Gurus with Broken Hearts

Part II of III

While engaged in the early-R&D phase of our studio in August 2024, we benchmarked dozens of studios from different models to understand how they worked (or didn’t). We also started getting to know the yoga student population from a different vantage point better. Two findings overlapped in a way that forced us to ask uncomfortable questions:

First, yoga teacher training is a critical component of the financial viability of most yoga studios. These programs cost between $2,000-5,000 per student. Some programs advertise as being appropriate for students who do not themselves regularly practice yoga. Second, many of the people who would make the most faithful students are people who trained to teach but never ended up teaching. Some taught and stopped. Some teach but now have nowhere to practice in groups themselves.

We started wondering how the pipeline of teachers coming out of these programs compared to the market demand for yoga teachers? Did the concept of a yoga cooperative almost make more sense? And who was serving all of these promising teachers—who would make the most fertile community of students—who felt left out, overlooked, or like they never settled somewhere? And where do teachers practice as students themselves and call home?

We do not have all of the answers to these questions. We would love to hear your questions too.

What we do have is a beautiful space that you can call home. Send us a note with your certification. We’ll send you a code so that you can practice here for 75% off at all times. You agree to be on our sub list. We hope to find a way to honor teachers as students.

Whether you are a guru with a broken heart or just ready to start putting renewed time into your personal practice somewhere where you don’t routinely teach, you are welcome at Yoga Moderne.