Let’s be clear about one thing: Yoga is not a hobby.
I recently posted a notice about one of my Yoga and Hiking
Retreats next year in a Women’s Outdoor Facebook group. I’ve had several ladies
from this group join my retreats before and thought it would be a good way to
advertise my trip since this adventure focuses on all things outdoors. At $450
for three nights and four days which includes apres hiking soup, dinner and
breakfast, your stay, 4-5 yoga sessions plus guided hikes and swag (because who
doesn’t love a free Yogi Magee hat and tank top) it’s one of the most
affordable trips I do. Sure, prices have increased from what I was charging a
few years ago, but that’s because I’m more experienced now, there’s more of a
demand to join my trips, there’s only one of me to lead them and honestly, I
have to make a living as well.
So I was a little taken aback by a comment from a girl who
scoffed at the price of my retreat in the comment section under my posting. Not
only was she complaining the cost was almost as much as her rent (where do you
live in Denver btw where rent is less than $1k a month?) but she likened yoga
to a hobby that only elitist could participate in.
This coming from someone who’s in an Outdoor Women’s Group
where people regularly look for suggestions on $500 (minimum) backcountry ski
gear set ups, talk about the merits of ski passes, compare $1k to $4k mountain
bikes, etc etc.
I kept my response to her brief but polite. However, part of
me was raging on the inside. Since when is fitness, mental and physical health
a hobby? Why is it considered bougie to have a yoga studio membership or attend
a weekend long retreat to reset your mind and body? This girl went on to say
she usually camps alone in dispersed camping areas and hikes because she doesn’t
have the money to spend.
Oh but darling, you are spending money.
That food you bought to go camping? That’s spending money.
The gas it took to get you out of town to that remote camping spot since you
refuse to pay $20 a night at a real site? That’s spending money. The sleeping
bag, tent, grill, hiking boots, air pad, maps, backpack, camel bak, water
filter, camp stove, propane, camping chair, cooler with beer, tires to get you
in the back country, bug spray, (get my point yet?) that you packed up to take
with you? That all cost money at some point or another as well. But, like your
daily Starbucks, you’re willing to pay because it makes you happy. It makes you
feel good to get out in nature and spend $5 on firewood and ice to have a nice
fire and spend your time watching the stars over Netflix.
I get it.
So let me explain, what it is you’re paying for when you
join a yoga retreat my friend. You’re paying for someone else to plan the trip
for you, do the cooking, schedule your day from adventures and hikes to yoga
and meditation, secure the location 6 months to a year out and put down a
deposit so that you, my friend can decide last minute you want to go somewhere.
You’re paying for someone to bring an assistant to make sure you’re safe, to
take photos of you on a badass camera so you don’t have to take selfies on your
iphone, someone who finds other badass women to join so that you can make
friends in a pressure-free environment, someone who tells you what to pack and
when to show up so you don’t have to think.
You’re paying for an experience that you wouldn’t otherwise
have because maybe your friends aren’t into hiking and back country hut trips
and you have no one else to go with. You’re paying for someone to lead you to
an alpine lake you wouldn’t have known was there so someday maybe you take your
kids or husband back to that spot.
And yes, that’s a luxury.
So if $450, or $600 or $800 or whatever seems too pricey for
you and you’d rather go at it alone. Please, by all means, plan your own
adventures. But don’t balk at the price and turn others off to an experience
just because you’d rather pay money for cable TV than save for a yoga retreat.
You’re not my market anyways….
(but if you are check out yogimagee.com for all my retreats or email info@yogimagee.com to be added to my mailing list!)
(but if you are check out yogimagee.com for all my retreats or email info@yogimagee.com to be added to my mailing list!)
