How Do We Make Yoga Affordable?

This is such a difficult topic to figure out. I know so many of you will not be able to afford going back to the studio in a post COVID-19 world. It is also going to be difficult for independently owned yoga/fitness studios to survive this pandemic, not like it wasn’t challenging before. You’ve probably seen or noticed yoga studios open and close in your neighbourhoods and communities over the year. It’s no secret that running a profitable studio is challenging.

The Reality of the Industry

Yoga is expensive for the student, yoga teachers don't make a lot of money and yoga studios struggle to make sustainable profits - all of this doesn’t even factor in a pandemic. The people making BIG money off of yoga’s billion dollar industry unfortunately are not the ones dedicating their life's mission to serving and healing their communities. This is the unfortunate reality of the yoga biz that many do not see. I don’t know what the answer is but as we transition into something a little closer to normal I want to provide YOU with quality, affordable yoga as best as I can.

A New Opportunity for Yoga Teachers

Yoga teachers in general may also struggle with the choice to go back. Many of you are supporting and following your favourite yoga teachers online and are able to practice with them without the commutes, various studio passes and the general headache of travelling around your city to access your favourite teachers. For teachers, many are likely earning more than their regular class rate even though the number of students may be decreased. If you’re paying $10-$15 for your favourite teachers zoom yoga class and there are 7-10 of you doing the same, that teacher is making a very sustainable rate for themselves. What incentive would they have to go back to the yoga studio?

Students Hold the Power

How confident are you in going back to the yoga studio? Maybe your practice is completely filled with an at home practice. Maybe it’s more beneficial for you to spend some of those fitness dollars on health and wellness activities that can’t be performed at home. Let’s be real. Yoga is very easy to practice at home because you don’t need a lot of amenities or equipment. But can you align with zoom classes for the rest of time? I think we’ll miss the community and social aspect of it. Personally, I miss the conversations before and after class - chatting with students when they come in, lingering after and enjoying the post yoga bliss with students gives me so much energy. I don’t feel as uplifted after teaching a zoom class that’s for sure.

A Dream and a Vision Revived Once Again

I actually had dreamed of opening my own donation based yoga studio 5 years ago when I finished my YTT. I had this dream of lowering the cost for students while increasing pay to yoga teachers. I really don't know if that's ever possible but I've always been so curious about the current yoga business model we see today. This pandemic has opened my eyes and my mind to once again revisit these polarizing extremes where yoga is seen as a BIG multi-billion dollar industry. Memberships and drop in classes are expensive and teacher trainings cost thousands. So for the casual fan or someone on the outside, they look at it and say “Wow! These yoga people must be rich!”

However, as I mentioned, independent yoga studios don't often turn large profits and we see so many come and go every few years. I can think of at least two places I've taught at in the last 4-5 years that no longer exist alongside a few others I never taught at but was aware of their failed business attempts. At the same time yoga teachers aren't exactly living their best financial lives barely even getting to the Canadian average income of $44,000. Some teachers would even say that's a huge success. You see, while it may seem cushy to earn $40 a class, it is incredibly exhausting to teach anywhere near 40 hours a week. In most cases 12-15 classes is realistically sustainable when you factor in mental fatigue, constant learning/planning, self practice, and commuting. The point here is where is the money going? The people that are earning the big bucks aren't your local studio and favourite local yoga teachers. I don't know what has to change but that scenario has always made me want to come up with something different. I see an opportunity but I don't yet have a solution. Or maybe I do…

The idea - what if all classes were $10 - no memberships or class passes. And you could average 30-40 students per class. It's possible you could create something where the teacher walks out with $100 and the studio can keep the lights on. That's if you get a steal of a deal on rent. Renting a space big enough is always the stop point. COVID-19 presents another challenge. How will we ever get to a place where that many students will once again return to the studio? You can’t have 30 people in a yoga room being 6 FT apart.

Maybe one day a big eco-friendly, green company will want to sponsor me for a donation based studio in exchange for advertising...maybe...just putting it out there.

Until then I think I found the next best thing. Eliminate the overhead and go online. This is what I am hoping to achieve with my new virtual membership. An affordable rate for all the yoga you need so that you can save some dough and invest it into other areas of health and wellness for yourself and your family. As much as I absolutely love teaching at studios - and believe me, I think I work for some of the best yoga studio owners in the city! - I know not everyone can afford it.

Making Yoga Affordable

This is inherently important to me. And that’s why for less than your Netflix subscription you can get two audio classes a month from me and have access to 15+ recorded classes to practice any time and any place. Whether you’re at home, the cottage or on vacation my audio classes are easy to take with you. All you need is a mat and your earbuds and you’re good to go ;)

Until then I will continue to dream of a studio where all classes are affordable and teachers make a sustainable living wage. Decrease the cost for students and increase the payout to the teachers. Because that’s how I believe it should always be.