Becoming a yoga teacher
A few times in the past, as part of our 200 hour yoga teacher training course, we’ve invited our graduates to join us for an afternoon, to share their yoga teaching journey (sorry, that’s so overused isn’t it, but fitting here!) with our graduates-to-be, who are just about to embark on their own experience of becoming a yoga teacher.
Last week, as part of our Autumn 2023’s penultimate block, we did exactly that, with five graduates giving up their precious time, to come and help out our trainees.
As part of the course, as standard, we fully dissect the business of teaching yoga; with Holly running a tailored business of teaching yoga workshop complete with all mistakes made by Yoga Hero (oh dear), discussions on setting up a business, being business like and yogic (yes, really) selling yourself without cringing, insurance, getting work and so much more. Plus, our dear Iain spends a full half day guiding trainees through social media for yoga teachers. So we take the business of being a yoga teacher very, very seriously.
That said, there’s no substitute for talking to new and experienced yoga teachers who are all working on finding their way to share something they love, whilst earning a living, whilst looking after themselves and anyone they’re responsible for.
Our afternoon started with introductions; with trainees saying their name, that they’re a trainee and their thoughts on how they’d like to share yoga, for example with classes, retreats, at work, with kids… And teachers saying their name, how long they’ve been teaching and how its going. Even that was a revelation; with trainees all already thinking of sharing yoga in entirely different ways – some in studios, some at their homes, some focusing on slow, therapeutic styles and some focused on more challenging styles; it helped us all to see how much potential there is as a yoga teacher.
Once introductions were complete, we moved in to free flow questions and answers.
This was the real gold. There was so much wonderful, valuable, thought-provoking advice here. Some of the most useful are summarised here, along with useful resources that will help along with the advice.
Question:
How did you get your first teaching gig? – Did you email studios to say ‘I’m qualified, please can I teach?
Advice:
Consider setting up your own classes – find a space, rent it out and then put that the class is available to attend on local Facebook groups. Be very open and honest about the class style and you as a teacher. If it’s for beginners: Say so. But if it isn’t for beginners: Say so. At some point, those who found you on Facebook will bring friends but only if they love the class, and a large part of that is that the class is what they were expecting from the information they read.
Be clear about:
Where the class is, dates, days and times
Whether equipment is provided
How much the class is, cancellation terms, and how to book on
When you graduate, put a photo of you graduating on social media and ask ‘does anyone want any yoga classes?’ And take it from there!
Ask to go on the cover list for studios that you already visit, where they know (and like!) you.
Question:
From male teacher, to male teacher, is there any specific advice that you’d give?
Advice:
Getting consent for adjustments is non-negotiable but it’s (if possible) even more important as a male teacher.
Don’t teach what you don’t know, so probably best to avoid saying ‘do do this, or don’t do this, while you’re on your period’ for example
Be aware of your positioning in the room, so you might want to avoid being at the back while everyone is in downward dog or a forward fold.
Question:
How long should you give a new class to take off?
Advice:
About three months, longer if those months include August, or December!
Question:
What did you look for when renting out a space?
Advice:
When first emailing, I asked for a copy of their current timetable and costs and went from there.
Question:
Have you experienced yoga teacher turf wars, when you’ve started teaching in a location already covered by another teacher?
Advice:
Yes! Sad times! Try to contact or meet up with teachers who cover the same area – yoga is so vast, you might find that you have complementary styles, or you might be able to work together, or cover each others’ classes.
It was a really wonderful, insightful afternoon which really highlighted the ups and downs of being a yoga teacher – but that there really are many more ups than downs.
Thank you to our graduates for coming… and good luck to all trainees!
Would you like to find out more about becoming a yoga teacher with us? Take a look here >