Is Becoming a Yoga Instructor Worth It?

Becoming a yoga instructor is only worth it if you supplement your class earnings with other income sources. Let’s elaborate on this by exploring the pros and cons of being a yoga instructor. These factors will help you decide if this career path is right for you.

Benefits of Being a Yoga Teacher

A passionate environment

One of the main reasons why you are considering the yoga instructor career path is because you’re passionate about yoga and want to be in a place where this passion can roam free. The yoga studio is a perfect environment to cultivate this passion.

By surrounding yourself with other people who are interested in yoga, you become part of a larger community. Together, everyone will create a “home away from home.”

Your students will become your friends as you engage in conversation before and after class. These conversations will begin as small talk and progress into deep conversations about life.

Improve public speaking skills

Teachers need to be able to speak clearly and articulate their words. Their instructions should be simple and easy to follow. By teaching yoga, you will learn how to communicate effectively.

Your skills will get better after every class. This skill set will be beneficial as you advance your career and navigate the business world. Being a good communicator will also benefit you personally.

Yoga industry growth

The Pilates and yoga studios market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.7% from 2018 to 2025.

As members of this industry, instructors benefit from strong demand for yoga and yoga-related products. Besides teaching, industry participants can diversify their income by selling yoga products such as mats and bolsters.

After all, yoga instructors already have a potential customer base: their students. As practitioners, they should be able to identify the qualities of good yoga products. When ready, they can also open their own yoga studios.

Fitness center amenities

Teaching yoga at a large fitness center has its perks. You can take advantage of the facility’s other amenities during your off-hours. In fact, some facilities give insiders free access and/or discounts. Treat yourself to a free Pilates class or a swim if the facility has a pool.

Become a yoga expert

Yoga instructors have to first get through yoga teacher training. As a result, you will learn about things such as different poses, teaching methods, and even safety. You can use this knowledge to help others as well as elevate your own practice. Take your own yoga to the next level.

Flexibility

As a freelancer, you can pick your own hours and create the schedule that you want. This is beneficial if you have other responsibilities or interests.

Witness students’ growth

As a yoga teacher, you will experience firsthand the progress that students make. You will watch them improve their yoga skills day after day. This is very satisfying to watch.

Teach at beautiful places

Where else do yoga instructors teach in addition to studios?

Resorts and cruise ships!

If you’re lucky enough to secure a time slot at these places, you can go sightseeing and experience breathtaking views.

Disadvantages of Being a Yoga Teacher

There’s a lot of running back and forth

If you’re a yoga instructor at a studio, then your teaching sessions will usually be two hours each time.

You show up 30 minutes before class to set up and talk to students.

You then teach for an hour.

Afterward, you stay for 30 minutes to talk to students once more and clean up.

In total, that’s two hours of work at an average hourly rate of $30.

You don’t get paid for commuting, even though the job requires it

If you’re teaching at 3-4 studios, then you will spend a great deal of time on the road.

On a typical day, you might have to go uptown, downtown, and even across town.

It can get hectic sometimes.

Plus, you can’t exactly do anything major during your breaks. You have a little bit of time, but you can’t just drop everything and do something significant.

Your breaks go by fast.

All you can do is eat, answer emails, and run a few errands.

Trying to get more work is physically hard on your body

What can you do to make more money as a yoga instructor?

You can teach more classes.

However, your body has a limit.

If you teach more than ten classes a week, you might be more prone to injuries such as back pain or wrist pain. Thus, even if you want to teach more classes, your body might not agree.

Yoga teachers will compete for the time slots that they want

If you’re a new yoga teacher, expect to teach classes during weird hours. You have to start somewhere, even if that means teaching that early morning class other teachers don’t want. It’s a rite of passage for newcomers. As you get more experience, better time slots will open up.

Irregular eating schedule

Yoga teachers who teach at multiple studios rarely have the same daily schedule. As a result, it’s difficult to eat breakfast at the same time every day. Also, if you’re teaching an early morning class, you probably don’t want to eat too much right before conducting a physical activity.

Unstable income

A typical pay structure at a studio is as follows:

Yoga teachers get paid a fixed dollar amount per class, plus an additional amount depending on how many students show up. Class attendance can vary depending on factors such as the weather and holiday observances.

To hedge against class attendance variance, yoga teachers can implement a strict cancellation policy. For example, students must cancel a class within 48 hours or pay a cancellation fee.

Teachers can also sell their services in the form of packages. This way, overall income becomes more stable on a class-per-class basis.

Administrative work

As freelancers, yoga teachers are basically running their own little small businesses. That means they must take care of various tasks such as updating social media, emailing clients, and keeping their accounting updated. They need to be organized if working at multiple studios.

Filling up their work calendars and leaving room for personal responsibilities become a balancing act.

Since your job is physical, you have to be in good condition. That means it’s difficult to stay up late and go out when you have to teach a class the next day. If you don’t feel and look your best, your students will notice.

Conclusion

Teaching yoga and getting paid to do so isn’t as glamorous as it seems.

On one hand, you get to live the yogi lifestyle 24/7 and get to interact with other people interested in yoga.

On the other hand, making a decent living can be difficult and even stressful.

This is why yoga instructors often have other sources of income on top of teaching classes.