7 Best Approaches for Managing Your Yoga Classes

Owning a yoga studio and being a certified trainer does not guarantee instant success for your yoga business. The qualities of a good yoga instructor cum studio manager include dedication towards the goal and the ability to overcome obstacles. There can only be one leader, and you have to take charge of your yoga class by yourself. But the changing dema

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1. Start and end your yoga classes on time

Every member of your yoga studio- trainers, students, and management staff- has a jam-packed schedule. Therefore, delaying or untimely starting your yoga class is a complete no. Be punctual and respect your students and staff’s time. Avoid running late, even if it is for a few minutes. Starting late will irritate your students, and they may be forced to rush out of the room for their next appointment, destroying the entire premise of offering relaxation through yoga practice.

2. Manage classes with an online appointment scheduling software

Handle your appointments, staff, and students with a free online appointment scheduling software like Picktime that integrates with external calendars like Google, Outlook, and iCloud Calendar to balance your personal and professional lives. Set your real-time availability for easy yoga class scheduling. Add your yoga trainers on Picktime and monitor their work schedules, leaves, and allocate resources such as rooms, yoga mat, and yoga ball to them. If you have yoga studios in multiple locations, you can manage them through a single dashboard.

The class booking feature streamlines the process of yoga class management. You can create multiple classes and add your students to them. Let students self-schedule their classes via your customized online booking page according to the real-time availability of the yoga trainers. You can also control the class capacity and add students to the waitlist if classes are full. If a prior student cancels their appointment, the next student in line can take their slot.

Notify the students and trainers about their upcoming classes with email and SMS reminders. Generate invoices and send them to the students via email. Allow students to pay the fees through credit cards, PayPal, and Stripe. You can also generate, export, download, and print insightful business analytics through your Picktime dashboard.

3. Understand student’s requirements based on their level

Yoga studios comprise mixed-level students, and you must cater to the interests of all of them. While advanced students will require a higher challenge with complex asanas, novice students will need assistance to rectify their postures and basic asanas. You have to focus on keeping your students safe and motivated while they progress in their yoga practices.

4. Check all equipment before the class starts

Arrive at the studio 15-20 minutes before the class to organize the classroom and double-check all the equipment. Ascertain that the room is sanitized and the air conditioner is in good functioning order. Organize all the mats, exercise balls, and other props to make adequate space in the room for the trainers to move around without treading on students’ belongings. Ensure there is enough space for students to do asanas.

5. Model the poses and give verbal cues

As a yoga trainer, you will know the perfect postures and poses of the asanas, and you can model them to your class. Show them the correct postures of asanas. Convey the importance of perfecting every pose. Your students will mimic you and focus on what you emphasize.

Give your class verbal cues while teaching asanas. Get off your mat and make adjustments in poses with auditory messages that complement what the students see.

6. Foster personal relationships with students

Before the class begins, personally engage with students and inquire about their fitness goals, health concerns, and injuries. It will provide you a clear picture of the student’s expectations and personalize the training according to the specific health needs of the students. Nurturing a healthy relationship with your students will help you grow your classes. As a result, they might even recommend your studio to their friends and family members, which is an excellent strategy to broaden your student base. You can also include a referral program with incentives for your students based on the number of leads they provide you.

7. Be prepared against mishaps

In a yoga class, things don’t always go as planned. Unexpected occurrences are inevitable. Therefore, you need to plan ahead of time to tackle problems with ease.

Think about a situation when one of your student’s glasses breaks when you accidentally step on it, or a situation where two students get into a war of words. Lighten the situation with words of affirmation and come out with quick fixes to handle the crisis. Get back to the practice as soon as you can so that you do not hamper other’s class experience.

The term “yoga” means “addition.” As the name implies, yoga demands continual learning and a dedicated attitude of both students and instructors. Learn from your yoga sessions every day, talk to other instructors about how they manage their classes, and add innovative ideas into the formal training process to provide more to yoga practitioners inside and outside your class to expand your yoga business.

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