Where have all the students gone?

Second in a multi-part series about yoga in a post-pandemic world.

If you’ve been practicing yoga for a while you might recognize the current state of the business. It looks a lot like the late 90’s or early aughts.

Back in the day the practice was kind of fringe. Before Lululemon, Athleta, Vuori, Alo, Bandier, Kiragrace and many other yoga retailers, we practiced in cotton pants and t-shirts. We met in converted garages and basements. A “studio” was often a rented room, and there were no amenities like showers.

Things change, and yoga didn’t just grow, it exploded. Trainings spit out teachers and studios flourished like mushrooms on a soggy lawn. I once wrote that there were more yoga studios than Starbucks in Denver.

Today, the wellness community is experiencing a market correction like none other. There is a saturation of teachers, combined with a dearth of studios that survived the pandemic. And many students are long gone.

The Rooms are Smaller

It feels like the wellness community has its own version of long-haul Covid. Denver lost 39 yoga studios and those that survived may have downsized.

Where I teach was once a thriving three-room studio and now we rent a room in a gym. However, we are the lucky ones. This is the time to lower overhead if possible.

The owner (and a good friend) often asks me if I’m okay with the new location. I’m great! I started years ago by teaching yoga in a gym. People would wander in with a tight hammie, then stay for the transformation.

For me, yoga is about addressing students’ needs, finding ways to solve problems, and renewing their bodies, minds and spirits.

Over the years I also taught at the large studios, with enormous classes of 85 or more, with lots of energy, pounding music and good vibes. Honestly, I am more comfortable in the smaller setting.

But I know that is not the case for our new teachers who are struggling to make ends meet, fill their workshops and retreats, and pay back the cost of their education.

We need students to fill the studios, to pay the rent, to support the teachers, to keep yoga going. We cannot build it and hope they come.

This is a comment I received on my last blog about how studios need to do their part to bring the wellness industry back to wellness:

“I've been a very consistent yogi, regularly attending classes six times a week for eleven years now. But the pandemic changed me. I grew to enjoy my Zoom classes and loved the time (and gas!) I saved no longer having to drive to the studio. ... To be totally honest, I can't think of anything that would lure me back to the studio at this time.”

I would venture that many of us feel this to some degree.

My own habits also changed during 2020 and I invested in a rather extensive home yoga studio. However, the home is no place to start a yoga practice. Students can’t know if they are doing things correctly, or feeling what they should. In a studio they can be encouraged and directed, whereas at home it’s easy to become injured, give up and quit.

If we are going to bring students back, we absolutely must give them something to come back to.

Last week I wrote about the need for workshops. Here are some thoughts about how we might once again bring our students back to fill those rooms.

Up Your Game

These days are like the beginnings of a studio: we have to teach every single student like it will be the last student we have. Teachers who once enjoyed large rooms simply by showing up, may have to up their game. Connection is more important now than performing. Take workshops and trainings that inspire you. Study yoga therapy. Expand your range with  inversions or pranayama. Do whatever it takes to bring your best for your students.

Invest in Livestream

At this point, the students who like Zoom are not going to suddenly come into the studio. They are getting what they need, so give them a better experience.

Studios need to invest in a decent computer/camera/microphone/light situation. Ideally, each class should have a model for the camera so the teacher can focus on who is in the room. Recognize and greet each student who signs in, and try to notice them throughout the practice. One day these students might miraculously appear at a workshop – you just never know.

Bless the Beginners and Advance the Advanced

What can an in-person class do better than Zoom? We can teach beginners, and we can advance the advanced students’ practice. Both of those things are much more difficult in a remote setting. Invest in workshops and classes for each end of the spectrum.

Downsize

Wellness and fitness will come back, but not right away. I believe people will not return until 2024. Until then, do yourself a favor and downsize your overhead. One Yoga Denver is staying alive in our little corner of the Lion’s Den.

Less is More

If you have smaller classes, then take advantage of those intimate experiences to provide one-on-one mentoring. Fuller classes will return and you’ll miss this opportunity to create a personal connection with your students.

Privates are Perfect

Notice your Zoom students. They may be struggling. Suggest a private session either over livestream or in the studio. That will build loyalty over time.

Try Something New

Why do students come to class? I was once told it is because they seek something more, to try something new, or to find what they’re looking for. Give it to them.

Sequence your classes for enlightenment. If you’re offering the same old routine, then try a new posture, or a new way of getting there. Offer inspiration in a theme. This is the time to experiment; if you fail it will be in front of far fewer people.

This Didn’t Happen Overnight

The overall health of the wellness business was actually endangered before the pandemic. Market saturation for yoga, barre, Pilates, spinning and gyms gave fitness enthusiasts multiple physical outlets for a limited number of hours in the day. The bubble simply had to burst, and the pandemic was the catalyst.

Now we have a new overload of options. Since 2020 the fitness internet resources have exploded. Yogaglo, now Glo, was once the only player. Today there are hundreds of online options offered by Yoga Journal, Gaiam, Yoga International, Yoga Download, Alo, Peloton, individual teachers and a billion, zillion more. I could take an online class eight hours a day and never repeat a teacher or an experience. This bubble will also burst, and the physical studios will again enjoy fuller rooms.

I don’t have all the answers, but I know this much for sure:

We have to be better than all the other options that a person can do with an hour of their time.

I wrote that 10 years ago in Theme Weaver: Connect the Power of Inspiration to Teaching Yoga, and it’s even more relevant today. We must help students feel better in their bodies, mind and spirit. We must provide a studio experience that makes it worth leaving their comfortable home and invest time in their wellbeing. If we don’t rise up, then the landscape of yoga and wellness will truly be changed for more than a few years. It will be changed forever.

Michelle Marchildon is the Yogi Muse. She’s an award-winning writer and blogger, and the author of four books on yoga. You can find her in Denver, where she teaches weekly classes in a little room in the back of the Lion’s Den, or on the internet at www.yogimuse.com