The purpose of this article
The purpose of this article is to help you get paid work as a yoga teacher. I’m not a yoga jobs directory, but before having my baby I was a full time yoga teacher in London. And, especially if you’re a relatively new yoga teacher, I hope this article can be a source of inspiration and encouragement — wherever you are in the world.
I know finding work as a yoga teacher can feel daunting at times, but please know that there are people out there who would love to be taught yoga by you — you just have to look outside of the traditional job market websites to find the work.
Fed up with searching for Yoga teacher jobs and not finding anything?
After my first yoga teacher training, I remember keying into Google Yoga teacher jobs and then yoga instructor jobs in London and variations of this. I had no idea what I was really looking for, I just wanted to start teaching more yoga?
Plus, this is how it had always worked in the past for jobs. I did a Google search and then scrolled through all the possibilities. Maybe you’re doing this right now and happened to stumble upon my article amongst all the job directories out there.
Here’s the thing, what if it doesn’t work like this when it comes to finding work as a yoga teacher? Despite yoga teaching being my main job and source of income, I didn’t find any work by searching for yoga teacher jobs where I lived, which is London.
However, there are a few sites that you might find useful if you’re looking for global yoga teaching jobs or you’d like to combine yoga teaching and travel.
1. Global yoga teaching jobs
I’ve been a member of Yoga Trade for a long time, and think this is a brilliant resource for anyone looking for global work as a yoga teacher. New opportunities are listed here all the time, and think this is a great way of combining yoga and travel if that’s something you’re looking for. It’s also not just about yoga teaching jobs either. There are other related opportunities too that I’ve come across over the years from yoga marketing and social media to writing opportunities.
Another site that I’m not subscribed to, but looks great is Yoga Travel Jobs. Again, if you’re looking for global opportunities as a yoga teacher, it’s definitely worth checking out.
If finding a yoga teaching job abroad is something you’re looking to do, I recommend you check out this article by Yoga Nomads How to Find a Yoga Teaching Job abroad
2. Finding yoga teaching jobs at yoga studios and gyms
On my first yoga teacher training, we were encouraged to create a yoga teaching CV which could be sent off to gyms and yoga studios in the hope of finding work. I never actually did this, and I’m not sure it’s the best approach either.
Before you consider to go down this route, I think it’s really important to ask yourself how much yoga teaching you want to do, and how much money you realistically need to make too.
Do you plan to teach yoga full time, part time, alongside your job, maybe you’re unsure…? You don’t have to have an answer right now, but it’s worth considering, simply because yoga studios and gyms in London pay yoga instructors on average between £25-£30. You might then be paid more money depending on how many students there are in the class, but for new teachers, I think it’s more common to pay a flat rate.
You might be thinking, that sounds great. But when you add on travel costs, the time it takes to get to the yoga studio, class prep and so on, it actually leaves you with very little, especially if you have to teach at lots of different studios and gyms.
I might be wrong here, but I think it would be quite difficult to teach only at gyms and yoga studios and actually make enough money for yoga teaching to be sustainable.
This isn’t, however, to discourage you from trying to find work in yoga studios and gyms. I loved teaching the one weekly class at my local studio. It’s a nice way to be part of your local yoga community and meet other teachers, but for me, I just wouldn’t financially have been able to make a living teaching yoga if I’d have taught the bulk of my sessions in this way.
Instead, I chose to specialise my teaching and be predominantly a private yoga teacher where I taught in people’s homes and sometimes workplaces. We will, however, be discussing where to find private yoga teaching jobs further on in this article.
Approaching a yoga studio for work
If you are approaching a yoga studio, I encourage you to go to some classes there, get to know some of the teachers and see if you would be a good fit. Before I taught a weekly class at my local yoga studio, I did some cover sessions first.
After a while of doing some cover classes, I was then asked if I wanted to teach my own regular class. The rest of my teaching week was then made up of private sessions at people’s homes and workplaces. I enjoyed teaching the one studio class, but chose not to do any more.
I didn’t have to have a yoga CV, but the studio owner did want my yoga bio, which is something that will be useful to have written if you haven’t already.
Writing your yoga teacher bio
For tips on writing your yoga teacher bio, check out this Yoga Alliance article Tips for Crafting Your Yoga Bio
Finally If you’re UK based and looking for advertised yoga teaching positions, I have seen jobs being advertised on Leisure Jobs, which might be worth having a look at too.
3. Find private yoga teaching jobs in person and online
Private yoga teaching is where I found the majority of my work. In a way I fell into this way of teaching and discovered after teaching my first private students that this was a style of teaching really suited to me, despite being a new teacher at the start.
