Stretching the business of relaxation
Americans will pay plenty to de-stress and relax, and where there are consumers, there are advertisers wanting to reach out to them. And it turns out even people just thinking about a healthier lifestyle make good consumers. Ashley Milne-Tyte explains.
Workers take a yoga class at the American Apparel garment factory in Los Angeles. (David McNew/Getty Images)
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Scott Jagow: Alright, enough of this stressful news. Let's take a deep breath and relax. After all, today is National Relaxation Day. De-stressing is a big business in this country. An hour's massage isn't cheap, you know, but there's another form of relaxation that's catching on in a big way. Ashley Milne-Tyte has more.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: Around 16 million people take an active approach to relaxation by doing yoga.
The industry generates $3 billion a year — that covers everything from classes to yoga vacations. Dayna Macy is with Yoga Journal. The magazine's circulation has doubled in the last six years, attracting big-name companies.
Dayna Macy: Ten years ago it would have very difficult to have gotten national advertising in the magazine. Today we have such advertisers as Estee Lauder, Ford, Eddie Bauer. . .
All eager to reach those yoga practitioners, or would-be practitioners . . .
Macy: People aspire to a yoga lifestyle. It's almost like it's a reminder of a way of life that you would like to lead, even if you don't fully embrace that life right now.
Macy says some people are buying the books and the clothes but aren't doing the headstands yet.
I'm Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
