People's poor responses in Yoga classes

Please share your experiences about the people’s behavior towards yoga classes. I have seen people join the classes but are not regular. They show lot of interest initially but very soon start coming irregular. Few people even don?t have patience to wait for a month or two and they discontinue. They will spend lot hell of money for junk foods but don?t like spend even for nominal fees.
I kept free workshop for ?Yoga for Obesity ? but despite many people obese in my neighborhood they failed to attend. I did very good publicity though.

I somehow feel that people consider Yoga to be very passive. Out of 10 people hardly 2 are sincere about it in the class.

yoga is my life but i would like to know your experiences in this regard.

People who aren’t interested arent’ interested.

Yoga is your life. Yoga is not their life - yet.

Some fat people are lazy… notice I said some!!! Just like some skinny people are lazy.

Old habits can be challenging to change. Lazy is easy.

I’d say if you want to be more successful cater to the people who want it and give them what they want.

I’d say do not give a flying flip about what people do. If they come they come. So what? I’d say its foolish to try and figure everyone out. Their motives and why this or that.

Do your best.

Try charging for the fat class. If its a fat class burn the crap outta them. Make it tough. Whoop their tail so to speak. They will love you for it. Try to make it your goal to have each of them on fire. Feeling exhaulted.

Its the feelings that keep them comming back. Your the pusher. Asana is the Drug. They are your addicts.

Get results.

LOL

But again. Its all about what the market wants. Give them what they want.

Could be many reasons…

Wanted to “jump on the yoga bandwagon” not really knowing what it was all about

The teacher. Just not a good fit

They want instant gratification (the society we live in, I’m afraid!) and yoga doesn’t instantly make them 'whatever they wanted it to make them"

or they simply are just not ready!

It is hard for us teachers to understand why someone would not love yoga from the first moment. I just don’t sweat it because sometimes they don’t even know why they stop coming!

Many beginner practitioners of yoga don’t understand that the postures themselves don’t help lose weight. One session of non-heated yoga can burn less calories than one hour of running or another activity. Unfortunately, for some people calorie burning is all that matters. Yoga changes lifestyle, which is the key factor in weight management. My guess is that these beginners fail to see an immediate tangible difference in their bodies, and therefore choose not to come.

It’s great that you’re offering free yoga workshops! :smiley: Are your classes spiritually challenging? If they are purely physical, then the above circumstance may occur. If you are too spiritual, some people may be turned off.

I’m 15 years old and have practiced yoga for around 8 months now. I do an energy exchange program at my yoga studio and am very dedicated. There is even a yoga studio near my school, and so you’d think that many students from my high school should practice yoga. …Wrong. The reason that they don’t is that they have different values and morals. They don’t take a spiritual practice like yoga seriously because that’s partly how they were raised. They might go once or twice, hurt themselves and never go again. Population does plays a major factor.

[QUOTE=SohamYogaStudio;35048]Please share your experiences about the people’s behavior towards yoga classes. I have seen people join the classes but are not regular. They show lot of interest initially but very soon start coming irregular. Few people even don?t have patience to wait for a month or two and they discontinue. They will spend lot hell of money for junk foods but don?t like spend even for nominal fees.
.[/QUOTE]

I used to give FREE YOGA classes. First time it did not come to popular. I thought that maybe I;m suck… but that came out not to be true. I have very popular class now and loyal students.

People do not have time. Yes they have time for movie, vt show, mc donalds, but they do not have time for yoga.:slight_smile:

Some students expect benefit within few weeks. No benefits come in few weeks and people leave disappointed.

There are so many studios around and some students want to check out all of them to see if they got the best deal.

Sometimes student do not feel good with particular teacher…

I teach free lectures at schools, universities and corporate sites. Every time I have great response. Everyone would come to me and say thank you SOOO much… we enjoyed…we would like to come to you studio…take the cards…
last time I passed 40 cards! None of them showed up :confused::confused:

How many people do you have in your class?
What kind of yoga you teach?
What are class time?
Is you area good for yoga studio?
How do you promote it?

From your own experience, you would know that Yoga brings about change. But the change is gradual, at odds with some of our habits and painful until inner peace is known.

In this age of painless surgeries and pills for all ills, many people expect Yoga to act immediate wonders because of the hype surrounding it. So, I think only those would sustain in Yoga who make it beyond a few months. CitiMonk’s free classes may be a practical way.

Another thing to try could be opening up a bigger picture of Yoga. A few initial classes (besides being free) may contain Yoga discussion 60% and asana/ breathing 40%. (only remember to stick to simple basics like 5 koshas, yama, niyama, chakras and subtle system etc.) This way, Yoga can be seen more related to life and thinking processes and less strenous.

It may also reduce their initial stress if you wouldn’t demonstrate very advanced asanas or an expertise in simple ones yourself. If you show just what they could do, it will build up their enthusiasm and they will believe “they can do it”.

And retention of 2 out of 10 is not a bad ratio at all!

[QUOTE=SohamYogaStudio;35048]
I kept free workshop for ?Yoga for Obesity ? but despite many people obese in my neighborhood they failed to attend. I did very good publicity though.

I somehow feel that people consider Yoga to be very passive. Out of 10 people hardly 2 are sincere about it in the class.

yoga is my life but i would like to know your experiences in this regard.[/QUOTE]

Was that the actual name of the workshop? While it may be appropriate, I know several women who cringe at the words “overweight”, “obesity”, “fat”. I launched a huge discussion on my facebook months ago over whether describing someone as “fat” was wrong when they obviously carry excess weight on them. (The responses were varied, and also varied by women and men of various body types.)

