Yoganomics: How do yoga teachers make money?

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In reporting a story for the New York Times Magazine about a yoga teacher who is going on food stamps [1], I started wondering about how the business of yoga is structured. There are few full-time teaching jobs, as far as I could tell, and almost no one I talked to was getting health insurance or other benefits. So, I wonder—what's the deal? To make decent money in yoga, do you have to open your own studio, or even a chain of studios? How much of a yoga studio's profit comes from the workshops they require teachers to take? (The basic 200-hour training course costs $4,000 to $6,000, I was told.) Do a few famous gurus with studio chains make lots of money while everyone else struggles to make a bare living (or not), especially since the recession began? If you have thoughts or info about any of this, post a comment below, or send me a note at bazelon@slate.com [2]. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Photograph by Digital Vision.