What it takes to make it as a yoga teacher
Or as any kind of freelancer!
Jason and I published a new Yogaland episode yesterday called What It Takes to Make It as a Yoga Teacher and it’s one of my favorites that I’ve done with him in awhile. After so many years of practice, I enjoy the big concept episodes, the ones that require us to think deeply and reflect.
This topic is a big elephant in the room. Teaching yoga seems like the dreamiest of dreamy professions. It’s one that people leave their corporate job for, because they long for something less intense, less stressful, and more rewarding.
And while it can be more rewarding, making a sustainable living teaching yoga is not easy, breezy, Handstands on the beach. To put it plainly: Teaching yoga is not particularly high-paying and it requires a Swiss-army knife of skills and knowledge. I didn’t expect that teaching yoga would be so hard — did you? No one talks about this!
So, we talk about it on the podcast. Jason shares the skills he’s developed over the past 30 years of teaching, as well as some pivotal moments where he was faced with the choice of “evolve or die.”
It made me think back on my own short-lived yoga teaching career and prompted me to put together the list below.
As I came up with this list I thought to myself, ‘Hmm…these might just be life skills that are needed in any entrepreneurial career.’ I spent a few years in the early 2000s trying to make it as a freelance writer and separately as a yoga teacher only to fail dismally at both. Perhaps if I’d had this list back then I might have made one of those professions work? Then again, wisdom is hard-earned and one of my favorite things about being the age that I am.
OK, here goes: Andrea’s 4 Must-Have Skills for Making it as a Freelancer
Out of box thinking, aka hustle
One of the mistakes I made in my freelance writing life is that I focused too narrowly — I wanted to write for top tier magazines and that was it. I spent so much time and energy pursuing one way of being a writer that when I couldn’t make that work, I felt like a failure. Worse, I didn’t think creatively about other gratifying or profitable ways to share my writing. I got bored and lonely and within about a year, I was back at a desk job.
I see yoga teachers doing this, too — it’s normal to hope that you’ll have someday have a coveted time slot at your favorite yoga studio. But these days there are so many ways to teach yoga and many of them are more profitable than studio gigs.
Maybe you focus on working with a population that you’re interested in — children or older people and you pitch afterschool programs, dance studios, or senior living communities. Maybe you combine your other skills — say, being a writer — with teaching yoga and decide to teach an online workshop that combines the two. Or maybe you specifically decide to target a higher paying yoga job and go train with someone like Maryam Sharifzadeh (my guest on episode 323) in Office Yoga.
Jason mentions on the podcast that he had other jobs/side hustles for 10-12 years before solely focusing on yoga teaching. I hope that this is not disheartening, but rather helps you feel like it is completely “normal” and valid to grow your career at your own pace and in your own way.
A passion for learning forever and ever and ever
It goes without saying that continuing to hone your craft and learn from different yoga teachers is an important investment of your time and money. But one of the things that I watched Jason do over the years is throw himself into learning about all sorts of things related to running a yoga business: When he had a director position at the Bay Club, he became interested in learning more about leadership; when he had a bad shoulder injury years later he forged a relationship with an orthopedic surgeon and started to learn anatomy through that lens, over the past four years he has spent countless hours learning about video lighting and production (and now calls himself an “artist” 👨🎨).
When you work for yourself, you’re required to wear many hats. When you embrace this, it keeps your job interesting.
A willingness (and some cushion) to experiment and fail
The other crucial mistake I made when striking out as a freelance writer is that I didn’t have enough financial cushion. I had maybe 2-3 months of living expenses saved. This was not nearly enough time for me to figure things out.
You might ask — well, how much money should I save? I can’t answer that for you because your cost of living, expenses, and comfort level are all very personal. But if I had to do it over again, I’d give myself six months of living expenses with the idea that I could try different avenues to develop my teaching online.
The truth is, online teaching offers so much flexibility and creativity, but it does require time and strategy to build up an email list so that you can “get people in the door.”
