How to Begin Your Entrepreneurial Yoga Teacher Journey

How to Begin Your Entrepreneurial Yoga Teacher Journey

Last week, one of our Teach Yoga in English Journey students asked me: ‘How do I know if I’m ready to start for myself?’ Right now she works an office job that doesn’t fulfill her. She, like most of you here, has a big passion for teaching yoga. She wants to quit the job she only does to pay her bills, so that she can live her purpose and teach yoga full-time. But, this transition feels scary and unsafe, making her wonder ‘How do I know if I’m ready?’. I know she’s not alone and you may wonder the way. That’s why in this blog, I want to help you understand how to begin your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey, giving you clear action steps to work with.

How do you know if you’re ready to begin your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey?

The answer is simple: listen to your inner calling!

Your inner calling is a personal and intuitive sense of purpose and direction that originates from within. It’s that inner voice or feeling that guides you toward a particular path or goal. 

For example, from a very young age, I had a very strong feeling that I didn’t want to work for a boss. I didn’t yet know what I wanted to do instead, but the feeling was there. Due to social conditioning, fear of unpredictability and also lack of clarity on what I wanted to create, I did work as an English and yoga teacher in schools and studios.

I was hired as an employee and worked on a payroll which felt safe and secure. Through these experiences I learned a lot that I could later transfer to my own business, but in that time those jobs didn’t fulfil me. I didn’t like that I was location bound, that my schedules were fixed, or that I had to teach according to a curriculum that I didn’t agree with.

I strongly felt I needed to break free and kept receiving the message that I needed to start for myself. To write an English course for yogis and build a course platform on my terms. Apart from what I knew I had to create, I had a really strong gut feeling that I needed to launch it in Mexico. I didn’t have any connections in Mexico or experience writing courses. Neither did I know anything about business and marketing. Most of all, I was scared it wouldn’t work. Thinking: ‘Who am I to write an English course for yogis?’ Though, the feeling was strong.

I couldn’t explain why I needed to do this, I just knew I had to. It was my inner calling telling me to take action.

What is your inner calling?

As a yoga teacher you probably know that your inner calling manifests itself in different ways. They can be:

  • Gut feelings or intuitive insights. Sometimes, you just know that a certain path is the right one for you, even if you can’t logically explain why. In my example, traveling to Mexico.
  • Passion, something that gives you a deep sense of joy, enthusiasm, and fulfillment when you engage with this aspect of your life. In my example, teaching and empowering yoga teachers.
  • A burning desire to pursue something specific. This desire is so strong that it motivates you to take action and make changes in your life. In my example, freedom and fulfillment.
  • Core values and things that align with your beliefs. It reflects what you feel is truly important and meaningful in your life. In my example, breaking free from old-fashioned school systems and adapting the learning process to the students’ needs.
  • A sense of purpose, a feeling that you are meant to do something significant or contribute to a particular cause or mission. In my example, sharing the beauty and benefits of yoga worldwide.

In the world of yoga we often refer to them as ‘messages’. But, when you’ve never listened to these messages before, it can be challenging to feel or hear them. These messages can mean venturing a new path which means change and transformation. Especially if they tell you to do something new or step out of your comfort-zone, we tend to ignore them because they feel really scary or unrealistic. 

Why is it challenging to listen to your inner calling?

Unfortunately, many of us have never learned to listen or act upon our inner calling. In other words, most of us are out of tune with our intuition. This can be because of social conditioning, fear of the unknown, doubts and self-criticism, pressure from others or yourself, logical thinking, attachment to comfort, or simply lack of practice.

Overcoming these challenges involves a process of self-awareness, self-acceptance, and reprogramming. It requires recognising the conditioning and past experiences that hold you back and consciously working to rewire your mindset. This can involve self-reflection, seeking support from mentors or therapists, and gradually taking steps to trust and act upon our intuition. 

Exploring how to listen to your intuition deserves its own dedicated blog post. But for now, it may be useful to take some time to reflect on how you’re conditioned and what it is that holds you back from listening to your intuition. 

For example: 

  • What societal or cultural beliefs have influenced your decisions regarding your inner calling?
  • Have you experienced pressure from family, friends, or society to conform to certain expectations? 
  • Have there been moments when you felt a strong inner calling? How did you react? 
  • Reflect on a specific situation where you chose not to follow your intuition. What were the factors that influenced your decision? 

You can use these types of questions when journaling, in your visualisation practices, or comfort zone exercises. 

As a yoga teacher, you have a massive advantage practising Svadhyaya. Your self-studies play a vital role in helping you gain awareness, understand, accept and rewire to develop the confidence to follow your inner calling. So use it! 

From Idea to Independence

Now you know that you’re ready to begin your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey, the biggest mistake I see yoga teachers make is that they go for an idea that seems popular, think is profitable or the easiest option. 

Your intuition may tell you, ‘Start yourself!’ But fears, limiting beliefs, lack of clarity, or simply ‘not knowing how’ may cause you to start small. Because what if I fail, people think it’s stupid, it takes a long time and it doesn’t pay off?

To find and create job opportunities that feel fulfilling you want to fully understand your reason ‘why’, ‘how’ you(’re going to) do it, and ‘what’ the products and the benefits are. The answers to these three words are the foundation of your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey. They define how you set and complete goals. But also the actions you take when creating your products and services. And thereby own job opportunities. In my business coaching programmes, I teach you in detail about the concept of Why, How, What by Simon Sinkek. And help you build your business with those three key pillars. But for now, to understand or decide whether you’re ready to begin your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey, focus on your reason why!

Start your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey with why!

The ‘why’ entails your purpose, your biggest desire, your values and calling. It’s the thing you feel you’ve been born to do in this life. For example; answers to ‘why’ could be finding meaning, helping people do/overcome xyz, or making a difference in xyz life/field.

Your ‘why’ is deeply connected to emotions, such as the desire for freedom and independence. How you want to feel in the process of creating your entrepreneurial journey. How you want to feel building up your services. And how you want to feel working with your clients, isn’t about achieving your goals, big numbers or the money in your back account. Especially as a yoga teacher, your drive is linked to purpose and fulfilment rather than financial or power. Your reason why is what initiates your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey. 

So, create a list of all the reasons ‘why’ you’d like to start for yourself. You can write down as many things as you like from a practical, but definitely also an emotional, spiritual and energetic point of view. Especially since in yoga, your drive is more often linked to purpose and fulfilment than financial or power.

Navigating Challenges on Your Entrepreneurial Yoga Teacher Journey

Remember I said that listening to your gut or trusting it can be challenging, especially if it entails change? As you begin your entrepreneurial yoga teacher journey you may have many ideas, but feel stuck. Stuck choosing the right business model, because you don’t know how to create it. You may overthink structures, systems, methods, or strategies and feel overwhelmed. It may be that you compare yourself to others and underestimate or devalue your own knowledge, experience, expertise. Thinking you first need to do xyz… If any of these fears, limiting beliefs, or practical challenges come up, I want you to remind yourself of two things:

1. Trust the process

Building your own business doesn’t happen in one day – it’s a process. Just as for many of you here you didn’t learn to speak English in one day, or you didn’t become an effective yoga teacher overnight, you won’t be a successful or thriving business owner the day you start either. It’s unrealistic.

2. Your brain is wired to learn!

If you set your mind to something and if you keep reminding yourself of your purpose, you’ll find the drive and motivation to learn. Building your products, social visibility, marketing, recording videos, creating systems and strategies are skills! They aren’t talents you have or not, you can learn anything! 

Stop comparing yourself to others, what you think you should do or should have already achieved! Trust your own process and do the work to gradually grow! You’re building a business for the foreseeable future, not just to host 1 retreat of yourself and then stop again, or are you? 

I compare it to having a baby – are you ever fully ready for the transformation a baby brings to your life? Maybe yes, but most people aren’t. As a parent you learn and adapt as you go too. We never stop learning, we never stop growing, we never stop making changes. Neither in life, nor in business. Your entrepreneurial yoga teaching journey doesn’t have to be perfect from day 1. The most important thing is that you keep listening to your purpose or intuition and keep showing up!

Begin Your Entrepreneurial Yoga Teacher Journey

Soon we’ll host our Launch Your International Career: Yoga Business Foundations. This is a workshop series to help you define your reason why, but also decide on the how and what. I’ll help you choose your business model and define your ideal client. And provide you with the strategies for social media, visibility, project management and growth. 

If you’re interested in learning more, take action and set yourself up with a solid foundation for your own yoga business, sign up to the waitlist here.

Also, in our community, we can learn a lot from each other! I’d love for you to share your experiences or thoughts. Write them in the comments, send me a DM on Instagram. If you’d like to directly share your insights or things you’ve done to grow in your role as a teacher or build your own business, I’d love to interview you to inspire others in our community. Send me an email at annie@engaunite.com to tell me about what you’d like to share so we can discuss the details. 

From Yoga Teacher to Yoga Business Owner: Transition with Ease

From Yoga Teacher to Yoga Business Owner: Transition with Ease

Today, it’s easier than ever before to become your own boss. Especially for yoga teachers, starting an entrepreneurial journey opens up a world of opportunities. But, the transition from being a yoga teacher to becoming a yoga business owner may seem a little daunting. Want to find out about the differences and what elements you should bear in mind? Let’s dive in: From Yoga Teacher to Yoga Business Owner: Transition with Ease!

