The Business of Yoga in a Pandemic

The business of yoga is not often talked about. For the most part yoga teachers teach because they love yoga but it is hard for yoga to pay the bills. Usually teachers have another job to keep them solvent. I think that could be different. I would love to see a world where yoga teachers can make a living and classes are affordable for the students to attend regularly. I have had my ear in the yoga business world for years now. My husband and I had a dream of opening a studio to bring community and activity into our retirement years. Our dream isn't dead, it has just morphed.

As we reopen studios and protocol requires a decreased class size the only way to sustain a studio is to raise prices. I've seen some studios talk about $25 per class as the going rate. A friend made a comment to me recently about how they would never pay $25 for a yoga class (add an indigent tone) Pilates, yes but not yoga! I don't want to pay $25 for a yoga class either but the comment made me wonder; how did the value of yoga become so diluted. Since I'm not a pilates teacher I can't speak to the cost and training of being one but here are the numbers for yoga.

All numbers are approximate:

200 hour teacher training (200RYT) $3,000+

300 Hour training (500 RYT) $4,000 +

Yoga Therapy (3 year program) $45,000

Annual Yoga Alliance Membership $65

Annual liability insurance $100

Annual Continuing education $500 - $5,000+ ( I personally spend over $5,000)

Add in Spotify, Zoom, internet, props and other misc. You get the picture.

Before COVID I was working in California at 2 studios. I had just moved back to CA leaving my regular students back in Maryland. Both California studios paid their teachers around the same amount; between $28-$30 class plus $5/ a student over 6 students. Do the math.

In most states yoga teachers file a 1099. Usually teachers travel between locations to pickup classes and to give private lessons. Getting back to back classes in one location is golden and rare.

In January of 2020 a new bill took effect in California, AB5, also called the "gig" workers bill. (https://edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/ab-5.htm). Yoga studios could no longer hire yoga teachers as independent contractors. Teachers had to be on payroll and payroll costs the studios more money. Even though the bill was supposed to take effect January of 2020 many yoga studios hadn't made the switch over. One owner I talked with said she would fold if she had to comply so she was going to wait for the law to be repealed.

What does this have to do with COVID, you may ask? After my local studios closed I had a conversation with a student who felt hurt, angry and frustrated that the studio she loved was closing. She knew there were government grants available and felt the owner "hadn't done enough" to keep the studio open. What she didn't know is COVID relief was available for small business owners with employees. If you were a yoga studio using independent contractors you were not eligible for the grants. These small studios had to make the hard decision between paying rent on a space they couldn't use or closing their doors hoping to open again when things change. Many studios made the switch to online yoga classes but many didn't.

Independent yoga studios are my jam. I tried working at a big gym. I was employed at one that wanted me to teach their brand of yoga. It didn't work for me. I love being a part of a small studio where the owner supports the diversity and honesty of individual teachers and community ties are strong. A yoga studio, in San Diego, I used to regular closed their doors for good in June. From the outside this studio was thriving; 5 classes a day all classes had full capacity. That closure was a big blow, the kind that hits you in the gut.

Even with all the advice that owning a yoga studio isn't a good business choice, I still wanted to open one. My husband and I had a dream. We would live in a small town by the sea (think Encinitas or Carlsbad) and buy a building in town where we could live above the studio. This was our retirement - but stay active - plan. When the yoga studios I was working at closed I took a week or two off before moving to Zoom classes. Basically I am running a personal yoga studio, virtual, but still. In July I was contacted by a yoga studio that had switched all their classes to Zoom. They asked if I wanted to teach my classes online through their studio but was very upfront that they couldn't pay me much. The thing is why does it have to be that way? I would rather have 5 students who pay me half price directly than 10 students who pay a studio full price. I don't want to teach a big class. I want to see my students, become familiar with how they move, be able to notice when they favor one side or stand a little taller. I want to see photos of their children and grand children and hear about personal trips. I love when yoga spills outside of the class and into our lives.

This is the silver lining of COVID. It feels like we are getting back to the roots of yoga. When yoga began in this country it was sort of an underground counter-culture, taught in church halls, living rooms and parks. Leggings hadn't been discovered and the fancy studio was not a thing, yet community and healing were.

COVID has changed the face of yoga. For me personally I love my small often pajama clad Zoom gatherings. I love knowing my students all have my phone number and continue to stay in touch in-between class. I don't know how yoga will look when we begin to feel safe again but rumblings of taking yoga back to it's roots, back into the living rooms and parks, back into the hands of the teachers are rippling. I know this experience has changed my perspection on the business of yoga and deepened my admiration and love for my yoga community.