For those of you who want to teach yoga: things I wish I’d known
Apr 15 2021
Written by Ashley Ahrens
I sought out to teach yoga because the practice allowed me to heal from so many things I was holding onto, and it continues to show me who I am and what kind of person I want to be.
I took my teacher training not having a clue how much a teacher was paid for a class, how many classes a day they taught, if they had another job, how they provided for their family etc etc. I just showed up to my regular classes, experienced the gift of yoga and then went home totally oblivious to how they spent the rest of their day. The practice has been so transformative for me that I didn’t think about this kind of logistical long term sustainable career kind of stuff, I just went for it as I was so devoted to the practice and just had to share it with the world and help people.
I have been a yoga teacher since 2012, but I only started teaching full time about 2 years after moving to London (came here in 2015, full time yoga teacher by 2017). I spent the first 2 years in London working odd jobs to supplement my income while I desperately looked for work as a yoga teacher. It was rough. I did my training in Canada and India so I didn’t know anyone in the industry, I had never practiced at a studio here and I didn’t know any of the teachers. I hesitated for a while when I first moved here because the task was just so daunting my mind basically shut down and I didn’t know where to start (classic avoidance!!)
I started to go to classes at some studios based on google searches and found some teachers that I loved, and began to meet other teachers that way. When I went to apply at the more popular studios I was for the most part looked at like I was crazy to be asking and received “good luck ever working here” kinda vibes. When I emailed, management would almost never get back to me, the most I’d hear was “we’ll keep your info on file for future reference”.
When I received a reply saying to come in for an audition I was ecstatic! I had never really considered having to do an audition to teach yoga before, but hey, I guess that’s what they do in London - I really really really wanted any yoga job desperately, so count me in! More and more auditions came in over time as I continued to reach out to anyone and everyone (spoiler: I did not get hired at many places - facing rejection was tough but something you’ve got to learn!)
Over the next few years I was constantly rearranging my schedule to fit in more and more classes that I was offered (because I remembered how hard it was to get them in the first place) I started realising that all I was doing was running around the city from one end to another to teach a 45 min/1 hour class for horrible pay, not being able to eat properly throughout the day (because you can’t really eat before practice or just before teaching - I would become SO tired and start having bad stomach cramps).
Those days when I woke up at 5am to make my way to a class at 6:30am, another at lunchtime, and maybe 2 more in the evening with other things crammed in between (more auditions, trainings, staff meetings - all of which are unpaid, and expected of you if you want to work there) were too much and my health and practice were noticeably diminishing. I would jam a practice in between when I could, which add up quite substantially. After being out all day running from one end of the city to another I would be lucky to come home with £90 (low pay + high transit costs, plus buying sustenance throughout the day and paying for a yoga class……).
When you stop to realise the energy and skill you’ve just put in for 14 hours of work (leaving 6am coming home at 9pm - if you’re lucky and live close enough you can run home and have a quick rest, nap or lunch) you start to become a bit bitter. I loved my job and all the people I met through it but I was on a very fast route to burn out, and what about career longevity? How could I ever do this when I was older? I am young now and have the energy, in 10 years that will be another story. What will I do for work then? How will I ever be able to potentially start a family? Or let alone go on a date when I’m working 6/7 days a week, and if lucky to have one day off it’s spent recovering physically, mentally and emotionally (talking to people all day is wonderful, but it’s exhausting when you’re home and you just crave some alone time!). If you break it down my hourly rate was about £6/hour - far below the living wage for London. Is that really what you should be paid for a skilled profession?
I am also not from this country and I started to notice that I had failed to develop close friendships in my first couple of years - it was lonely despite being around people all day teaching. I was working like a maniac, coming home totally exhausted so had no time for a social life, and still barely paying my rent and bills? What on earth was a doing, like for real? This was not a way to live and I was totally fed up and burnt out (you know you’re burnt out when you dread going into teach classes and don’t want to talk to anyone) - I had lost ME along the way and my love for yoga.
Things are different now, I work at places I enjoy working at and I have struck a much better work/life balance - especially since the pandemic happened - it allowed me to slow down and realise what needed to change. I have my own side projects which allow me to work on things I WANT to work on and am passionate about - yoga, my love of sharing the practice and seeing how transformative it is in peoples lives and teaching it in the way I believe in.
