Benefits of Teaching at a Yoga Studio
A friend recently asked me whether teaching at yoga studios would be the right move for her. She saw that I taught regular classes at studios and wanted to know how she could get started doing that.
Although I practiced at yoga studios, I didn’t immediately start teaching there. I was scared to apply, although I now recollect that I did send some emails. Early on, I told myself that I was not going to limit myself to yoga studios, but teach yoga where I could.
Fast forward now to me teaching every week at yoga studios… I wrote this blog post to share the benefits for anyone who wants to know whether teaching at yoga studios is the right move for them.
These are the main benefits of teaching at a yoga studio:
1. You focus on being a yoga teacher, not a business owner.
This may not be as relevant if you’re a full-time teacher, but some of the pressure of finding students is taken off when you teach at yoga studios. Yoga studios will have a more established brand to attract clientele, making it attractive for teachers who are either starting out and may not have a following, or are teaching part-time and do not have many hours to dedicate to find students.
Generally speaking, you’re not expected to market classes or secure new leads for the studio. You don’t have to spread the word about your class schedule, remind students their membership is expiring, or let them know the travel logistics etc. because all of that is presumably handled by the studio. I mean, you can if you want to, but you don’t have to get into the weeds of the backend stuff. You can just show up to teach at the appointed time and date.
That being said, some studios may expect more from their teachers, especially if they are smaller. It’s a red flag if studios come down on teachers to market their classes or sell memberships. What can also be common for small studios is they might ask teachers to support with front desk duties by helping check people in or clean the room after use.
It is up to the teacher to decide what they are comfortable with or what is the best use of their time. Studios can take advantage of teachers, so it is best to remember this is a job.
A job isn’t perfect, so what are you willing to trade for your time, energy, and labour? It is important to be professional in how you conduct yourself with management and staff. Understand that your marketable skills are not just in teaching yoga but how easy you are to work with, and how reliable your word is.
A final point here is that while some of the pressure is taken off you when you teach at studios, you also have less power in deciding what classes you teach.
2. You get better at reading yoga students
The more that I teach at yoga studios, the more that I focus less on myself and more on the students. When I first started out, I found it hard to get out of my own head. I teach a weekly chair yoga class for seniors where folks drop in halfway through class, make jokes with their neighbours, and laugh in merriment at certain unthinkable poses. I take this all in stride because I know that atmosphere and mood is exactly what the group needs to make their communal yoga practice enjoyable. While this class is not taught at a studio, my navigation of yoga studio cultures has helped to prepare me for tougher crowds that in hindsight, makes this drop-in class easy to please!
The more that you teach, the more that you get better at figuring out student expectations for yoga classes, which vary widely, and whether you will be the right yoga teacher for them.
Something to consider here as well is that sometimes you get better teaching yoga, based on a studio’s criteria of what a yoga class is. That might not be what your idea of a good yoga class is, so it’s important to know if you actually like a studio’s classes. Would you practice there? Would you recommend it to people? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, that will be a promising place to hone your teaching skills.
3. You build your yoga community.
While the above points could very well be said for teaching at any fitness studio that offers yoga classes, teaching at a yoga studio will build your yoga community. Not just the students but also the teachers as well as the managers.
The yoga teachers I’ve met at yoga studios have been helpful in telling me about teaching opportunities. It makes sense as you take each other’s classes and see how each other teach, you now have teachers you can ask to sub classes or tell them about class openings. Like in any work environment, be aware of studio politics.
Most successful yoga studios cater to a niche clientele. Yoga studio members love their yoga practice and will resonate with teachers who share a genuine passion for the practice too. If you enjoy creative or advanced sequencing, sequencing that requires a more consistent habit of yoga, yoga studios are generally a great place to teach at because even beginner students display a wider range of mobility, balance, and strength than what you may see at community centres.
If you’re still not sure whether teaching at yoga studios is right for you, here are some questions to ask yourself:
Do your research and find out what yoga studios are popular in your local area and why. Take classes there to see if you like the space.
Ask around and determine the average hourly rate for yoga teachers at studios. Know for yourself what fair compensation is for you.
Reflect on whether you are able to commit to teaching a regular yoga class. Think about it like this. If you have a regular class but you have a social engagement that comes up, would you rather teach the class or go to the social engagement? If you do not want to take on the commitment of having a weekly class, the sub list is a great place to be.
Observe whether studio management is supportive of teaching staff. Red flags I’ve noticed are how managers talk down to teachers and/or front desk, play favourites, indulge in gossip, or behave punitively when teachers require subs for their classes.
Was this helpful? Let me know if you’re interested in more blogs on this topic of navigating the professional world of yoga.
Written By: Irene Lo