Is Owning a Yoga Studio Your Dream?

Opening a Yoga Studio:  An Adventure

For the first year of my little studio, things were totally up in the air. I sublet and it was month to month. I never had any idea what the next month would hold. And while it wasn’t ideal, it was a start.

Of course having a yoga studio was on that dream list—10 or 20 years down the road. After time to save money and search for that perfect space, I never dreamed that it would happen so soon.

So when it did happen, I took stock of the situation and decided to go for it. If I went all out and worked hard, I hoped to develop the clientele to take with me if the lease fell through.

Month by month I waited for it all to fall apart.

And now it is a new year that I will affectionately call “The Year Of The Lease.” I have 12 months of solid footing. This is my Tadasana. My Mountain. A million other things may be uncertain, but now I have the stability that makes other things less scary.

A lease paves the way for so much possibility—guest teachers, workshops, special events—things that weren’t really feasible previously. I find my mind spinning with ideas.

The very first thing put in motion was to stock up on props. I mainly teach a flow style of yoga, yet my most popular class is gentle yoga. It isn’t really yin. It isn’t really Restorative. It is just slow and yummy and we very seldom make it to Down Dog or Tadasana.

For a year I only had 10 of everything: blocks, blankets, bolsters and straps. While my class didn’t rely heavily upon them, I always had to change the game plan when more than10 people showed up. Not a big deal, but Savasana can be a little sweeter with a blanket!

It is especially nice to have one of everything for everyone. And it is nice to know that at any given month I won’t have to haul all of it out of the studio.

Is it possible to be propped up and on solid ground at the same time? I think so. I now have a really solid foundation and the props are just helping me reach a little higher.

Each Barbara will share a bit of her journey opening and maintaining a yoga studio. Please feel free to add your questions and comments!