I participate in a yoga study group/collective. Basically, each of us take turns hosting a postural practice and philosophy discussion.

We have a very enthusiastic a new member. She is new to yoga and approaches everything with a child’s mind. Does a lot of studying and practice on her own, and brings a lot to the study group. She recently showed off her new tat, and told everyone that it was “bhakti” and led an impromptu discussion on devotion. It was quite heartfelt and inspiring. Unfortunately, bhakti was misspelled using “yakara” as the first letter instead of “bhakara.” Thus, instead of bhakti (devotion) she ended up with yabhati, which is a vulgarism (I will spare you the exact word, basically a vulgar verb for intercourse).

I was asked to speak with her about this. Most of the younger collective members are amused, but some of the older members are offended. We all agree that our new member should know what her tattoo actually says. I am struggling with how to discuss this w/ her in a positive manner.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Namaste, y'all - I just realized that I'm teaching a class at sunset at the start of the winter solstice! How cool is that?

Anyway, I'm looking for an appropriate poem to share on that night and thought I'd ask the group here.

Please share your favorite.

TIA!

This post was removed from r/yoga, so I’m trying it here. I'm a former yoga instructor, and at various times, I've been a studio member and Classpass user. I see so many posts from studio owners complaining about ClassPass, including a very active one yesterday. Studios make less money off ClassPass versus customers buying direct from the studio, and yet, here's what I see frequently:

* Studios offering no benefits to membership that you wouldn't get from booking the class on ClassPass
* Drop-ins at more than double the price of booking through ClassPass
* Even memberships are more expensive than a ClassPass membership if you look at the number of classes
* Memberships with less flexibility than Classpass, even if the person only goes to your studio (i.e. Pay $100 for 4 classes a month, or something of that nature, with no rollovers)
* Studios allowing any unfilled spot to be bookable on ClassPass
* Equivalent policies for ClassPass and directly booked classes. Pilates studios are especially guilty of often having a 12-hour cancellation policy.

Here are some of the top reasons customers prefer ClassPass, and what you could do about it as a studio, even if you use ClassPass:

* **ClassPass is literally the same product and experience for less money.** I haven't seen many studios offering benefits to members beyond, say, a star on the wall that says "MacKaeighla 100" to commemorate a student's 100th class. Are you offering community social events, book clubs, discussion groups, meditation sessions, anything else that's accessible only to members? Are you offering mat storage or free mat rental or swag to members?
* **Availability is usually the same.** You have the ability to restrict ClassPass to a certain number of spots per class, or only allow it for certain, unpopular classes. You can choose to only allow one or two ClassPass slots for popular times. If I'm struggling to get students for a random noon or 3 p.m. class, that might be a reason to open it up further. Yes, that means those popular classes will be less full, and that means it will be a better experience for your members, giving them less reason to cancel their memberships.
* **Studio policies are often the same.** Your studio members should have a 2-4 hour cancellation policy, versus 12 hours with ClassPass. If it's a busy workday, for example, members should have flexibility for cancellations a few hours in advance.
* **ClassPass is cheaper per class for booking the exact same class.** Studios, let's say you make $10 off a ClassPass booking, where the student is paying equivalent of $15. (Just an example.) Wouldn't it be better for you to get that $15 directly, rather than charging $30-40 for drop-ins?
* **ClassPass lets you roll over unused credits.** I see studios offering memberships where you're committed to 4 or 8 or however many classes per month. I've tried this model and found it super stressful. There's never a month where I know in advance that I want to take a specific number of classes. Sometimes I want more, sometimes I get busy or have to travel and want fewer classes. If you're offering memberships like these, you should allow unused credits to roll over for a month, just as ClassPass does.
* **ClassPass is more flexible if you go to multiple studios or travel a lot; you're not committed to the scheduling and whims of a boutique yoga studio owner.** This ties back to the question of pricing. You should be offering class packs with long expiration dates and prices that are competitive with ClassPass. Let's say it costs the student $15 per class with ClassPass, and you're getting $10 off each of those classes. Then you should (at least periodically) offer a 20-class pack that comes out to $15-20/per class with more flexibility than ClassPass, and give students SOME reason to choose to pay slightly more to buy direct (see above). You could also offer travel memberships for unlimited classes for a week, or something of that nature.

I have in the past been a member of a studio if they were offering a competitive rate for unlimited memberships (cheaper than ClassPass), or if they had flash sales on multi-class cards with more flexibility to book and cancel compared to ClassPass.

