Pricing Your Yoga Classes…yoga studio strategy

“Itarashtam tithar kashtam”

Empty handed you come, empty handed you go.  It is a law which should never be broke.

So yesterday I posted about Groupon in response to a blog on YogaDork.  It put me in the thread of comments and I was really surprised to not only see the lack of Ahimsa (non-violence) as it relates to having to pay for yoga, but also the absolute outrage that a yogis would pay more than $5 for a yoga class.  There seemed to be a pretty consistent thread as well that the overall perception is that yoga teachers make too much money teaching yoga.

Let’s dive into pricing yoga and paying for yoga and at the end of this I’ll dive into the controversy of paying for yoga at a yoga studio.

FREE YOGA

Attending Free yoga:  If you do not want to pay for yoga, attend one of the many offerings around your community for free yoga.  I was even in Whole Foods the other day and they practice yoga in the middle of the grocery store once a week. They offer this service as a way to bring yogis into the grocery store and are probably assuming you will buy some groceries after class.  If you are attending a free yoga class that a yoga teacher as established (example would be free yoga in the park), it is courtesy to give a donation.  Give what you can.

Teaching Free yoga:  Do teach for free to family and friends.  When you first graduate from yoga school, take all the gigs you can get and ask for a small donation to your favorite charity.  It’s fun and the more you teach, the better you get. I do not recommend ever teaching without pay at a corporation, community center, or health club…see below.

COMMUNITY CENTERS AND HEALTH CLUBS

Attending:  If you belong to a community center or health club, take advantage of the discounted yoga.  Most community centers and health clubs do charge additional fees for yoga.  Yoga is viewed as a specialty by many and many are willing to pay more, so the centers and clubs take advantage of that as a means by which to generate revenue.  Still, it is less expensive than at studios.  This is because the atmosphere in most centers and health clubs is not truly conducive to yoga….not all….just most.

Teaching:  Community centers and health clubs are not going to pay as much as studios.  Plan to make $12 – $20/class.  Do not teach for free.

CORPORATIONS

Attending:  It is awesome that your corporation is funding your yoga.  Take advantage of the many lunch time opportunities to de-stress and relax.  The great thing about yoga is that you don’t get all sweaty at most classes taught in a corporation because they are intermediate classes and catering to a diversity of needs.  An interesting note…the yoga sutras say that yoga ends when you lose control of the heart, the breath, or have sweat on your forehead!  So, no sweating.

Teaching:  In a corporate setting charge a minimum $20/class if you are a new teacher (less than 6 months out from yoga school) and ideally at least $10/student if you are well established. EOM creates teams of teachers for organizations.  Our pricing includes the fact that most of our graduates are also holistic coaches and I personally meet with the organizations to craft a program that specifically meets their needs.  So, we charge more than that and teachers are paid more than that.

FINALLY STUDIOS AND THE CONTROVERSY:

Yoga studios may be fitness.  They may be fitness with a spiritual bend.  They may be spiritual.  Because of the spiritual nature of yoga, it is confusing not only to the students, but also to studio owners that they are running a business and not a charity…or are they?  If you are teaching for love and to help and serve, can you charge $15 – $25/class?  If you are attending, is it worth it?

Attending:  If there are so many discounted options for yoga, why on earth would you pay $15 – $25 for a yoga class?  (EOM is $14/class in Cincinnati, Ohio market)  What is the value of attending yoga at a studio and what should you expect in exchange for your cash?

Atmosphere.  Expect the atmosphere of your yoga studio to totally support yoga, meditation, and relaxation.  Stepping into an EOM studio, you feel like you’ve come home to a big hug.  It smells awesome.  You are greeted with a big smile and it doesn’t take long before everyone knows your name and you are making friends.  You are joining a community and your fee for yoga goes to support the community.

Quality.  Teaching at a yoga studio is a coveted gig.  Studio owners can be picky and are picky.  The best of the best are on the schedule.

Support.  At EOM and most nice studios we get to know you.  When you are suffering through a situation, when you need help, we are here for you.  In fact, we notice when you miss your regular classes and will reach out to you to find out if something is going on. Studios offer lots of extra workshops and events so there is always something fun to do with your community.

Pricing for fitness.  Purre Barre charges $21/class,  Tai Chi averages $18/class, the YMCA charges $10/class in addition to the monthly fees.  Pilates is around $30/class.  All in all, $15 seems reasonable to me.

Owning a Studio:

What is the community?  The sad news of the business of yoga is that the landlord, the utility company, the POS system, the snow plow driver, the guy who trims the hedges, the person cleaning the studio, the web designer, and all the places you advertise also are part of the community.  It has to get paid for or there isn’t a studio.  It’s really that simple.  You must charge for yoga.

To overcome the conflict of charity/spirituality/business, offer a FREE yoga class each week on your schedule and ask folks to give a small donation to charity.  When yogis who can’t afford yoga call, direct them to the FREE/donation class.  You feel great.  They feel great.  You will be surprised that when their life gets back on track, they become a paying student.  The FREE class is where your teachers in training can practice.  They teach for experience, so there is minimal investment other than time.

Offer Karma yoga.  Karma yoga is unlimited yoga in exchange for a service.  I find that this rarely works out well for you, but I still do it.  A person in need will agree to clean the studio or something in exchange for yoga.  A person will agree to “check in” in exchange for participation in the class.  It does add a layer of management and there really is no recourse if they don’t show, so test it out and decide.  Some Karma yogis are very consistent and will be there for life.

Go out in the community.  I have a passion for the public school system so that’s were I do my seva (service).  I teach yoga, health, and anything else the school would like me to teach.  I do it for free.  I couldn’t do it if my studios were not profitable.

Teaching:

If you are a new teacher, most studios (including EOM) pay around $20/class for the first 6 months.  Some will not pay at all, but it is really special to be on a studio schedule so well worth the 6 month investment. At EOM, our new teachers host a FREE community class and get to practice teaching that way.  Generally, if added to the teaching schedule, they will begin in the Lebanon studio which has very small classes to fine tune their craft.

Other teachers are paid anywhere fro $30 – $55/class depending on how many students are in the class.  This is an incentive to get teachers to spread the word to their friends that they are teaching and maybe more people will come in.  This works for some teachers, but I find most teachers are teaching for love and not money so incentive pay doesn’t really work in a yoga studio like it does in the real world.  Still, I do it because I’m from a business background and my brain can’t release the idea that it should work.

See you in the studio!  Om, Pamela