Money motivation might take you into business or banking, but I don’t think anyone sets out to teach yoga for the money. However, once the hard graft of twelve plus classes a week kicks in, not to mention class planning, admin chores, class delivery and always being “yogic” for your students, if you’re not earning, it might just start to rile you!

So let’s think strategically, make a business plan, and define just what you want to happen. Then you can review and amend the plan as needed along the way.

Money Matters

If this is already making you squeamish - all this crude, unholy talk of money, then it's worth considering how your ideas about money have evolved and whether they help or hinder you and your students.

Don't worry- I've been there, dedicated to working without pay - I actually lived for years in a community where all income went into a pot and we just took a tiny bit of pocket money, which I didn’t even take as I didn’t need it most of the time!

I identified money as being pretty much unnecessary and a distraction from the real purpose of living and sharing and giving.

Interestingly in traditional India it is considered a healthy part of life to create wealth, they identify four key purposes or “objects for human pursuit”, that should be fulfilled for a well balanced life.

Dharma: right path/ livelihood as in the Gita and Arjuna’s moral dilemma.
Atha: wealth
Kama: desire or pleasure - contrary to popular culture’s representation of India, this is no prudish culture!
Moksha: liberation - perhaps with renunciation in later life, or the skill of living in this world but not of this world- the ideal proposed in the Gita.

Being realistic we need enough income to live well, to be safe, secure, eat well and thereby to fulfil our dharma as yogis and to serve our students. This is a whole massive topic but let’s just sign this part off with a quote from Marianne Williamson, that may be relevant to our finances and our role as teachers of yoga.

“You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.”

Once we overcome any reluctance about making money- which in terms of chakras, means we can balance the root chakra, muladhara to be stable and secure; we can turn to our desires - this is the second chakra realm.

What is your passion?

When we get really clear about what it is we want to do, we light up and our passion will shine.

So consider:

What drew you to yoga in the first place and motivated you to teach? Remember back to the halcyon days when you first knew you had to share the world of yoga with others? Determine, in a sentence, what you wanted to share and who you wanted to share it with.

Define what you do.

Word of mouth is free marketing, so the more clearly we define what we want to share, the easier it is for us to shout about it, and for others to spread the work to their friends.

Perhaps you’re thinking you like variety and don’t want to specialise. That’s fine there may be an underlying spirit that defines your work, rather than a specific type of yoga.

I personally love to integrate ancient wisdom with current science and to share it in a trauma sensitive way. So it’s applications are quite broad, but I can write it - just like that - in a sentence!

So sit quietly, feel into the wisdom of your heart and specify exactly what it is you offer. Or what the quality of your teaching is.

There are so many specific ways to focus on yoga that people may need. There is often a specific reason why anyone wants to start yoga, or find a new yoga teacher. So if your class speaks to that person they are more likely to come to you.

Don’t be afraid to alienate others - we can’t be the perfect teacher for everyone, but if we communicate with truth this is often enough. Exactly what it is that our students are looking for? Something, someone clear and honest.

You can still group different class types under one theme, e.g. kids yoga, pregnancy yoga & vinyasa yoga could be grouped as “family yoga”. Having the trust of women during pregnancy as well as with their children means they are likely to come to you for vinyasa also. But you can target your marketing more towards women without preventing men from coming along.

Be an expert

The best way to get ahead in any business is to be known for your area of expertise. Be THE go to person for that service. To be seen as ‘an expert’ in a specific field. It’s likely that you have an area of expertise based on your own personal experience. Or perhaps just a shift in focusing your practice and home study in a specific way is enough?

It could be that by really honing your skills in teaching beginners you become the go to person for really accessible beginners’ classes and that's enough to start with, the rest grows from there.

Or, it could be that you know a load of mums/ young kids and you have a broader role - everything around perinatal, postnatal and it expands from there into women’s health over time.

For now find the one area that fills you with passion and that is within reach, or you can see your way to with a little more training.

Since yoga is a relatively unregulated profession we don’t have to have training in every form of yoga we want to offer. If you have the life experience to teach the form of yoga you’d like to offer, then go for it! But bear in mind that sometimes investing in some specific training can be invaluable and transform your confidence and ability to teach, setting your classes apart from the rest.

Writing Exercise

In one sentence describe:

What does yoga mean to you? (really, personally)

e.g. Yoga is my way to feel calm when things are tough, it helps me come home to myself.
e.g. Yoga is a movement practice that helps me feel more comfy in my body.

What from this do you most want to share with your students?

e.g. How to feel calm/ less anxious
e.g. How to have less back ache

How will you do this? What works for you?

e.g. To feel calm- slow movement, breath work, meditation
e.g. Less back ache - slow stretches, strength work, refer to the latest research

Who needs this? Or who do you feel drawn to teach?

Define your students, for example: I’d like to work with women of about 35+, maybe with kids who have little time for themselves and need a moment of peace and relaxation in their day. This ‘person’ is your avatar, the person you are talking to each time you write on your website or talk on social media. Visualise this person as much as possible in your mind so that your communication is clear and specific.

Write Your Mission Statement

Having defined your role and your avatar, write a few concise statements that describe in a really positive affirmative way, who you are, what you do and who your yoga classes are for.

For example:

“I share tried and tested methods of relaxation and yoga, which shift stress and anxiety through breathwork, movement and mindfulness. Come and join our friendly women’s yoga group, specifically designed to support busy women through life’s changes and challenges.”

Once you have this you are in a really good situation to explore exactly how to approach your students. Where are they? What do they need beyond a weekly class?

I will share this in the next blog, and all this information with video workshops, worksheets, from a fantastic life coach who also happens to be a BSY graduate is preparing much more on this for the Yoga Web which is coming your way soon.

We are really devoted to supporting our graduates and would love to stay in touch and see you all thrive. Here's to dharma (heart felt livelihood) with atha (wealth), you can always give it all away once you've made it big!