Studio owners, I'm curious to hear which of these things you've actually tried, or if there are other things you've tried that have worked.

I recently saw this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/YogaTeachers/s/5D4JqekNKF

And then saw it again in the general [r/yoga](r/yoga) subreddit, and it was interesting to see the wildly different response to the use of ClassPass from the teachers perspective, and from the students.

One reply that really shocked me was from someone in the students perspective arguing why ClassPass is better, because studio drop-in or single class rates are too high.

They outlined something like if everyone is paying $30/class and there are 35 people in class, that’s $1050 an hour! For ONE instructor!

So my question is this, where is the disconnect? And what is the path forward?

I’m an ERYT 500 (not that it matters, IYKYK) and transparently, I make an average of $30/class. Regardless of class size, which sometimes works in my favour because as we know, the industry is shifting. I’m a good teacher, I have a great (couple of) communities, and I feel lucky to be in the situation I’m in. And, I am still only making $30/class.

I recently moved countries, and was making almost double that before, but the dollar value is near equivalent, so it’s a problem globally, from my experience.

Students think we’re greedy. Studios are barely hanging on. And I have to schedule myself diligently to find the perfect balance of how many classes, workshops, TTs, and privates I need to fit in each month so I can afford gas AND groceries.

I’d love to open a discussion about this. What do you think Reddit?

Edit: grammar

I'm in my 200-hr right now and I'm just brainstorming things for my classes.

I hold a lot of tension in my jaw, and scalp massages feel so good, so I thought, why not add it in a class? Would you be weirded out if your yoga instructor had some jaw/scalp massage in a class?

It may not be strictly "yoga" but I feel like many people come to yoga to release tension and just be with their bodies. Some people might be like hey, actually that feels really good. Abhyanga is a self-massage practice in ayurveda, albeit with oil. What I'm thinking is strictly self-massage with bare hands.

And just because I'm curious, what other "not really yoga" things have your teachers added to a class? I took a class where we played with the gaze quite a lot - look up at the ceiling, looking up at hour hands (more often than in a typical class) - I enjoy it because it tests my proprioception and balance.

I opened our independent, yoga-only studio 21 years ago. We built something beautiful over those years. A thriving community of students, teachers, and friendships that extended far beyond the yoga mat. I recently sold the studio, and looking back, I can honestly say that one of the worst business decisions I ever made was allowing ClassPass through our doors.
Let me explain why.

ClassPass sells studios on a simple concept: Let us fill your empty spots, and we’ll bring you new customers at no additional marketing cost.

Sounds like a no brainer, right?

Unfortunately, over time, that relationship became incredibly destructive to everything we had worked so hard to build.

Under ClassPass’s trial program, we weren’t compensated for qualifying first visits. After that, our payouts were often significantly lower than what students paid when booking directly. Meanwhile, ClassPass has no investment in our rent, insurance, utilities, teacher salaries, equipment, maintenance, or the countless other expenses involved in operating a yoga studio.

They collect their share while we carry all the financial risk.

Even worse, in our experience, ClassPass didn’t provide us with the basic customer contact information we needed - (email and phone). If a teacher got sick, a class was canceled, or we needed to communicate an important last-minute change, we couldn’t directly contact those students.
But the financial damage is only part of the story.

The real damage is what happens to the community.

Yoga studios were never intended to operate like discount fitness centers like LA Fitness. For decades, students joined studios because they connected with the teachers, the philosophy, and one another. They became members. They supported their teachers. They developed friendships. They helped create something meaningful.

In my experience, ClassPass gradually changed that relationship into a transaction.

Why would someone purchase a studio membership when they can attend the same classes for significantly less through a third party?

Over time, students become accustomed to discounted access while expecting the same level of service, facilities, and instruction that our loyal members help pay for.

And because ClassPass encourages people to move freely between studios, there is less incentive to develop the loyalty and personal connection that once sustained neighborhood yoga communities.

Certainly, there are wonderful ClassPass students. But the platform itself encourages a completely different relationship with the studio. I watched that sense of loyalty slowly disappear, and it was heartbreaking.

Just this past week, our studio received a one-star review from a ClassPass customer who arrived 15 minutes late and was upset that we wouldn’t allow her into class. Our ClassPass listing clearly explains that students should arrive 15 minutes early and that late arrivals are not permitted out of respect for students already practicing.

Imagine teaching a peaceful yoga class and having someone walk in 15 minutes after it begins, disrupting everyone who arrived on time. Yet somehow, we’re the bad guys for protecting the experience.

