There was an article in Bloomberg a few days ago that concluded (after 15 pages, they know how to generate pageviews!) that it costs US$ 10,779 dollars for a woman 37-years-old living in New York and willing to take up yoga for a whole year and go all out.
Hm, the article seems to pressume knowing ME very well.
Although I actually took up yoga much earlier, in 1999-2000, I only took it seriously, as in practicing regularly for the whole year in 2004, the year I discovered Ashtanga. And that is another assumption of the article.
I decided to make a little research and see how much a real (rather than fictional) woman spent. A.k.a.: ME!
Here is the breakdown year by year since 2003 which is when I took my first yoga retreat and KNEW that yoga was my destiny.
I suppose the money speaks, it shows how the transformation happens, how you stop buying Tibettan singing bowls in exchange for going to India!
2003
Total Cost for the Year: $2,220
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2004
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2005
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2006
Researched a Teacher Training Opportunity with Yoga Thailand but ended up not having the time and money to do it. Did not get accepted to Richard Freeman's workshop, so I continued practicing at home
2007
My book at Amazon for 99 Cents in Kindle
Hm, the article seems to pressume knowing ME very well.
Although I actually took up yoga much earlier, in 1999-2000, I only took it seriously, as in practicing regularly for the whole year in 2004, the year I discovered Ashtanga. And that is another assumption of the article.
I decided to make a little research and see how much a real (rather than fictional) woman spent. A.k.a.: ME!
Here is the breakdown year by year since 2003 which is when I took my first yoga retreat and KNEW that yoga was my destiny.
I suppose the money speaks, it shows how the transformation happens, how you stop buying Tibettan singing bowls in exchange for going to India!
2003
- Attended a retreat in British Columbia at the Yasodhara Ashram US$ Travel + Workshop $1,600
- Took classes at Integral Yoga searching for a style that would resonnate with me $200
- Took local workshops with Rodney Yee $400
- Bought yoga mat $20
- Used clothes I had. I did not think you 'needed' yoga clothes. Still don't. $0
Total Cost for the Year: $2,220
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2004
- Bought Darby's DVD and started practicing at home $20.
- Used clothes I had for the gym. Nobody was looking after all.
- Bought Zabuton and meditation cushion $120
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2005
- Attended two local workshops on yoga (costing each $200). Total cost $ 400
- Borrowed DVDs of Richard Freeman and books from the NY Public library $0
- Continued practicing at home, building up the practice $0
- Attended 10 Day Dathun Meditation Retreat at Shambhala Mountain in Colorado, including trip $2000
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2006
Researched a Teacher Training Opportunity with Yoga Thailand but ended up not having the time and money to do it. Did not get accepted to Richard Freeman's workshop, so I continued practicing at home
- Had my Fiasco Attempt at a Solitary Cabin Retreat with Shambhala in Vermont and the cost including trip came to $400
- Bought some t-shirts and shorts for about $150
- Bought 3 books on Ashtanga $75
- Bought two more DVDs $40
- Bought a Tibettan Singing Bowl $500
Total Cost for the Year: $1,165
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2007
Finally built up to a daily practice!
- Started taking half led classes with Christopher for a few months $ 200
- Finally committed to the Mysore Program and started practicing with Greg, Sept to Dec Cost $700
- Being that now there were others in the class I decided to dress up a bit and find what was comfortable for me. Bought 5 dance leotards and 5 Nike Shorts to 'mix and match' $ $400
- Attended workshop with Manju at Kripalu $600
- On a 5-day business trip to London practiced at The Yoga Place. Cost $200. London is expensive!
Decided I would go to India the following year...
Total Cost for the Year: $2,100
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2008
- First Trip to India, to the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. This the breakdown of the cost. Total $2,500
- Yearly membership at Yoga Sutra, now with John Campbell, $2,200 (I paid month-by month, with mat storage)
- Bought my first Manduka $95
- When Visiting Buenos Aires I practiced with Pablo Pirillo $100
- Bought more leotards and shorts $400
Total Cost for the Year: $5,295
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2009
- Yoga Thailand Teacher Training (yeah!) plus travel via Hong Kong and one night stay there. I just could not sleep in the floor during the layover like I had done the previous year in Dubai. $6,000.
- Good thing I did the Teacher Training early in the year cause when I came back I was fired from my job, lost my home and the whole world changed! Shiva turned the wheels...
