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 do that where she lived.
Although I practiced at yoga studios, I didn’t immediately start teaching there. There were a couple of reasons why. I was scared to apply, and I didn’t think I would be successful teaching there. I suffered from low self esteem and low self confidence, so it made sense that I felt this way at the time. I decided to focus on teaching yoga wherever I could, not limiting myself to yoga studios.
Flash forward to now where I’ve been teaching at studios for the past few years now, and I do not feel the way I used to do. I do not feel special or above yoga teachers that don’t teach at studios. I do feel grateful for my home yoga studios and the people who support me as a teacher and understand the value I offer in yoga communities.
I’ve also learned what I enjoy about teaching at yoga studios.
These are the main benefits of teaching at a yoga studio:
1. You focus on being a yoga teacher, not a business owner.
You may be interested in becoming a full-time yoga teacher, in which case you are still a business owner, but some of that pressure is taken off you when you teach at yoga studios.
Generally speaking, you’re not expected to market classes or secure new leads for the studio. You don’t have to spend time to spread the word out to people, remind students to keep coming to class, or let them know the logistics etc. because all of that is being handled by the studio. You don’t have to worry about whether students will come because all you have to do is show up to teach.
That being said, some studios may expect more from their teachers. It’s not normal for studios to expect teachers to market classes or secure new leads, and it’s honestly a bit of a red flag if they are being pushed to do so. What is more common is studios expecting teachers to support front desk duties of checking people in or to clean the room after use. You may run into this more among smaller studios. In my opinion, it all depends on what you are comfortable with. Studios can definitely take advantage of unsuspecting teachers, so it’s best to think of this as a job.
A job isn’t perfect but what are you comfortable doing? This is where it is important to treat this job as a job, no matter what happens. Be professional in how you analyze situations, communicate, and bow out. Understand that your skills are not just teaching yoga but how easy you are to work with, and how likeable you are.
A final point here is that while some of the pressure is taken off you when you teach at studios, that also means you have less decision-making power because you are reliant on the whims of studios that ultimately get to say what classes to put on the schedule, who gets to teach or sub the classes.
2. You get better at teaching yoga.
Studios always have yoga classes that they need to fill. If you teach at a studio and they like you, they will give you more classes. The more you teach, the more you get comfortable teaching, and the more you will be confident when you teach.
The more that I teach at yoga studios, I find I focus less on myself and more on the students. The less experience I had teaching, I certainly found it harder to get out of my own head. Sometimes, teachers can get complacent as soon as they no longer feel teaching yoga is a challenge. This tends to affect their classes in their lack of preparation or how they hold space. Taking continuing education, teaching in new environments with different folks can keep teachers expanding their ability to teach to all with safety and inclusivity in mind.
Teaching yoga is about teaching people, so you get better at understanding what you are seeing in your students. This can be in terms of what their bodies are doing, but also in what they are communicating through their body language. Having a trauma-informed knowledge of yoga means that you are able to understand when you may be experiencing dysregulation or recognize it in your students, and take the appropriate action to make them feel safe.
This can be a double-edged sword for some folks, especially if you have an issue with time management. You may end up being asked to take on a lot of classes. This will impact your energy. It will also cut down on your own personal practice. Many new yoga teachers can struggle with this. I think that’s why I enjoy traveling away to practice yoga so I can pretend once again to be a student without the responsibilities of being a teacher.
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 do the research to figure out if you actually like a studio’s classes. Would you practice there? Would you recommend it to people? If the answer 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 for 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. As a result, they may have standards and expectations for their yoga teacher, and it can sometimes be a little awkward at the beginning when you’re a new teacher and may not know what students are used to.
If you enjoy advanced sequencing or 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 you know what yoga studios are popular in your city?
What studios are close to you? (This is important because commuting over 30 minutes to a yoga studio will not be fun on a regular basis!)
If you know why you want to teach at yoga studios, can you answer why a particular studio?
How much do you want to be paid for your labour? Take into consideration your skills, not just years of experience. If you’re willing to work at a lower hourly rate at the start of your teaching career, what do you get in return? Does that seem fair and for how long will you do that for?
Are you able to commit to a regular class? Are you able to help out with substitute classes? 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? Sometimes, there is conflict but if you do not want to take on the commitment of a weekly class, being on the sub list is a great place to be.
Does studio management appear professional and supportive of their teachers? Red flags I’ve noticed are how managers talk down to teachers and/or front desk, play favourites, indulge in gossip, or behave oddly 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