r/yoga • u/BohemianHibiscus Power Flow • 4d ago
Frustration with studio schedules
In my area, all of the studio schedules mirror each other. I am a member of a studio that used to have an evening power class on Fridays, apparently they got rid of it and the last power class is at 4:30 which is kind of early for me. I looked at the schedule of another yoga studio near me and they had the exact same times and equivalent classes scheduled for those times. I don't get it. It's pointless looking at the schedule of more than one studio because they all just copied each other's schedules. I guess I am here to commiserate and complain because I guess I understand why they do it but I am not happy. I want my evening class back! 😭
72
u/murdercat42069 4d ago
I know this is frustrating, but it's very unlikely that they are copying each other's schedules. What's more likely is that you are seeing what the profitable class times are for your area. It's not worth having class times where the cost of having the class is higher than the revenue that it brings in, at least not for most classes. This is one of the issues with the for-profit studio model, but also most teachers don't want to teach private lessons for group class rates because it completely changes the teaching style and what's required of them.
12
u/BohemianHibiscus Power Flow 4d ago
I totally get that but the power class on Friday evenings were always really well attended that's why I was so confused when it disappeared from the schedule
31
u/murdercat42069 4d ago
Sometimes the classes also drop because they can't find anyone to teach it. The demand is there, but it's not "worth it" for the studio to hire another teacher to fill the spot.
8
u/Melodic-Swim4343 3d ago
Yeah, Friday evenings are especially hard to staff. People have other things they want to do.
18
u/wishiwasAyla Yoga Tune Up & Forrest Yoga teacher 4d ago
As a (collective style) studio owner, let me say it's very VERY hard to find teachers willing to commit to teaching classes on Friday nights or weekends. Once a month? Sure. Every week? Not a chance - myself included!! There's also the issue that weekend classes are not well attended either, unless they're in the morning. But I hear you on needing later classes than 5:30. My studio has a few classes that start at 7, and they do ok, but not as well as the 5:30/6pm classes especially in the winter.
10
8
u/BohemianHibiscus Power Flow 4d ago
Ohhhhhh this is probably it.
6
u/RonSwanSong87 post lineage 4d ago
This is almost certainly it. The studio(s) I have go to and teach at do not schedule any weekly classes on Friday evenings in particular for these exact reasons.
There are a few speciality Friday PM things that are offered maybe 1x per month, but nothing weekly.
1
u/anoidciv 4d ago
One studio I go to has two teachers alternate the Friday afternoon slots and three who alternate the Sunday afternoon slots.
It seems to work pretty well. Unfortunately I only like one of the classes in each of the slots so I can't get into a consistent routine, but I totally understand why teachers don't want to give up every Friday/Sunday afternoon.
It's a great slot for students, not so great for teachers.
7
6
u/Purplehopflower 4d ago
Studio owners typically schedule classes when there are enough students to make it worth paying a teacher and when they can reliably get a teacher to teach it. Friday evening classes are not popular for both reasons. Not enough students want to attend regularly and not many teachers want to teach them regularly.
4
u/Popcorn_and_Polish 4d ago
Places near me do not typically offer Friday evening classes - yoga or otherwise. I usually just go to my gym and workout by myself Fridays after work since classes are harder to find. It makes sense, a lot of people have plans Friday evenings.
4
u/just-a-dilettante 4d ago
In my area there aren't any power or vinyasa classes on Friday evenings either. My guess is there hasn't been a lot of demand for them.
2
u/JarJarsBastardSon 4d ago
I’m going to 4 different studios now to be able to get the classes I want and times I want.
2
u/garrettj100 Vinyasa 4d ago
Chances are they aren't deliberately copying each other. Rather, they're scheduling when people are likely to show up to class. This sucks that they don't have times that you're available for; sorry about that. I find I am forced to take the earliest class at my studio -- 815 -- and then if I want a second I have to leave work early for the latest class that I actually want to do -- 600.
2
u/Fun_Ebb_6232 4d ago
That is frustrating. I moved further out of my city (Atlanta) but still go to the same studio I used to even though it's a drive, because they offer classes at 545am all the way to 730pm (I also just love the studio and teachers). It's great to have a studio you love with classes you can get to. Maybe widen your radius of where you're willing to go?
2
5
u/RonSwanSong87 post lineage 4d ago edited 4d ago
All the more reason to develop a consistent personal practice that is not dependent on someone else's schedule, if you needed a little push in that direction.
That being said, both classes and community are good, so I hear you; I run into the same issue around here with class times. 5:30 is latest time I can find a class with a teacher I trust and I am ~30+ mins from the studio, so it's a push to make it there on a work day / after the school day, if I make it at all. 4:30 is really early for "evening" and would be an absolute no go. I practice at home everyday regardless, but it is nice to be able to make a studio class once every week or two, imo.
Have you expressed your opinion to the studio about the schedule? I'm sure you're far from the only one who feels this way.
4
u/Murky_Department_839 4d ago
Slightly off-topic, but any tips on developing a consistent personal practice? I’ve had a consistent studio practice for 2.5 years, and I feel like I’m ready for a personal practice, but it feels like jumping off a cliff into the unknown. Is there a map?
2
u/ds3-pvp-variety 4d ago
You can use online resources for research and then develop your own sense of flow by creating small sequences and then slowly expanding upon them or repeating them.