When I embarked on this journey myself about 5 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing or how to do it. But what I had very clear for myself was that teaching yoga classes alone wasn’t going to fulfil me. What I knew was that I had an extreme drive to help yogis and teachers expand their career opportunities by learning English and the business tools to build and expand their own international careers. I wanted to help others, while at the same time have the freedom to work whenever and travel wherever. To work on my terms, sharing and teaching what I’m most passionate about. I knew I had to break free from teaching saturated class schedules, which for me were a combination of English and yoga classes. And grow the courage to quit the safety of my monthly payrolls, but start for myself.

Check out the blog for more articles to support your yoga business development

Since then a lot has happened. In the next months, on the blog, I’ll share more about my journey becoming an entrepreneur. I’ll share the tools and systems I’ve tried; what works and what doesn’t. I’ll help you prevent making the mistakes I made. And I’ll share the elements that will help you build the foundation of your own international career so that you too can quit the job that doesn’t fulfil you and instead experience freedom and fulfilment by sharing your passions within the field of yoga and wellness.

I’m here to support you transition from being a teacher to business owner with ease; offering clarity, structure and strategies!

So let’s start today with the transition! What really are the difference between your role as a teacher and business owner? What do these differences mean for the way you show up, your tasks and responsibilities? My intention for this blog/session is to help you build awareness of the shifts you have to make becoming a thriving yoga business owner. 

Yoga Teacher VS Yoga Business Owner

First of all, when I’m speaking about teachers only, I refer to teachers that are employed by a studio, school other type of organisation. These teachers are being paid by others and those payments are handled by others too. Yoga business owners are the teachers that create their own type of services. From membership to courses, retreats, workshops or other types of events. It may be that right now, you teach a class schedule that you’ve organised yourself, and think ‘I’m a yoga teacher’. But if you’re responsible for taking your students’ payments, I consider you a business owner too!

So on a more practical level, let’s have a look at the differences in your role as a teacher VS a business owner in terms of skills, responsibilities, values, and mindset. 

For the purpose of this session, I’ve kept it general to give you an overview. Depending on the type of classes or business model you set up, these may differ and could obviously include more precise details. 

The skills of a yoga teacher look somewhat like this:

  • Teaching proficiency (knowledge of the asanas, anatomy, yoga philosophy and other teaching skills and techniques)
  • Social skills (think of holding space, listening skills, dealing with student requests or questions). 
  • Class prep and delivery (think of the way you design your classes, sequences, or other practices and the way you deliver them).

The skills of a yoga business owner look somewhat like this: 

  • Business model and service development
  • Marketing, visibility and service promotion
  • Financing (including pricing your offerings and taking payments, or sending invoices).
  • Scaling and growth (which could include service expansion or creating a customer journey to keep your students with you for longer – I’ll speak more about student retention in another session).

The responsibilities of yoga teachers look somewhat like this:

  • Continuous professional development of your teaching skills – in other words: continuing education (as a yoga teacher you never stop learning).
  • Student involvement (I believe a good teacher maintains their relationships).
  • Self-care and Svadhyaya so that you can walk the walk: show up as your ‘best’ self and teach according to the famous concept ‘teach what you know’. 

The responsibilities of yoga business owners look somewhat like this:

Next to continuous development, self-care and Svadhyaya, because these are essential elements I believe for any person, in any profession, also think of:

  • Continuous professional development in terms of business and marketing knowledge to work with the most effective up-to-date strategies.
  • Business management, including daily tasks, admin and communications
  • Staying up to date with trends and managing your visibility, social media, or SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
  • Client management and retention (communication and satisfaction). 
  • Product development 
  • In the long run, it may include managing your team

These things grow on you. Skills you develop, and responsibilities you learn to take on along the way. Obviously there are ways to do this efficiently, but I know that with the right mindset you’re capable of learning and developing all of this. 

Yoga Teacher VS Yoga Business Owner Values & Mindset

Speaking of ‘mindset’, I believe that for many this requires quite a shift. For me personally, in the beginning of my journey, I felt really uncomfortable in my role as a business owner. I stepped into this role as an English and yoga teacher and had a lot to learn. I’d care so much about my students, that I’d forget about myself. I felt so passionate that I’d overwork myself and neglected my self-practice. I’d make myself 100% available or was easy-going with last minute cancellations. I think these are beautiful qualities and it’s great to be flexible, but as teachers, we shouldn’t forget we’re also running a business. 

How your values and mindset are interconnected

The differences in mindset between teachers and business owners has a lot to do with your values. Your values as a human being, teacher and business owner at the core should be the same. But some principles may show up in different ways. What I mean is, for example, if one of your values is respect.

As a teacher this could be you respect your students’ time and you expect your students to respect yours. If they come to class late, but you have no idea why, you don’t want to punish them and say, you can’t enter anymore. Instead, they may enter, but do so in absolute silence and position themselves in the back of the room to not disturb anyone else.

As a business owner, what this could mean is that if a student cancels 10 minutes before class or doesn’t show up, you keep their payment and possibly offer a solution such as rescheduling or offering a discount on another session. Why? Because to respect your time and for your students to respect yours, you need to establish some principles. The timeslot your student booked could have been taken by someone else if they cancelled 24h in advance for example.

See how your values at the core are the same, but the way they show up in your role as a yoga teacher and yoga business owner are different?   

Your values and mindset as a yoga teacher could look like this:

  • The embodiment of your role as a yoga teacher and what this means for the way you teach and connect with your students
  • Dealing with personal development such as fears or limiting beliefs in your own time, not in class
  • Discipline; consistency in your self-practice and personal development

Your values and mindset as a yoga business owner could look like this:

  • Maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit and investing time in the growth of your business
  • Networking and relationships, including collaborations and student satisfaction 
  • Time and project management, including set times to connect and disconnect to prevent overwhelm and stay present
  • Creating work-life balance to avoid burnout and not overwork yourself
  • Staying true to your yogic principles while running a business, for example, balancing financial success with yoga’s core values.
  • Willingness to adapt and learn in the business world.
  • Embracing the responsibilities of leadership.

How do you transition with awareness and ease?

The differences between your role as a yoga teacher and business owner may be clear now, but how then do you transition? Just as you didn’t become an effective and knowledgeable teacher in one day, becoming an efficient and successful business owner doesn’t happen overnight.

1. Reflect on your values and how these take shape in your business

Remember how I spoke about how your values show up in different ways depending on the role you take on. To give you another example, think of your availability. For example, one of my values is clear, open and honest communication. In the beginning of my journey, I made the mistake thinking I should also communicate 24/7, meaning that I’d be available to reply to emails and messages as soon as I received them, to keep my students and clients happy. But in the long run, being available all day isn’t sustainable. It’ll drain you and supporting your students becomes less genuine. To protect my energy (which is another value of mine), I’d set times and days I’m available. I’ll still get back to people, communicate openly, clearly and honestly, but not instantly. 

2. Reflect on your task management

Task management speaks to the way you work. As a business owner, your tasks include more than preparing and delivering classes. Think of how you show up in the time you spend with your students, but also the time you work the tasks behind the scenes. Or even the way you manage your team (which is likely something that you want to invest in after a period of time). 

In this step, consider your routine, habits, daily tasks, the way you priorities other tasks, time management, your bookkeeping systems, content creation, marketing systems, product development, growth systems – this list can go on and I’d need another session to explain all of these concepts, but for now, take some time to reflect on your way of working and how you’d like to manage your tasks. 

3. Decide on your policies

I see policies as the guideline for a structured way to live according to your principles.

One of my principles or values is ‘accessibility’. What that means for my policies is that for example, we have a lot of students that live in lower income countries and on top of that are unemployed. They wish to make a living off teaching yoga while sharing their passion, but due their financial situation will never have the chance to develop the skills they need to do so. To me, it’s only fair we offer scholarships for people that encounter themselves in positions like these. The tough part is when the applications come in and we have to choose. Because as a human being and yoga teacher, I’d offer a scholarship to everyone. As a business owner, this isn’t feasible, so I have to choose. My policy is that only people that meet certain standards are considered for these scholarships.

Sometimes, as a business owner you may need to grow some strength and courage to make tough decisions. What helps with this, is to stay true to your values, but also set boundaries or decide on policies, to not be taken advantage of.

4. Understand the importance of structure and systems

I often hear, Annie, you’re so organised! Do you think I am always like this? My friends will tell you otherwise. But in my business, I need to. And after years of running my own business, I couldn’t do without. They help me stay clear, focussed, connected, on track, and most of all prevent overwhelm and chaos.

Some teachers say, ‘ahhh, but I’m too easy going, I need to go with the flow, I can’t stick to my own deadlines’ – whatever is holding you back from building your own structure or systems aren’t these thoughts. It’s clarity on what you actually need to do.

If you believe structure and systems take away your freedom – you’re wrong! You still get to decide what you do and when, but with a structure that promotes your growth!

The trick to growth and success isn’t discipline or motivation, because I believe that if you want to build your business, you’ve got those. The trick is gaining clarity on what you need to do and building your own working structure and systems.

