BUSTING 10 COMMON MYTHS OF BEING A YOGA TEACHER
You’ve come straight out of your teacher training and you’re ready to teach…BUT there are so many different variables that are standing in your way as a new teacher.
Maybe you’re feeling a lack of confidence being a big one, lack of support and guidance, overwhelm, not knowing how and if to set up a business for your teaching. You may have had some guidance and a lot of information in your teacher training but now you’re out in the real world it can all seem quite overwhelming.
There are many myths that you may have caught hold of that can potentially be HOLDING YOU BACK from moving forward.
Today I’m going to share with you 10 COMMON MYTHS that I have seen played out with teachers that I have worked with over the years and that I have seen in the yoga industry generally. So let’s get onto busting them and moving you forward.
1. Once I finish my 200HR YTT I will feel ready and confident to teach.
This can be a damaging myth that you should be ready and confident to teach as soon as you come out of your 200hr. It can send you into comparisonitis, with the voice of the inner critic questioning why you’re feeling the way you are, which could be that you’re lacking confidence and feeling like you don’t know enough to teach.
Remember that teaching yoga is a new skill that you’re learning and refining and it is going to take time, effort & practice to become good at anything and teaching yoga is no different.
One thing I share with the teachers I work with is ‘get comfortable with being uncomfortable’ because the journey to learn and push yourself out of your comfort zone is one in which you will see a lot of growth but also there will be a lot of discomfort. Lacking confidence is 100% normal and feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing and like your winging it is also really normal. But it is your choice, you can sit with it, do nothing and let it hold you back or you take action, lean into the discomfort and level up.
So keep showing up, keep moving forward, teach as much as you can and your confidence will grow.
2. The only way to make a living teaching yoga is to teach in studios
Coming through teacher training you might have many different ideas and dreams of where you would like to take your teaching?
A common misconception is that, the only way to make a living as a yoga teacher is to hustle and teach 15 - 20 studio classes a week. And that teaching in studios is the pinnacle of your teaching career.
There are so many wonderful things about teaching in yoga studios. The community, the atmosphere, the dedication of students and much more, but it is a fact that studio classes are not very well paid generally. You may get anything from £20 - £45 - in the UK, on average and when you add in travel time, class creation time, class marketing time etc this is barely even paying minimum wage. To be able to make a living teaching full time, just teaching studio classes….well you can do the math. You need to be teaching a whole heap of classes to make a comfortable living and taking on 10 - 20 classes a week, I can tell you from experience is just not sustainable and is a one way track to burn out.
So it is helpful to reframe teaching in studios. The studio class is a great way to connect and grow your community and then from there you can lead them to your other and higher level and price offerings.
There are many different things you could do and as a new teacher. Here are 6 ideas to get you started.
Online classes
Hire a venue and run your own classes
Monthly workshops
A 4 week beginners course
Day retreats
Brunch club
3. My teaching has to be perfect to be able to start to teach.
Perfection is over rated! Things are never going to be perfect because perfection doesn’t exist. Perfectionism will 99.9% stop you from moving forward and will 99.9% keep you stuck unless you actively move through it.
The answer is to take imperfect action, to start and keep moving forward. As a new teacher it is important to teach as much as possible to first of all refine your teaching skills but also by showing up, each time it will become easier and easier and it will help your confidence grow.
Be ready to make mistakes, you are going to make mistakes and this is part of the process. This is how you will learn and grow as long as when you do make a mistake, reflect and move forward with the intention to do it differently next time.
4. To start teaching I should teach for free
As a new teacher it can be easy to come out of your teacher training and think the only way to get work teaching is to offer your classes and time for free.
Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try to get as much practice as possible, this is how you will start to refine your teaching skills but the reality is that you have come out of your YTT and have invested in that in time and money, you have spent countless hours and dedication studying and preparing and maybe traveling to teach. You should be compensated for that. A payment is an exchange in energy, if someone is paying for something they are more likely to 1. show up fully and 2. value your time more.
There are some reasons however that you could consider teaching for ‘free’, Here are some ideas for you…
COMMUNITY CLASS
Be careful as to which community class you agree to here, if it’s really for community eg your local community centre or is it for a big brand that is promoting their business - in which you should get some sort of payment for. Choose a community class that is actually about community and giving back or getting involved in local community around your area.
DONATION CLASS FOR CHARITY
Donating the proceeds to a charity you care about.
APPRENTICESHIP
This is something that will add to your development and you will be teaching and assisting your mentor and getting feedback for that. This is something that I did for a year and paid for the programme and it was one thing in my career that has shaped my teaching and my confidence in myself as a teacher.
KARMA YOGI CLASS
In a karma yogi position you will have an opportunity to teach in a studio setting, gain experience and this will be sometimes repaid in free classes. This may also lead to teaching opportunities within the studio.
PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITITES
Working with businesses that have a similar values and clientele as you. You could offer a free meditation or flow on their social channels to gain exposure to their community. This is a great way to expand your reach and community.
As you can see these all have some sort of exchange and value that behind your teaching.
Value your time, value your skills. The more you put value on your self, the more people will see your value.
5. Success happens quickly and easily
Overnight success is a myth. Firstly here, as a new teacher it’s important to get clear about what success looks like for you. This is going to look different for everyone.
