Teachers Blog

For the past few weeks I have been a busy little bee putting the final touches on my brand new book for The A-Z of Being a Successful Yoga Teacher. While the team gears up for our #virtualblogtour I didn't want the Aquin Yoga community to miss the fun.

Before my first guest blog pops up (somewhere I am very excited about btw), I wanted to let you all in on a little contest I am having. By simply entering, you will get three powerpacked chapters of my new book plus a chance to win:

• A $30 gift card towards Janji apparel (one of my fav clothing companies who works to bring clean water world wide)
• The A-Z of Being a Successful Yoga Teacher audiobook ($20 value)
• The A-Z of Being a Successful Yoga Teacher PDF workbook ($15 value)
• Access to A-Z exclusive online resources ($20 value)
• A 30 minute private teacher coaching session with the author-me! ($75 value)

This book will help both the freelance teacher and studio owner find real tools to thrive and share their love of yoga with the world while making a great living too. You don't need to sell out or burn-out to be successful and this book will teach you how to do it.

Psst. If you can't wait to read the book, you can order your copy as an ebook, audiobook or old fashioned print version here

For the past few weeks, I have had my head down putting finishing touches on my upcoming book The A-Z of Being A Successful Yoga Teacher, so like a total bad yogi, I have not made nearly enough time for my own practice (slap on the wrist).

I get asked about how to build a sustainable lifestyle teaching yoga a LOT. In fact, I first wrote this post as part of a yoga teacher business blog tour hosted by my dear friend Kate Connell. For over 10 years, the core of my teaching business has been small group or one-on-one private classes. For many teachers, finding private classes remains a mystery, and yet it is one of the only ways to make teaching yoga a sustainable career choice. It is my strongly held belief that if you are teaching more than 15 classes a week you are walking a fine line that looks like spreading yourself too thin and future burn out. 

There are three keys I have identified that remain the pillar of my business and the heart of all of my teacher trainings. Spend time mastering these three areas and I promise you will experience positive movement in your own business.  

A few weeks ago, one of my coaching clients reached out for help with an issue she was having with a class that was a lot of work for very little money. 

After her Yoga Teacher Training program, she took on this private class not really knowing what to charge or how to negotiate her rates. She agreed to a rate that was....less than sustainable, yet continued to teach the class even as her schedule filled. Now she finds herself in a difficult situation.

Maybe you have been in this boat too. Have you taken on a ridiculously low paying class simply because you felt that the hundreds of hours you spent training to be a teacher and years before that building a personal practice weren't enough? When you were new, I bet that you would have been willing to teach for free, heck some of you probably did!

There is a popular misconception in the spiritual world that if you love doing something the money will just show up. I don't know about you, but the universe has never sent me a cheque in the mail or paid my rent. Hard work and saying "yes" to the right opportunities is what pays the bills. You also have to be willing to be a business person and negotiate rates that are sustainable for your lifestyle.

While traveling a few years ago, I attended a yoga class that left me puzzled. The instructor taught a challenging sequence full of interesting and creative movements.

It was fun, the teacher was inspiring and I was on my way to having one of the most fulfilling practices I had ever had while on the road....until savasana.

When it came time to finally let go at the end of class, he dimmed the lights, did a relaxation exercise, played a song followed by a chant. Next he read a passage from a book, repeated it twice and brought us back to sitting. I walked away feeling ungrounded and exhausted. After the class, my friend who was along for the ride turned to me and said "what did you think of that corpse pose?"

I replied "I wish he had just let me die".

Today I am thrilled to share a guest post written by meditation master and coach Jeff Carreira. The topic of what we teachers get paid is an important one that doesn't get as much airtime as it needs. Consider, enjoy and share your thoughts in the comments below.

Two Reasons Yoga Teachers Undercharge (And Why You Shouldn’t)

If you teach yoga, or meditation, or any other kind of transformative art, you are probably not charging what you’re worth. You are likely working very hard and long hours not just on your mat or cushion, but also behind the scenes running a business – not to mention the years you have put into practicing yoga in order to have the mastery you need to teach. You are also likely to be barely making ends meet, or worse supplementing your income with another job.

There are two reasons for this and they are related.

The first reason that you undercharge for your services is that our society does not yet fully value the spiritually transformative arts. Currently something like yoga is nestled into the fitness industry. This uncomfortable pairing doesn’t recognize yoga’s spiritual core and benefit. Of course some people do recognize the tremendous value for well-being that yoga represents and also its potential to transform our consciousness and ultimately who we are, but society as a whole is still at the beginning stages of catching on.

Yoga teachers are being cheated. Not in terms of their training in the practice and instruction of yoga. No, there is no shortage of effective, even transformative, programs for becoming a teacher. I’m referring to the lack of training in the business and interpersonal skills required to build a sustainable lifestyle as a yoga teacher.

I’m shocked to see senior teachers settle for less money for a class because they’re too afraid to negotiate with a studio owner.

I’m saddened when I see a wide-eyed new teacher burn out after only a few years because her schedule was even crazier than before she “left the rat race” to follow her dreams. 

And I’m simply flabbergasted by teachers who expect classes and workshops to fill up magically on their own—as though marketing is an evil they left behind when they started teaching.

Today marks a new chapter for Aquin Yoga as we launch a special blog just for teachers. In the months that follow, we will explore the common issues and questions teachers have and start an ongoing conversation. The blog will be more than just my own thoughts and opinion, but will feature insights from guest bloggers and hopefully, all of you.

To kick things off, I want to share an excerpt from my upcoming book The A-Z of Being A Successful Yoga Teacher.