How to Start Teaching Yoga: Yoga Teacher Career Advice
You’re fresh out of yoga teacher training and have just taught your first yoga class and are wondering “how do I start my career as a yoga teacher?” I will show you how to start teaching yoga professionally, including how to get clients, earn your first $$$, and everything you need to launch your yoga teacher career.
I’m an online yoga teacher and I’ve taught in-person in 3 countries as well. So get ready for some real business, and money talk including all the mistakes I’ve made so you don’t have to!
Table of Contents
What do you need to start teaching yoga?
Not anyone can teach yoga, before getting that first yoga teacher job, there are a few very important things you should have:
Register with the Yoga Alliance: this adds more credibility to your yoga teacher degree
YTT certificate: Scan it and don’t lose it! You’ll also get discounts in many places (like Athleta!)
Teaching Insurance: Make sure it is valid to teach online too and check in which countries you are covered.
Waiver template: You will have all your students sign it.
New yoga teacher resume: Include all teaching experience, even unrelated, include a professional-looking headshot and your social media accounts. If you have taken first aid training include it too.
Record a sample class: This one is my secret to getting hired! Put it on youtube on private and sent it when you apply to places.
See my sample class here:
Grow your Skills and Experience to Get Hired Easily
You want to feel confident in teaching yoga and become the best yoga teacher possible. Here are a few ways to do this:
1. Keep learning
Your yoga education doesn’t end at your teacher training, it actually starts there! Here are my favorite tips that I still do on the reg to always keep improving:
Teach yourself: Learning a new sequence? Record it. Watch it and actually practice your own sequence. By taking your own class you’ll understand how it makes people feel.
Continuing education: No need to get your 500-hour right away, unless you want to. Yoga Alliance offers a lot of free online workshops that you can attend.
Practice with different teachers: Try as many different teachers, styles, and traditions as you can. By exposing yourself to many different influences you will find your own style.
Mentorship program: I did a mentorship program right away where I was assisting an experienced teacher for around six months. This really helped me level up thanks to her regular feedback. I recommend you do one if you can as it is a good way to learn how to start teaching yoga classes.
2. Teach as much as you can
The more you teach, the better it is as you’ll feel more confident during auditions and test classes. Inversely, if you don't teach, you'll lose your skill and it will be harder to get back into it.
Here is how to begin teaching yoga and what I did to get teaching experience right away:
Teaching my friends: most of my friends got a free yoga class tailored to their needs in exchange for very detailed feedback
Offer yoga-fundraisers at my workplace: When starting out I led a few yoga-fundraisers for charities. It’s a fun way to advance your practice while supporting a cause you believe in.
3. Find your niche
You are unique, and that’s what makes you a great yoga teacher.
A lot of us suffer from impostor syndrome. When I started teaching I always felt like I didn’t belong: I didn’t define myself as bendy, fit, or even just good-looking enough to rock tight yoga pants! Plus I have an accent when I speak and I was afraid people would not understand me.
Yes, that was BS and yes, I still can’t do the splits, but seriously, who cares? I’m super good at giving options that feel good for anyone and work really hard to make everyone feel like they belong in my class.
You can make your own struggles your message and unique selling point too.
You can also find your niche through your other passions and activities. On my side, I had a career in tech, so my first niche was teaching a flow that unwinds computer-related tensions to corporate to tech companies.
Some ideas of yoga niches can come from your different identities, here are a few examples:
You are a mom or a dad
You volunteer at a senior center
You run a lot or practice another sport
You had a specific injury
You work in a specific field
4. Respect your boundaries
Yes, I’ve just told you to teach as much as you can but you also need to know your limits to avoid yoga teacher burnout!
I recommend you don't teach for free everywhere as it can take away from real opportunities. There’s also a question of perceived value as well since people value more what they have paid for. Personally, I only teach for free occasionally, when the proceeds of an event go to charity or to friends or family, as a gift.
Sometimes people want to “pay you in visibility”. Be really careful with that type of exchange as it is often not worth it. I’d accept it if it exposes you to millions of people in the case of an online event or promoted post, but I’ve never done this for an in-person class.
Being a yoga teacher is a business
1. Don't leave out the business side: having an aligned business is fun!
Just as they are so many people graduating with university degrees, there are so many people graduating from yoga teacher training. Having a degree is not enough to be hired. In a similar way, don’t expect opportunities to just come to you, you’ll have to go get them.