Then bearing in mind that there is a lot that goes on behind becoming successful with any profession and that is no different in the yoga space. You may be looking at yoga teachers that are ‘successful’ that you look up to and it may look easy and fast on the outside but I can assure you they have most likely put alot of time and effort into building strong foundations, building community, working on refining and building teaching skills, time and money investment in their own development and business, making connections and networking, creating content, 1000’s of hours of training and teaching and much more.
Success takes time, dedication, hard work & patience.
6. I have to be able to do a posture to be able to teach it
There is a common myth I hear a lot and this is that teachers avoid teaching certain asana if they can’t do it themselves. Ringing any bells?
The key here is to learn how to safely and clearly instruct your students in and out of the pose. Study the pose, work with it and play with it in your own practice and share your journey with your students. And guess what?!?! Your students don’t expect you to have a perfect practice and they will find it much more relatable and authentic if you share your own journey and your own struggles and breakthroughs with them.
Get clear on your cueing, clear instruction and using language that is empowering is key.
7. As a yoga teacher you get to practice a lot of yoga
I understand how this can be mistaken. Surely being a yoga teacher means every time you teach a class you're doing yoga right? WRONG!! Let’s just get something clear. Demoing and teaching a class the whole way through is not you practicing yoga, it’s a one way ticket to getting on the burn out train.
The sooner you can learn how to teach and step away from the mat at the front of the room the better to preserve your energy.
Ok now that’s clear, let’s look at a bigger issue and that is that the first thing that I see to drop away for new teachers is their own yoga practice. It happened to me and still if I’m not organised, it can creep in that I don’t have regular enough practice. Having a regular yoga practice as a yoga teacher is very important for your energy levels, your creativity, your grounding and focus, for the strength you need in your body and mind and much more. But it’s not a given…this has to be managed and planned intentionally otherwise it is very easy to go to the bottom of the list of things to do and before you know it you haven’t practiced in 2 weeks and you’re wondering why you feel tired and uninspired.
The best way to make sure you get your practice in is schedule it into your calendar on a Sunday for the week and stick to it.
Your body, mind, soul and students will thank you for it.
8. You will naturally find your authentic voice.
This is something I really struggled with when I started teaching and it was something I wish I had had more guidance around. When we first start teaching there are a few things that tend to happen. 1. We copy other teachers 2. We show up as the teacher we think our students want or the studio wants. This can leave you feeling lost and without direction or purpose.
Don’t get me wrong, taking inspiration from your favourite teacher is something that can colour your teaching but copying or wearing a mask of who you think you should be can leave you eventually feeling stale and it won’t be sustainable.
Naturally finding your authentic voice maybe easy for some but for most of us this takes at least a bit of self enquiry and work within your own practice on and off the mat. Finding your why, is a foundational piece in this. Why you want to teach, why you love yoga, what brought you to the practice, what struggles have you been through that yoga has helped with. And then starting to think about what you’re inspired to share, what you’re passionate about within the yoga sphere. This takes time and this picture will of course evolve over time.
It is important to delve into this and do work around this right at the start so the way you’re moving forward is heart led and intentional.
9. If my class isn’t full my students must not like me and my teachings
Your class numbers could have to do with these 3 different variables…
Student circumstances - Class numbers have to do with many different variables that have nothing to do with you. The time of the class, if you’re a cover teacher - the students don’t know you, your students own schedules, student commitment and much more.
Students not resonating with your classes - Yes sometimes people won’t like your teaching…and that is ok. We’re not going to be the teacher for everyone…and that is ok. The sooner you come to accept this the easier it will be to teach in a way that is authentic to you. People pleasing with your teachings will most likely lead to self doubt and confidence issues. The key is to find who you want to show up as in your teaching, be yourself, get clear on and stay true to your values and get super grounded in that.
Lack of focus on community building and marketing - How are you marketing yourself and your offerings? Putting a post up on social media once a week with your timetable isn’t going to cut it Im afraid. Actively working on building and nurturing your community in and out of the classroom is important when building your teaching career. This means offering content of value regularly on different channels, creating a strategy to build and nurture, marketing and selling authentically with messaging that is linking into your values and teachings.
10. Yoga Teachers are medical experts
This may sound weird but students can quite often bring up medical issues and ask us as teachers for advice or expect you to be their therapist.
Now it is important and great if students trust you enough to disclose what is happening with them health wise so you can give advice on how to adjust their practice but it is not your job to give any sort of medical advice and that is important to remember.
You are not a physio, therapist, medical doctor or any other type of medical professional unless you have had training in any of these fields so it is important to ask an important question. First of all it is not safe for you to give any advice that is medical based and secondly you need to have clear boundaries around your relationships with your students.
Ask questions like, ‘Have you spoken to your doctor?’ ‘What did the doctor say?’. And then it is useful to have a list of trusted professionals you can refer to.
Developing your teaching career can be overwhelming and challenging and it can feel like you’re running blind.
But guess what - IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE.
If you’re looking for some extra guidance and support I run different programmes for yoga teachers
here at Evolution Lab Yoga to help you to LEVEL UP and to make this journey FUN and EXCITING.
Learning from someone that has been in your shoes and can pave a smooth path for your development.
For more info get in touch here. Id love to hear from you.