On becoming a Yoga Teacher

[Mirror of Confusion]

After 6 month of traveling India (mainly Rishikesh and Kerala) I decided to become a Yoga Teacher. Before this journey I was stuck in an office job that was frustrating and boring. So I decided to quit this thing and throw myself totally into the unknown. My body was quite stiff at that time and I was mentally unstable, but I knew intuitively that learning Yoga will be the most important thing in my life. And I was right - in the last eight month since I started this journey I became a totally new person - almost free of any inner distraction, much more calm and in a good mood most of the time. 

The method I learned is kind of a nice mixture of Hatha and Kriya Yoga. There is a lot of attention on Pranayama and and Meditation (but basically all steps of Patranjalis Yoga Sutras are involved). It is definitely a more spiritual form of Yoga compared to the western fitness Yoga model. This makes it often times more dificult to digest for people who have no clue what Yoga is about. They think it is just a physical activity like stretching. 

For the next few month I want to establish my own Yoga courses. Luckely there is a possibility to start teaching one course a week in my old Yoga school. The future plan is to have my own Yoga school and to really teach in my own style.

 

I really feel that I can help people becoming more healthy and more conscious and that is my main pupose on this mission.

 

Did any of you guys go this path too?

Any recommendations for building a Yoga school or being a Yoga teacher?

 

[Vaishnavi]

Hey there! 

Tbh, the world can use folks like yourself who believe that they can make an impact, and expanding the western belief model of Yoga would be great! though you'd have much competition I feel given it's the trend, but something that precisely people need. 

Things you can start with-

• Making a website of your own for real low value, Wix can help you with that! It gives a professional look to your work 
  • you can add blog/picture sections sharing your philosophy and why people should really consider you 
• starting an Instagram page to connect with people can work given there is a HUGE audience there. You need to learn to promote your work though 
• there is Udemy in case you want to create online courses (but its's a lot of investment and not worth it really) 
• workshops, seminars, YouTube, instagram stories, all those can work (you can even go for free workshops for starters) 
• A niche! 
  • specialising in something and being a master at it 
  • having something unique to offer because a lot of Yoga teachers are already in town, but honestly you don't have to think about it. Just find your USP if you can  

oh and the fact that you mentioned a Yoga "School" gives me great happiness. Keep that as your long term big dream, something to fuel you and something you diligently work everyday bit by bit. 

Sending Luck! 

[Chi_]

Have you heard of the Isha Hatha Yoga Teacher Training Programme? It is a top notch 5 month programme of over 1700 hours of training. Best of wishes!  

 

 

[universe]

Interesting topic. I see there are a lot of Yoga places opening, so you might have a lot of competition depending on where you live.

On the other hand there also seems to be big market, which is interested in your "product". Which is a very good sign!

I dont know about yoga in particular but as with any coaching or training, the method of giving as much as you can first and reep the benefits later should work here as well.

You have to have a mindset of wanting to teach people yoga, not just in your courses, not just for getting paid. You need an intrinsic desire to help these people. Give tips and help out people wherever you go. This way, when someone wants to start to learn yoga, they might heard of this guy, a friend has talked about, giving this really good and helpful yoga tips! You want to be that person.

Your income will be a forumlar of how big your reach/network is and how good you are at teaching people. The higher your reach/network and the better you become at teaching, the higher will be your income.

Some people think they only have to be good at something and then they acan be a succesfull coach. Wrong! These two factors will define your income. So make it a habit to work on them as much as you can.

Edited July 24, 2019 by universe

[archi]

On 7/15/2019 at 8:20 PM, Mirror of Confusion said:

A guys go this path too?

Any recommendations for building a Yoga school or being a Yoga teacher?

 

I had(still have have) urges like these while I still had a job. I did even teacher training after 3years of practice. However, I realized that if you don't do it for lifestyle only it is not worth it. 

Once you want to make enough money it becomes pure business and fun is likely to disappear so that there is no difference to any job you may currently do, you become slave to money . 

Advice: start teaching for established studio first and then make up your mind. If you still like it look for few teacher  and start studio (you need more teachers anyway), try to own the place to stay independent.

Note that if you do not provide style yoga that is currently hype you won't get too many students.

Yoga teacher is a tough occupation ... Good luck.

 

[Michael569]

One of the challenges of becoming a yoga practitioners is that (as Cal Newport said) it takes a month for a newbie to get to a bottom-rank of yoga qualified professionals. Because the learning curve is extremely steep here, it does not require years to become genuinely good at yoga but rather something around 3-6 months. 

To breakthrough, you'll have to bring more than just stretching exercises. Unfortunatelly in the west, most of us don't really know what true yoga is so it has become a fitness exercise of who can lick their own but and who has more expensive clothing. If you can create a bridge between this and true spiritual yoga and bring your clients over to these teaching, you may have a lot of success in the practice although that won't be as easy as having a stretching studio with a "spiritual music" from youtube. 

[Pranesh vijay]

Before creating any course i highly recommend you to attend hatha yoga teacher training program designed by Sadhguru. 

All the best ?

[Dimi]

On 7/23/2019 at 11:04 PM, Chi_ said:

Have you heard of the Isha Hatha Yoga Teacher Training Programme? It is a top notch 5 month programme of over 1700 hours of training. Best of wishes!  

 

 

My wife did this so if anyone is interested or has any questions don't hesitate

[Salvijus]

19 hours ago, Pranesh vijay said:

Before creating any course i highly recommend you to attend hatha yoga teacher training program designed by Sadhguru. 

All the best ?

I second this. 

[Toan]

@Dimi I was looking into it and wanted to do it but since I am a 21 year old I do not have 10000 Dollars. How did you sove the financial dillema? 

[Joker]

@Mirror of Confusion  Hi. Can I ask how you organised learning Yoga for 6 months in India? It's potentially something I would like to do. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by Joker

[Dimi]

15 hours ago, Toan said:

@Dimi I was looking into it and wanted to do it but since I am a 21 year old I do not have 10000 Dollars. How did you sove the financial dillema? 

Hi, IF you are really up to it, you can stay there locally (in Tamil Nadu) and have it for free or at a local price.

You need to stay there and live like a local, at least that is what Sadhguru claims. You should contact Isha Center for that.

Some contact info:

Northern Tamil Nadu:
Mobile : 83000 66000
Email : zao.north@ishayoga.org

Eastern Tamil Nadu:
Mobile : 94425 04687, 83000 98222, 94890 45171
Email : zao.east@ishayoga.org

Western Tamil Nadu:
Mobile : 0422-2495453, 89035 02000
Email : zao.west@ishayoga.org

Southern Tamil Nadu:
Mobile : 9442504620, 83000 12000
Email : zao.south@ishayoga.org

Or you can fill in the global contact form here: http://www.ishafoundation.org/ContactUs

Otherwise, if it really means something to you, you will figure a way to do it  

Good luck with everything!

[Toan]

@Dimi for free you mean the course or the place to stay?

Thanks by the way for making the effort

[Dimi]

On 10/6/2019 at 3:14 PM, Toan said:

@Dimi for free you mean the course or the place to stay?

Thanks by the way for making the effort

He claims the course (he said this in some of his videos when giving "lectures") and my wife said that there are some locals that attend this for free, you can't pay the stay apart as far as i know, you can only stay IF you attend something in the ashram. No problem at all

If you want to cultivate dedication, seriously push your limits, you should go for Angamardhana if in general, you can follow other courses (less expensive and of good quality/content/alignment.

 

[BenJackson]

I suggest that you take some professional yoga training first, then learn their professional teaching methods and business management strategies. If you start training again or become a yoga teacher, you will be very handy.