700 Studios and Counting - Surviving Saturation, What You Need to Know in Berlin’s Wellbeing Boom
WELLBEING + WELLNESS - FROM LUXURY TO NECESSITY
With the ongoing political and economic instability, wellbeing and wellness are no longer a luxury good. They have become a necessity, and increasingly a business. At the same time, the demand for wellness offerings has surged, as more and more people go on their path of soul- and purpose - searching; seeking connection and ways to regulate their nervous system in these uncertain times.
FROM HIPPIE TO MAINSTREAM
Back in 2015, I jumped on the mindfulness train using apps like “Headspace” and “Insight Timer”, and since then I’ve witnessed yoga and meditation going from “hippie” to “mainstream”. Berlin’s yoga landscape has exploded, with one studio opening after the other. What started as small, heart-led studios has evolved into a competitive field where investor-backed brands enter the market with full business plans, strategic funding, and the ambition to scale fast. A growing trend happening beyond the wellbeing segment of today’s economy and best exemplified by the ongoing debate around LAP Coffee.
700 STUDIOS AND GROWING - IS BERLIN’S WELLBEING MARKET SATURATING?
According to “Rentech Digital” 676 yoga studios are currently listed in Berlin (as of May 2025). That’s a lot for one city and it raises the question: Are we about to reach saturation? Let’s look at the definition: a saturated market means too many similar offers and not enough demand to sustain them, leading to competition over the same small pool of clients. And yes, Berlin feels full: scroll through class schedules and you’ll find the same templates repeated: Pilates (currently on the rise and threatening to overtake yoga in popularity), Power Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Breathwork, Sound Baths.
When we zoom out, a different picture emerges: Global Wellness Institute reports that the global wellness economy hit $6.3 trillion in 2023, and is projected to reach $9 trillion by 2028, growing at 7.3% annually, faster than tech or pharma. I know a lot of this growth is happening in the US, not Berlin, but I also think it’s not the end of the road (yet). The market is not shrinking, it’s evolving. We will see wellness and wellbeing happening more and more in curated art spaces, in hotels, in spaces outside studios. And that changes the question from “Is there space” to “how do you stay relevant in a growing, increasingly professionalized field?”
More studios means more noise.
This means: differentiation and being clear about your offering matters more than ever.
From my work as a teacher, studio founder, and economist, I’ve observed one consistent shift as the market grows: The moment “spiritual work” becomes primarily transactional, something gets lost. Creativity disappears. Teachers become performers. The teaching becomes a product that has to function. And that has felt to me very often like disconnection instead of community.
1. Choose your studio location wisely. The closer you are to other studios, and wellness spaces, the more you’ll compete for the same students.
2. Go niche with your offering. The mass appeal is great, but it's the same in all studios. What are you really good at? Put that on the front door.
3. Put your teachers first. Curate your schedule wisely, cast the teachers, get to know them. Don’t reduce them to performers, and start to co-create with them, helping them to fill their classes. Remember that students follow teachers, not studios. It’s a misperception to think that students nowadays are loyal to one place, aggregators have shown: they aren’t.
4. Especially important for small spaces: Build memberships, not just aggregator drop-ins. Daily check-ins won’t sustain rising Berlin Gewerbe-rates. Design irresistible membership offerings and think in multi-channel and multi-touchpoint campaigns to promote them.
5. Optimize for experience, not only numbers. Your brand is a living entity, from seeing you online, to entering the space, meeting your teachers, and other students.
6. Start building community. When creating your studio’s schedule, stop the 60 min followed by a 15 min break that puts teachers and students into stress. That’s not what people are craving. Think of concepts that bring people closer together especially in a world that is thriving from separation. What do mothers need, what do creatives need… make a real impact in today's society.
7. Stop using your social media only to announce events, give people a reason to follow you. What's the deeper why of your brand, the people behind your space.
8. When launching a new studio: your first priority is filling the space. Don’t focus on profit yet, focus on bringing people in. Build momentum, give out +1s and free tickets generously. Once people experience the space, the energy of your teachers, they’ll return and they’ll bring others.
9. Start collaborating beyond studio walls, with other spaces, or industries, or other communities. And within the studio landscape, it's time to move from competition to connection. I’ve seen too much rivalry between studios preaching love and light, yet struggling to live it behind the scenes.
10. Know your numbers and build sustainably, optimize your business on liquidity not profits to pay back loans, etc. Track your retention rates, understand your costs per class, know what a full class really brings in after tax, rent, and platform fees. Hire a bookkeeper and gain financial clarity that can give you more creative freedom.
About Yasemin Ege Vollmond
Yasemin is a certified breath and sound therapist, musician and multi-studio founder based between Berlin and Türkiye. With a background in economics and corporate management, she bridges strategic thinking with creative work. After years of holding space in some of Berlin’s most respected wellbeing studios, she’s currently focusing on more curated experiences as well as her Gong Trainings. She is also mentoring studios and teachers on their path of creating a sustainable business without burning out.
Upcoming Events
27.10 - Online Breathwork Class via The Portal
03.11 - The Portal vol.3 - Gong Ambient concert at the Kiezkapelle
01.12-07.12 - December - Gong Training
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