, now combined with the monthly puzzle and book swap.

As the events have grown, they’ve become a way to welcome more people to the taproom. “I wanted to get away from the traditional, you know, men sitting at bars, drinking beer, guffawing,” Holland said. “It was more important to have women and people of color come through.”

The plant swaps take place on first Sundays, and the book/puzzle/yarn swaps on second Sundays. All have free entry.

Another option for young women looking to expand their social circles: What started as an eight-person walking club for early-20s transplants mid-pandemic turned into a community of nearly 25,000 women interested in expanding their social circles. City Girls Who Walk D.C. hosts several events per month, plus happy hours, walks and workout classes.

Cocktail-loving game enthusiasts should check out Boozy Board Game Night, hosted monthly by Labyrinth Games and Puzzles. The game shop brings the entertainment (a mix of light party games, elaborate Euro games and everything in between) down the street to the bar Mr. Henry’s Restaurant. The next one is on Feb. 4 from 6 to 10 p.m., and there’s a $10 cover. For more serious tabletop gamers, Labyrinth also hosts weekly tournaments of Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Dungeons and Dragons (plus other role-playing games) at its store on Capitol Hill.

Cutting back on alcohol is not just for Dry January — or Sober October, or Dry July. More and more people are looking to cut back, but watching your intake doesn’t mean you have to turn into a hermit. Take it from someone who has been periodically giving up alcohol for more than a decade: Whether you’re going on a date or hanging out with friends, it’s easier to succeed when there’s an activity that keeps you doing something besides sitting at a table, drinks (nonalcoholic or not) in hand.

If you’re trying to stay social while avoiding alcohol altogether, there’s no better option than Binge Bar, D.C.’s first alcohol-free bar. Vergie “Gigi” Arandid mixes up spiritless cucumber mangoritas, pours dealcoholized wine and keeps a steady stream of events flowing at the subterranean H Street space: stand-up comedy, painting nights, book talks and a meet-new-friends night, all in a cozy spot with a welcoming crowd. (Advance tickets have proved essential, with events selling out due to the limited capacity.) Up next: a bottomless brunch with vegan food, nonalcoholic cocktails and games (Jan. 20); Goldilocks trivia night (Jan. 24); and a night of meditation and mindfulness (Jan. 28).

If you’re looking to socialize without bellying up to a bar, consider after-hours museum events, which are more popular than ever — the National Gallery of Art switched to a lottery system for admission last fall because free tickets were claimed in minutes. One of the best things about them is not just the setting, though who wouldn’t love to linger in the Phillips Collection’s Rothko Room or the Library of Congress’s Main Reading Room? It’s that they’re filled with things to do, from live music to guided tours of exhibits to hands-on crafting. You can stand in line for an overpriced chardonnay if you’d like, but that’s certainly not required to make the most of each event. Upcoming events include Phillips After 5 at the Phillips Collection on the first Thursday of the month, NMWA Nights at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on the third Wednesday of the month and Live! at the Library at the Library of Congress every Thursday.

If you’re trying to keep things casual, get distracted from drinks by getting competitive — even at a neighborhood bar. Breadsoda is a Glover Park mainstay: a basement game room with pool, shuffleboard, darts and, on Tuesdays, ping-pong. Sip a nonalcoholic beer, a cocktail made with alcohol-free gin or one of its craft sodas (Foxon Park ginger ale for the win) while challenging your friends and snacking on Tuesday’s tacos. Depending on your interests, try playing Scrabble, Don’t Break the Ice or a special edition of Trivial Pursuit at the Board Room in Dupont Circle or Arlington; explore the selection of vintage video games, foosball, pool and pop-a-shot basketball at Players Club in Logan Circle; join a pinball league at Lyman’s Tavern on 14th Street; or revel in the old-school pool hall vibes at Adams Morgan’s Bedrock Billiards. No matter where you go, remember to order nonalcoholic drinks, not just water, and tip your bartender.

As the body of research that suggests mindfulness is an effective anxiety reducer grows, local events focused on mindfulness have become more and more common. There are free yoga and meditation classes, especially outdoors in the warmer months. But there are still plenty of options in these dark days of winter.

Beth Wolfe is a yoga teacher who regularly holds classes focused on mindfulness at locations like the National Building Museum and Spy Museum. And she has a unique approach to the 5,000-year-old practice: adding goats. A friend who owns a goat farm in Salem, Va., provides between 15 and 18 Nigerian dwarf goats to wander between yogis per session. “The yoga poses are almost just a nice addition,” Wolfe said. “What we’re really working on is animal therapy.”

Incorporating animals into her events doesn’t end with (what has been termed) Goat Yoga. Wolfe also hosts events like art nights (with goats), bingo (with goats), nonalcoholic bar nights (with goats) and tea/tarot evenings (with goats).