Read ahead for all the things I wish I knew before I started teaching - maybe my experiences will help you avoid the above happening!:
How exhausting the job would be
Running around between studios all day to teach is no easy feat! Often teachers are running around to 4 different classes a day (however many days a week..) and have to show up full of energy to lead the class. It’s stressful to say the least, especially when you have short window of time between classes and are totally reliant on public transport (anything could go wrong!!). Add in moving around a massive city like London: your classes may be really spaced out as when you first start you tend to take any classes you can get. I had a Saturday when I started my first class in Enfield, then the second in Hammersmith, and the third in Bounds Green! (I was on public transport for over 4 hours in one day to make about £75!! And for those of you unfamiliar with London I was going far North East to far West and back to the North East) Looking back that was totally insane, but it’s what I did to build up my experience and contacts, and pay my rent. I would not encourage anyone else to do this! I would advise new teachers to keep a supplemental income from their old job, and slowly build up classes and work on your OWN stuff. Stick to one area of the city, give yourself appropriate travel time between classes - running out of one class’s Shavasana to make it on time to your next gig all sweaty and out of breath is not fun for anyone involved! Pick a day or two to have off in your calendar and DO NOT accept any work those days. If you can work your schedule into blocks of classes, even better - so you at least have part of your day to yourself and to work on admin (for example, teaching Monday morning and lunch, then having the afternoon and evening off) You’ll need it to recover energetically and have the space to think about other work things besides your classes (building and updating your website, writing blogs, posting for social media etc), and also do your practice!
That you will face a lot of rejection
Teaching yoga full time is not like applying for one job, it’s like applying for and trying to get 15+ jobs. I thought I was a good teacher when I first started, but I had a lot to learn in terms of gaining experience and building a name for myself within the community. Building your teaching experience and your reputation takes years, there’s no quick way around it. In my rejections from studios/gyms/clubs I’ve been told things like: you’re too serious to teach here, you weren’t expressive enough, you’re too yogi, you’re just not a fit for our company brand. Looking back I’m thankful I didn’t work at these places because no, our morals and ethos were not aligned and it’s best to work places where you feel like you can be yourself (putting on a show to live up to expectations is exhausting and demoralising). Don’t fake your way into trying to pass an audition if it doesn’t feel like a good fit for YOU - teaching there will most likely not feel rewarding.
How teaching would affect your practice
Teaching can be exhausting if you are demoing all the time and feeling the need to over explain how to do postures, while holding the space and energy for the class of mixed level students. As a new teacher you need to develop your vocabulary and skills in being able to teach without physically showing what to do. Everyone has to learn this for themselves, just keep in mind to be careful with demoing everything as you tend to go into your full expression of postures that you’re used to doing, and because you’re not warm, injure yourself easily. This altered my personal practice (wrist issues and sore muscles) alongside the sheer lack of time I had. Doing my practice within a busy day of being physically active running around and teaching was seriously the last thing I wanted to do and it started to feel like such a chore. I’ve always kept up my practice but so many times it felt forced and unwanted. I now schedule my practice classes ahead of time to make sure they fit in with my teaching schedule and to basically hold myself accountable for practicing consistently. I make sure I will not feel rushed going to or leaving my personal practice. If I start to feel like I don’t want to practice, I now recognise this quickly and take something off of my work schedule instead of skipping a practice. There is a very fine line between teaching too many classes and not wanting to do your own practice so you need to find this balance for yourself. Don’t lose your practice - it is what makes you a great teacher! And remember, you are also allowed to do a shorter and/or more gentle practice if your body and mind are asking for it!
What to expect for pay & what you need to do to earn a descent living
I went into teaching not really knowing the pay rate for classes. I was shocked to find some studios and gyms paying £15 - 30 per class. SO if you’re making this much and your limit for teaching is 4 classes per day (and honestly in my opinion 4 classes is too much) 6 days a week…what does that make you? Being on the more generous side here, £25 per class, 4 classes, 6 days a week = £2400 a month. This is not enough to live off of in London (remember this is gross income so you still have all your expenses to take off - taxes, insurance, transit, yoga classes, rent, phone bills….). Look at that figure for a moment, and then think about the time you invest per week. The 1 day off is spent recovering so with this schedule you will 100% not have a life outside of teaching yoga, nor have tine to work on anything else. Trust me, even sending an email will feel like the biggest task ever! You need to be thinking outside of the box and outside of weekly studio classes to be able to have a nice life where you can feel comfortable in your work life balance and have an income to be able to live and maybe retire one day. Working this much I had to have some kind fo treatment for pain (acupuncture, massage, osteopathy….) every 2nd week so my body could physically keep going, these are expensive as well! Not a way to live! You have to do something else to build a sustainable income - there are lots of options and you are self employed, so if you look at it with a creative mindset you can literally do anything! Your owns classes and workshops, retreats, online teaching and workshops, days retreats, courses, private lessons, corporate classes, writing….etc!!