Launch & Expand Your International Career

In the next weeks, I’ll be back to speak more about all of these topics individually. For now, I’d love to hear what you’re most interested in learning about, so I can help you transition from being a teacher ‘only’ to becoming your own boss! 

If you’re interested in learning more, make the transition and set yourself up with a solid foundation for your own yoga business, check out the Launch Your International Career: Yoga Business Foundations!

Time Management Tools for Entrepreneurial Yoga Teachers

Time Management Tools for Entrepreneurial Yoga Teachers

Find out about some effective time management tools for entrepreneurial yoga teachers to overcome chaos and overwhelm.

As a dedicated teacher and ambitious yoga business owner, I want to say yes to every exciting opportunity. I have lots of ideas and once it’s in my head I want to get it done. My calendar and to-do lists often overflow. At the end of 2021 this lead to burnout. That meant I had to cancel my classes, workshops, and social life for 4 months. 

I was devastated and thought this setback would ruin my career. I thought my students would lose interest, forget about me and move on with a different teacher. I’m not afraid of competition, but I do love my students and I didn’t want to lose them.

In this time, I learned to reorganise myself. To say yes to new projects, but trust ‘divine timing’. To be patient, but stay committed and work on one project at the time. 

I was introduced to the ’90-day Year’ – a concept by Todd Herman. The idea behind it is that you break down goals and plans into 90-day cycles instead of a yearly planning. The beauty of this for us as yoga teachers is that it allows us to work nature’s seasonal cycles.

As humans we often overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate our capacity for a year. Managing your time with a 90-day cycle can help you create focused periods to stay disciplined and achieve greater results! 

Why am I sharing this? 

Because I know that you are driven and ambitious too. That you have big plans and goals for building your yoga career. You want to turn your ‘hobbies’ into paid activities. So that you can quit the job that no longer fulfils you, but make a profitable income sharing your passions for yoga and wellness.

To make that dream a reality, you need clarity, structure and discipline. Building a career out of your passions doesn’t happen by accident, it requires you to do some work. What that work means for you personally depends on your goals. But what I can help you with are some tools for time-management for entrepreneurial yoga teachers to spend your energy wisely.

Time Management Tools for Entrepreneurial Yoga Teachers

1. Have a clear vision

A vision is a future-focused dream. It’s a powerful mental image of what you aim to achieve. It’s the guiding light that illuminates the path toward your dreams and directs your actions and goals to get there.

As a yoga teacher, your vision could be the global impact you want to make. The diverse communities you want to reach, or the life changing aha-moments you want to inspire people’s lives with. To speak in more metaphors, I see a vision as your North Star. The star that guides you toward a fulfilling and purpose-driven career.

A vision is different from what you want to do and how you make it happen, it’s your drive and reason why.

To reach that vision, I don’t think you need to plan out all the details about how you’ll get there. What is important though is that you keep a reminder of what your vision looks and feels like. Staying connected to your vision will help you set mini goals along the way. And by that stay flexible planning your path step by step as you go. With every step you take you may notice your vision becomes even clearer or slightly changes.

For example, when I became a yoga teacher, my vision was a bit general: sharing the transformation yoga had offered me. At that time I thought it would be through teaching asana classes, so that’s what I did.

When I started teaching yoga and saw my students struggled to understand English my vision became clearer. I understood I wanted to contribute to a transformation aimed at education combining yoga and English.

I taught my first English for yoga course and I realised it wasn’t just English for yogis, but English for yoga teachers. My core vision still was sharing the transformation yoga has to offer. How I want to do that, became clearer as I gained more experience. I experimented with different types of classes, workshops, and courses and stayed open to changes.

Focus on your vision and define your purpose

This helped me to realise my true purpose: helping you overcome linguistic barriers, find your voice, optimise your teaching skills and offering you the tools, structure and clarity to build a profitable and sustainable yoga business.

In that way we create a domino effect and my core vision is still carried out because of you. I’m helping you teach internationally and that means the you share the benefits yoga has to offer to people all over the world.

If years ago, I had planned out all of these steps I would have felt extremely overwhelmed. Lots of business coaching speak about 5 or 10 year plans. I believe we get clearer on what our journey actually looks like as we keep reminding ourselves of our core vision every day. Set mini goals, play and experiment, take steps forward but stay open and receptive to the opportunities you receive.

So, to prevent chaos and overwhelm and more easily manage your time, allow yourself to dream big! Envision what you future looks and feels like, trust your process, and based on that set realistic goals.

Which brings me to the next point.

2. The 90 day cycle

Going back to the 90 day cycle, which I believe massively helps you manage your time as an entrepreneurial yoga teacher.

90 days is long enough to accomplish a significant project. It’s short enough to maintain a sense of urgency, which means you’re less likely to postpone your goals.

It’s a time frame that’s easy to oversee – three months. That way you can create a clear structure and set deadlines that don’t feel far away. It can help to set milestones every week or every month to stay on track and make consistent progress. Achieving these milestones boosts your motivation and already gives you sense of accomplishment. Which in return helps you to move forward and reach the ultimate goal of the full 90 day cycle.

With a specific timeframe in mind that’s in the near future, you’ll feel more in control. Knowing you have limited time can discourage perfectionism. You’re more inclined to focus on getting the job done instead of endlessly fine-tuning details.

After 90 days, you can reassess your progress and adjust your goals if necessary. This flexibility allows you to adapt. You can adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities you receive. But also insights you get or new ideas you want to try out.

Working with a 90 day cycle to finish one project at the time help you maintain momentum and prevent burnout. It’s easier to focus and spend your energy on a project for 90 days instead of an open-ended “I will see when it happens project”.

Whether you choose to work on your projects for 90 days or choose a different approach, I’d like to share some tools that can help you stay motivated and manage your time more efficiently.

I’ll explain this through the replace this for that method:

3. Replace impostor syndrome for the person you aspire to be

When imposter syndrome arises (which is self-doubt and a lack of confidence), you may question your worth and abilities. This can hinder your progress and impact your overall well-being. You can overcome impostor syndrome in many different ways, but one thing that you can try today is to act as the person you associate with the goals you want to achieve.

For example: if your vision is to move to an island and welcome people on monthly retreats, you envision a yoga business owner that is committed, disciplined and takes on the tasks to realise their retreat centre. A self-employed yoga retreat host doesn’t have time to doubt their skills or worry about competition. They work on their marketing, plan their retreat activities and are in touch with the accommodation or even guest teachers. Act as if you already are that person. Step into their shoes. Even if feels far away right now, believe that if you show up as that person today, you’ll do what it takes to actually become them.

4. Replace chaos and block out time for similar tasks

In your daily, weekly or monthly schedule what are the repetitive tasks? Is it creating posts for social media, replying to emails, preparing your classes, sending your invoices?

Have a look at your repetitive tasks and see where you can bundle them to do more of the same at once. This way you avoid getting distracted, save lots of time and stay focussed on one type of task at the time.

For example: if you already know you want to post 5 reels and 5 pictures on IG every month. You need to take or choose pictures, record your videos, edit the videos, write captions for each post and post them. Dedicate time blocks for similar tasks:

On Monday choose or take your pictures and film all the reels at at the same time. On Tuesday edit the photos and the videos at the same time. Then on Wednesday write all your captions (and while you’re writing, maybe you can even use your captions for a newsletter or blog post). Instead of posting your pictures and reels one by one, schedule them in the app so that they’re posted automatically and the rest of the month you don’t have to think about them anymore.

The same goes for daily tasks like replying to student messages and emails. Decide on a time in the morning or evening to reply to all at once, instead of one message at the time as soon as you receive them, because this is time consuming and extremely distracting.

5. Replace quantity for value

It’s not about how much you do or how available you are, but about the quality of what you eventually deliver. In the beginning you may think you need to get involved in lots of projects and ideas, but the true impact lies in the quality of what you offer.

Rather than saying yes to every possibility or idea, choose depth and authenticity and go for what truly feels aligned with your vision. Being all over the place isn’t only energy and time-consuming, it also gives your students an unclear image of how you can actually help them.

Concentrate on delivering value in everything you do; your yoga classes, social media content, or interactions with students or collaborators. When your approach is consciously and intentionally, you’re much more likely to fulfil your vision and attract and retain loyal students students.

Think of it this way: would you rather have a 1000 random followers or one-day drop-in students, or a smaller, but super engaged community who genuinely benefit from your teachings?

In the end, it’s the value you offer that will make you stand out and help you turn your passion into a thriving, sustainable career. So, be intentional and prioritise quality and watch how in the long run spending your time on quality will pay off: resulting in eager and committed students.

To sum up:

Time management may take some trial and error. Allow yourself the space to try things out and see what works for your personally. In the meantime, keep your vision clear, take one step at a time, and trust your unique process.

And remember, I’m here to support you every step of the way. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need guidance – because success is a collective effort, not something you achieve alone.

I’m excited to announce that we’ll soon host our business development workshops to help you achieve your career goals! So, if you want to build your own international yoga business, but need more structure and strategies…

>>> check out the Launch & Expand Your International Career and sign up for the waitlist!

When signing up, you’ll be the first to find out more about the dates and topics of each training.

I believe no vision is too big, and with dedication and the right strategies, you can turn them into your reality. For now, embrace the next 90 days (until the new year) and make them count. Finish this year strong, and step confidently into the shoes of who you need to be to create the future you desire.

