How to Boost Yoga Student Engagement and Retention
In this yoga coaching session we talk about how you can boost and maintain yoga student engagement and retention.
We’ll explore some ideas, strategies, and tools you might use, and how to keep your students regular and returning to your yoga classes so they can reap all the benefits of yoga!
Watch the video, or scroll down for the transcript notes and a helpful handout!
How to Boost Yoga Student Engagement and Retention
As a yoga teacher you want to have an impact on your students, lead inspiring classes, and know that your students are benefiting from the practice of yoga. As a business owner, you want to flatten those big waves of signups and dropouts that we commonly see and keep more of your existing student-base returning.
What do I mean by waves? One of the rhythms we often see as yoga teachers is the rise and fall of students – here’s how that might look:
20 students join your class, by the end of the term you have 12. You do some more advertising and marketing and in the next term those 12 regulars continue, and 4 new people join in. By the end of the term, you have 13 people continue on to the next block of classes and need to renew your advertising and marketing efforts again.
It requires a lot of marketing and advertising energy (time, dollars) to keep drawing new students to your class, and – of course – you really want to see your existing students maintain their practice. Now, this rhythm is more prominent in your first 2 years of business, but how do we flatten these big waves and keep our students committed to their practice?
Let’s talk about how we can create meaningful connections with students, build a sense of community, and foster loyalty, ensuring students return to their classes regularly.
4 Key Areas to Boost Student Engagement and Retention
Building Personal Connections
Fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment can make students feel valued and seen. Strategies include:
- Warmly greet each student as they arrive.
- Remember and use students’ names in class.
- Check in before class to learn about needs and preferences.
- Note: Be sure to get to know how much each student wants to personally engage – respect student boundaries.
Creating a Memorable Class Experience
Deliver consistent, high-quality classes that resonate with your student base. Ideas include:
- Design themed classes, such as ‘Yoga for Stress Relief’ or ‘Building to Crow Pose.’
- Incorporate feedback to fine-tune your teaching.
- Ensure class sequences, pose offerings, and themes are accessible, inclusive, and engaging.
- Use themes or sequences that resonate with your student base.
Community Building
Cultivate a sense of belonging among your students by:
- Host informal gatherings, like a potluck or have post yoga coffee/tea sessions.
- Create online groups for students to connect and share tips.
- Recognize achievements (e.g. 1-year anniversaries)
- Foster connections among students.
- Engage with students outside of class through blog, newsletters, events, social media, community events (charity fun runs, golf tournaments).
- Note: Be sure that you have students consent before sharing any personal information or images inside or outside of class.
Understanding Student Needs
- Understanding and adapt to diverse skill levels and goals.
- Providing modifications and challenges to keep classes inclusive and engaging.
- Be sure that themes, sequences, and class offerings meet your student base by regularly asking.
- Whatever your plan for your class is, who has showed up, how will you teach to them?
At this point I want to note that not all of these ideas or strategies will work for you or for your students. Pick and choose what feels authentic for you, experiment if you like, and importantly be sure that you are following the guidelines or policies or systems of the spaces you teach in.
Ideas, Strategies, Tools, and Techniques
Before Class
- Warm Greetings: Welcome each student as they arrive; a simple “Hi, how’s your day?” can go a long way.
- Set the Tone: Create an inviting environment with music, lighting, space layout – make it feel special.
- Check-In: Offer a moment for students to share needs, goals, preferences, or intentions before starting class (or offer the space for students to sit in silence with their intention).
- Note: Remember, not everyone wants to speak up in class or be pointed out.
Before Class Strategies:
- Personal Notes: Keep a small notebook to jot down details about regular students (e.g., “loves Crow pose,” “needs a prop or alternative for kneeling poses”, “gets overheated, needs to be near fan”). Reference these notes to check in personally.
- Quick Icebreaker Questions: Ask simple, engaging questions before class (e.g., “What’s your favorite part of yoga class?”, What’s your favorite way to use a block?”).
During Class
- Use Names: Incorporate students’ names during cues to create a personalized experience.
- Varied Teaching Styles: Blend alignment-focused cues with opportunities for creativity and self-expression.
- Adjust Responsively: Watch body language to modify the pace or approach to better match students’ energy.
During Class Strategies:
- Spotlight Strengths: Compliment students on their efforts. For instance, “lovely Warriors everyone!”, or “that transition was a bit tricky, you all did really well.”
- Optional Challenges: Offer advanced variations while encouraging students to listen to their bodies: “If you feel steady, you might try taking your arms overhead in Tree Pose.”