My point is, could it be that a “Yoga for Obesity” title might have scared some people away who were too frightened to name their excess weight for what it is? Society strives to be politically correct to the point of lying to itself (such “optimism” is not realism, in my opinion). Could a simple re-titling of such a workshop help draw in that specific demographic? I can’t even begin to suggest one, but an example would be the whole “Curves” gym phenomenon. Of the few Curves I’ve seen the women tend to be older and portly, but the gym is not called and “Old and Portly”… instead “Curves”.

Also other factors to consider are the time frame of the classes (they may not coincide with busier demands), the religious affiliation of the neighborhood (several of Christian-Mormon-Catholic-Jehovah Witness friends feel “Yoga is too eastern”–whatever in the hell that is supposed to mean “without being racist” as they put it), and even gender (my brother will not do yoga-asana because it is too girly, but I am certain that if he tried it would transform his life because I feel he is more spiritually sensitive than he is willing to let on).

For the few who do show up the first time though you never see them again and you are confident in your instruction–at the very least, you may have fertilized and/or planted a seed in fresh soil which might develop in a future transformation.

I teach free lectures at schools, universities and corporate sites. Every time I have great response. Everyone would come to me and say thank you SOOO much… we enjoyed…we would like to come to you studio…take the cards…
last time I passed 40 cards! None of them showed up

I totally agree with the points city monk has raised. I had exactly same experience. My workshop was really successfully and people were asking me to join my studio but again when you really inform them, they dont show up.
One more thing i observered that they keep on asking you as long as you dont have place for them but once you let them know that you have slot for them, they will need time to think.

How many people do you have in your class?
What kind of yoga you teach?
What are class time?
Is you area good for yoga studio?
How do you promote it?

How many people do you have in your class? 10
What kind of yoga you teach? Iyenger
What are class time? 7-8 am because I work as IT professional and have only 1 hour
Is you area good for yoga studio? yes
How do you promote it? business card, taking workshop in the area, news paper

My point is, could it be that a “Yoga for Obesity” title might have scared some people away who were too frightened to name their excess weight for what it is?

Workshop was successful so I have no issues with it but even I think that I should have given name like “Yoga for weight Loss” instead of “Yoga for Obesity”. I am sure I could have invited more people by that title.

But in a nutshell, people always want quick fix without any change in their pathatic lifestyle. They want to continue eating junk food , being irregular in class but at the end they want magic to happen.

I have decided to continue my best irrespective of how people respond , as long as I am doing right.
I actually started the Yoga classes for people because I have myself cured lot of my physical problems and thought that now it is time to pay off by helping other in getting themselves cured.

Some people only need to go to yoga twice a month to feel its benefits. I know I am in college right now and I cannot afford to go to my studio multiple times per week, so I practice on my own and go to class 2-3 times a month, maybe even less if I have finals.

Also, with a name like “Yoga for Obesity”, maybe some people were embaressed to go to that class? Some people don’t want to admit to themselves they are obese.

[QUOTE=SohamYogaStudio;35192]
They will spend lot hell of money for junk foods but don’t like spend even for nominal fees.

But in a nutshell, people always want quick fix without any change in their pathatic lifestyle. They want to continue eating junk food , being irregular in class but at the end they want magic to happen.

I have decided to continue my best irrespective of how people respond , as long as I am doing right.[/QUOTE]

For many people, getting rid of a harmful habit must begin first with accepting that they have one, and as teachers who want to encourage healthy progression, we are all striving to provide an environment where our students are free to learn how to better themselves and make healthier decisions.
Now, most people can sense right away whether the people in their vicinity are accepting of them, and people who are obese are generally more self conscious and have a low self esteem, which makes them easy to discourage.

So my question is, do you think that your attitude that these people have a pathetic lifestyle affects the way that you interact with them? Do you feel that you have created an environment in your classes where they can come as they as are and progress forward, without feeling judged or labeled for the habits which they come to seek help for? If you’re absolutely sure that you are, (though I don’t know any teacher who can completely set aside their judgement and ego when dealing with those that they teach), you can skip the rest of this post.

The students that come to you do not share the same knowledge, upbringing, experience, motivation, and self-discipline that you have been blessed with. People that align themselves toward harmful and addictive lifestyles normally do so because they are ignorant and have not experienced what it is like to be in another state, or because they do not have the strength or knowledge to overcome the obstacles required to move through those steps.
You may be trying to teach them to lose weight and eat healthy, but dropping 50 pounds doesn’t just change the scale - it can change a whole life! What if you become an active and happy person and your partner doesn’t? What if you are not supported in choosing healthier foods by your spouse or children? What if through your practices, you realize that you need to remove comfortable and pleasurable negative influences (including people) from your life in order to concentrate on the higher paths of yoga?

Many of us forum posters have been through drastic and painful changes which inspired growth and learning on the path of yoga, but we had the motivation to do it, and probably some great teachers who were challenging, supporting and inspiring us along the way. Now if what you truly want is to create a motivational and supportive environment which plants and nurtures the seeds of change, then you should evaluate whether you are projecting that vibe and being an accurate role model for those that learn from you. If your students really would rather spend money on junk food instead of paying low fees for a class, then let your body, mind and speech actively promote the idea that yoga is going to bring better, more lasting effects, and greater happiness than a a box of sweets, because it obviously has not gotten through to them yet.

It’s not just yoga. Drop-out rates are high for almost any organized activity.

Its the feelings that keep them comming back. Your the pusher. Asana is the Drug. They are your addicts.
Well Said. LOL :slight_smile:

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