6 Steps to Becoming a Confident English Speaking Yoga Teacher

Listen to 6 Step to Becoming a Confident English Speaking Yoga Teacher podcast episode here: 

Having completed your YTT in English or another language, you’re no stranger to effort and commitment. But you also know that when you finish a YTT, the effort and commitment don’t stop there.  Yoga teachers all over the world, and particularly those teaching in their second language(s), face real challenges. Some of those big challenges include yogic studies, developments in research and the evolution of language. These things are constantly moving forward, as we share new theories or experiences, and as time passes. And we yoga teachers have to learn about them and adjust to them, throughout our careers. In this blog we analyse your language journey and the 6 steps to becoming a confident English speaking yoga teacher.

In order to lead an effective, inclusive and well-rounded class, you need to be informed. And have specific knowledge about specific topics. For example, the asanas and their energetics, anatomy/body parts, cueing and instructional language, metaphorical/theming language and inclusivity. The list goes on.

‘That’s such a yoga teacher thing to say!’ 

Each profession has its own jargon. Jargon is words or phrases that are specific to a group of people, often linked to their job. Even when you’re a native English speaker teaching yoga, you probably don’t know all the words, expressions and vocabulary. At least when you start your job or training. That’s because they aren’t topics of general conversation that you have at college/uni, amongst friends or at language exchanges .This vocabulary is an area of expertise and you don’t often get the opportunity to practise it until you’re on the job. 

For a non-native English speaker who wants to teach yoga in English, using the jargon, the challenge is real. The vocabulary you learn in normal English classes simply isn’t the same as what you need for yoga. And it is certainly not what you need for teaching it. 

Let’s explore your yoga teaching skills and what 6 steps to take to become a confident English speaking yoga teacher. They’re designed specifically for non-native English speakers.

Stop for a second and respect the challenge you’re taking on

It’s important to start by truly understanding what you are requiring of yourself. Remember that:

  1. Learning a language is a challenge
  2. Speaking a language is a skill
  3. Teaching yoga in English (or a foreign language) is an expertise 

You might be wondering what the difference is between these experiences. In some ways, all three involve their own challenges, required skills and expert knowledge. We are language teachers, too, and we’ve separated these things for a reason. We want to help you understand why teaching yoga in English might seem, or have seemed at one point, too big a challenge to tackle. 

Based on our experience teaching students like you, we believe you can make this challenge much more manageable. How?  Break it down into steps. Separating them will help you truly understand what you are expecting of yourself at each stage. This will help you break your language journey down into achievable sub-challenges. 

Unachievable goals and expectations will leave you burnt out. They won’t give you the momentum you need to become the confident English speaking yoga teacher you can be. So, let’s break it down into achievable steps!

Your language journey broken down

1. Learning a language is a challenge

When learning a language, you’re faced with four big challenges all at the same time: speaking, reading, listening and writing. Each of these requires thorough knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. As well as all their different uses and layers of meaning.  

It’s a never-ending process. As we continue learning, we just keep increasing what we know and use. Sometimes it feels like the more you know, the more you don’t know!

Knowing a language isn’t enough. You might know all the grammar and vocabulary you’ve ever been taught. But there are many things you can’t learn until you experience them.
How about adapting to your students’ different  accents or dialects? What about how one language varies from place to place? How does it change over time and according to history and politics? Cultural context and references are so linked to a language’s vocabulary and structures. 

Learning a language is a way of life. And simply learning a language doesn’t mean you can effectively communicate in that language. 

This is why it is important that you know your learning objectives. You can’t wait until you have learned every possible thing about the language before you start teaching yoga in English. You won’t use most of the English language in your yoga classes. Learn what you need to teach, then the rest will fall into place with experience.

2. Speaking a language is a skill

You can learn some parts of language but the real test is: do you put your knowledge into practice? Making phone calls, doing job interviews and developing real friendships are examples of putting language into practice. Writing and speaking in English in real life situations is key. You need this opportunity to use the things you’ve learned in class or in books, in a practical way. 

Doing a vocabulary exercise correctly doesn’t mean you will use the same language accurately, in an uncontrolled situation. For instance, during an interview. There is a common misconception among language learners that we need to unlearn. There is not an instant transition between learning something in theory and using or understanding it independently.  

But you can’t prepare for every possible outcome. So, for now, work on balancing a variety of linguistic skills and gaining confidence to use them in uncontrolled conditions. Learning the mechanics of language is the first step. Next, develop those skills to communicate effectively and to express yourself, make yourself understood, as well as understand others. That is the real test of your skills.

3. Teaching yoga in English (or a foreign language) is an expertise

When learning how to teach yoga in English as a non-native English speaker, you have to use your language skills to: 

  • put your language skills into practice to express yourself clearly. Also to understand others in a professional environment, in a very responsible role.
  • create a safe space for others in which they can explore their mind and body. To do so, use words and expressions that are generally understood and accepted as inclusive. 

As a yoga teacher, you’re helping students to develop their yoga practice. You’re there to transmit the practice, studies or lifestyle of yoga through open, clear and accessible communication. In any language, it takes a lot of communication and linguistic skills to do this. To understand your students and colleagues well enough. To be able to ask appropriate and sensitive questions, and construct careful, informed answers. 

It’s important that we receive and send all this information accurately in English. Yoga is a holistic experience. So, teachers potentially influence multiple areas of their students’ lives. We take on the responsibility to be knowledgeable of the practice and the content we choose. And to be alert and aware of our students’ experiences. Being informed and considerate of our students as unique individuals takes work. 

Responsibilities of Becoming a Confident Yoga Teacher

We also have to hold ourselves accountable for risks we take and the mistakes we make. We need to communicate a variety of knowledge correctly. Not just of yogic practices, but also of health issues and anatomy. Sometimes it’s education and methodology, or language use. It can also be about the coexistence of cultures, languages, behaviour, and many more.  

It’s also about knowing your own boundaries and respecting your students’ boundaries. And also being able to admit when you aren’t in your area of expertise anymore. That’s right – part of your expertise is knowing what you don’t know, and being honest about it!

Becoming a confident English speaking yoga teacher 

Now you see how learning to teach yoga is one thing, but learning to teach yoga in another language really takes time, commitment and lots of practice. It involves failing and learning from your mistakes. Which is exactly what you need for the all important ongoing personal and professional development.

As a teacher, I often see my students depending on themselves to get to where they want to, all alone. I really don’t advise this. Remember that yoga and the teaching of it is passed down from teacher to student. A teacher is there to support you, give you feedback and help you to grow continuously to reach your full potential. 

That’s why observation has been one of the most valuable parts of my professional development. It’s been a part of many of my jobs both as a yoga teacher and an English language teacher. Your observer is not there to judge you, but to give you constructive feedback. Observation is a great learning tool. It highlights the things you do well and the things you can improve. 

Seeking help is never a sign of weakness or of not knowing enough. Allowing yourself to receive the support you need can only push you further towards achieving what you want to do with your yoga teaching career. In order to become a confident English speaking yoga teacher, have the courage to discover what you could have more knowledge of. Find out about your areas for improvement, and recognise when it’s time to seek help. And also know where to get that help.

 

So what are the six steps to teaching confidently in English? 

I’ve identified 6 key steps that will help you become a more confident and effective, English-speaking yoga teacher:

1. Understand where you’re at and define your goals

Try to understand what you’re good at, what you know already, what you need to improve, and how you can improve this. As an English learner and yoga teacher, this point specifically focuses on vocabulary and your receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing.)

After you have worked out what stage you are currently at, it’s time to define your goals.

  • How can you turn those points for improvement into realistic goals? 
  • Where do you want to be in a year from now? 
  • Who, where and what do you want to teach? And why? 
  • Which linguistic skills are your strongest? And which skills could you work on most? 
  • What kind of vocabulary do you struggle to find when you need it? 
  • How can I put myself in situations where I will put my new skills into practice?

Ask yourself detailed questions to find out your inner motivation for learning how to teach yoga in English, and what your goals are based on your present situation.

In fact, if you want to test your English Grammar and Yoga Vocabulary, please feel free to take the test here. 

Setting goals and intentions are necessary to measure improvement and have clear goals to work towards. So, let’s now create an action plan for becoming a confident English speaking yoga teacher. 

 

2. Expand your vocabulary bank for cueing and giving instructions

Next,  you can start developing your language for the specific type of yoga you want to teach. For example: yoga for women in the menopause, yoga for children with ADHD, yoga and Ayurveda, yoga for athletes. 

All these specific groups have their own lingo and focal points within their practice. This is why it’s so important to define your goals before you start expanding your vocabulary bank. Especially for cueing and giving instructions. 

Of course, you do want to get a general understanding of all general yogic vocabulary. Some things are necessary for lots of areas, but make sure the language you use is appropriate for your students and aligns with your teaching objectives. As a result, you will stick to your manageable goals, without trying to learn everything altogether.

3. Learn how to deal with difficult, unexpected, new and uncommon situations

Think of people with injuries, people that leave the room or call early, people that complain about aches and pains. Similarly, people that ask for things you’re uncomfortable with such as ‘can I practise naked in your class?’ Or  things you’re unfamiliar with like ‘I have a hip replacement, what asanas can’t I do?’

