Bali Yoga Classes, Bali Yoga Teacher Trainings

How To Get a Yoga Teaching Job

We share the best ways to get a yoga teaching job

So you’ve done your yoga teacher training, deepened your practice to a level even you didn’t think was possible, inverted and twisted and changed your perspective on life and the universe, and now you’re ready to find your first yoga teaching job. Sharing valuable life lessons and awareness with a room full of nervous, stiff and anxious new yogis is something you’ve dreamt of since you started saving for your new lifestyle, and you’re ready to get going! Only one issue. Where to begin?

Yoga studios rarely advertise for teachers, and it’s become the norm for yoga businesses to be small, self-run or privately-owned companies. So how on earth is a brand new yoga teacher supposed to get a job?

5 tips to help get you started on your yoga-teaching journey

1. Use What You Know

The most successful first-time yoga teachers I’ve encountered often have a ‘niche’ area which serves as an attractive feature for potential yoga students. Whether it’s teaching corporate clients, kids, using art, music, dance, or any other form of creativity to teach or promote your classes – using your existing skills and network to further your new career is something you should not overlook. It’s worth getting a bit creative in order to promote yourself and to entice people to take a new class; because when it comes down to it – people will be intrigued by that ‘something different’ that you might have to offer. Take some time to brainstorm unique ways that you could start bringing yoga into your community. Ask yourself:

  • What kinds of spaces are accessible to me?
  • What skills do I have already that I could combine with yoga to make a unique selling point?
  • Who do I know that might be able to help?
  • Am I prepared to make the moves necessary to achieve this?

2. Ask

100% of the first yoga-related jobs I ever got came from simply asking.

Asking existing teachers for advice, asking studio owners, asking friends, acquaintances, old school principals, anybody who might be able to offer you a space to teach in or even put you in contact with someone who could. As the old saying goes – ‘ask and you shall receive’ – and this goes without saying when seeking a yoga teaching job. If nothing else, it’ll give you a great insight to the demand and awareness of the yoga scene in your area, and you’ll also be able to utilise this knowledge to widen your search.

3. Don’t Sell Yourself Short

While it’s tempting to offer free classes to family and friends while your ‘brand-new-yoga-teacher’ title wears off and gets some hands on experience, it’s so important to be aware of when and where giving free lessons reaches a cut-off point. If you don’t take yourself seriously as a yoga teacher, how do you expect others to? Any artist or self-employed entrepreneur knows that ‘exposure’ only goes so far. Understanding more and becoming a little bit tougher when it comes to asking for money in exchange for your services (because even though you might enjoy every second of it, that’s still what you’re providing – a service!) is a vital aspect of securing and maintaining paid yoga-teaching work.

*Also, wherever you go, yoga classes and trainings are not cheap, and you’ve likely spent a great deal on investing in your practice and new choice of career path. Don’t sell yourself short in order to appear charitable!

4.  Make the Mental Shift

While you may not want to quit your previous job or else financially need to stay part-time when you first start teaching yoga, the mindset shift from “I am a *insert job title here*” to “I am a yoga teacher” can take years to fully settle into our minds.

It’s important to fully understand and believe this before you hold space for others to learn yoga. If you’re unsure of yourself, or of what you’re teaching, then chances are your students won’t take it seriously. Taking the profession, your classes and yourself seriously is the first step to truly starting a successful yoga career. You wouldn’t belittle a friend for making a career change and switching gears, so why do it to yourself?

5. Take Action

Actively seeking out teaching spaces, emailing existing studio owners or contacts you think may potentially be interested in taking a class or learning more – this is what it means to take action in creating your ideal life and career. Yoga is for absolutely everybody, so there is nobody that should be excluded from your list of potential students.

Again, taking time to assess available networks in your community and day-to-day life acquaintances can result in some fairly surprising realisations – such as the new office building down the road, a public park or the coffee shop with unused space out back crying out for some candles and essential oils – there’s literally no limit to where you can find a yoga teaching job.

Just make sure you get the necessary permission first! Good luck on finding your first yoga students!

You can find more info on our 200hr Hatha Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Trainings and yoga retreats in Sanur HERE