Snapchat opener for a yoga instructor: what to send

A yoga instructor's profile usually tells you more than her photos do. Look at what she chose to write about. If she mentions early classes, a studio, a retreat, or a teaching schedule, that is the part of her life she wants people to notice. Pay attention to her prompt answers, because those are the lines she wrote on purpose. Her photos tell you she practices. Her bio tells you what she thinks about it, what she jokes about, and what she'd like someone to ask.

The signal to read is what she is proud of and what she finds funny about her own work. Someone who writes about the early class schedule is probably tired of being asked if she can do a split. Someone who jokes about being bad at handstands wants a reply that matches that tone. Match the register of her profile, not her yoga knowledge.

Your first message should show you noticed one specific thing and react to it in a normal way. A reaction to something she wrote works better than a question, because she can reply without having to figure out what you want. If you do ask something, keep it to a few words and make sure it's about something she chose to put on the profile.

Keep the tone easy and a little dry. Snapchat rewards quick, playful messages, and a reply that sounds like you're talking to someone you half know already goes further than a heavy compliment. Skip anything that sounds like a pitch. The point of the first message is to make her want to reply, and the easiest way to do that is to make replying feel easy.

Send your first message during her waking hours, ideally mid-afternoon or early evening, when she's not likely to be teaching or asleep. A yoga instructor who teaches early classes probably goes to bed earlier than most, so a late night message might sit unread until morning and then look like an afterthought. Watch the timestamps on her replies if she's been active, and send when she usually is.

If she doesn't reply, wait at least a day before following up, and make the follow-up lighter than the first, like a photo or a short reaction to something she posted. If there's still no response after one follow-up, stop. Silence after two messages is an answer, and a third will only make things awkward if she sees it later.