- Incorporate Feedback: If students mention enjoying a reclining sequence or a back bending flow, weave that into the sequence for a couple of weeks.
- Use ‘Bus Stops’ to provide a variety of pose versions to meet students where they are at.
After Class
- Follow-Up: Thank students for coming and ask how they felt about the class.
- Feedback Requests: Use anonymous surveys or casual conversations to gather input.
- Encourage goal setting or home practice: Suggest tracking personal yoga practice or milestones to motivate continued attendance.
After Class Strategies:
- Post-Class Ritual: Create a moment to connect, Om out or use another chant or motto (“thank you, strong body!”), say something (out loud or silently) that you are grateful for, or what your favorite part of today’s practice was.
- Encouragement Messages: Send follow-up notes to students to acknowledge them, “great class today thank you for sharing yoga with me!” or to those who have been absent, such as, “We missed you in class this week—hope to see you soon!”
Ongoing Engagement
- Offer Challenges or Themes: Create a “30-day yoga challenge” or focus on topics like balance, strength, or mindfulness over several weeks.
- Celebrate Achievements: Acknowledge milestones, such as a student’s 10th class or first handstand.
- Communication Channels: Stay connected via social media, emails, or a dedicated group chat to share tips, events, or inspiration.
Ongoing Engagement Strategies:
- Themed Workshops: Run short, specific sessions, like “Yoga for Better Sleep” or “Get on Up Handstand Workshop.” Or a philosophy talk, a meditation-focused session, a chanting session, etc.
- Celebrations: Celebrate group milestones (e.g., 100th class together).
- Goal-Oriented Programs: Introduce structured programs, like a “Foundations of Yoga” course for beginners or a “Strength & Flexibility Series” for regulars, or a ‘Yoga and Philosophy” series.
Tools
- Attendance Tracking Apps: Apps like MindBody, Acuity, or ClassPass help track students’ attendance and trends. These will give you some insights into student retention (but they can be pricey). Alternatively, you can use free tools like Google Sheets to track attendance manually.
- Connections: WhatsApp or Facebook Groups: Create a community space for students to share experiences or ask questions, and for you to keep students updated.
- Communication: Mailchimp or Constant Contact: Send newsletters to keep students updated about classes, themes, or tips.
- Surveys: Free tools like Google Forms or Survey Monkey allow you to collect feedback, preferences, and gather interest in future programs.
- Community Boards: Use a physical or online space to share news, goals, and shout-outs.
- Canva: Design class schedules, milestone certificates, or event posters.
- Social Media: use polls to invite participation (e.g., what’s your favorite pose, prop, etc. )
Practical Examples for Engagement
Personalized Class Themes
- If a regular student mentions struggling with stress, consider creating a “Restorative Yoga for Stress Relief” class.
- If students are keen to learn more about using props, have a special ‘Prop It Up’ class.
- For students interested in challenges, offer themes that help build up to stronger/fancy poses like ‘Let’s Fly with Crow Pose’ or ‘Building up to Bow’. As long as you are offering lots of accessible options and scaffolding their learning, these are great to add to your regular yoga audience.
Celebration Events
- Host an informal potluck or tea after a series of classes to celebrate milestones or connect socially.
- Create a “Student Spotlight” on your social media to recognize dedication or progress (with permission.)
For Engagement During Class
- Use tools like Consent Cards, Yama & Niyama cards, Aims cards . These tools give students a voice in your class, and help them to refine their intentions, aims, and learn a bit more about yoga philosophy. (links)
- Use Yoga Pose Cards: Offer interactive elements to allow students to select poses or sequences occasionally.
Pro Tips for New Teachers
- Offer a Loyalty Program: For example, “Attend 5 classes, get 1 free,” or small rewards for consistent attendance.
- Be Available: Make it a practice to stay a few minutes after class to answer questions and connect with students. This is particularly important for those students who don’t like to speak up within the group.
A last word on yoga student engagement and retention
The last thing I want to say is that you can do everything ‘right’, and still have big waves of sign ups and dropouts. Not everything is about you, Heather! People get busy, they get sick, there’s a pandemic, lots can happen that has nothing to do with how well you teach or create community. Staying consistent with your practices is really important so that when people are ready to return to yoga, your lovely self is what they think of first.
I hope you find this useful. If you’d like to keep some of these ideas top of mind, download the handout below:
Download Yoga Student Retention and Engagement HandoutWant more?
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