Most of us don’t begin a career as a yoga instructor for the income; we have a genuine love for the practice and hope to share it with others. But for an industry that claims it is filled with love and positive vibes, it can be a very competitive space where it is difficult to make a living.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see new yoga teachers making when they are first starting out:

1. Focusing Too Much on Studio Classes

This is one that I definitely fell into when I first became an instructor and was a lot easier to do before my kids were born. I would teach anything, anywhere, at any time. At my busiest, right before I got pregnant with my first, I was teaching about fourteen classes a week. And guess what? Despite working six days a week, constantly driving everywhere, I was barely paying the bills.

Let’s do some quick math on how that happened. We’ll assume that I was making about $40 a class (which is actually more than what I was making). 

14 classes at $40/class is $560

$560 x 52 weeks is $29,120/year

Maybe $29,000 per year doesn’t sound terrible. But the math above assumes that I taught every single class, every single week. It doesn’t account for sick days or appointments, vacation time, professional development, snow days or those days where a weekly class fell on a holiday. It also doesn’t account for injury. I am 100% certain that if I hadn’t had to pause teaching to have my son, my body would have made me stop.

Trust me when I say that teaching this many classes isn’t sustainable, not in the long run. It’s important to have lots of streams of income—some that may involve lots of hands-on work from you and others that might take a lot of initial set-up, but not a lot of day to day management. Rather than running yourself ragged, think about things you can offer besides studio classes. Can you teach private classes? Do you have an idea for a series? What about workshops and retreats? Think outside the box.

2. Being a Jack of all Trades

Kids yoga? Okay! Kundalini? Sure! Corporate mindfulness series? Why not?

A lot of us start out teaching so hungry to get experience that we say yes to opportunities that really aren’t a good fit for us. This can be a bit of a Catch-22—we need to try out a few things before knowing what we don’t like. Unfortunately, when we try to serve everyone, we end up serving no one. We dilute what makes us special and unique.

If you think about your favourite yoga teachers, you can probably list a few things that they are really good at. I’m sure that there is also a whole slew of things that they just don’t do. Find the things that light you up—that you can talk about for hours—and become really good at those. Share what you know and help others to see why you are so passionate about a particular style of yoga or subject matter. Become the go-to person on the subject. Your people will find you.

3. Covering Up Their Personality Online

I see this a lot with very new instructors. We all want to seem professional. We may even have aspirations to grow our business to include others. But that doesn’t mean that you should run your social media accounts like a big faceless organization. People aren’t looking to follow “Yoga Inc,” they want to follow real people with real stories. Stock photography and copy that doesn’t reflect who you are can be alienating in an industry that is all about personalities. People usually don’t attend classes with an instructor because they expertly cue a sun salutation: they attend because they like the instructor’s personality. 

Include details that people care about in your social media bios, such as where you are located and what you like to do outside of yoga. And please please please include your name and a picture of yourself. You don’t need to break the bank on hundreds of professional photos—an iPhone or Android can take great photos. Let people get to know you before they decide to practice with you.

I don't hold all of the answers, but I hope that this has given you a bit to think about. Please let me know if you have any questions. Experienced yoga teachers: what mistakes did you make in the early days? What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

I’ve talked about how to find teaching jobs in studios, but once you get the job, should you take it?

Most yoga teachers love what they do...and sometimes this leads them into bad situations.

As yoga instructors we’ve benefited a lot from having yoga in our lives, and we’re hungry to share the practice. Sometimes, though, this causes us to turn a blind eye to red flags or ignore those bad feelings in our bellies.

Over the last few years I’ve had a lot of newer instructors reach out to me to ask if an opportunity seemed like a good one. (Spoiler: usually if you have to ask, you should pass.) 

I’ve taught at a lot of studios and gyms over the last few years—some I wish I hadn’t. Here is a list of things I look for when considering teaching in a new space. Perhaps it will help save you some grief in your own teaching journey.

1. The listed instructors don’t appear on the schedule.

If none (or few) of the teachers who appear on the website are actually teaching at the studio, this might tell you that there’s a lot of turnover. When I look at the studio’s website, I also like to see a mix of instructors from a variety of backgrounds. Are senior teachers on the schedule or did everyone just graduate from teacher training? Evidence that people don’t stick around long at a studio is a HUGE red flag.

2. The website and social media haven’t been updated in a while.

A yoga studio needs a website. Social media is less important, but whatever they do have online should be accurate and kept up to date. As an instructor, I want to know that my students receive a professional experience when they purchase class passes. Will emails be returned? Will the phone be answered? I can’t control how the studio operates...but that doesn’t keep a poor customer service experience from reflecting negatively on me.

3. The owner or manager don’t seem comfortable discussing money.

Before you take on a new position you should feel comfortable asking what compensation will be and when you will get paid. Does the studio expect you to submit a monthly invoice? Will your payment be based on the number of students? If you can’t get a clear answer or (heaven forbid) you don’t get paid when you should, create your exit strategy. 

4. The studio is dirty and run down.

When I teach at a studio, I think of it as a mutually beneficial relationship—it is in our best interests to grow our businesses together. Ideally, the instructor should bring new students to the studio, while the studio exposes the students to different instructors.

A dirty studio can ruin the whole experience for a yoga student. If a studio can’t be bothered to keep the space clean I begin to second guess their investment in the business and community—how much do they care about the quality of their teachers? What are they doing to ensure the safety of their students? Does it seem like they might close without paying their instructors or fulfilling their contracts with students? 

Keeping a studio clean is a fairly straightforward task. If they are letting that slide, what else are they neglecting?

Have I missed anything? What are your “red flags”? What lessons have you learned along the way? Leave me a comment below!