New York Yoga Classes That Make a Difference in More Ways Than One

“It takes twenty years to become an overnight success.” ~ Eddie Cantor

“All of the effort you’ve put in could be wasted by giving up just a moment too soon.” ~ Seth Simonds

As we talked about the business side of yoga in my teaching training sessions at Sonic Yoga, I thought about the market in my home city, New York, and how I could make a positive contribution in an already-crowded space. A lot of studios are prohibitively expensive when it comes to attending on a regular basis and they can be intimidating to people who are new to the practice. My passion involves bringing affordable, high-quality yoga to under-served populations who have little or no access to a regular practice for a variety of reasons.

I’m also intensely interested in using yoga for therapeutic purposes as part of a holistic health and wellness plan in a medical setting. I couldn’t fulfill these passions by hopping onto the audition circuit of New York yoga studios. The world had a different plan for me and for my teaching. It takes patience to follow a different path, but to make my teaching meaningful that’s exactly what I needed to do.

A word or two on the importance of patience and perseverence

My life coach, Brian, has been a tremendous advisor as I’ve felt my way through this new path. He’s thrilled that I’ve chosen to try to make a-go of my own company, Compass Yoga. His most valuable piece of advice on this independent path: “Have patience. It takes time to build a foundation. Don’t give up.”

In our society, we witness an enormous number of apparently overnight success stories thanks to reality TV and social media channels. Dig a little deeper and we find that any lasting overnight success was preceded by many years of very hard work that wasn’t always recognized or appreciated. They persevered because they got energy from the journey. Success is just the by-product of doing what they were meant to do.

Affordability

To work on the affordable aspect of my classes, I price them at $10 per student per group class, and $75 per private session (about half of the going rate in New York City). In addition, I also donate 20% of the class fees that the students pay throughout the year to a nonprofit of their choice, giving the students the tax deduction. With some patience along with my business and social media experience, I am confident that I can drum up the volume necessary to create a sustainable business.

The value of purpose

On this journey, one lesson has become very apparent: we get the dreams we reach for. I was very clear on the purpose of my teaching and dug down deep to find the message for my business that truly resonates with me in the hopes that its authenticity would resonate with students. So far, so great. I’ve started teaching regularly at New York Methodist Hospital and at Columbia Law School in addition to teaching private clients and weekly group classes at a studio I rent in Midtown Manhattan. I’m building a steady base of students and love the feeling that I get by introducing the gift of yoga to people who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to realize its benefits. 6 months after the end of my training, I’m teaching exactly the way I envisioned.

My intuition was right and I’m so glad I listened to my gut. This independent path, while it takes much more effort, is most certainly the right one for me. If you’re in New York City, I hope you’ll join us for a class! For more information on the class locations and times, please visit the Meetup Page or the Compass Yoga website.

Bio

Christa Avampato is a yoga teacher, freelance writer, and product developer based in New York City. She is the founder of Compass Yoga and blogs daily about her journey on and off the mat at Christa in New York: Curating a Creative Life. She will be teaching yoga and presenting at the 2011 SXSW Interactive Festival in March to help creative professionals use yoga as a tool to tap into and enhance their imaginations. Follow her at twitter.com/christanyc.