So you’ve just finished your 200 hour yoga teacher training. Now what?
Here are five things that you should do to get your yoga teaching engine running.
1. Keep practicing
One of the biggest mistakes that new yoga teachers make once they graduate is to focus on teaching to the exclusion of practicing. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard yoga teachers lament that they didn’t have time to practice. However, your yoga practice is the backbone and inspiration for your teaching. Make it a priority to keep your practice as a sacred part of your schedule. In the long run, your commitment to your personal practice will sustain you. It will also keep you from a cardinal yoga teaching mistake: demonstrating while you teach to get a mini-practice in.
2. Practice teach
Practice teach wherever you can. The large corporate studios for which I’ve worked (Yoga Works and YYoga) won’t even look at you until you have 1-2 years of teaching experience under your belt – and for good reason! It takes awhile for all the content goodness of your 200 hour to seep into your bones. After I graduated from my 200 and 500 hour training, I volunteered at Yoga Works in New York City to get my teaching chops up. Worry less about pay (though here are some tips on that particular subject) and more about getting your skills honed. Here are few options:
- your local community centres
- your friends
- your family
- at your office, or your friends’ offices
- smaller yoga studios: by donation classes
- volunteer organizations
3. Get insurance
Yoga insurance costs about $200 a year. You’ll need it before you teach at most studios. However, go ahead and get it right up front. I’ve never had to lean on my liability insurance, but you are definitely better safe than sorry. And you don’t want to wait to get it if you get a job offer, right? Make sure your insurance covers you for at least 2 million, and that it is valid where you plan on teaching. For example, if you decide to teach in Mexico, you want to make sure that your insurance is good there.
4. Clarify your mission
Why do you want to teach yoga? What does yoga give you that you want to share? As you practice and teach, you will start to develop what studio managers call your “teaching voice.” This vague terms is a combination of factors: your tone, your physical presence, and your teaching style. What kind of class experience do you create? Are you passionate about alignment, or do you want students to focus on their breath? Are you energetic and personality driven, or do you fade into the woodwork to give students space for their own experience? Your particularly mission (WHY) you teach will begin to help you shape your teaching voice, which will help you identify yourself more clearly in the market place.
5. Plant seeds
So you know you want to teach at the funky studio down the street? Well then it’s time for you to become part of that community! Attend classes, find out who’s running the show, and make friends with the regulars. Be honest with management about your intentions: “I’d love to teach here. What do you look for in your teachers?” Get to know the decision makers. At some point, you’ll be ready to audition.
Bonus: Patience
The Yoga Sutra say that practice is “consistent, devoted, and for a long time.” Your teaching is no different. See the big picture: your yoga teaching may become a wonderful companion activity that lasts for your entire life, ripe for exploration and evolution. There’s no rush. Enjoy the transition. And the journey.
