Bottoms up! It’s beer yoga time at 2 Tri-Cities breweries
This Tri-City yogi is not what she calls the stereotypical yoga practitioner — quiet, serene, calm and super flexible.
“I’m loud. I giggle. I think the world is worth laughing at, and I don’t mind if someone giggles in class,” said Patti Jones, the owner of Chubby Chick Yoga.
She also doesn’t mind if students go bottoms up in class — in fact, she encourages it.
Jones has been holding monthly beer and yoga classes at Moonshot Brewery in Kennewick since September, and is now starting a second monthly class at the recently opened Sage Brewing in Pasco.
For $15, students get an hour of yoga instruction and a drink in a relaxed environment.
“My Chubby Chick Yoga is based on the fact that there are students who want to try yoga, but feel like they don’t fit that perfect image,” she said. “This atmosphere is more light-hearted, we are willing to laugh at ourselves and it isn’t as intimidating.”
Jones says she doesn’t fit the usual yoga instructor image either.
The self-described overweight woman is a cost analyst at Hanford by day and teaches yoga on weekends.
She originally started practicing yoga in 2012 after needing a physical outlet from being a single mom raising three kids, working full time and attending night classes to earn her degree.
“The problem with going on a treadmill is that I was running through my to-do list and stopped after a few minutes thinking, ‘I don’t have time for this,’ ” she said.
Instead, Jones started doing yoga knowing that she’d finish the class because she would be too embarrassed to leave early. That sparked a love of yoga and she completed her yoga teacher training in Bali in 2017.
Beer is perfect excuse
Jones wanted to create a niche for people who wouldn’t go to a traditional class.
She taught her first beer and yoga class at Bombing Range Brewing soon after she returned from her training.
She revisited the concept after Moonshot opened last summer, and made the class a regular event after that class sold out.
Beer and yoga has been so popular, she partnered with Sage Brewing for a second round after they opened in December.
“A beer is a perfect excuse to get together,” she said. “Having a beer loosens people up.”
Whether pints are poured before, during or after class — she’s happy if it gets students to experience yoga who wouldn’t have otherwise tried it.
About half of each class is newcomers and have ranged from siblings, to a group of teachers to some hikers fresh off a Badger Mountain climb.
She sees a mix of women and men of all experience levels and she teaches to all fitness levels by having students adapt poses to their body.
“Not all of us are running or into high cardio, but we all need a way to physically let go. We need to move and live the best life we can.”
Jones doesn’t limit herself to beer — she offered a Mimosas and Moms class for Mother’s Day last year and is planning a repeat this year.
She also is working out details for a future stress-relieving class.
“The class will be designed to help release tension and anger. It will be processing all anger and stress and moving it into physical exertion,” Jones said. She expects there could be a lot of swearing.
And she still offers a weekly traditional yoga class Sunday mornings at The Fitting Room — a studio she owns at the Uptown Shopping Center.
“I see a need in society. There is a lot of stress in society today — people need a way to process it out.”
▪ Feb. 16, Moonshot Brewery, 11 a.m. to noon, third Sunday of every month, 8804 W. Victoria Ave. Suite, 140, Kennewick. Next class: Feb. 15. Cost: $15
▪ Feb. 23, Sage Brewing, 11 a.m. to noon, fourth Sunday of every month, 8425 Chapel Hill Blvd. Suite B 102 Pasco. Next class: Feb. 23. Cost: $15