The Yoga Alliance just released its latest report with information about yoga in America in 2016 in partnership with the yoga journal and the Ipsos Public Affairs research firm. It is similar to the study performed in 2008 and 2012. Below are 60 interesting findings from that study illustrated visually.
1) 36.7 million Americans or 15% of US adults practice yoga in the US, up from 20.4M in 2012
2) 28% of all Americans have practiced yoga at some point in their lives
3) 34% of Americans or 80 Million Americans will likely practice yoga at some point in the next 12 months
4) There are 10 million men practicing yoga in the US, up from 4 million in 2012
5) There are almost 14 million yoga practitioners over the age of 50 in the US
6) Yoga practitioners report spending over $16 billion on yoga clothing, equipment, classes and accessories in the last year, up from $10 billion in 2012.
7) 75% of yoga practitioners also engage in other physical exercises including running, group sports, weight lifting and cycling.
8) 37% of yoga practitioners participate in other group exercises compared to just 9% of the general population.
9) Yoga practitioners are 20% more likely to have a positive self-image as compared to the general population
10) 50% of yoga practitioners say they live green, eat sustainably and donate time to their community.
11) The top 3 reasons people do yoga are the enjoyment of yoga itself, yoga’s impact on health and yoga as a stress reliever
12) Only 25% of yoga practitioners have been practicing for more than 5 years
13) 98% of practitioners consider themselves to be beginner or intermediate level practitioners
14) 90% of Americans have heard of yoga, up from 70% in 2012
15) Yoga practitioners are twice as likely to buy organic food as are non-practitioners
16) 72% of yoga practitioners are women
17) 58% of yoga practitioners are 40+
18) 81% of practitioners have practiced yoga outside of the studio in the last 12 months.
19) 24% of Americans have practiced yoga on their own in the last 12 months.
20) 37% of practitioners have children under the age of 18 who have practiced yoga
21) 59% of yoga practitioners practice once a week or more
22) 91% of regular yoga practitioners are satisfied with their current yoga studio
23) 55% of yoga practitioners have never practiced yoga in a yoga studio
24) 65% of yoga practitioners have practiced yoga at home at least once
25) 33% of yoga practitioners started practicing yoga because of a friend
26) Only 6% of yoga practitioners started practicing yoga because of an advertisement from a yoga studio
27) 1 in 5 yoga practitioners state weight loss as a reason for starting to practice yoga
28) The top 3 factors yoga practitioners seek in a yoga studio are cost, convenience and quality of instruction
29) The 6 qualities of great yoga teachers (warm & friendly, clear with instructions, knowledgeable about poses, helpful, approachable, gives adjustments
30) Nearly 50% of yoga practitioners have left a class early. The top reason for doing so is if the class is overcrowded
31) Only 8% of yoga practitioners have attended a yoga retreat, 62% are interested in attending one in the future
32) 86% of yoga teachers are interested in attending a yoga retreat in the next 12 months, 96% of those currently in teacher training are
yoga-retreat-for-teachers
33) 19% of yoga practitioners have attended yoga events in a public place, 75% of yoga practitioners are interested in doing so in the future.
34) Yoga Practitioners will spend $5.8B in yoga classes in 2016, up from $2.5B in 2012
35) Yoga Practitioners will spend $4.6B in yoga clothing, up from $2.2B in 2012
36) 70% of yoga practitioners report purchasing yoga clothing in the last 6 months
37) 57% of yoga practitioners have never read or heard of the Yoga Journal
38) Friends & the internet are the top common ways to obtain information about yoga outside of a yoga class
39) 18% of people who stopped practicing yoga mention cost as a reason for stopping
40) The top 5 reasons why people do not try yoga are: “not sure if it is right for me”, “don’t know how to get started” “I don’t exercise” “I feel out of place” “my body is not right for yoga”
41) For every existing yoga teacher out there, there are 2 more yoga teachers currently in training
42) 84% of yoga teachers practice yoga at least once a week
43) 98% of yoga teachers participate in other physical activities outside of yoga such as running, cycling or other group fitness classes.
44) Yoga teachers are 3 times more likely to be runners as compared to the average US adult
45) Yoga teachers are 7 times more likely to practice martial arts than is the average US adult
46) Yoga teachers are twice as likely to donate their time to their community as is the average US adult. 54% of them do.
47) 20% of yoga teachers have been practicing for 10 years or more
48) 31% of yoga teacher trainees have been practicing yoga for less than 2 years
49) 55% of current yoga teachers have been teaching yoga 6 years or more
50) 67% of yoga teachers teach 10 hours or less per week
51) Only 29% of yoga teachers report yoga as their primary source of income
52) Nearly half of yoga teachers are independent contractors, 70% of which are paid a flat fee per class
53) 58% of yoga teachers report having posted a yoga selfie
54) 95% of yoga teachers are satisfied with the location where they teach
55) 57% of yoga teachers are not registered with the yoga alliance
56) 51% of yoga studios serve less than 100 students per week
57) 74% of yoga studios offer 30 classes or less per week
58) 50% of yoga studios employ less than 6 yoga teachers at their studio
59) 69% of yoga studio owners make less than $50k/year
60)The top 5 equipment brands used by yoga studios are Gaiam, Manduka, Hugger Mugger, Jade Yoga and Lululemon
[Cover Photo by natalia.sanmartin -CC BY]
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