Back in 2015, I nervously and excitedly took on my first private yoga students straight out of my yoga teacher training. I hadn’t actively been looking for private clients, and was under the impression during my training that this was something I could consider once I’d got some more experience first. The focus was on creating a decent yoga teaching bio and CV — still important, but for private yoga, not so.
I remember feeling really inadequate and felt like I would be judged by the invisible yoga police if they knew that a new teacher had just taken on two people to teach privately at their home.
I’m, therefore, writing this post because I’d like to encourage more new teachers to consider teaching yoga one to one as an option.
This is all ridiculous, because of course new teachers can take on private clients, yet, this didn’t stop me feeling this way. I’m, therefore, writing this post because I’d like to encourage more new teachers to consider teaching yoga one to one as an option.
You can still teach group classes, run community events, retreats, etc, but I’ve found that teaching yoga one to one, is a great way of sharing other parts of yoga too — to those who are keen to learn more. And while I don’t believe anyone should take on private clients purely for the money, you inevitably make more money with private yoga sessions as opposed to only teaching in studios and gyms, so in this respect, I believe it’s a really sustainable way of teaching.
In all honesty, during my first yoga teacher training I was inwardly really scared about having to put myself out there full stop. The focus of my first training had been on teaching groups and the few group cover sessions I had taught, I had been so nervous, it was difficult for me to truly let go and enjoy it. This changed over time, but teaching my first private session, felt a lot more natural for me.
What uses more energy — group or private yoga sessions?
There’s a lot of talk about private sessions taking up more energy than teaching group classes and that they’re harder to teach, which is why I think I had originally thought they were reserved for the so-called yoga teaching elite. But this has been the opposite experience for me, and it might be for you too.
On the whole, I much prefer socialising with people in small groups or one to one. I love being around people, and creating connections, but often in a group I can naturally feel quite lost.
In the context of yoga teaching, teaching group classes did get easier for me and I came to really enjoy the two group sessions I had scheduled into my teaching week. The rest of my week, however, was filled with private clients and I know if it was the other way round — teaching mainly group classes — this would have really drained me.
The truth is that I’ve never felt drained after teaching a private session. I truly enjoy giving all of my energy and focus to just one or two people for an hour. Perhaps this is because I just got used to this way of teaching. Or maybe we all have a natural preference. And if you are a new teacher right now, you could be similar.
Start from where you’re at. You are enough right now
I was grateful to teach two people privately to start with who were happy to be taught by a new teacher. No one asked to see my yoga bio, or tell me to come back after I’d got some more experience first. I was enough as a new teacher. I could start teaching from what I knew best and felt most inspired to share, and then continue to learn every day, and from every new person I taught.
I can only speak from experience about building up a private yoga teaching practice in London, but there are lots of people out there who would like to have private or one to one yoga sessions. You naturally teach fewer people if you choose to specialise in private yoga teaching, but in a way, doesn’t this mean that there are more than enough private clients for everyone?
I would hate to think that there’s competition amongst yoga teachers, but I can honestly say that when it comes to teaching yoga privately, there really is no competition at all -— even when there are multiple teachers in the same area. Naturally, different people will be attracted to different yoga teachers and that’s OK.
The beautiful thing about yoga is that it really is for everyone, but as I’ve come to realise, I might not be the best private yoga teacher for everyone and that’s OK. For example, let’s say someone is turning to private yoga sessions to help overcome a sports related injury, I would probably refer this person to someone else who specialised in this area.
Where to find your next (or first) private yoga student
When I did start to make this my full time job alongside running my website, it really helped to focus on just one new student at a time.
Rather than trying to grow my audience and teach huge group classes which for me seemed really daunting, I just thought, if two people enjoy what I’m doing, there must be more people out there who do too. London after all has a growing population of well over eight million. Surely I could find just one more person, and then another and so on. This is exactly what I did. And I’m now keen to show you how you can grow your private yoga teaching practice too.
After I had my baby, I turned my attention to creating my first online course which is called How to be a Private Yoga Teacher in Just 8 Weeks. I know that creating a sustainable yoga teaching career for many seems daunting and a lot of yoga teacher trainings don’t adequately equip yoga teachers to actually make teaching yoga a reality. I hope that in my course, I can bridge this gap.
If you’d like a free taster of what to expect, you can check out my free mini course which is called How to Find Your Next (or First) Private Yoga Student (You can sign up below)
The course is short and really easy to get through, but we cover a lot. My intention is for you to find just one loyal private yoga student who you love teaching. We go over all the places you can find private yoga students, what to offer them, and also how to keep your client long term as opposed to them doing a few sessions with you ad hoc and then never returning.
Simply fill out the form below to get access. I’d love to know how you get on
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