- Yoga Sutra Membership 3 months $600
- Eddie Stern's Shala Membership for remaining 6 months $1,560
- Bought about 20 books on yoga $500
- Bough a few more leotards and shorts 200
- Attended first Vipassana Meditation Retreat (they are free, by donation) $200
Total Cost For the Year: $9,060
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2010
- Eddie's Shala 4 months $1000
- Pure Yoga Membership for the year prorated to 8 months: $930
- Bought about 20 books/DVDs on yoga $700
- 2nd Vipassana Meditation Retreat $400
- Introduction Meditation Retreat at Shambhala Vermont (Karmacholing) with James $400
- Having lost everything in the 2009 house release, I had to buy a new meditation cushion $100
Total Cost for the Year: $3,530
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2011
- 2nd trip to India $2,500
- Left yoga mat there for next trip (carrying the thing around is heavy!) so bought new one $90
- Workshop with Ramaswami on the Yoga Sutras in Long Island (with travel): 550
- Cancelled Workshop with Ramasami due to illness $250
- Pure Yoga Membership for the year: 1,400
- Bought about 30 books/DVDs on yoga $800
- Cost of self-publishing/promoting my book $300
Notice how now, since book publication yoga is transitioning into being what I do. Love that!
Total Cost for the Year: $5,890
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So!
Since I am counting, which is a total of 8 years, I have spent $31,800, which comes to an average of...
There! that is real research.
And it has been money well-spent. I am a happy woman!
Follow me on Twitter ;-)Since I am counting, which is a total of 8 years, I have spent $31,800, which comes to an average of...
$3,975 per year
There! that is real research.
And it has been money well-spent. I am a happy woman!
My book at Amazon for 99 Cents in Kindle
This is such an eye opener; and reminds me of how much I save by doing work-study in exchange for the Mysore program ;) Also puts into perspective how much I need to start truly saving if I want to achieve some similar TT and India trips to further my studies... Yikes!!!! Yoga can get pretty costly;
ReplyDeleteBut the benefits can't be measured or weighed in words or money.Much rather spend on this than a Cheeseburger addiction over the years haha.. thank you for sharing!
Btw; I Practice in Leotards too! less fuss and layers; easy to wash, hang dry and wear again every other day if you only have 2 (like me) Any recommendations on the type/brand you buy? the ones I get (Eurotard) don't come in all the array of colors and I'd really like that ;)
ReplyDeleteI do the leotards from dancewear solutions, had to try two to see which one was more comfy... I want full protection, nothing inapporpiatelly showing, yet total ventilation, that is my goal...
ReplyDeleteAs per the cost, yes it can get expensive, my average is over 3K cause well, yoga is now my life, and I love it!
Oh nice! I'll have to try one and see if they work for me as well... full protection, with total ventilation sounds like an ad for it. SOLD!
ReplyDeleteI love how yoga is your life; not just something you incorporate into daily living; It Is You~ Must feel beyond amazing! Cheers to that
interesting! i think this is a much more realistic breakdown than the bloomberg analysis. what annoyed me about that article is that it made positioned yoga as this consumptive activity. studio memberships, teacher trainings, retreats, books (and even clothes, to some extent) are actually investments in one's practice.
ReplyDeleteLove it, great post Claudia. As with probably everyone else reading this I'm starting to wonder how much I've spent on Yoga now. It feels like it shouldn't be anything, I'm pretty sure I was fine with the bath towel I started with, a clean pair of pants and the book from the library and yet...... I would work it out and do a post from the home yogi perspective except i might get in trouble with M. I can almost hear James choking on his Crunch berries reading this, HOW MUCH CLAUDIA???
ReplyDeletei am so impressed you can remember it all!!! i tried writing down what i have spent since may and am having troubles ;-) but, no matter how much you pay if it allows you to find inner happiness - priceless ~ ivana x
ReplyDelete@Requiem thank you! :-) it does feel good
ReplyDelete@Rosanne yes it felt very unreal to me, I am so grateful you found it and Tweeted it... are you,like, EVERYWHERE? hee hee... I hope you get inspiration to share your numbers too!
@Grimmly, ha ha. James read the post and Tweeted it, so probably not so scared... but will ask :-)
ReplyDeleteI, of course, again, WOULD LOVE to know your break down especially because it comes from the perspective of someone practicing at home.
You did have your Ramaswami TT, but other than that... the ocassional towel, bandana... what else? Isnt' your blog so popular that people send you stuf for free now?
Please do share, I am curiouuuuuussss
And we won't tell M. shhhhh
Hi Ivana, yes I agree. I also have a good record on the credit card file which helps sometimes... but I did not even need it, I kind of remembered...then let it sit... then remembered more, like those meditation retreats, or the Tibetan singing bowl, what was I thinking?
ReplyDeleteHope you remember!