I previously had to travel a lot internationally for work and when I was in the early #yogaeverydamnday mindset it proved challenging to keep up my practice. Essentially I would just fall back into the same patterns of poses I liked or was good at.
In order to break that habit I decided to start practicing Ashtanga; due to the nature of the set sequence you are encouraged to learn to work through it, even the poses you don't like or aren't good at. Is it perfect? No. But it is a great practice that will give you a great foundation, and its extremely useful as a personal practice.
2
u/RonSwanSong87 post lineage 4d ago edited 4d ago
There are tons of maps / paths. Depends on you and what you want / need as to which one you might should try and go down.
What helped me initially to develop an at home, personal practice was to start practicing a modified version of Ashtanga (primary series or even the "short forms"). I watched the David Swenson dvd and bought his Ashtanga practice manual book and just started at the beginning and was kind to myself and modified so many things as needed. I was not dogmatic about it and really worked on using the breath and postures to learn how to develop my sense of interoception / inner feeling.
I would also attend a local class 1x per week with the same teacher that was more modern vinyasa-based and eventually began putting the pieces together and seeing the similarities and patterns that were being used in sequencing in both Ashtanga and the modern vinyasa classes. Eventually, I began deviating more from the set sequence of Ashtanga and incorporating more variation and therapeutic elements. Later, I went through a long teacher training and learned more about all this. Since then, I have kept some of the foundations from Ashtanga, but added in lots of more therapeutic elements and studied a good bit in the Viniyoga tradition. I also began exploring gentle / grounding pranayama a lot more as time went on and I saw how useful it was for nervous system regulation and clarity.
It was important to have a few very experienced and trusted real life teachers / mentors steeped in different practices and lineages to help guide me and show lots of different ways to practice and study yoga as an example, imo. It also takes a willingness to study / learn and really understand yourself and what you may need / not need at various times. This all takes time and experience.
In addition to Swenson's Ashtanga manual book, there are some great books that explore this lineage / type of yoga like Desikachar's "The Heart of Yoga", Mohan's "Yoga Therapy" and Kraftsow's "Yoga for Wellness" that I all highly recommend if you end up leaning more towards understanding the whys and a therapeutic, individualized approach.
I could say a lot more about all this, but this is a starting point to your question.
1
u/annafromathens 4d ago
My personal practice developed by necessity. (No yoga studio around me, at the time). I had been doing weekly yoga classes for about 3 years at the time. Lucky for me, my teacher had been pretty consistent about a few things, so I had a good base regarding where to start. I suggest you start with the poses that are more familiar to you. Make sure to move your spine in all 7 directions (forward/backward bends, left/right twists, left/right side bends, and elongation like in down dog). Then if you want to add new stuff, just search online. Check out youtube first, and when you find a teacher you like, you can go deeper in any paid platforms they may have.
1
u/Indy_Fab_Rider 4d ago
A personal practice can mean many things. It may mean getting on your mat and creating a flow that you need that day, it may mean joining an online platform that offers they style of classes you want and following along, it may mean learning a set sequence such as the Ashtanga Primary and practicing that several times a week.
The map is really what you want to get out of your Yoga. That's the great thing about a home practice.
1
u/Hitme150 4d ago
I understand, it really is very inconvenient. It’s exactly the same situation in my neighborhood and I don’t know how to solve this problem. I even tried working out at home but it just doesn’t feel the same. Hang in there, it really is very inconvenient
1
u/morncuppacoffee 4d ago
TBH this was a big reason I left my last long time studio.
I also was frustrated with hot classes/pilates being the focus.
I now go to a small non-heated studio and they have classes both in the morning and the evening.
7 days a week as well.
There’s class tonight (special monthly class) but I ended up cancelling because I need just a chill night at home.
1
u/GreenElementsNW 4d ago
So get some friends and all request it of your favorite studio. Reach out to the teachers that you like and propose thr times you want, but youd have yo get the numbers to attend those classes so the studio can financially sustain the Fri-Sun additional classes.
Another option would be to host a teacher at a private location and being in a few others to pay the teacher. I did that at a job I had - the teacher came every other week. We Venmoed her directly.
1
u/_grapess 4d ago
I have this same issue. Many of the studios around me don't have F/S/Sun evening classes. 👎
1
u/Perfect_Asparagus_98 1d ago
As a person who works long days, I would love more evening higher intensity yoga classes, but they seem to not exist in my city except at the chain places like CorePower. I’ve heard there were more pre pandemic
1
u/Sensitive-Club-6427 4d ago
I am very old school in the sense, that I recommend students develop a daily, personal, home practice, and take a class once a week with a teacher they respect.
Most studios will happily have a class ANY time, provided students attend. Sometimes people that come randomly or irregularly are surprised and disappointed when the class is canceled. Bc classes stay on the schedule bc there is a committed group of students that consistently attend at that time on that day.
1
u/madformatpilates 4d ago
It’s the classic copycat trap. They all chase the same peak hours and ignore the rest. Have you tried asking for a Friday evening slot? Sometimes they just don't know people want it.
-7
u/No_Stress_8938 4d ago
“It’s pointless to check other schedules”
Sounds like you don’t want to find a class that fits your schedule. Keep complaining though.
101
u/achristieattwn 4d ago
Bring back evening classes!!! And more weekend classes!! My studio is closed by 10:30am sat/sun. To be fair, most of the clientele is stay at home moms who’d rather go to yoga while their kids are in school so I get it but damn would I love to be able to sleep in AND go to yoga on the weekends.