 

We’re all different, so we deal with these situations differently. But we still need to learn specific language to deal with them respectfully and confidently. Besides, this is an important part of learning a language! When I taught English in a language school, I loved the classes where we’d practise language for disagreement, negotiating or handling complaints. They prepare you for real life! 

Remember you can say you don’t know, that you disagree with something, or that you need more time. Feel free to admit you can’t help someone right now. Also, not having the answer and admitting it is a reflection of trustworthiness and honesty. It is not a reflection of your value as a teacher. 

Improving how you deal with challenging situations in the future

Have you ever felt dissatisfied with how you dealt with a challenging situation? This is normal, but try not to push it to the back of your mind or beat yourself up about it. Equally, it’s tempting to try to forget the past because it can be difficult to relive our mistakes. It’s also easier to be angry or annoyed with yourself than to deal with the source of what actually happened. And some of us never forget about our mistakes and give up or shy away from similar situations or experiences. 

But, in order to avoid them in the future, you need to take your responsibility as a yoga teacher, practise Svadhyaya and assess how they happened. Next,  evaluate ‘how can I avoid that in the future?’ ‘what do I need to improve?’, ‘where can I learn this or who/what do I need to learn this from?’

4. Understand the different experiences and abilities of your students and learn how to make your classes suitable, personal and adaptable to as many as possible 

When teaching in a studio and even online, you’ll (hopefully) see many different types of students. My teacher once said: ‘The best teachers have a variety of students in their classes – if all the students look the same, the teacher’s likely to teach according to their own body type.’

Make your classes suitable, personal and adaptable for everyone. To do so, you’ll first need to learn how to read bodies in-person and online. You’ll need to learn how to recognise what asanas are challenging or less challenging for different body types. You’ll need to learn how to explain variations. Similarly, you must learn to explain the use of props, according to your observation of your students’ needs.

Being a confident yoga teacher = being an honest yoga teacher

You might not be knowledgeable enough at this point in your career to teach for certain needs and you should not pretend you can. We can’t know everything all the time. Include your students’ different experiences to the point you can responsibly. For example, imagine someone who is pregnant turns up at your class. However, you haven’t studied prenatal yoga. In this case, you must be honest in order to ensure their safety.

Normally, being honest with your students about what you can and can’t do will help you gain trust. Being unable to provide for your students is sometimes the best way you can help them at that time. It shows responsibility and understanding. However, it should also cause you to take that responsibility further and learn more general knowledge about it. And that’s true even when it is an area you choose not to train in as a specialism.


Knowledge is something you can gain after realising you don’t have it. Being trustworthy and honest is an integral value that needs nurturing over a lifetime. Students will respect and trust a teacher who goes away to learn more. They won’t trust a teacher who pretends they have the answer(s) and isn’t honest.

5. Create a well-rounded experience and offer more than ‘just’ asana – learn how to write mindfulness script, meditation scripts and use metaphorical or language for imagination during your yoga classes

Calling all language learners! Think back to the first time you understood a joke or a sarcastic comment in another language. Without having to think hard about it. How did that feel? I bet you felt a little proud to have reached the next level in your language learning. You must have felt like you were truly effective in that language. Understanding humour and participating in more ‘complex’ conversations is not easy. 

The same happens with teaching yoga. One thing is to instruct a yoga class, but another thing is to create an experience. And you know all too well that your students do not come to yoga only to stretch their bodies. Also, they come to enjoy a moment to themselves. They want to connect mind, body and breath. Maybe they want to reflect on specific themes, set intentions, cultivate positive energy or release negative energy. Whatever it is, this type of experience requires more than simple instructions. 

Therefore, to become a confident English speaking yoga teacher, it’s important you know how to write and structure scripts. Equally important is knowing how to use metaphorical language, language for imagination and humour appropriately. Also, you’ll need to consider how to do all of this in an inclusive way!

6. Reading your students – learn how to read your class and individuals, and choose themes according to what you see, feel and hear when you enter the (Zoom) room 

Sometimes, you have a sequence prepared, know your theme and maybe even a playlist. But when you ‘read the room’ you can tell that, for this class, it isn’t at all appropriate. You might have heard the phrase ‘to read the room’ in your yoga teacher training or heard other teachers say this. What does that actually mean? 

It means using  body language, facial expressions, gestures, emotions, feelings, and energies to sense how others feel. For example, in more formal social situations or when you don’t know people very well. It’s about picking up on how others feel or what their opinions are, without them having to tell you.

Even when you’re teaching virtually, you can still sense a lot from your students online. You might just have to reassess what clues you look for. For example, online you might not be able to see how a student is walking or signs of tiredness in their face. But you might become more conscious of the depth and pace of their breathing and their intonation as you listen to them.  

Learning to adapt to your students/classes builds your confidence 

Your class is not about you, but about your students. By really investigating their needs and looking for clues with the knowledge and resources you have, you can adjust your content to them. Adapt your class plans, even take requests, and create classes according to what works for them, at that moment.

To offer these personalised classes, it’s important to keep a bank or notebook. Fill it with different types of asanas, sequences and maybe even themes. As a result, you’ll always have something to refer to. You’ll always be prepared in some way, no matter who shows up and what their needs are that day. 

Learning to read the room, and adapt to the atmosphere or conditions accordingly, will help you become a more confident teacher. You will go into classes feeling like you can teach comfortably, even if things don’t quite go to plan. 

Teach Yoga in English: Mini-Course

If you liked today’s training and would like to find out more, I’ve got a self-paced mini-course to help you start developing your communication and yoga teaching skills in English.

The mini-course is included in our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers, which is the perfect fit for those willing to develop and practice in real-time. 

Listen to 6 Step to Becoming a Confident English Speaking Yoga Teacher podcast episode here: 

If you’re serious about your learning process, join the waiting list for the English for Yoga Teachers course where I’ll teach all these 6 steps over a period of 6 months! 

Why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate

Listen to our podcast: Why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate

 

Your job as a yoga teacher is more than just teaching a class. You put a lot of thought into the preparation such as writing your sequences and scripts, creating playlists and collecting mantras, quotes and affirmations to make your classes meaningful. Online and in person you promote your classes, make an effort to inform your (future) students or clients of where they can find you, what you offer, and how this improves their lives. Chances are that you also write a weekly email, entertain your social media following, spend time bookkeeping, and try hard to stay informed about your yogic studies. At least, that’s what you would like to do, but procrastination keeps creeping up on you. In this blog, I’m looking at why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate. I’m going to explain how this stops your growth.

What actually is procrastination? 

Procrastination is often described as having the intention of doing something, yet postponing completing it. When you procrastinate, you delay your responsibilities, tasks, wishes or goals. It might be because you overthink or overcomplicate them. But, it could also be because of a type of fear, resistance and even a lack of understanding of procrastination. Almost always, procrastination results in more stress. 

People that procrastinate a lot often refer to the term ‘impostor syndrome’. Impostor syndrome is an emotional circumstance in which you believe your achievements are not real or that you don’t deserve praise or success for them. You also don’t think you are capable of achieving what you want to or what others expect of you. You might feel you’re not experienced, knowledgeable, or skillful enough to have been or be responsible for success. It could well be one of the reasons why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate.

The pros of procrastination

In our society, procrastination often gets judged or is labeled as something negative. But, procrastination also has positive qualities. 

For example: You want to organise a workshop for new mums. It’s your first time and you don’t really know how to organise yourself and what content to include. But, you know you need to make it happen at some point.

When we procrastinate, we put off important tasks and decisions. Often we postpone making the essential foundational decisions such as securing venue deposits and confirming dates. Those official things seem like big commitments we might not feel ready for, so we delay. Our brains prefer the smaller things that we can change later. 

So, you catch yourself thinking about all the details: we find ourselves playing with flyer designs, what essential oils to bring, and pondering the workshop details like worksheet activities. Maybe these things shouldn’t be a priority now, but they do need to be thought about properly at some point!

Procrastination can be good because we overthink smaller things ahead of time, meaning we don’t forget them or leave them until the last minute. It can help you to build on your ideas, allow yourself to become more creative and consider new options, aims, or designs. They help you to connect with your audience and think through the details earlier. It means you make better considered decisions throughout the process. 

Think of it as brainstorming to really offer the best you can. It’s likely your clients will notice those details and add to the overall good impression you need to give.

The cons of procrastination

Procrastination in moderation can have pros, and putting something off once in a while shouldn’t be a big deal. However, overthinking and procrastination can soon become long-term (chronic). Chronic procrastination often happens due to lack of confidence, clarity or fears (I’ll explain these fears in the free webinar: Overcoming Procrastination By Using Your Yoga Teacher Toolbox). It can cause stress, anxiety and fatigue. Some other common symptoms are feeling stuck, trapped or caught in a pattern. It’ll not surprise you that procrastination limits your growth and potential and really could have a negative effect on your self-worth and overall well-being. 

Chronic procrastination could also be a sign of a condition such as depression, ADD, ADHD or anxiety. But, for most of us, procrastination is often an emotional reaction to something that you don’t feel ready to do. The idea of performing or carrying out the task is so unpleasant that you would rather sabotage yourself or the situation. You feel that you either don’t have the ability or the willingness to confront it. Overthinking and procrastination are obstacles that  stop you from being who you are and who you could be. Let’s find out why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate!

