Build → going to yoga class
Most yoga routines die after the fourth class — not because the practice failed, but because identity forms slower than enthusiasm. Lockin attaches a real financial cost to skipping, bridging the gap until the studio becomes a non-decision.
Suggested starting contract
$5/day against missing your daily target of 1 yoga class per scheduled day.
Install the app on iOS or Android, create an account, and connect a payment method. The whole process takes under three minutes.
Set your weekly class target — for example, two classes per week on Tuesday and Thursday, or three classes on a flexible schedule. Pick a cadence you can realistically protect given your work and travel calendar.
Search for your yoga studio by name or address, confirm the location on the map, and Lockin saves the geofenced perimeter. Each location challenge is tied to a single studio, so pick the place you actually practice at most often.
Every Location contract has a per-day deadline by which the check-in plus the 50 minute dwell time must complete. The default is 23:59 in your local timezone. Tap Set deadline in the wizard and use the 24h time picker to lock in an earlier slot, for example 7:30am if you are committing to a 6:30am vinyasa class. Tighter deadlines unlock higher Locks and XP rewards. The deadline is set once at contract creation and applies to every scheduled day.
Decide how much money goes on the line per scheduled class day. The stake is your accountability deposit — hit your target and it returns to you. Miss it and the bulk of your stake goes to your chosen charity.
Select a registered charity from Lockin's vetted list, organized by category — climate, mental health, animal welfare, digital literacy, and others. This is where your money goes if you forfeit a scheduled class.
Review the terms, confirm your stake, and start the contract. From this point, when you arrive at the studio you tap the check-in button on your contract card — Lockin shimmers the button once your phone is inside the geofence as a cue — which records the visit and starts the 50 minute dwell timer.
From Lockin's data
Among Lockin beta users running yoga contracts, those who anchor classes to a fixed slot — a recurring 6:30am vinyasa or a Sunday 5pm restorative — complete their contracts more often than those who keep the schedule open and try to fit class in around other commitments. Beta data also suggests that two scheduled classes per week is a more durable starting cadence than three or four for first-time contract holders.
"I had bought three different ten-class packs over two years and never finished any of them. Once skipping meant funding a charity I actually cared about, the Tuesday class stopped being a decision."
— Anonymous beta user, yoga challenge, 7 weeks active
Every Location contract has a per-day deadline by which the studio check-in and the 50 minute dwell time must complete. The default is 23:59 in your local timezone — end of day. During contract setup you can tap Set deadline and pick any earlier time using a 24h picker, for example 7:30am to protect a 6:30am vinyasa class. The deadline is set once at contract creation and applies to every scheduled class day; you do not change it day-to-day. An earlier deadline raises the difficulty and the reward — tighter deadlines unlock higher Locks and XP rewards. Like other contract terms, the deadline is fixed for the active contract — you cannot edit it mid-contract.
Only a verified in-studio visit counts. Booking the class on the studio app, paying for the class, or telling the front desk you are coming does not register with Lockin. You have to be physically inside the geofenced perimeter, tap the check-in button on your contract card, and remain inside the geofence until the 50 minute dwell timer completes — that is what records as a qualifying class. A drop-in class you walk into without a reservation counts the same as a booked class, as long as the location and dwell criteria are met before your deadline. Missing a reservation entirely, even one you paid the studio for, will trigger the forfeit if no qualifying check-in is recorded that day.
Lockin contracts are intentionally rigid because flexibility is where most accountability systems collapse. There is no pause feature and no exception for illness or injury — once a contract is active, every scheduled class day either logs a qualifying visit or triggers the forfeit. The right move is to plan rest days into the schedule from the start: if you can realistically protect two classes a week, pick those two specific days at setup so the other five are simply unscheduled rather than missed. Yoga is also a practice that scales — a gentler class on a sore day still satisfies the contract as long as the dwell time is met. The schedule you commit to is what Lockin verifies against, so size it to what you can hit on a bad week, not a good one.
Forfeited stakes go to a registered charity from Lockin's vetted list. You choose the charity from categories including climate, mental health, animal welfare, and digital literacy when you set up the contract. Lockin charges a small platform fee to cover payment processing and operations, and the bulk of your stake funds the charity. Refer to the transparency page inside the app for charity-by-charity tallies.
Free to download. You set the target, the stake, and the charity.