Kyle Kellams: Proponents of yoga will happily tell you it can improve your health. Johns Hopkins Medicine wholeheartedly agrees. In fact, Johns Hopkins lists nine different ways yoga offers health benefits, from improving strength and balance to better sleep.
But for the novice, there can be barriers, including cost. Enter free or donation-based community yoga. There are several regular such classes that beginners can check out in northwest Arkansas.
Alexzandrea Hollinshed is a yoga instructor, as well as a digital retail manager for a local firm that sells toys and games to Walmart. She describes herself as tightly wound, or at least she was before she took her first yoga class.
Alexzandrea Hollinshed: I used to work out at Sassafras Springs when I was in my twenties, and just one day some ladies were doing yoga out on one of those decks and they were drinking wine. And I’m like, I want a part of whatever this is. And so eventually it’s 612 Coffee now, but it used to be a yoga studio out on Weddington called Empower Yoga Studio. Juan Duran, $10 drop-in. Did a yoga class. Changed my life. The most relaxed I had ever been.
For context, I’ve got seven siblings and I’m the oldest daughter, and there was not a moment of peace from the time I was 10 years old till that yoga class, to be quite honest. And I’m like, I need this, I need this like I need my next breath. There was lavender and eucalyptus in a dimly lit room and incense, and I’m like, ah. It was absolutely perfect and I need more of this.
Kellams: So you went back, obviously.
Hollinshed: So I went back.
Kellams: Became a teacher.
Hollinshed: Yeah. It was a long while between yoga. So I’ll keep going. I would do these $10 drop-ins. It was so great. I was going once a week. I worked for Sassafras Springs. I worked four on, three off. So I would do four 12s, and then after my four 12 seconds were over, that next Monday or Tuesday I would make sure I got to a yoga class to unwind. I’m just like, OK, I want to do this regularly. I want to join a yoga studio. Imagine my surprise when I realized that yoga is very, very expensive. Not only are the memberships themselves expensive, all the materials that you need, mats and blocks and straps, all those things that you need to support your practice are also very expensive. And I’m like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do?
And I was young and single at the time, and I was mostly working for tips out at Sassafras. Working in the service and hospitality industry, it is what it is. And I’m like, oh no, what am I going to do? And so eventually I made some space in the budget, and I started doing hot yoga out at Fayetteville Athletic Club. And I’m talking three days a week. I would sail into that 9 a.m. class and I would run home, shower, change clothes, and get out to Sassafras by 11 to do my 12-hour shift. And that was my routine for a long time. And I’m like, OK, you know what? I need more. I need more of this.
But the deeper you go, the more it costs. And so Trailside entered, Trailside Yoga. Ashley was the best yoga teacher I had ever encountered at the time until I got my—no. I’m kidding. That’s a joke. And so I did what’s called karma yogi down at Trailside at their old location. And I would tidy up the studio and I would check people in and things like that for the opportunity to go deeper into my personal practice. And when the opportunity came to get a yoga certification, I’m like, yes, let’s do it. Well, again, it's really costly to make something like that happen. It was $3,500, and I was working at Ozark Natural Foods at the time.
So I had two dilemmas. First, how am I going to make enough money to pay $3,500 in rent and a car note? And I was engaged at the time.And I’m like, what am I going to do? And I negotiated with my manager at Ozark Natural Foods at the time. And I’m like, if you give me three months of weekends off and I get to leave a few minutes early on Fridays to go get prepped for my weekend yoga training, I promise you I will pay it forward. And they were like, OK, fine. And so three months, three months of yoga teacher training. And as soon as I graduated yoga school, I partnered with Ozark Natural Foods for a community yoga series at Wilson Park. That was in 2019, and I’ve been teaching community yoga ever since.
Kellams: Community yoga meaning–
Hollinshed: Free, affordable, accessible, donation-based. You can show up. You don’t need any experience. If you can inhale and exhale, you can do yoga. It’s sort of my tagline. I got my yoga certification to teach beginners, specifically people like me who just stumbled into the practice. Money just seemed like a silly reason to not have access to something like that. And I was that person. I was that person who could not afford a $95 a month yoga studio membership. And so I teach for people like that who are just starting out. I was fresh out of college. I was working in hospitality. I didn't have my big girl job yet, but I needed the practice. I needed yoga. Without it, I wouldn't have gotten where I am today.
Kellams: Community yoga happens at various places.
Hollinshed: In 2024, if I’m not mistaken, for the first time ever, there were six or seven community yoga classes all over town. Wilson Park, Trailside, the Botanical Garden–
Kellams: The library?
Hollinshed: The library. anywhere you can think of. And back in 2016, there was one class on Labor Day. There was a class on Thanksgiving. There was a class on International Yoga Day. The sheer number of teachers, community yoga teachers, and community yoga classes just wasn't a thing back then. And so like now that it is, people need to know about this so we can keep it going so that it can keep growing.
Kellams: When you contacted us, you mentioned that you were part of the rotation. There are other yoga teachers who do this,
Hollinshed: Yes. And so the Fayetteville Public Library, Lori Brownmiller, she's been teaching over ten years. And she kind of orchestrated during the pandemic when the community yoga at the library was shut down, she reached out to me and we recorded in her barn– loading them up, they're still on YouTube today– to give people access to community yoga, still during the pandemic. And once everything opened back up, I’ve been teaching the first Monday of every month is my time slot at Fayetteville Public Library, and then there's Wednesday nights at Wilson Park. That is usually during the winter months.
