We will be introducing a new pricing structure from 1st April. This is partly because we need to cover the increasing costs of maintaining “Te Aro Astanga Yoga” but also because we would like to explore, and eventually move towards a “Social Enterprise” model.
Towards the end of 2017 Olivia introduced me to the concept of a Social Enterprise Business Model. This immediately resonated with me because it is based on the idea of “Community” which is how I have always seen Te Aro Astanga Yoga. That is, as a community of Ashtanga Yoga Practitioners who come together to practice in the space set up and facilitated by me, but built up and nurtured by the community. Olivia showed me an example of an Ashtanga Yoga studio in America who use this model. You can read about it at this link; https://interconnectedstrategy.com/social-enterprise-ashtanga-yoga/
Here is a quote from the above article that really sums it up: “The practice of yoga is essentially priceless, but there are costs involved in holding a space for us to come together…At YSW, each student is not paying for his or her own practice. Rather, all students are contributing what they can to the community so that all of us may thrive in practice. The fee structure is set up in a flexible manner. In this way, we are moving from transaction to trust. We trust that the shala will be sustained by each student’s honesty in what they can contribute, and our collective integrity.”
Ever since Victoria and I set up Te Aro Astanga Yoga in January 2000 I have been conscious of wanting our beautiful practice to be available to everyone, no matter what their background or economic circumstances. I have always encouraged people to approach me if they truly want to practice with us but just cannot afford it. I have never been let down by taking this attitude. In fact, I have been rewarded in so many ways, not least by the honesty of almost everyone. I have never taught yoga from an attitude of wanting to make a lot of money out of it. I have always believed that if I teach with passion, dedication, honesty and integrity, then the money will look after itself and this has mostly been proved to be true.
However, I do still need to make a living and it has become necessary to increase our prices. You will see that some options are no longer available. The prices have gone up, but there is also 2 tiers. The first tier is the base price that is set to maintain Te Aro Astanga Yoga as it is. The second tier is the “I Love TAAY” price. This is what you can pay if you feel that you can afford it and you feel that the experience you get in the Te Aro Astanga Yoga community is worth it.
What does this mean for you?
If you currently use the “10 Class Pass”:
- The new Concession price is $120 available to students, unemployed and over 65yrs old.
- The new 10 Class Standard price is $140
- The new I Love TAAY price is $150
If you currently pay the Fortnightly AP then you have 4 options:
- Keep paying at your current price
- Increase your payments to the new Standard Price of $50 per fortnight.
- Increase your payments to the new I Love TAAY price of $55 per fortnight.
- Make your payment above your current level that reflects how much you value the TAAY community and that you can afford.
If you currently have a Year Pass Membership when your current membership expires you have 4 options:
- Continue to pay what you have been paying ($950)
- Pay the new Standard Price of $1000 per year
- Pay the new I Love TAAY price of $1200 per year.
- Make your payment above the current level that reflects how much you value the TAAY community and that you can afford.
If you currently have a 3 Month Membership when your current membership expires you have 3 options:
- Pay at the new Standard price of $390 for 3 months
- Pay at the new I Love TAAY price of $420 for 3 months.
- Pay at a price above the Standard price that reflects how much you value the TAAY community and that you can afford.
What will happen with the extra resource gained from the “I Love TAAY” payments? There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that makes Te Aro Astanga Yoga the strong and vibrant community that it is and I would love to build on this. The remarkable and beautiful Olivia gives a huge amount of her time and aroha to helping our community evolve for very little financial reward. I would love to be able to pay her more. Olivia has also been leading the Tues. and Wed. Open Morning sessions and I would like to give her a bit more for this so that we can have those sessions on going. None of my outstanding assistants get paid for their time helping me and helping you and it would be nice for that to change. We have recently begun a relationship with the “Krama Yoga” NGO in Phnom Penh in Cambodia that we would like to foster and support.
So you can see that there are many good reasons to support our community as you can afford. We leave this entirely in your hands and trust that we all appreciate Te Aro Astanga Yoga for wonderful, friendly and supportive community that it is. For a full list of our new Prices click HERE. See you on the mat soon.
This resonates totally with my believe system too. Bless you Mike, you Bogan Yogi!!!!!