One person, three routes
Ask Yogasena anything
In one breath
The quickest way to reach Yogasena is WhatsApp on +91 82176 67359. Email [email protected] reaches the same person, and the form on this page arrives as an email too. The teacher answers himself, so a message sent during the day is usually answered the same day.
A realistic expectation, not a promise: messages sent during the day are usually answered the same day, and messages sent at night the following morning. Early mornings are class time, so nothing is answered then. If two days pass, send it again.
The form asks for a name, a WhatsApp number, whether you want in person or online, how much yoga you have done, and an optional message. Nothing else. If you are outside India, put your city or timezone in the message box so you are offered a sensible hour. What happens to those details afterwards is set out on the privacy policy page.
What to put in a first message
Most first messages say “fees?” and get a number back, which helps nobody very much. Five lines instead of one turns a price quote into an actual answer about whether these classes suit you.
Your age
Not out of nosiness. It changes which version of a standing pose you will be given on your first morning, and whether the class you are put in starts on the floor or on the feet.
Anything a doctor has told you to avoid
A disc problem, a knee replacement, high blood pressure, glaucoma, a recent surgery, pregnancy. This is the single most useful line in a first message, and it is the one people leave out.
In person or online
They are taught as two different classes rather than one with a camera pointed at it, so knowing which you want changes the answer you get.
Your city, or your timezone
If you are outside Bangalore, this decides which slot you are offered. A time that is a comfortable morning in India is the middle of the night in Toronto.
What you are actually hoping for
One line is enough. A back that hurts by four in the afternoon, sleep that will not come, or simply wanting to move again after ten years of not. It is the difference between a generic reply and a useful one.
A worked example, because it is easier than a list: “I am 54, in Sanjaynagar, and my orthopaedic surgeon has told me to avoid forward bends after a disc problem two years ago. I have never done yoga. I would prefer in person if the timing works, otherwise online. What are the morning timings?” That message gets a reply naming a specific batch, the two poses that will be modified for you, and the fee, in one go.
Three routes, all to the same person
+91 82176 67359. The fastest route and the one nearly everybody uses. Good for a quick question, a timing, or sending a photograph of a pose you are not sure about. Voice notes are fine.
Open WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp)[email protected]. Better for anything long: a medical history, a corporate or group enquiry, or a question you want a written answer to. Expect a slower reply than WhatsApp, usually within a day or two.
Write an emailIn person
The hall is in MSR Nagar, Bengaluru, in north Bangalore. The exact address and directions are sent when a class is booked, because it is a residents’ association building rather than a walk-in studio. Please message before coming.
See where the hall isThere is deliberately no phone-call route advertised here. Class runs early in the morning and again in the evening, and a call in the middle of a class either goes unanswered or interrupts fifteen people. A message gets read between classes and answered properly. If a conversation genuinely needs a call, ask on WhatsApp and one will be arranged at a time that works for both of you.
For anything to do with money, the fees page already carries every published rate, so you do not need to ask for a quote, and the refund policy sets out what happens to a month you paid for and could not attend. If you are deciding whether to start at all, the simplest possible message is a request for the free class, which commits you to nothing.
Before you message
How quickly will somebody reply?
In practice a WhatsApp message sent during the day is usually answered the same day, and one sent late at night is answered the next morning. That is what has actually happened rather than a service guarantee, because the person answering is also teaching at six in the morning. If two days pass with nothing, send the message again: it will have been missed, not ignored.
Who actually answers, the teacher or an office?
The teacher. There is no reception desk, no call centre and no sales team, which is why an answer sometimes takes a few hours and why it is a real answer when it comes. If you ask whether a particular posture is safe with your shoulder, you will get a considered reply rather than an invitation to book a consultation.
Will I be called repeatedly after I enquire?
No. You will get a reply, and if you are booked into a class, a reminder before it. Beyond that, silence is treated as an answer. Your number is not added to a broadcast list, not passed to any other business, and deleted if you ask for it to be.
Where exactly is the hall?
In MSR Nagar in north Bangalore, in a residents’ association hall, within reach of MS Ramaiah hospital, Mathikere and Malleshwaram. The precise address and directions are sent on WhatsApp when a class is booked rather than published on the site, because it is a residential association building and not a walk-in studio. The Bangalore class page has the area, the timings and the localities people travel from.
Can I visit and watch a class instead of joining one?
You can, and it is a fair thing to ask, but sitting in a corner watching tells you less than you think. The free class exists precisely so you can be in the room properly, at the back, doing whatever you can manage and stopping whenever you like. Either way, message first: turning up unannounced at an association hall is awkward for everyone.