Why you postpone your yoga teacher tasks and procrastinate

Being an all-round yoga teacher is a diverse job and requires a lot more than you might have imagined when you first obtained your Yoga Teacher Certificate. It could be that you’re working multiple jobs or teaching many, many classes. Over the years, with technology and online yoga becoming more popular, the yoga teaching market and teachers’ responsibilities have changed dramatically. Staying up-to-date can feel overwhelming. 

Have a look at the following statements – do you recognise yourself in one of them?

  • How do I continue? I feel stuck, lost, or don’t know what to do next
  • Where do I start? or I don’t know how to start
  • I don’t have time, or I have too much on my plate

These are some very common thoughts and beliefs among procrastinators. When you’re in the middle of it, it might feel that that really is the case. But as a yoga teacher, you know best, that there’s always a deeper problem: the root problem. 

The root problem of procrastination comes down to self-doubt, lack of confidence, unrealistic goals or lack of clarity. The good news is that you don’t need to gain self-confidence before you can continue with your plans. Do the exercise below to take your first step into learning to beat procrastination so that you can do the things you keep postponing. As you finally complete these tasks, your self-confidence will grow! 

In our next blog, I’ll speak about productivity for yoga teachers and help you reduce procrastination by learning how to trust yourself and improve confidence. But, for today, I want you to do some introspection and practise Svadhyaya: self-study. 

Reflect and meditate on your root problem

Sit down and write or reflect on the following questions:

  1. In your yoga teaching career, what do you delay doing when you procrastinate? (e.g. writing a sequence, starting your online yoga business, shooting yoga classes for YouTube).
  2. Listen to your emotions when you think about the thing you’re neglecting when  procrastinating. (e.g. I feel a fear of failure, I feel useless or unprepared, I’m bored and can’t be bothered). 

  1. Examine and write down the root of these thoughts and emotions (e.g. I feel scared that others are better than me, I don’t feel I have the skills or knowledge or I can’t be bothered because my goals are unrealistic).

  1. Look at the reasons ‘why’ you came up with in question 3. Now turn your reasons for procrastination into the opposite of your problem (e.g. ‘I’m afraid I don’t have the skills or knowledge’ = make an effort to pick up your studies; do research and obtain the skills and knowledge you need. ‘My goals are unrealistic’ = set smaller goals or make a step-by-step plan; you’re not in a rush.) 

AND MAKE IT WORK!

  1. Be realistic and decide how much time you really need to get through your tasks, goals and to-do list. Plan it in your diary and stick to your plan. Turn off all distractions and take your procrastination seriously! The more often you actually follow up on your plans and do the things you need to do, the more you’ll learn to trust yourself.

  1. Finished your task(s)? Celebrate! Treat yourself for every little win! This doesn’t only make you feel better about the little achievements you make – it also helps your mind to see what you are  capable of. You deserve to be rewarded for your efforts! 

 

Want to learn more? Register for the webinar: Defeat Your Yoga Teacher Imposter Syndrome.

Can’t make it live, or see this after the webinar has taken place: I’ll send a recording of the webinar to your email! 

Continuing Education Membership

In the meantime, check out our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers. This membership offers professional and personal development for yoga teachers that have a vision and want to start teaching worldwide; online or abroad. Have a look at all that’s included here.

What to include in your yoga teacher cv

Listen to our podcast: What to Include Your Yoga Teacher CV

Have you (just) finished your yoga teacher training? Seen a teaching opportunity? Or are you looking for a new teaching job? You know you love teaching yoga and you’ve got a lot to offer to yoga studios, schools or even gyms. However, you probably need to hand in your CV (curriculum vitae). In this blog, I’ll give you a step by step plan for what to include in a great yoga teacher CV.   

Writing a yoga teacher CV is a strategic task. Allow yourself to really take all the time you need for it. Before you list all your skills and experiences and call it a day, it’s important to reflect, do some research and find clear answers to the following questions: 

1. What type of establishment are you interested in working for?

(E.g. a yoga school, yoga studio, a gym, a community centre, etc.).

2. What type of classes are you trained in and willing to offer?

(E.g. vinyasa, ashtanga, yin, Yoga Teacher Training material or workshop based activities).

3. What are the core values or mission statement of the establishment you want to apply for?

(E.g. Do they purposefully promote inclusivity? Are their classes geared towards an older audience? Or are they more focused on offering a form exercise?)

4. Who will be receiving your CV?

(E.g. is it a studio owner, a frontdesk assistant or an HR manager?)

5. What type of qualifications, certificates and (continuing) education have you completed to become a teacher?

(E.g. Maybe you’ve obtained a 200 Yoga Teacher Certificate and 50h of continuing education in yogic history).

6. What type of skills and experience do you have that ‘they’ are interested in? 

(E.g. it’s unlikely that your future employer wants to hear about the subjects you took in high school. But they will want to know about your experience working in marketing for a yoga or wellness  brand).

The answers to these questions will help you massively in knowing what to include in your yoga teacher CV. 

Let’s analyse the ‘steps’ to creating your yoga teacher CV.

1. Name & title 

Write down your first name(s), your last name(s) and any titles, letters or pronouns you use. Optionally, you could include the styles of yoga you’re trained in.

For example:

  • Maria Joanna Fernandez Murcia – 200HR RYT* Hatha/Vinyasa
    she / her

*Note: RYT stands for Registered Yoga Teacher / CYT stands for Certified Yoga Teacher.

2. Contact details:

  • Email: if at all possible, try to use a professional email address that’s not something like ‘yolo@hotmail.com’
  • Phone: especially if you live or want to apply to work abroad, or you’re on the road, include your country code.
  • Website: this is a great optional feature if you have one.
  • Social media: if you use social media to promote your classes and services, you can include links to your Facebook page and Instagram account. 

Consider deleting any images online that could give off a bad impression, such as party pictures or posts you shared in the past but wouldn’t share now. If you prefer, make your account invisible. Remember there are many employers that will look for you on social media, even if you haven’t provided your links. 

For example:

  • mariayoga@yogamaria.com
    +34 123 456 789
    www.mariayoga.com.es
    @mariayoga

Make sure that all of these details are up-to-date and people can actually reach you. You’ll be surprised to see how often people miss out on great opportunities because they didn’t update their contact details.

3. Teaching & work experience

After you’ve listed your contact details, you’ll describe your teaching experience. Do this in chronological order, from the most recent to the earliest experience. If you haven’t got any teaching experience yet, you can skip part A and go straight to B: relevant work experience.

A) Yoga teaching experience:

  1. Write down the name of the workplace and their location
  2. State your role and the time period you worked there
  3. List between 2 and 5 of the responsibilities you had. Highlight the skills you gained and your achievements there


For example:

  • Lotus Yoga Studio | Barcelona, Spain 
    Yin & Vinyasa Yoga Teacher | September 2020 – current
    Thorough class preparation for multi-level classes and daily studio set-up
    Sequencing and designing creative classes according to seasonal themes
    Monthly teacher assistant at recurring moon ritual workshops
    Nurturing student-teacher relationships by making an effort to get to know each individual
    Encouraging new students to join Lotus Yoga Studio through social media and word-of-mouth 

B) Work-experience:

Here you’ll write down every other job that has contributed to your skills development. Think of jobs that display the knowledge you have of specific material or programmes. It could be experience with a specific group of people or jobs that display you show initiative and are a team player.

These experiences might only be linked by ‘transferable skills’. These are skills which you originally developed for one role, but can be applied directly to another role. For example, my first job was in administration for a language school. I learned skills for booking classes/courses, writing formally, taking and recording payments and filing documents. My next job was a receptionist at a yoga centre. The fields are completely different, but my root skills were valuable for both roles.

  1. Write down the name of the workplace and their location
  2. State your role and the time period you worked there
  3. List between 2 and 5 of the responsibilities you had. Highlight the skills you gained and your achievements there 

For example:

  • International Language School  – Seville, Spain
    Front-Desk Agent – June 2019 – September 2020
    • Responsible for booking private and group classes with software such as Sutra, Mindbody, and Moomoo yoga
    • Marketing, communication and public relations on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram)
    • Customer service: register new students, answer phone calls, answer questions about the curriculum, and give recommendations

4. Training and education

Your yoga teaching certification or the fact you’ve taught yoga classes are not the only thing that will be considered in your application. Here, list all the types of education you have that have built up your current knowledge. They could be diplomas, certificates, continuing education, but also degrees or exams that are relevant for the job you’d like to apply for.

Follow this structure:

  • Course title (classification/level) 
  • Name of the school or education centre
  • Time period

For example: 

  • 200HR Yoga Teacher Training
    Beautiful Soul Studio – Seville, Spain
    June 2019
  • Bachelor of Science – Psychology 
    University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
    September 2014 – May 2019

5. Other skills that are relevant

List here all the skills that are relevant to this teaching job. Think of your technology skills: using Zoom, IG Live, YouTube or other video platforms. You could also include your marketing, communication, organisation, and collaboration skills. 

For example:

  • Social media skills:
    Photo and video editing
    Planoly, Later
    Instagram (all features)
    Facebook Business
    YouTube Studio

  • Teaching skills:
    Creative prop-use
    Trauma informed
    Chair yoga
    Advanced anatomy
    Inclusivity and diversity

I hope this little guide has given you some clarity and helped you to determine what to include when you create your yoga teacher CV. If you’d like to learn more about creating a yoga teacher CV, join us for our English for Yoga Teachers Course. 

