Wake Up Yoga In Fairmount isn’t just for yuppies sipping iced coffee.

Yoga has a tendency to conjure up specific images in the minds of the general public. Some may picture thin, young women carrying iced coffees, mats tucked neatly under their arms. Others may think of India, where the discipline has its origins. Whether you have experienced the joy of movement before or are just vaguely familiar with the practice, it is important to remember that yoga is for everybody. This, at least, is the philosophy of Fairmount’s longstanding yoga studio Wake Up Yoga (2329 Parrish St.) and its founder, Corina Benner.

Benner moved to Philadelphia from New York City in 2000, where she had worked jobs ranging from assistant to a money manager on Wall Street to a waitress in Union Square. Her final job before moving was as a teacher of yoga through The Om Yoga Center. It was in this position that she found her happiness. Unfortunately, upon arriving in Philadelphia, she quickly realized there were few options for practicing yoga, let alone teaching. The yoga studios that did exist were sparse and spread around the city. It was this lack of available outlets that led Benner to establish Wake Up Yoga in 2001. The hope was to share the practice with those who, until that point, might not have had the chance to experience what yoga could do.

“Creating community in Philadelphia has always been one of our missions, “ Benner explains, “I wanted to cultivate an environment where people could come and feel comfortable with the practice.”

Since opening, the studio has focused primarily on Vinyasa yoga, or “flow” yoga. In essence, this is a style that combines passive and active yoga. There is a focus on the classic positions, how to move the body from one to another, with an emphasis placed on breath throughout. It is a comfortable and accessible form of yoga that can do wonders for beginners and experts alike.

In fact, a 2015 study conducted by Yoga Journal reports that Vinyasa is a favorite type of yoga amongst Americans. Vinyasa, in many ways, is a push against the more militarized form of yoga that has dotted the country in recent years. The “boot camp” yoga is designed to strengthen the body as any intense exercise would, but the intention of the practice can easily be lost during this. Vinyasa allows students to slow down, to lose themselves in one way, and find themselves in another.

“Yoga is casting a wider net than ever before,” Benner explains, “but it seems to be losing its depth. Yoga used to be perceived as something only for hippies. In my experience, I believe it has become so popular with young women these days because many of them never liked gym class. Yoga is the first real physical activity many of them feel that they are ‘good’ at and this helps to boost self-esteem. We want to get past the ‘good’ and allow them to get into the depth and understand yoga is more about ‘wellness’ than fitness.”

Students have reacted quite favorably to this focus over the past fourteen years and Wake Up Yoga has expanded to accommodate the growing interest. A location in South Philly (1839 E. Passyunk Ave.) opened in 2009 and has continued to draw in a wealth of locals from throughout the various neighborhoods in that area. Early in the existence of the studio, Benner also implemented a Teacher Training Program to help to train new teachers for the classes. The rigorous program was designed to educate curious yoga enthusiasts about the specific way to teach Vinyasa yoga through the studio.

One former student, Laura Edoff, has been teaching at Wake Up Yoga since she completed the program in 2012. She walked into the South Philly location looking for a place to practice and wound up getting involved with the Teacher Training Program along the way. Though she had not set out to teach, the program helped her to discover that she was more than capable of rising to the challenge.

“Suddenly, I realized I knew what I was talking about,” Edoff remembers, “I felt that I understood the physical aspects of yoga, how to move the body through space in a safe and efficient way. I taught my clinics at the end of the program and thought, ‘Ok, I can do this.’”

There are many opportunities for residents of surrounding neighborhoods to take a class, regardless of their level of experience. Wake Up Yoga offers a range of classes for $7, Monday through Friday, at 9:30 AM. If that does not work with your schedule, Monday classes occur at 6PM and 7:30PM; Tuesdays at 6PM and 7:30PM; Wednesdays at 6PM and 7:30PM; Thursdays at 6PM (Prenatal) and 7:30pm; and Fridays at 6PM.

Those interested in the full Vinyasa experience can join the “Brand New Beginners” series. Taught by Edoff, this class takes students on a seven week adventure to learn the foundational poses of Vinyasa yoga. The next series begins on April 26th at 7:30PM.

Wake Up Yoga also encourages members of the community to come out and try their hand at this practice. On April 19th, Wake Up Yoga will hold an “Intro to Yoga” event. Run by teacher Jennifer Nehlia, the event will begin at 7:30 PM and will run for 90 minutes. Benner hopes that residents will take advantage of this opportunity, especially those who have been curious about yoga but have never tried their hand at it.

“If you want to come to class, come to class,” says Benner, “You don’t have to act a certain way or be a certain race or follow a vegetarian diet. Throw out your preconceived notions. Yoga is for everybody. You can be socially awkward, you can be a smoker, you can be any size or shape or gender or age, whatever you are is fine. Just come to class.”