Just tried to work it out, comes to £3,705 but three grand of that was the TT course with Ramaswami ( sold a couple of saxophones to pay for it)
ReplyDelete2007 = £35
2008 = £90 inc. to visits to AYL
2009 = £330 inc. 4 day Vinyasa Krama intensive
2010 = £3,100 inc. Ramaswami's TT course
2011 = £150
Mostly books same as you although I get most of them second hand or cheap through amazon. Used to get manduka stuff but I think I upset them because I told them I didn't like their new towel design : )
Make that two visits to AYL too.
ReplyDeleteOh and the mother in law sends me the bandanas or tengui from Japan.
OK so over 5 years it comes to 751 on average per year, that is what? what's the GBP now? 1.6? If it is then is $1200 a year.... not bad...
ReplyDeleteKeep thinking though, mandukas? the new orange jade?
Very interesting post, Claudia. I, like everyone else, am now very curious about my own yoga spending over the years. For the first few years, my spending was probably less than $100 combined. But, of course, the last couple of years have seen a big spending hike as I've ventured out in search of my teachers.
ReplyDeleteGrimmly, you have an adorable mother in law. I have been sick so long that my hair has grown very very long and I need to figure out a way to keep all this hair out of my way.... Not all of us are that lucky...
ReplyDeletethat visit to the AYL probably does not add that much overall to the yearly thing... It's good to know
@Megan, and I am curious too! I think that when yoga becomes more of our life and we find teachers that resonate with us is only normal we are drawn to them, so I hear you, of course, there is more money going in there. But I dont think it would get to 11,000... would it?
Yes she's lovely, have you ever noticed the blue one with white rabbits ( I'm a rabbit in Chinese astrology ) she sent me that one for my birthday. I bought the first manduka cheap from a Shala closure sale they sent me the rest, bought the orange jade though in California , I'm a sucker for anything orange.
ReplyDeleteAwww, adorable! I did not see that they were rabbits but I totally know which bandana you are talking about... I hear you too on the other thing, I have trouble resisting when you say you liked a book or something... which reminds me, I bought the pranayama application, but that was like 2 dollars?
ReplyDeleteYou got us all to tally up and sigh with relief! I just posted on this weighing in at US $7.30 per day to practice yoga six days a week. Fun and informative post, as usual.
ReplyDeleteHi S/F, great way to see it
ReplyDeleteLet's say is 6x a week times 52 weeks that is:312
minus moon days 2 per month minus the occassional three that fall on a Sat, sat 22.
312 - 22 = 290 days of practice at a studio/shala
My average (including TT and Mysore) yearly would equal 3975/290 = 13.7 Dollars per day. WOW.
So you must be 7.30/day * 290 pce days = $2170 average a year.... hm. Are you going to the confluence? no TT? you keep it much lower...
From Twitter:
ReplyDelete@gato108 @ClaudiaYoga I've spent ~$2000 in 2011, but that includes YTT and regular studio practice! Class packages & used clothes/books help save $.
@kieronjames About £1500 ($2400) including books, DVDs, yoga week in Sardinia, weekly classes and @MandukaYoga mat/bag.
@ashtanganthony $2185 thus far. might be forgetting random things but all the big ticket items are accounted
@Richard Beck ClaudiaYoga About $800 a year - Bikram Yoga. - (he clarified just classes)
@kate_bartolotta Not sure, but definitely less than I would spend on therapy and other healthcare costs without it!
@ellenmayers 12 a week
hi claudia-
ReplyDeletei definitely feel like i've gotten the best return on investment after doing a yoga class or putting in a video. also, yoga sometimes help decrease other costs due to bad habits that are reduced like drinking soda or eating junk food. that sad, i need to find a way to get back on the mat with both an infant and a three year old taking up much of my time. the fact that you're getting on the mat in the middle of everything is pretty impressive.
I've only been doing yoga for 2 years, and I'm scared to add up all I've spent on yoga already. Classes + books are justifiable, but clothing... I'm ashamed and I'm going to claim that the clothing I've purchased I also wear in my daily life too. Better to spend the money on yoga than on medical procedures + drugs later on... at least that's what I try to convince myself. Also, the friendship I've made through yoga is totally worth the investment.
ReplyDeleteI am going to the confluence, but I did not include that, books, or workshops because I do not consider them essential to maintaining a practice. enhancing yes, but you can build a respectable practice without trips and TT. It is important to point out that people who are committed to becoming scholars/ teachers have different expenses than your regular 37 year old New Yorker who attends yoga classes, or yours truly here who just wants to become a good lady...
ReplyDeleteAnon, you are the hero. You have an infant and a 3 year old, I need hear no more. Even if you manage to get on the mat once a week! I bow to you, Divine Mother.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right that there is the hidden saved cost not wasted on health care... Cant quite claim that one myself as I have been sick, but I have learned lots from this, so I guess the wealth of knowledge is also good.