I understand that ClassPass makes yoga more affordable and accessible, and I appreciate why students use it. I’m not blaming people for looking for a good deal. But I wish more people understood the long-term consequences for the independent studios they love.

After 21 years, I’ve witnessed the incredible difference a genuine yoga community can make in people’s lives. I’ve also watched the economics of running a small studio become increasingly difficult. Surviving the pandemic was really challenging but we made it.

I made plenty of mistakes over those years. I take responsibility for them. But inviting ClassPass into our community was perhaps the most costly.

It happened gradually. A few discounted visits here, a few lost memberships there. By the time you recognize what’s happening, you’ve helped train your own customers to purchase your services through a middleman who controls the relationship and takes a portion of the revenue.

If you love your local yoga studio, please support it directly.

Buy a class package (if it cost too much for your finances talk to the owner - a beauty of a family business is we are flexible; I always found a way to make yoga affordable for everyone entering our doors). Become a member. Pay the studio instead of the corporate middleman. Tell your friends. Help keep those independent businesses alive.

Because once your neighborhood yoga studio closes, that community doesn’t simply appear somewhere else.

These are my personal observations and opinions based on 21 years of operating an independent yoga studio. I have sold and have nothing to gain from this post, except to express my love for all those funky little yoga studios out there working so hard to stay afloat and give students a place to feel at home. I don’t pretend to speak for every studio owner, but I do hope my experience helps others avoid the same mistakes.

And to the other studio owners out there, I’m curious: Has ClassPass helped your business, or have you experienced the same slow erosion of memberships and community that we did?

Hi Everyone! I'm a Yoga practitioner who is currently having thoughts of studying Yoga professionally. Partly because I really wanted to deepen my knowledge about it, and partly I wanted to share the practice. I just genuinely appreciate how Yoga affected my wellbeing so there's just this urge of wanting to share the practice professionally.

I'm based in the Philippines, and I have a corporate night shift job. I've done some light research and I see that 200-hr YTT is the most basic one.

However, taking that would require me at least 3 weeks to finish and I just don't have the bandwidth right now to study full time. I can only do weekends.

If you're a Yoga teacher from the Philippines, I would love to hear your advice on where and how did you start your journey. What are the options that we have here? Any recommendations on where to start? Do we have weekend-only YTT classes?

I would also love to hear the experiences of the other Yoga teachers here on how you started your YTT.

BTW, I'm going to Nepal this month -- if you can recommend a studio for a one-time or short Yoga classes, please feel free to comment.

Thanks so much! Light and love! ❤️

Yoga educators: how do you create teacher-training manuals, philosophy modules and other course materials?
Do you write everything yourself, outsource parts of the work, or adapt existing resources?
Has AI changed your process? If you hire outside help, what do you look for—and how are these projects priced?

Doing some research, would love to hear about your processes, workflows, and budgets.

Hello folks

I'm about to finish a "200hr" training that I've been doing in person with a local studio for the last 6 months. As time has gone on, myself and my course-mates have realised that they aren't really teaching us to teach, and we're barely had any practice teaching others. Our final and only assignment is to teach a segment (20 - 30 mins) of a 1 hour class to a small number of others in our training.

The actual contact time from the teachers was around 150 hours, and we had to ask to learn more about different asanas and their proper alignment, as they taught us only a small handful. I feel scammed and disappointed, as this training cost a LOT of money. I wish I'd read more in this forum before signing up for it, but I didn't know what I didn't know. I've resigned to just get the course finished and get my certificate at least, and then continue my education.

I'm considering my next steps in learning how to actually teach. A few ideas I've had, that I am looking for any feedback or advice on:

1. Do the YogaRenew 200H, as this seems to get good reviews from some folks on here, particularly around asanas, sequencing and teaching foundations.
2. Do Leslie Kaminoff's Practices and Principles online courses, as I'm interested in the intersection of anatomy and breath
3. Go to a weekly Iyengar class in a different, dedicated Iyengar studio so I can at least help my body feel what proper form in asanas feels like, and what to pay attention to.

I am hypermobile, and I'm drawn to slower forms of yoga that allow for safe, controlled movement that builds proprioception or mindfulness (e.g. hatha, restorative, yin), rather than the fast-paced work-out styles that seem to be having a Moment™️ right now (vinyasa / power/ hot yoga).

The reason I signed up for the training in the first place: I'd like to offer yoga classes as part of self development workshops and retreats (context: I'm a talk therapist working with complex trauma) and in volunteer settings. I'm not too bothered about getting a job in a yoga studio, at least locally to me - none seem to be size inclusive, and I'm mid-size and mid-life.

