It started very innocently. I heard about some small web deal site called Groupon in October 2009. I think my friend Martha- who seems to keep tabs on every possible web site on coupons, bargains, and free stuff- alerted me to it. Upon typing the company’s website, I learned that the Boston wellness spa Exhale was offering two weeks of unlimited yoga classes for a mere $50. The catch: I had only 1 hour 45 minutes 38 seconds to buy the deal. Being the yoga aficionado that I was, I bought it before the clock struck midnight. In January, when the manic tax season was just beginning, I indulged myself in two weeks of yogic bliss… along with plush sofas and a sauna in the men’s room.
Then the addiction (or shall I say, coupon servitude) commenced. In March 2010, O2 Yoga offered a one-month unlimited for $50. Then in May, Baptiste Power Yoga opened up its 5-class deal for $30. These were promptly followed by Back Bay Yoga’s 5-class special in September, another Baptiste offer for 10 morning classes in November, Sadhana Studios 5-class offer in December, a [third] Baptiste Groupon only 8 days later, and another one-month unlimited at O2 Yoga in February this year. I bought all of these deals. No, I devoured all of them. Somewhere in the middle of my shopping frenzy, I purchased four more yoga deals in 2011, 3 from Buy With Me (a Groupon competitor), the fourth one from a web site whose name escapes me.
For a while, I availed of my coupons diligently, making sure I attended all of the classes before the expiration date. But this past winter, the Groupon whoring caught up with me. While trying to use up my Back Bay, Sadhana, and morning Baptiste classes simultaneously, I had been neglecting a Real Life Yoga coupon, telling myself that I would make it to the studio before the May expiration date. Besides, the studio was located near Quincy Center, a simple 15-minute walk from work. But it never happened, and in a flash crash, I lost $30. I also failed to use 2 Sadhana classes, and I’m on track to waste 8 Karma Yoga classes unless I can drag myself to its South End location again by June 23rd.
My failure to fully access all of the deals can be attributed to several factors. First, I was trying to use too many of them all at once and found it difficult to make time for the classes in my busy schedule. Second, many of the studios were not located in my path between home and work. I would have to trek as far west as Brookline and as far north as Somerville, neither of which was along the Orange Line going home. Third, during some months when I still had coupons to expend, I would buy an unlimited monthly membership directly from Back Bay Yoga, .
For now, I’m abstaining from the Groupon/Buy With Me/Living Social/[name your favorite] craze and leave behind the schizophrenic behavior that earlier encapsulated me. I didn’t even bite when a recent Baptiste offer appeared (but damn, was it agonizing to refrain from clicking the “Buy” button). I’ll focus primarily on my favorite studio, Back Bay Yoga, my justification being that it is near the Orange Line, it offers a wealth of class times to choose from, and it actually has a men’s changing room.
Until next month, that is. I just remembered my O2 Yoga deal that I bought in February is expiring in August!
Isaias Sarmiento
© 2011