That you are running a small business and will have to learn some tech, marketing and how to do your taxes
I didn’t realise all of the marketing and business skills that I would need to teach yoga. Essentially you are a small business owner, your business is you and you need to learn how to invoice, budget, do taxes, build a website, stay present on social media, manage and organise events, the list goes one. I’ve learned this all long the way and it would have saved me a lot of time had I had some more guidance or a mentor!! Invest in some business courses or take some free ones online (Coursera, Udemy, edX, FutureLearn). Google MOOCs (massive open online courses) and take your pick. YouTube has so many videos for learning how to build websites and learn marketing, there are also yoga specific business courses out there now and if you are looking I am happy to recommend!
How to take care of yourself while doing such a physical job
I constantly had to reshuffle my schedule when new class opportunities came up, and all the reorganisation leaves you without a regular schedule for long. Prioritising when and what to eat to maintain my health and wellness while teaching and practicing was super important. What food energies you? What makes you tired? What does your digestive system like to process and what causes you to maybe feel not so great? You really need to pay attention to these things because you will be really reliant on having high energy throughout the day. Scheduling in and making sure I did my own practice was imperative to me maintaining my sanity and physical health and fitness. I had to become very protective of my day/days off because it would be so easy to pick up a cover class to make some extra money, and then go into the rest of the week feeling totally exhausted before it started. Also giving myself time to nurture friendships and relationships had to be prioritised so I could receive positive social energy from a source not related to teaching (where you’re mostly giving energy). Balance is essential to career longevity and mental and physical health. You are not an endless source of giving, you must receive energy back in order to give. Find what gives you energy and uplifts you, and make 100% sure that they aren’t neglected in favour of working all the time.
Little admin things and further education/self study
Yoga Alliance, accreditation, insurance: after receiving your accreditation to teach what do you need to put in place before actually teaching? Well you should have insurance, and will need it to be able to work at studios and gyms; in order to have insurance you need to have a teaching qualification (200 hours min). Other than this I’ll be honest, Yoga Alliance does not serve much of a purpose unless eventually you want to get a course you’re teaching accredited. I haven’t experienced ANY studios wanting me to have 500 hours of teacher trainings vs my 200 hours and my own continued education. Your experience as a teacher is more valuable that the number of hours of training you’ve done, because you only learn how to handle a room full of different people through experience. If you’ve done 500 hours worth of trainings and not actually taught very much, it doesn’t really help anyone and no senior teacher or studio will really value this. You will learn through experience mostly, I would advise to come back to education as things come up whilst teaching that prompt you to study and review (example: teaching to people with various injuries and conditions, teaching a new way or style that you become more passionate about, always study your philosophy and keep going deeper in your understanding of it). My experience and ability to teach and explain in a thoughtful manner was what got me into more ‘sought after’ studios, and what’s actually helped me grow as a teacher, this mostly came from watching people practice and understanding how different everyone is, and having a great mentoring support system to ask questions to as they come up in classes. I come back to trainings once in a while when I see where I need to develop as a teacher or need some inspiration and want to meet like minded individuals. The friendships from trainings are priceless, you will need these as you develop as a teacher - a peer support group to help each other and vent, and find some teachers that are more senior to help you develop and grow on a regular basis. You do not start out being a good teacher: it is learned through continuous self enquiry, continued education and learning on the job from your students and finding what feels authentic to you (what’s enjoyable and not draining). Teaching experience matters.