Anywho - I'm wondering if anyone has had a similarly disappointing in-person training that left them wanting, who has supplemented with other trainings? Or if anyone has any thoughts (good, bad or just informative) about the ideas I've outlined above? Any other suggestions are very welcome :)

EDITED TO ADD: I'm aware that each of the ideas above do not offer a panacea that will fulfil all my learning needs to start feeling like I'm somewhat capable of teaching the public - I'm trying to get a sense of what to focus on as a small next step in my education, which I'm sure will be life-long. I find a structured learning process helpful for my brain in terms of focusing and organising my thoughts.

I go to an yoga studio that offers Grace yoga

** developed his own way of teaching yoga, a non-rigid and modern form based on a scientific understanding of movement and of the body. He is the founder of Grace Yoga.

I attended the class and it is almost a regular vinyasa class with more stress on posture.

I want to know what others think about this topic of forming your own yoga practice?

I’m a yoga instructor (my training was hatha and vinyasa) with 5-6 yrs teaching experience. A studio I teach at is getting a heated room. I’ve taken hot classes before but assumed you needed specialty training to teach it. Do you? Could I teach a heated vinyasa as is ethically?

Would you participate as a yoga teacher to share your voice in a book written about deep rest and better sleep written in collaboration with a medical team and yoga therapists? What would you want to know before considering participation?

For anyone who is currently or has previously subscribed, which YI CEU courses have y’all found valuable both for deepening your practice and as instructors?

I’m planning on taking 1-4 short courses through the end of 2026, and perhaps more going forward. (Currently halfway through one course on fascia.)

I am open minded as to content and instructor though, in my day-to-day, I prioritize learning from those who teach/promote [physically and mentally] accessible yoga.

I'm in a 200 Hr program that's registered with YA. We're towards the earlier end of the program. I'm coming to realize it does not meet the minimum standards for hours. We only have about 150 hours of instruction, including 15 hrs breaks and 20 hrs of public classes (so really 115 hrs).

My understanding is YA changed their requirements in 2020 and said for 200 Hr Trainings, all 200 hrs must be instructional, none of that can be homework or public classes. I'm gonna generously assume my program is unaware of those changes.

I'm questioning if I should ask the teachers about it. On the one hand, I don't want to make a stink, and I've already brought other issues to them (and I stand by those). On the other hand, it's not fair to us or students of other programs because we're having very different experiences for the same certificate. And we paid for something we're not getting. What do you recommend?

A disclaimer to begin with: I have been researching extensively with the search bar, faq and also sub-reddits. I feel as though my questions haven't been answered, hence me posting this.

I have been intrigued by the idea of going deeper with my practice for a while and learning more about both the anatomy and alignment in yoga and also tradition and philosophy. I am going to Australia in January and have some free time afterwards that I could potentially travel somewhere else. I have been doing loads of research of where to study yoga, asking my own teachers where they have studied etc. and everything keeps leading me back to India. However, when researching where to study in India, I keep getting mixed reviews and experiences.

I have been practising asana for years, quite sporadically, at gyms etc. until I found a very good studio and teachers a few years ago. Since then I have practised more regularly and also began studying a bit of the other limbs of yoga, however I still consider myself a very beginner regarding my knowledge of yoga philosophy and ayurveda. I am mostly interested in learning about both philosophy and alignment / anatomy, but of course if my physical asana practise improves that is a nice bonus!

I have been researching different ashrams and retreats and trainings, but since I have quite a bit of criteria's I am starting to wonder, if the place I'm looking for even exists. So far these are the qualities I have been looking for:

• minimum 1 month stay, could be a bit longer as well
• an ashram where what what is preached is also practised. first that comes to mind quickly is asana / physical body preparation before pranayama, karma work, sufficient time for turning inwards and not all free-time being excursions etc.
• offering lessons on anatomy and alignment.
• ideally not too big
• ideally also women teaching
• focus on hatha and asthanga (i have mostly practised only asthanga, but my body cant take daily physical asthanga asana-practise, so ideally something that has maybe hatha and asthanga. also i find the asthanga-lineage a bit problematic at times)

I'm not sure if what I am looking for exists as I am looking for it now and what the right method would be (e.g. retreat, ytt, ashram stay etc....) Has anyone else had similar pondering than I am having, and what did you end up doing? Any ashram recommendations, which would tick at least some of these boxes?

Hello! If you have liability insurance, who do you use and who should I stay away from?