So, where can you find private yoga clients right now — wherever you are in the world? One great place to start is through a lead generation website.
These sites basically help to connect service providers (e.g. yoga teachers ) with people looking for that service (e.g. your ideal private yoga students). When I was building my initial private yoga student base, I used the UK website Bidvine, but here’s a breakdown of different lead generation websites throughout the world.
Lead generation websites for finding private yoga students
- Bidvine — UK
- Yogi2Yogi — UK
- Thumbtack — USA
- Air Tasker — Australia
- Star of Service — Over 130 countries worldwide
I only have personal experience using Bidvine, but when used with a clear strategy and system in place, it was extremely effective. Just make sure that when you respond to people, you personalise your messages.
It also helped me a lot to offer introductory or taster sessions at a discount first which I think helped me to stand out. Once the initial connection has been made, you no longer have to operate through the website which is great because you don’t have to give away a percentage of your earnings.
It does cost a small amount of money to contact each potential lead or client, but this has been more than worth it for me.
How to become a personal yoga teacher
If you like the idea of being a personal yoga teacher, I recently finished creating an online course called the Art and Business of Teaching Yoga One-to-One which you can access on Udemy below
The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga One-to-One
4. Connect with at least one other local yoga teacher
It’s amazing how few yoga teachers do this one, but this is probably one of the best ways of finding work where you live as a yoga teacher without actually having to do any marketing, advertising or searching.
During my first yoga teacher training, I had a full time job at the time, and someone put me in touch with the yoga teacher who worked at the gym on campus. She was a really experienced teacher, who was happy to give me any cover work, despite that I was still a teacher in training.
Similarly, I was once contacted by another local yoga teacher who was looking for more work locally and to connect with other teachers. Only one yoga teacher has actually been in touch simply to connect. I think we could all benefit from doing this more. For example, I will refer enquiries that I can’t take on to other local yoga teachers and one of them was the person who got in touch with me.
I also know of people sometimes handing over their whole client bases when they go on maternity leave, so don’t underestimate the power of connecting with other yoga teachers.
5. It’s time to look outside of the yoga studio and existing yoga communities
According to a recent Eventbrite survey on the growth of yoga, only 38% of the people surveyed practised yoga in a yoga studio, which means the majority of people doing yoga are doing it elsewhere. Yet, for many of us yoga teachers, finding work at a studio is often the first port of call.
One of the great things about teaching private yoga sessions is that you often get to reach a wider group of people, and go to places where yoga isn’t traditionally practiced. For example, I’ve taught yoga for a local Mencap community group. I’ve been into workplaces and taught after work sessions, and perhaps the most memorable yoga class I’ve ever been to was at Glastonbury — practising in wellies in the mud. I wish I’d taken a photo.
The takeaway — yoga is for everyone, every situation, and providing there’s space, it can be done pretty much anywhere. So, for those of you who want to teach group classes but you might not want to set up your own by hiring space etc, think about approaching existing groups and communities outside of the traditional yoga setting. Here are some ideas
Places to approach for teaching group yoga classes outside of the yoga studio
- Workplaces
- Sports clubs
- Antenatal classes
- Charities
- Hotels and spas
The great thing about this, is that the class is ready made and you already have a space to teach in — you just need to turn up and teach.
Know your ‘why’ and have a focus
It sounds counterintuitive to say narrow your focus especially because I just had a whole section on yoga being for everyone. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the teacher for everyone. I genuinely think being focused is what helped me to find work as a yoga teacher.
Early on, I decided that my approach to teaching yoga was going to be individuals, couples and small groups of people who were keen to know more about yoga beyond asana and physical movement.
I focused on private yoga sessions and now, although I’m not a well known teacher in London, I think potential clients can see that this style of teaching is my focus and something I really enjoy — rather than private sessions just being an afterthought to accompany my group classes.
Finding yoga teacher jobs — Final thoughts
I’ve taken quite a broad overview of where to find work as a yoga teacher, which I hope has given you some inspiration and pointers as to where to go next.
Yoga is growing in popularity, and really is practised by people from all walks of life, which means there really is work everywhere.
Rather than waiting for the opportunities to come your way or thinking that yoga studios are the only places to find work, I encourage you to look beyond the yoga world, to create your own yoga teaching opportunities in places where yoga isn’t traditionally practised.
Finally, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you have any tips for aspiring yoga teachers looking for work? Have I missed anything that you think would be useful for others? Did you find work as a result of this article? I’d love to hear how you get on.
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