My yoga story

I’ve been with Yoga Movement since 2016 (2 years sinceI started working at ShopBack). 4 years in, as a long time user, I also witnessed their pricing change for the past years. One single class used to cost $19 (my first single class), and now it cost $35 — nearly double. A 10 class pack which cost $150 (roughly there) last time is now priced at $290. I don’t know what accounts for this double in price but I think my wallet is not ready to know about this.

Money, money, money

I mean I always noticed that the pricing changed but I only came to the realisation recently (what have I been doing haha). I look at other studios and compare their rates:

• Yoga Movement: 10 classes = $290
• Hom Yoga: 10 classes = $295
• Freedom Yoga: 10 classes = $270

Actually, the price does not differ much among studios, so I guess I’m not overcharged (?!). Then I ask myself how much am I paying right now? If it’s not worth it, I can just stick to my Yoga with Adrienne free videos in Youtube. So here comes the calculation for all the classes / packages I got in 2020.

Some important notes:

A lot of bonus packages are results of challenges like attend 5 online classes and get 1 free, friend referral, or me running to a wrong studio and the staff there kindly gave me 1 free to make up (for my own fault!!!). I only bought 2 packages (all 30 classes with some 3–5 classes) with validity of 1 year in 2020. I usually snapped them as long as they are in promotion because good things don’t come often and don’t last long.

So how much is a class

Based on this calculation, in 2020, up until today, I have attended 57 classes — which means I do yoga every 6 days. Total costs for used classes so far is $752, that works out about $13.20 — which is much cheaper than the advertised price. The secret sauce is to be diligent and complete the challenge to grab bonus classes. I also figure out the challenge usually aims to increase booking frequency to 4–5 times a month, which is my current frequency anymore. My current threshold is about $15/class, so I’m not burning more money that I should.

Things I like about Yoga Movement:

• YM branding: If Yoga Movement is a person I meet at a party, that would be a quirky yet mellow person. I guess, it’s somewhat like me. Their branding reflects in choice of words in their articles, achievement programme and funky yoga classes.
• YM studio locations: If I want a quick one, Tiong Bahru is a good one. If I want a yoga with good view, Robertson Quay or Orchard. And they are all about 30–45mins away from my place (except for the East Coast studio).
• Options of live classes: I find live classes work just as well as studio ones, and it saves me tons of travelling time.
• YM booking system: I think them moving out of Mindbody system is one of the best decisions. It makes my class booking more easily (user experience wise), and it has a Yoga Movement vibe to it.

Why not just free yoga?

Besides going to Yoga Movement, I also followed Yoga with Adrienne in Youtube. So just free yoga is indeed an option. However, to me, spending 1hr/week and money to do yoga with a community in real life gives me a sense of reality check and savour the presence. Also, I enjoy many types of classes and posture correction from YM instructors. For now, I’ll stick to this combo of free yoga and paid yoga, since the current rate is still within my budget.