This means you are branding, marketing, and selling yourself to studios, companies, and people. That’s an awesome thing to be able to reach your dream clients and people that totally align with your offering.
2. You deserve to get paid abundantly for the value you bring
I feel confident I’m bringing so much value into my client’s lives, helping them reconnect with their own power and feel better in their bodies and minds. I am sure you are bringing so much to the world too.
If you differentiate yourself on price, your clients will not see the value you bring, only the price aspect. On my side, this is why I don’t do discounts for my private offerings and offer donation-based classes regularly and free yoga at home programs instead to make sure everyone can still get a chance to practice with me.
3. Always teaching yoga for free perpetuates a lack of diversity
Don't let people tell you that because it a spiritual practice or a mindful one teaching yoga is not a business and you shouldn’t earn $$$.
Think about it: who can afford to teach yoga for free? Teaching yoga for free perpetuates the lack of inclusivity in wellness spaces by keeping out people who need to earn money to be there. Everyone, no matter their background should be able to get a yoga instructor job.
4. How to set your rates
If you’re reading this, you are probably wondering how to make money teaching yoga. Your rates depend on your experience, the number of students, your specialty, your location...
You are offering something of value and you should be rewarded for this, if you don’t set the right rates, chances are you'll never make teaching yoga your career. Setting the right rates ensures:
You’ll stay motivated and feel appreciated
You can keep showing up and take care of yourself
You keep investing in your training
How to get a yoga teaching job:
There are so many different types of clients, there are a few I’ve noticed in my own career and how to get started with them. If you’re wondering how to start teaching private yoga classes or how to start teaching corporate yoga, this is for you.
This is how to get a job as a yoga teacher and where to start teaching yoga:
Studios: the most obvious one, just email all the studios you resonate with even if they don’t specifically say they are hiring yoga teachers. Don’t forget to attach your sample class.
Private: Individuals and small groups, to find them at first you can get an account on private tutor websites and private coaching platforms.
Corporate: You can ask your friends if their companies are hiring yoga instructors for their wellness programs. You can find corporate classes while teaching on yoga studios and platforms too.
Online: You can teach for an online studio, or promote your own yoga classes, you can even record content. Make sure you follow these tips to guarantee a good experience.
Associations: This can be a paid or a volunteer yoga teacher opportunity
Events: Online or offline, these are one-off opportunities.
Independently organized: be creative, if you find a need for yoga somewhere, you can organize your own yoga class!
In any case, don’t wait for a yoga teacher vacancy!
How to advance your career as a yoga teacher
1. Have the perfect attitude to attract opportunities
Your attitude is your best advertisement, here are a few tips that will bring you more teaching opportunities:
Honor your needs and learn to say no: It is better to take a bit of me-time when you’re not feeling it to not spread yourself too thin and keep giving high-quality classes.
Use your other skill: a lot of people had a career before teaching yoga or teach yoga part-time. My business and tech skills have helped me consult with companies on the online yoga space, give inspiring presentations, and enjoy creating content. This will multiply the possibilities for you!
Be reliable and go the extra mile: The best advice I’ve been given by my mentor is that showing up and being reliable is already doing half the work. It is so true! When people know they can count on you, they send opportunities your way.
Come from a place of service: Make your classes a fun and enjoyable experience, and make it about your students and the value you can bring them not about yourself.
2. How to make money as a yoga teacher: avoid these mistakes
Avoiding these few newbie mistakes is an easy way to advance your career:
Don’t forget to offer 10 class packs at discounted rates: processing and organizing payment always takes so much time. I was once paid in quarters when starting out so I know what I’m talking about.
Know how much time you are really putting in your class: take into account the time you take to prepare the class, go to the place, teach the class and come back. These add up, so adjust your rates accordingly. My personal rule is “will it still be worth it if this class takes double the time I had initially planned?”
Have a cancellation policy: You will have at least a student that always cancels last minute, while being chill is good, you also want sure you prevent this from happening as there is a big opportunity cost: you could have taught another class, seen a friend or just relaxed during this time.
3. Should you quit your job and teach yoga full-time?
Probably not, as yoga often happens outside of office hours, like in the morning, at night and during the weekends. This is why yoga is an awesome side hustle to have, that can grow while you’re at your day job.
If you’re teaching yoga full-time, you still have plenty of time in your day to work on other projects and this is why a lot of us do several things: from yoga-related projects to continuing our education or having an online business.
I hope you enjoyed this article on how to be a successful yoga teacher, and you are now inspired to create an aligned business that works for you.