Business Tips for Yogis: Know Thyself

Here’s the news, yoga teachers: your career doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.

We often think that our yoga career must look a certain way in order to be “successful.” Shouldn’t we be like Rachel Brathen or Shiva Rea, and have 100,000 followers, be labelled an influencer, produce online classes, and jetset the world?

Yogis, no. Please let me take that burden off your shoulders.

Here’s the thing: your yoga career should serve your life, not be your life.

Your yoga career should serve your life, not be your life.

All too often, the pleasure and joy that we take in the actual practice of yoga is thwarted by the business itself. We think that we have to fit into a one sized fits all mold and teach 25+ classes a week, become a Lululemon ambassador, and teach workshops in order to live the yoga dream. In our zeal to make it happen, we may neglect our own practice, scrambling to make ends meet, and burn out.

It’s time to step back and do something differently.

Break The Mold

As a way of illustration, I want to share with you a few stories about some friends of mine who have made yoga a part of their lives, but each in a different way.

Case #1: Gretchen

My friend Gretchen is an incredibly popular yoga teacher. She teaches group classes and is faculty in teacher trainings because she likes the person to person contact. Although she has been asked to run a studio, she is not at all interested in moving up to ownership, because her joy comes from connecting directly with her students. To make her life sustainable, she has kept a part time consulting job so that yoga can be a source of joy rather than stress.

Case #2: Andres

Andres works full time as the social media arm of a yoga studio. Although he has taken his teacher training, he doesn’t teach, but instead practices yoga a lot and uses his considerable marketing skills to support a studio that he loves.

Case #3: Maggie

Maggie loves to travel. Her exclusive focus has become facilitating and teaching yoga retreats. Not only does she run her own retreats, but she collaborates with retreat companies to offer exceptional experiences around the world.

Case #4: Amanda

Amanda is your classic full time yoga teacher. She teaches full time (over 25 classes/week), is an ambassador for several yoga brands, and runs workshops. She thrives on the hustle.

Case #5: Marco

Marco created an online yoga site and is now living out his mission to provide free yoga to the world. While he had to put in a lot of time and effort to get his business off the ground, now his work is paying off.

Case #6: Me

Except for a two month stint, I have never taught yoga “full-time.” My sweet spot is about 6 classes per week. I teach teacher trainings, write books and articles, and help studios and teachers around the world develop their business and their teacher trainings. I thrive teaching and helping others to grow.

Case #7: Fatima

Fatima is a studio owner and yoga teacher. She loves building systems, community, and managing people to be their best. Although she put in a lot of time for the first five years, she’s finally in a place where she can begin to delegate more of the day to day.

Time To Thrive

What do all these folks have in common?

Yoga is serving their lives.

We each get our “happy” in different ways. “Thriving” in our yoga business is not simply about making money, it’s about finding the way in which yoga can serve the expression of your core values and your personal mission. For some, yoga serves a core values through building community. For others, it’s promoting wellness. For others, it’s travel.

So here are your questions to ponder:

• How does your yoga practice serve your life?
• How does your yoga teaching serve your life?
• In what contexts do you thrive?
• What do you need to change so that your yoga business can fulfill you more?

If you need to get back to your core values, check out this excellent Mission Worksheet.

More on business here.