In the English for Yoga Teachers Course, we’ll explore important things such as the design, fonts and colours. Whether to include your insurance or Yoga Alliance registration. The type of language and tenses to write in. And we’ll clear up common questions like if you should use a photo and how to find the right synonyms that really describe you and make your CV stand out. In our English for Yoga Teachers Course, I’ll get super specific and explain what more to include and how to create a killer yoga teacher CV. 

Have you (just) finished your yoga teacher training? Seen a teaching opportunity? Or are you looking for a new teaching job? You know you love teaching yoga and you’ve got a lot to offer to yoga studios, schools or even gyms. However, you probably need to hand in your CV (curriculum vitae). In this blog, I’ll give you a step by step plan for what to include in a great yoga teacher CV.   

Writing a yoga teacher CV is a strategic task. Allow yourself to really take all the time you need for it. Before you list all your skills and experiences and call it a day, it’s important to reflect, do some research and find clear answers to the following questions: 

1. What type of establishment are you interested in working for?

(E.g. a yoga school, yoga studio, a gym, a community centre, etc.).

2. What type of classes are you trained in and willing to offer?

(E.g. vinyasa, ashtanga, yin, Yoga Teacher Training material or workshop based activities).

3. What are the core values or mission statement of the establishment you want to apply for?

(E.g. Do they purposefully promote inclusivity? Are their classes geared towards an older audience? Or are they more focused on offering a form exercise?)

4. Who will be receiving your CV?

(E.g. is it a studio owner, a frontdesk assistant or an HR manager?)

5. What type of qualifications, certificates and (continuing) education have you completed to become a teacher?

(E.g. Maybe you’ve obtained a 200 Yoga Teacher Certificate and 50h of continuing education in yogic history).

6. What type of skills and experience do you have that ‘they’ are interested in? 

(E.g. it’s unlikely that your future employer wants to hear about the subjects you took in high school. But they will want to know about your experience working in marketing for a yoga or wellness  brand).

The answers to these questions will help you massively in knowing what to include in your yoga teacher CV. 

Let’s analyse the ‘steps’ to creating your yoga teacher CV.

1. Name & title 

Write down your first name(s), your last name(s) and any titles, letters or pronouns you use. Optionally, you could include the styles of yoga you’re trained in.

For example:

  • Maria Joanna Fernandez Murcia – 200HR RYT* Hatha/Vinyasa
    she / her

*Note: RYT stands for Registered Yoga Teacher / CYT stands for Certified Yoga Teacher.

2. Contact details:

  • Email: if at all possible, try to use a professional email address that’s not something like ‘yolo@hotmail.com’
  • Phone: especially if you live or want to apply to work abroad, or you’re on the road, include your country code.
  • Website: this is a great optional feature if you have one.
  • Social media: if you use social media to promote your classes and services, you can include links to your Facebook page and Instagram account. 

Consider deleting any images online that could give off a bad impression, such as party pictures or posts you shared in the past but wouldn’t share now. If you prefer, make your account invisible. Remember there are many employers that will look for you on social media, even if you haven’t provided your links. 

For example:

  • mariayoga@yogamaria.com
    +34 123 456 789
    www.mariayoga.com.es
    @mariayoga

Make sure that all of these details are up-to-date and people can actually reach you. You’ll be surprised to see how often people miss out on great opportunities because they didn’t update their contact details.

3. Teaching & work experience

After you’ve listed your contact details, you’ll describe your teaching experience. Do this in chronological order, from the most recent to the earliest experience. If you haven’t got any teaching experience yet, you can skip part A and go straight to B: relevant work experience.

A) Yoga teaching experience:

  1. Write down the name of the workplace and their location
  2. State your role and the time period you worked there
  3. List between 2 and 5 of the responsibilities you had. Highlight the skills you gained and your achievements there


For example:

  • Lotus Yoga Studio | Barcelona, Spain 
    Yin & Vinyasa Yoga Teacher | September 2020 – current
    Thorough class preparation for multi-level classes and daily studio set-up
    Sequencing and designing creative classes according to seasonal themes
    Monthly teacher assistant at recurring moon ritual workshops
    Nurturing student-teacher relationships by making an effort to get to know each individual
    Encouraging new students to join Lotus Yoga Studio through social media and word-of-mouth 

B) Work-experience:

Here you’ll write down every other job that has contributed to your skills development. Think of jobs that display the knowledge you have of specific material or programmes. It could be experience with a specific group of people or jobs that display you show initiative and are a team player.

These experiences might only be linked by ‘transferable skills’. These are skills which you originally developed for one role, but can be applied directly to another role. For example, my first job was in administration for a language school. I learned skills for booking classes/courses, writing formally, taking and recording payments and filing documents. My next job was a receptionist at a yoga centre. The fields are completely different, but my root skills were valuable for both roles.

  1. Write down the name of the workplace and their location
  2. State your role and the time period you worked there
  3. List between 2 and 5 of the responsibilities you had. Highlight the skills you gained and your achievements there 

For example:

  • International Language School  – Seville, Spain
    Front-Desk Agent – June 2019 – September 2020
    • Responsible for booking private and group classes with software such as Sutra, Mindbody, and Moomoo yoga
    • Marketing, communication and public relations on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram)
    • Customer service: register new students, answer phone calls, answer questions about the curriculum, and give recommendations

4. Training and education

Your yoga teaching certification or the fact you’ve taught yoga classes are not the only thing that will be considered in your application. Here, list all the types of education you have that have built up your current knowledge. They could be diplomas, certificates, continuing education, but also degrees or exams that are relevant for the job you’d like to apply for.

Follow this structure:

  • Course title (classification/level) 
  • Name of the school or education centre
  • Time period

For example: 

  • 200HR Yoga Teacher Training
    Beautiful Soul Studio – Seville, Spain
    June 2019
  • Bachelor of Science – Psychology 
    University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
    September 2014 – May 2019

5. Other skills that are relevant

List here all the skills that are relevant to this teaching job. Think of your technology skills: using Zoom, IG Live, YouTube or other video platforms. You could also include your marketing, communication, organisation, and collaboration skills. 

For example:

  • Social media skills:
    Photo and video editing
    Planoly, Later
    Instagram (all features)
    Facebook Business
    YouTube Studio

  • Teaching skills:
    Creative prop-use
    Trauma informed
    Chair yoga
    Advanced anatomy
    Inclusivity and diversity

I hope this little guide has given you some clarity and helped you to determine what to include when you create your yoga teacher CV. If you’d like to learn more about creating a yoga teacher CV, join us for our English for Yoga Teachers Course. 

In the English for Yoga Teachers Course, we’ll explore important things such as the design, fonts and colours. Whether to include your insurance or Yoga Alliance registration. The type of language and tenses to write in. And we’ll clear up common questions like if you should use a photo and how to find the right synonyms that really describe you and make your CV stand out. In our English for Yoga Teachers Course, I’ll get super specific and explain what more to include and how to create a killer yoga teacher CV. 

Listen to our podcast: What to Include Your Yoga Teacher CV

Continuing Education Membership

In the meantime, check out our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers. This membership offers professional and personal development for yoga teachers that have a vision and want to start teaching worldwide; online or abroad. Every month we have a special training, including how to write a successful your CV and Cover Letter. Have a look at all that’s included here.

3 Things yoga teachers often neglect or forget

Listen to our podcast: 3 Things (New) Yoga Teachers Often Forget

Neglecting something means that you’re not taking care of it, not taking care of it properly or that you believe you don’t have time for it. Today we’re speaking about three very common things (new) yoga teachers often neglect or forget. It’s kind of an extension of our previous blog about 5 common mistakes (new) yoga teachers make. The things mentioned in this blog are not necessarily mistakes, just things we sometimes forget or neglect. In other words, you don’t make them a priority.

 

Let’s dive in! 

 

1. Self-practice and self-care 

‘I don’t have time to practise yoga and mindfulness, to journal or practise any type of self-care.’

Teachers often justify this with two common scenarios: 

  • ‘My students are my priority’
    When you’re serving others, it’s natural you want to put the needs or your clients or students first. As a result, you sacrifice your own practice and time. You might even tell yourself that the well-being of your students will in turn help your own well-being. Therefore you allow yourself to sacrifice your self-practice and self-care. You convince yourself that your students’ needs are more important than your own, and you neglect them.  
  • ‘I’m too busy’
    Your busy schedule, family life, or other jobs can leave you with very little time throughout the week. So by the time each day ends, you’re desperate for a moment of mindlessness. Watching TV or scrolling through social media for example; anything that doesn’t require mental effort. You could feel the need to somehow escape from reality, even if it’s just for a moment.

These may sound familiar, but you could experience completely different scenarios in your life. Whatever they’re about, the key is that many of them help you to justify not making yourself a priority. What are your scenarios? Do they reassure you that your own practice and self-care are dispensable activities?

Don’t neglect to take care of yourself!

How can you possibly serve others if you’re not taking care of yourself? 