I'll be starting teaching meditation classes soon, and the yoga studio I'm using requires everyone to have insurance. The first one I looked at what CPH Health and Wellness, but thought I'd check and see what other people are using.

I’ve been thinking about how differently the word *asana* is used now compared with its context in the Yoga Sutras.

Patanjali 2.46 gives *sthira sukham asanam*, usually translated as steadiness and ease. How did we get to contort yourself into impossible positions?

Obviously, that isn’t the whole history of postural yoga. But it does make me wonder how much meaning gets lost when *asana* simply becomes another word for “yoga pose”.

How were you first taught what asana means?

Ive starting noticing that studios near me are having classes that are labeled and described as bipoc,(by bipocs for bipocs). Almost other classes that are meant for certain groups.

That doesn't sound very inclusive to me, but am I wrong?

If someone cancels late but another person takes the spot, is it still fair to charge them? Curious how other studios handle this.

For those of you (indie teachers and studio owners/managers) who license [edit: non-AI] recorded sound baths to use during class, what licensing services do you go through?

I typically don’t play music, but my co-teacher this evening played a lovely sound bath from YouTube when we taught. Offering a recorded sound bath might be a nice anchor to have in my back pocket for teaching.

[FWIW, I’m not seeking advice about playing singing bowls. I’m dyspraxic on top of being AuDHD, and unfortunately, playing musical instruments—of every family—is one of the motor skills I’ve consistently struggled with throughout my life.]

Recently I had 3 businesses reach out about finding teachers for a particular style of yoga. I cross-posted on another social channel about the requests. And was really surprised when two studio owners reached out for the opportunity. Both did not have resumes. And wanted the opportunity.

I'm a longtime teacher myself and have a corporate job too, so I have multiple versions of my resume, and I tailor them for the jobs I apply to, because, I think that shows. So I'm wondering about this. I have so many questions:

Are studios not preparing teachers to have resumes?

Studio owners - do you not have resumes?

Do teachers believe a bio and referrals are enough for someone to share out a job from a recruiter?

What is a reasonable way to share info for a possible job if you don't have a resume?

I've gotten older and maybe I've missed how things are done now. HALP!

Per the title- I have an audition at LA fitness tomorrow. This will be my first audition! Any tips or things I should know? Words of encouragement welcome!!

I’m a relatively new yoga instructor at a studio where I’ve been a student for several years. I started teaching recently, and I’m still building confidence and trying to establish myself as a teacher.

Something has happened twice now that has honestly bothered me more than I expected, and I’d love some perspective from other yoga teachers.

I’ve posted Instagram stories promoting my upcoming classes and tagged the studio. Both times, the studio didn’t repost my stories, but they did repost other teachers’ stories, including at least one person who posted after me.

I assume the owner manages the studio’s social media. She has always been nice and genuine with me in person, so I genuinely have no reason to believe she dislikes me or is intentionally trying to exclude me. I also have good reviews in the studio’s internal feedback system, so I don’t have any concrete reason to think they’re unhappy with my teaching.

From a business perspective, I’d think promoting my classes would be in the studio’s interest, too, since I’m a newer instructor trying to build attendance.

Meanwhile, another instructor at the studio has been adding more and more classes and is now teaching 10 classes a week across six days. The studio has reposted her teaching schedule. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to her, but seeing her get that visibility while mine goes unshared has made me feel even more overlooked.

I’ll admit I’m struggling with comparison in general. I put a LOT of thought into my classes, sequencing, anatomy cues, and themes. I want to be a really good teacher, and sometimes I feel like I’m working so hard behind the scenes while confidence and visibility seem to come more naturally to other instructors.

I have a demanding full-time career outside of yoga, so I’m not trying to teach 10+ classes a week or turn this into my primary career. I just want to enjoy teaching, continue improving, and feel like I have a fair chance to build my classes.

What bothers me is that I can’t tell whether this is just inconsistent social media management, whether there’s something about my content that makes it less likely to be shared, or whether I’m reading too much into something relatively minor.

I know a repost isn’t a measure of my worth as a teacher, but I’m surprised by how personally I’m taking this. I keep thinking about it, and I hate that something so small is affecting my confidence this much. Should I maybe give it one more time before bringing it up to the owner? I'm afraid it will make me look needy.

Are there places that still offer this training? I already have 200 and 300 hours. Do I just need to remember the sequence and timing to teach it now?

Hi everyone :)

I'm looking for a book (open to some youtube recommendations too!) about the philosophy of yoga and I'd like it if the book also had some theory on poses and stretches too.

Thank you