How isolating the workplace can feel & not to take things personally
This ties into rejection I mentioned earlier. When you’re working for yourself it can be lonely! You have no colleagues, no office, just the interactions with the students before, during and after class - but the interaction is different because you’re the teacher. Students tend to come and leave without saying much, and tend to talk to each other instead of you (not all the time, but most of the time). Make an effort to stay connected with other yoga teachers who are moving through the same experiences as you, it’s important to have someone to talk to and express your feelings and who empathise! Have coffee dates: get together and do admin work so you can bounce ideas off each other and help each other out with skill building in areas the other person may need help in (tech..finances, writing, scheduling, sequencing, there’s SO MUCH to talk about!). Choose not to be isolated as a teacher, make your own little community and nurture it! Also try to view other teachers as people to collaborate with and help each other grow, not your competition for jobs and classes! You will have your own voice and find your own students, don’t worry!! And it’s a huge energy drain to compare, compete and hold jealousy towards others that you view as more successful than you, they most likely worked very hard to get their success, learn from them!! Find teachers who make you feel INSPIRED not judged, and connect with them.
Facing the draining parts of the industry that do not align with your practice and morals
Auditions, popularity contests and IG influencers. I have been to many auditions to “get on the cover list” at various venues across the city. Sometimes the people hosting the auditions are not yoga practitioners so they are only really looking for personality, appearance, style, ability to impress them and your apparent popularity on social media. I know in some auditions I was hired based on looks and not skill in teaching. Teaching for places like this is EXHAUSTING because it was inauthentic to my teaching and how I wanted to interact with students. It is superficial and highly energetically draining feeling like you have to almost ‘put on a show’ to keep your job. I did this because I needed work to pay my bills but if you can avoid places like this - I would HIGHLY recommend it. It burnt me out and slowly diminished my love for teaching until I came to my senses and realised what was happening (it’s hard to tell sometimes when you’re in it and really need work - you know it doesn’t feel right however!) I accepted it as a period of thinking this is what its like to teach in London. I have witnessed people being hired, trusted as an authority and given (undue) respect because they have a big following on Instagram and flashy pics making yoga look inaccessible, sexualised and diluted the practice totally to superficial aspects. A lot of people have no idea what yoga is, and when presented with this imagery automatically think that yoga is not for them. It’s really doing a disservice to all in (and out of!) the community by promoting yoga in this way, never mind the cultural appropriation aspect! Unfollow these people and don’t let them get you down because they look like they are popular and you might start to wonder “should I be more like them??” NO! They may have bought their followers btw. You will find people more aligned with your views - pay attention to them, not the energy suckers and attention-grabbing narcissists.
How important it is to create your own side projects out of the studios and establish email lists and an online presence
This is kinda a repeat from above, but that’s how important it is!! You are self-employed as a Yoga Teacher - if you only work for the studios you are exchanging your time for (usually not enough) money, and not acquiring any assets for your business (your teachings, workshops, student information) in the long term. Yes, maybe you are slowly building an email list, but are you making an effort outside of the studios to connect with students? To build your own yoga community? This is really important to actually build financial freedom, longevity, meaningful connections, and authenticity in your career (unless of course you happen to have a wealthy partner or family that can support you).
Not looking at other teachers as competition, but as people on the same path with the same passions (best way to make life-long friends):
It is seriously a massive waste of energy to compete with other yoga teachers for classes and jobs. This also circles back to creating your own community and business online and out of the studios. You cannot control who gets picked for classes on timetables in studios, and it can be very frustrating when you believe you are more skilled than someone else who ended up receiving the class - self-doubt then comes into play and then maybe self-limiting beliefs in your ability as a teacher. Remember that some places hire based on appearance and ability to perform - don’t align yourself with these places and allow that to diminish your confidence! Because it will if these are the types of jobs you are going for - it is incredibly frustrating and demoralising, and then if you are comparing yourself to the teachers who were selected it becomes so superficial, and you begin to lose your voice as you may try to be more “like them” - more stylish, polished and showy? It that why you’re teaching? I highly doubt it!! Step away from places and people who make you feel bad about yourself or like you don’t belong or question your skill set. This is why it’s so important to keep doing work on yourself - to really understand your WHY - why you’re teaching - what is it about yoga that made you want to become a teacher? Don’t lose that!!! Always remember your WHY and you will find people along the way of building your career that align with your beliefs and reasons. Don’t get lost in the noise and fancy distractions surrounding the yoga industry - become highly aware of them and keep doing what you believe is right. Your teaching will be authentic and your job will be enjoyable, you will attract the right students who want to hear what you have to say and align with how you present yoga.