On occasion, Wolfe also hosts yoga classes with puppies or kittens. She most often works with shelters like the Animal Welfare League of Arlington to create events, with a veterinarian’s sign-off, with a threefold goal: socialize the young animals before they’re available for adoption, raise money for shelters, and “bring joy and happiness to the participants.”

Wolfe hosts events regularly — usually at a rented space in Arlington’s Faith Lutheran Church. If you’re attending a yoga session, bring an old mat if your session includes goats or puppies (attendants are on standby with mops, but note that the animals are not usually potty trained). Her events tend to sell out quickly, so check the website, newsletter or social media pages to stay updated.

Several D.C. museums offer free online guided meditations focused on art in their collections. The National Museum of Asian Art hosts 30-minute sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays at noon — a potential lunchtime break in the workday. The Phillips Collection hosts similar sessions at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesdays. Make sure to register for both in advance. If you can’t make it to a live session, consider recorded art meditation videos from the National Gallery of Art, available on its website.

Washingtonians are spoiled by the number of museums giving us free access to an incredible spectrum of fine art, and free outdoor concerts are a fixture of summer in all quadrants of the city. But when it comes to enjoying other forms of art — opera, theater, the orchestra — would-be patrons can quickly find themselves facing a steep paywall. There are ways around it, however, if you know where to look.

When Timothy O’Leary joined the Washington National Opera as general director, coming from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, “one of the things that struck me right away was the age diversity in our audiences,” he says. “The vibe of the audience had more youthful energy.”

Part of that is due to BravO, a program for opera lovers between the ages of 18 and 40. Founded in 2003 as Generation O and renamed in 2014, BravO combines affordable ticket prices with pre-show happy hours, backstage tours and a gala known as the BravO Bash. “The socializing is a key selling point for BravO,” O’Leary says. “It’s about giving the opportunity to come together and experience the art form, and also the chance to come together.”

Discounted tickets are also a draw: The upcoming “Songbird” has tickets ranging from $30 to $75 on March 11, 15 and 20. And BravO’s calendar includes an evening of art and opera at the Kreeger Museum, with performances from the opera’s Cafritz Young Artists program, on Feb. 8. Participants must register to receive discounts when purchasing through the Kennedy Center’s website.

Interested in theater? Many companies and theaters offer discounts for younger patrons, as well as members of the public. Keep in mind that you’ll need to show ID verifying your age or profession when picking up tickets.

Arena Stage offers a “Pay Your Age” program for patrons under 30, with tickets available “about two months before the show’s first performance,” according to the theater. Not good at planning? Try Hottix, in which a limited number of half-price tickets go on sale 90 minutes before the curtain, limited to two per person. Arena offers 20 percent discounts to a variety of groups, including first responders, educators and military personnel, as well as discounted tickets to residents of Southwest Washington.

Woolly Mammoth is proud of its commitment to discounted tickets, boasting that it offers “some Pay-What-You-Will tickets to every single performance.” This includes every ticket for the first two performances of each show, then a limited number for all subsequent events, which can be purchased online, with a limit of two per person. Other discounts include tickets starting at $25 for anyone 30 and younger, and 10 “stampede seats” sold for $25 at the box office beginning two hours before showtime.

The Shakespeare Theatre’s 35-and-under program sells $35 tickets to audience members age 35 and younger. Keep an eye out for Young Prose Nights, which include a reception with complimentary drinks in the lobby after the performance. (The next one is “The Lehman Trilogy” on March 1.) Older patrons can take advantage of rush tickets, with unsold tickets going for $35 at the box office two hours before showtime. Other discounts include 10 percent off for seniors, military and first responders, and designated “neighborhood nights” for people who live and work in the areas around the Shakespeare Theatre’s offices and other locations.

A plethora of discount codes are available at Studio Theatre, including 20 percent off for anyone age 40 or younger, military families and first responders; $20 tickets for full-time students; and $35 tickets for teachers and school employees. Anyone can take advantage of rush tickets, in which unsold tickets are offered for $30 at the box office beginning 30 minutes before the show.

Those looking for something more casual than a night at the theater should take note of the National Symphony Orchestra’s NSO in Your Neighborhood program, which brings members of the world-renowned orchestra to unexpected places around the city for concerts, master classes and other events. Last year focused on D.C.’s Ward 5, so free performances were held at locations as diverse as the National Basilica, Dunbar High School, the La Cosecha food hall and President Lincoln’s Cottage. This year’s program, scheduled for March 18-24, will focus on the Southwest Waterfront, Buzzard Point, Bellevue and Navy Yard.