And I stopped drinking coffee. Again. Unveliebable! Thank God for Chinese Doctors.
YYogini, there is no judgment from my point of view, I buy yoga clothes too! althoug they are more like dance things...
ReplyDeleteI understand the feeling of being scared to do the numbers. I was too. In the end found it quite liberating. And it turns out I am quite the biggest number so far! - although of course, nothing is ever black or white, yoga IS my business now...
I am also with you on better to spend money AND time on yoga rather than drinking alcohol at a bar after work or whatever...
S/F Good Yoga Lady ;-) yes, it is not necessary to maintain the practice AND you can also claim it is Next Year after all (even though you may have paid for it this year), but I think the article was including things like retreats, etc...
ReplyDeleteBut I totally get your point. A 37 year old woman in NYC can start Ashtanga Yoga like I did in 2004 for US$140. A good DVD and one indulgence as I did with the meditation cushion...
Far difference $140 to 11,000... !!!
I do this breakdown every year when it's tax time!
ReplyDeleteLaura, great!, since I published a book this year, I guess I will have to start doing that for the tax people next year too!
ReplyDeleteSo what does your number come to?
excellent posts on the process of healing. i'd like to know how you get to simply focusing on healing and moving forward versus focusing on regret or why me perspectives. trying to figure this out myself. thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon.
ReplyDeleteI never see disease as a curse, I always know there is something to be learned, and although this particular one DID bring me down, (depression is one of the symptoms)...
I have now on my hands a tremendous blessing. Coming back to the practice with fresh eyes!
Not only that, but I also discovered Chinese Medicine and their emphasis (very yoga like) on balance, and on prevention and on having all organs work together in harmony... beautiful!
Good luck to you!
Michael from Facebook said:
ReplyDelete1997: $15- cost of 'Power Yoga', by Beryl Birch. total = $15.
1998: $35 for yoga mat, $520 for mysore classes. total = $555
1999: $35 for yoga mat, $780 for mysore classes. total = $815
2000: $70 for yoga mats, $140 for mysore classes. $1400 for classes with Guruji in NYC. total = $1610
2001-2006: $80 for yoga mats, $1680 for mysore classes. total = $10,560
2007: $80 for yoga mats, $750 for mysore classes. total = $830
2008-2010 $80 for yoga mats. total = $240
2011 to date: $160 for yoga mats, $1,120 for mysore classes, $40 for workshop with DGi. total $1320.
total for 15 years of ashtanga practice = $15,945, averaging $1,063 a year. I thought it would add up to much more than that.
wow your blog got very useful stuff and i nearly spend more than an one hour. super blog
ReplyDeleteA very interesting breakdown. As I'm from different country, I never knew that yoga may be so expensive in the US. I have few insights. If you buy Tibetan singing bowl in Tibet or say in Nepal, they will cost you maximum $100, I mean the very best ones.
ReplyDeleteIn India, you can also have high quality yoga classes and yoga teacher training courses for really modest amount of money. Say, drop in classes from most notorious masters in Rishikesh, world capital of yoga , will cost you $2-$3 per class. 1 month yoga teacher training courses from masters start from $500 and up to $300. These would be courses certified by Yoga Alliance and taught by yogis with strong lineage. So I advise you to come to Rishikesh next tme to enrich your experience :)
RY yes I always admire Indian prices, everytime I go to Mysore I have trouble believing I am eating a full meal for under a dollar and it is DELICIOUS!
DeleteAt the end of the day, it really is worth every penny, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteyes, when it is done with intelligence it is indeed worth every penny :)
DeleteClaudia, love your blog just discovered! For me, the cheapest and most wonderful training is where I did mine -- Montanha Encantada in Brazil (www.yogaencantada.com.br). Amazing place, mountains and beaches, fantastic food and great teaching. The founder is Joseph Le Page, who use to work at Kripalu, and the yoga manual compiled by him has information that I was not able to find anywhere else. The depth of teaching is remarkable. HIghly recommended.
ReplyDeleteNamaste
Tania (Vinyasa RTY 200)
Hi Claudia,
ReplyDeleteI'm just beginning now at the Ashatango research center in Ubud and loving it.
I have enrolled for a month and thinking of continuing for another 3weeks but hacing second thoughts as I never thought yoga would be so expensive!! I would love to hear your explanations on why it is.....
Btw, I read your book and really enjoyed it, thanks for the reminders of a happy living and all insights and tips on yogav
Hi Anon, I think yoga follows the supply and demand curve as much as any other business. Good teachers can command higher fees and so on....
ReplyDeletethere are alternatives, like practicing at home.
I hope you find a way that works for you