Now, with your financial cushion in place, you must still have the willingness to fail. Put simply you have to be brave to work for yourself. There’s no set job description that you can assess yourself by; no way to check off the boxes at the end of the day.
It’s easy to feel like you’re failing in big and small ways all the time. Your new class is not picking up enough students, your workshop pitches flopped, you don’t have a big social media following, you feel like an imposter.
Instead of personalizing failure or viewing it as a reflection on your talent, try looking beneath the failure to see what you can learn from it. Jason tells the story on the podcast of a period where he started to get feedback that his classes weren’t “hard enough.” This was years into his teaching career and he was a damn good teacher.
I remember it well — I remember that he was angry and hurt. And then, gradually, he made shifts in the way that he taught. He stayed true to himself, but he was also responsive and flexible. Looking back now, that was an important turning point in his teaching where he came into his own as a vinyasa teacher.
The ability to organize yourself, your day, your processes
Working for yourself requires a ton of executive function skills. (Think of executive function as the administrative assistant in your brain, making sure that tasks are organized, prioritized, and executed in a timely, consistent manner.)
When I started working for myself, I couldn’t wait to be free of a 9-6 schedule. And yet without that schedule, I often felt like I was floating out on a lake with no wind in my sails.
Running a successful business means you need to create structure for yourself each day, even if you don’t have anywhere to be. It means that you can’t rely on the background hum of an office to motivate you when you just don’t feel like it.
It also means that you have to create your own workflows and processes. You have to have the organizational skills to conceive of ideas (like, say, a workshop), figure out how or where to pitch them (a studio? online? the Crossfit gym where you workout?), market and sell them, execute them, and follow-up (by getting people on your email list and make sure you get paid).
It’s a lot! And it might be one of the most underestimated parts of the job.
Many years into freelance life, I now know a few things about my daily schedule:
I have my most productive days when I have 30-60 minutes to move my body before I sit down to work.
Immediately after yoga or working out is my most creative period of the day, where I can work on podcast planning and research or creating content.
Afternoon (or often evening/nighttime because of parenting duties) is the time for less thinky work like production, answering emails, or simple graphic or copyediting.
Lastly, I know that in order for my executive function to be functional, I need some companionship. I need to interact with another person or a warm body to work next to. I feel lucky that I have Jason as a work buddy; if I didn’t have him I would definitely find someone I could meet for coffee a few times/week.
I feel like I could go on and on, but I’d love to know what you think. Is this helpful? What have I missed that you feel is essential to working for yourself? Let me know in the comments.
Last thing: Jason is teaching a webinar next week where he will expand on this topic. You can join him by signing up here: What It Takes to Make It as a Yoga Teacher.
I lied, one more thing. This week’s episode:
I have been teaching yoga in a small community since 2001. I opened my own studio at that time and it has changed locations once. I have gone through COVID and learned how to teach online and now all of my classes are hybrid.
I was also diagnosed with MS in 2005 and have continued to do what I do. Many of the students that I'm teaching now have been practicing with me since I first started.
Prior to this my husband and I owned restaurants so everything I learned from my restaurant mentor and being in that business for most of my adult life carried over into the business of yoga.
It has been challenging and gratifying. I think it takes a lot of courage, resiliency, faith, and a love of yoga that is expressed through sharing it with others.
I think it also takes some luck whatever that is haha.
Also, I wanted to say how much I appreciate you and Jason and how down to earth and honest you are with all that you teach and share. You are really good friends to have. Thank you so much for what you do.
I just got back from a long drive listening to you and Jason. What a wonderful conversation. I was laughing at the title of "wanderer" given to Jason. I admire the dedication and time that your journey has taken. I am grateful that I have been along for the ride for most of it. Looking back, I remember the struggle to find a yoga class in the rural communities where I lived. My private practice took off, but I missed the connection and community of in-person classes. I do miss the 90-minute formats though. It was like stepping into a magical portal. When I started yoga, I had small children and the class was my only time away from them. What a true gift. Thank you for all your continued work and open sharing. It has been very helpful and inspiring.