JOHN COFFELTEditor

Summer classes to run biweekly June through August

Common John Brewing Co. in Manchester will host a summer yoga series starting June 10 for all levels of participants.

The class will be every other weekend through August, starting at 9:30 a.m. The class will cost $10, and includes a Common John beer token. The token can also be used for $5 off any item at Common John for those under 21 years old or not interested in an alcoholic beverage.

Yoga instructor Brandy Whinnery said that the class is welcoming and beginner-friendly.

Whinnery’s classes are Vinysa-style (pronounced ven-Yasa), and will give participants a nice stretch without any extreme Instagram-ready aerobatics.

“This is a fun, open stretch community – sit around, have a beer and talk to everybody afterwards,” she said. “If you’re more advanced, there are always areas to grow.”

Whinnery said her approach to yoga is to be “appreciative of the body that comes through the door, not the expectations. Everybody has had surgeries, everybody is healing, everybody has been doing everything, so there’s no judgment there.”

“Yoga is for inflexible people like sinners are a church,” she added. “You have to go to get there.”

Whinnery said she wasn’t very flexible when she began her yoga journey.

“About 12 years ago I was told I was going to have to have back surgery at 28 years old,” she said. “I was like, ugh, no, we have got to do something else here. So I started doing it because I was inflexible.”

As she began getting into yoga, Whinnery began recovering from the pinched nerves that were causing her problems, such as numbness in the lower half of her body after sitting for long periods of time.

Whinnery joined her instructor, a physical therapist, at a 200-hour registered yoga training (RYT) class, but then found a basic “this is good for your body” yoga instructor class for 300 hours of training.

“I worked at Fort Campbell…I worked with multiple hockey players and hockey teams…and with chair yoga with senior citizens who were differently capable,” she said.

Practice makes progress, Whinnery said, and she advises participants not to feel pressured to get into a picture-perfect pose, work towards it, but don’t feel you have to do this or that.

“Your body is yours, don’t compare yourself to others,” she said. “As long as you feel good when you leave that’s all that matters,” she said.

Whinnery said the Common John connection is a perfect fit for yoga.

“A lot of likeminded people are out there and enjoy the brewery,” she said. “The fellowship afterward is as much fun as the yoga itself and you got to meet everyone from all walks of life.”

Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat or a beach towel.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.