But as of 2026, Nature Backs the new retail space down on Dickson, they're offering up their space for indoor community yoga until it's warm enough to get outside. Trailside Yoga, Friday nights at six p m. There's a group of us. There's the teachers from the Fayetteville Athletic Club. They lead the Botanical garden Saturday morning classes during the summer. Saint Paul Episcopal Church has a community yoga class. Day by day is doing community yoga. It's everywhere. Farmington has a community yoga class. The farmers market has a community yoga class. It's everywhere, and I want people to know about it.
Kellams: Okay, so cost is one barrier.
Hollinshed: The biggest barrier, I would say.
Kellams: But for some of us there are other barriers. Like, I don't want to go into a class where people have been doing it for years and they can stand on their head and I can't. Perhaps someone thinks I don't look good in what I perceive as what I should wear to yoga. I mean, there can be some intimidation factors as well.
Hollinshed: Absolutely. And with me, like I said, I got certified. My motivation to get certified was for beginners, specifically. I have been in yoga classes myself where I feel othered. This is some little girls club that you guys are all a part of and oh my gosh, what do I do? And so in my own teaching, I tried to, you know, be really approachable. Like there are some days that I've not got quote unquote yoga clothes on, you don't need Lululemon legging, you don't need a manduka mat. You only need to show up in all honesty. You only need to show up. And the rest we can figure out.
And so it's one of those things where I let people know, again, if you can inhale and exhale, you can do yoga. And it's one of those monjiro mats. Stay within the four corners of your own mat. Whatever makes you feel the most successful in this practice, listen to your body. You know your body best. I got the certification, sure, but if anything that I'm suggesting up here doesn't align with where you are. Skip it. Catch us back on the next one. Take a rest. Take a breath. Look around like we're all crazy, and then jump back in, you know?
Kellams: So how do you find out someone's hearing this and go, okay, I know that it's better for me, both mentally and physically, and I want to get in. Is there a resource online?
Hollinshed: Yes, absolutely. So if I have a public library, they post in their events roundup that they post on their social media. It's always community yoga. They have it on their website as well. And then Fayetteville Yoga in the Park is on Instagram. And that's the summertime kind of rotation for Wilson Park. And there's a page called Fayetteville Community Yoga, the Fayetteville city lifestyle page posts us sometimes and I myself, @virabubbles bubbles on Instagram. Shameless plug. That's my Instagram page.
Kellams: Vira bubbles? I love that.
Hollinshed: Yes yes. And when I graduated from yoga school, I got a tattoo. Virabhadrasana means warrior in Sanskrit, and then I rebranded my social media page to the Bubbly Warrior. So my whole shtick is that yoga can be heavy. It can if you've got something that you're working toward, if you're something that you're releasing, it can be heavy at times. And I try to keep a lightness. You know, in my practice, I play music that people love. I'm not a wind chimes and gong kind of person. We play Motown, there's rap music, there's instrumentals, there's harp covers of pop culture music that I play in my classes so that people can find what works, if that makes sense.
Kellams: Can yoga develop community?
Hollinshed: Can yoga develop community? Oh my gosh. Yes. The the teachers that I've met, the students that I've met, people who are in town backpacking or cycling or in town for a show at Theatresquared or Walton Art Center. We meet those people and they come to classes and people from out of town. We've got people, hey, I'm dating a new guy. His parents are coming to town. Can I bring him to your class? Absolutely. I'm going to make you look so good. I'm going to build this studio. You know what I mean?
You meet people, and people come to me after class like, hey, that joke that you told at that class, my friends loved it. Or like, hey, I saw you. I saw your social media. I decided to come to class. You know what I mean? It's such a community hub, especially the public library, where I feel is the ultimate community hub anyway. It's a way for people to gather in a way that's no stakes, right? It's not at the coffee shop, you're afraid to approach people and comment on the cool stickers that they've got. You know what I mean? But yoga, you're all here for some sort of common thread. Why not make some friends? Why not meet some people? Why not strike up a conversation? I feel like it's a great catalyst, especially if you're nervous. You got a person beside you. It's their first time, you get to chit chat and lo and behold, you’re yoga buddies now. Now you know I've got couples that have come to my class that are like, we met at your yoga class and we've been dating. I love those kinds of stories. Yoga is community. Community yoga is the greatest catalyst for connection in my opinion.
Kellams: Thank you so much for coming in. Your voice isn't squeaky, by the way.
Hollinshed: Thank you.
Kellams: It is not.
Hollinshed: Thanks so much. Thanks so much. This is so great.
Kellams: Alexzandrea Hollinshed is a certified yoga teacher. She’s one of the teachers in rotation for the free classes that take place at the Fayetteville Public Library every Monday evening at 6 o’clock, except for holidays. There are free or donation-based classes throughout the listening area, she says including Wednesdays at Wilson Park in Fayetteville and at Trailside Yoga on Friday evenings when the weather warms.
She says there are also classes at the farmers markets in Farmington and Fayetteville, at Ozark Natural Foods and Sassafras Springs. You can find her on Instagram. Her handle is @virabubbles. We spoke inside the Anthony and Susan Hoy News Studio earlier this month.
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