Yoga is a 3 billion dollar a year industry in this country. Over 16.5 million Americans practice yoga, with a large percentage practing in yoga studios. The owners of some of the most popular studios in the country were on this panel.
Moderated by Bill Harper, publisher of Yoga Journal, the panel included Tim Dale, co-owner of the Yoga Tree studios, Ron Wrubel, Co CEO of Yoga Works, Joan Barnes, owner of Yoga Studio Mill Valley and Larkspur, Linda Sparrowe, editor in chief of Alternative Health magazine and former director of the yoga program at the SF Bay Club and Bay Club Marin, and Cyndi Lee, owner of Om Yoga in New York.
Bill first asked them to explain their studio's mission. Tim said he wanted to provide a clean, warm, safe environment in which to explore mind, body, and spirit on all levels. Rob said to stay authentic to the teachings and spirit of yoga while making it accessible to people's lives today . Linda said to make the Bay Club a great community for teachers and students. Cyndi, said to offer the best yoga possible to as many people as possible, to create a wonderful community, and to provide a grownup livelihood for yoga teachers.
Bill asked what they do for people who can't afford to spend a lot of money on classes. The answers were diverse. Joan said she charges a lot in order to provide her students with the best teachers possible. Rob said that if you don't charge a decent amount of money, people don't value the classes. Cyndi "totally disagreed" (isn't that interesting, she said!) She said it is her personal challenge to pay teachers a living wage, but she still wants to make it possible for people to study yoga regardless of their finances. She disagreed that people wouldn't value a class if they weren't charged a lot of money for it. She offers dancer discounts (Cyndi is a former dancer), student discounts, and if you can't afford class at all, work/study. Tim said that he too wanted everyone to be able to study yoga, and it's important to understand the income brackets of your community.
Then came the first audience question. Janice, who owns a yoga studio in San Anselmo, CA, said she saw a disconnect between the reality that all of us, yoga studios included, are interdependent, yet these same studios are often in competition. "I sometimes ask, where's the yoga in all this?"
The audience erupted into applause.
Tim said that as a studio owner, he learned great lessons - that running yoga studios should not be a competition, but more like being neighbors. Lots of studios is "great for yoga. You do not have to prosper at someone else's expense". Rob said that it's a brutally hard business to make a lot of money in, and mentioned rent and workers' comp. "The question of competition is central, especially for small studios, which have their own fragile little ecosystems."
There were other questions, on merchandising, expiration dates on yoga passes, mentorship, but I was struck by Robs' comment that it's hard to make a lot of money in the yoga studio business.
Joan Barnes had this wise thing to say. "Do what you love and the money will follow. Or it won't. But you'll be doing what you love."
Lisa Maria, a local writer who writes about yoga for 