Your energy, love and nurture have to come from somewhere. You need the physical and mental resources in order to care for others. Our resources can be things like time, energy, generating a productive mindset, keeping a safe and comfortable home, and a healthy mind and body. All of those things need maintenance and regular replenishing. We are like plants – without the right amount of water and sun at the right times, we can’t hope to grow or give life to others. 

Those are some of the fundamental ways in which self-practice is necessary. But as teachers, self-practice and self-care are especially important. 

Making them part of your routine:

  • gives you the skills and ability to speak from your experience and explain things more clearly
  • helps you understand why some things work and why other things don’t, or why certain things are and aren’t challenging, feel or don’t feel right.
  • teaches you about yourself, increasing how compassionate you are with yourself and your students
  • sets a good example: as a teacher, you’re like a parent or role-model. Students will often copy you and you want to help them make progress. So, show them! Practise what you preach. 

 

So, what could my self-practice look like?

Self-practice doesn’t have to mean a daily dynacharia (ayurvedic routine), 1.5 hour asana practice, 30 mins of pranayama and 30+ mins of meditation. 

Self-practice can be whatever helps you to check in with your own senses, recharge your batteries, obtain the energy you need to fully show up for your students. They are daily activities of your choice that you do to be present and find strength so that you can listen and pay attention to your students. Guide and support them on their journey with compassion. Your self-practice could include the obvious things such as asana, pranayama or mindfulness. But it could also be a bath, a walk in the park, reading or listening to podcasts.

 

2. Centring yourself before class 

The second of the three things (new) yoga teachers often neglect or forget. And let’s start with a question:

How do you arrive at your class? 

Do you live in a busy place and are often stuck in traffic? Do you home-school your children and teach in between. Do you do another job and have meetings just before your class? Do you end up arriving late to your own class? 

Many teachers show up to their class at the last minute. Life is surprising and sometimes unexpected things come up  just at the wrong moment. But you know the difference between that and simply not leaving yourself enough time to get fully prepared. 

It’s so important to reserve extra time before your class starts! Imagine school students entering a classroom before the teacher has arrived. How can the teacher own the place again? To teach your class carefully and confidently, you need a few minutes alone to feel grounded in the space. Teaching begins before the class starts.  

Don’t forget that teachers set examples 

 Tell yourself your class starts 15 minutes earlier to prevent yourself from forgetting or neglecting time for preparation. Get on your mat and move your body. Revise your script. Light a candle, incense, a diffuser, or whatever you like to use in your class. Spend a moment in a child’s pose or sukhasana. Listen to your playlist (make sure it’s not on shuffle). 

It’s a moment in which you take the time for yourself to get centred – check in with how you feel! Arrive in your practice. You know it only takes a few breaths to calm down, so make use of your yoga teacher toolbox. This grounding and centering will make you feel more prepared. You’ll probably lead the class feeling less distracted and your ideas will seem more organised. If you aren’t in this ‘space’, your students can sense it too. And you certainly can’t expect them to get into a mindset that you aren’t in yourself. 

I bet that as you start your classes, you probably ask your students to arrive on their mat and leave the day behind. So follow your own example and take some time before class to do this yourself!

 

3. Make your students your priority in class

Another of the three things (new) yoga teachers often neglect or forget is the idea of orientating our classes around our students.


Teaching classes should be about your students. Not you. It isn’t about what you can do or what you know. Good classes are not social media; they aren’t a platform for showing off. Nor are they about if or how well you can do things, or if you know enough. Your classes are not a time for you to prove anything to anyone about you as a teacher. 

Whether through self-doubt or self-confidence, your self-consciousness is not only because you care too much about what others think of you. It’s more complex than that. Insecurities, limiting beliefs and an irrational interpretation of yourself can all contribute to self-consciousness. They might be rooted in your childhood and your past, or they could be more recent developments. 

Our first experiences as teachers and professionals can also build up a sense of instability. However, we make the class about ourselves if we focus on how we come across, how we present ourselves and our classes, or how much our students like us (or not). Shifting your focus away from yourself and onto the students is something (new) yoga teachers often neglect or forget. But doing so can totally change things for our students. 

In order to centre your classes around your students in the future, you can:

  1. Connect with your students before class: ask them about their day, their needs and desires for class. If possible, tailor your class last minute to include things they might find helpful.
  2. Avoid thinking for your students: we approach everything from our own experience and as teachers we sometimes make assumptions or generalisations too soon. Listen to your students and ask them about their personal experiences or opinions instead of putting words into their mouths, especially when they struggle to express themselves in English
  3. Observe and check-in with your students while they practise: look at them and give them personalised cues if the class is small enough. If the class is big, give generalised cues but ones that will benefit everyone. Don’t be afraid to get off your mat and check how they’re doing!
  4. Ask your students how they feel after class: what did they like? What was challenging or difficult to follow? Take their feedback as something to learn from, not to feel judged and bad. I don’t know a single teacher who hasn’t received some kind of negative feedback. Accept that it’s a possibility and see it as a learning point.

 

To summarise

These three things (new) yoga teachers often neglect or forget can take time and patience to change. But being aware of them is the biggest step. You might recognise yourself in some of these things – I know I do. 

We shouldn’t judge ourselves for forgetting or neglecting these things, but this blog aims to create awareness. Hopefully, they will give you something to think about for yourself and from now on you can notice how you might have slipped into these habits. More importantly, you can now think about how to unlearn them. Take some time for reflection: which of these three things have/do you neglect or forget as a teacher? How can you change things around, starting today? 

 

Want more like this? 

Register for the 10 tips for multilingual yoga teachers to work on your professional development with a daily 2-minute video. And, join our online community of multilingual yoga teachers: Teach Yoga in English Support Group!

Listen to our podcast: 3 Things (New) Yoga Teachers Often Forget

Continuing Education Membership

In the meantime, check out our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers. This membership offers professional and personal development for yoga teachers that have a vision and want to start teaching worldwide; online or abroad. Have a look at all that’s included here.

How to Find Support After Your Yoga Teacher Training

Over the past few months, I’ve been speaking to many newly graduated yoga teachers. It’s curious to see how everyone experiences their training so differently. Some feel extremely inspired and can’t wait to continue their learning journey while others feel a little lost, discouraged and disappointed. However, one challenge a lot of us seem to have in common is the feeling of not being prepared enough to actually teach. With this blog, I hope to give you some guidance after your yoga teacher training. It aims to provide you with the tools and support you need to fill the gaps in the information or teaching practice which are stopping you from teaching yoga confidently. So, let dive in: how to find support after your yoga teacher training!

“How was your yoga teacher training? “

“No one taught me how to write a sequence! What do I do now?”

“I’m disappointed, I never got the chance to teach during my training.”

“It was so overwhelming: too much information, very few practices.“

 

If this sounds like you, know that you’re not alone! Know that there are a lot of options, resources, communities and teachers out there that can help you further! Continue with this blog, to find out where and how you can find support after your yoga teacher training! 

 

I’ve been there too!

One of the reasons why I felt unqualified, incapable, or simply lost in this yoga teaching world was that, during my training, I had very few opportunities to actually practise teaching yoga. My course had a very academic twist to it; lots of talking, lots of terminology, but very little practice. You’re noticing now that I’m saying this on repeat, aren’t you?! But repetition is the key to learning anything new! With that, I mean repetition in all skills; receptive and productive. 

No one becomes an expert overnight.

And no one becomes an expert without identifying their favourite way(s) of learning. You might know that you’re naturally quicker at picking things up by either reading, hearing or seeing things for example. But to fully embody new information and to be able to explain it  as teachers, we need to use as many of our skills as possible. We need to work with our own skills: to hear, see, feel, write, speak, practise, make mistakes, reflect, try again, and the same again, again and again to really understand something to a level that allows you to teach it to others.

It’s for that reason we and many other school systems give you the opportunity to integrate your learning through various types of exercises. It is extremely beneficial to know  about the different learning styles and how you pick up things fastest. Make sure you know these things about yourself but also about your students! Find out how they learn to provide a smooth learning curve for everyone. If you’d like more information on this and/or want to take a test to find out what your learning style is, go to our blog: how to prepare for your yoga teacher training. 

Your 200-hour yoga teacher training is only the beginning

The majority of yoga teacher training only lasts 4 weeks. You’re handed your certificate and are ready to enter the world of teaching yoga. But, to be honest, I believe that’s where it really starts! And exactly where support is lacking for many of us. That isn’t a good combination, is it? For us as human beings, in such a short time it’s almost impossible to actually gain, remember and also integrate all the knowledge and skills we learn in our training. 

I want to reassure you that a four week training is amazing and an incredibly inspiring experience. But your yoga teacher journey, just like your yoga practitioner journey, are journeys that last a lifetime.
Just like all other jobs, it’s a never-ending evolving one; full of learnings, new discoveries and many many, many different studies in even more different aspects. Go into training with an open mind and don’t get discouraged by the wealth or extent of these studies. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, but embrace it rather than let it  frustrate you. And know that if you need a hand, or simply need to chat with someone, we are here to support you. 

How to find support after your yoga teacher training that works for you!

Ask for follow-up and feedback.

After your training you may be surprised to never hear back from your teacher. It’s unfortunate, but not uncommon to not receive feedback after your certification. I believe it is extremely valuable to simply write them an email, or get on the phone and ask!
During or after your training you probably wrote an essay or discussed what you yourself, believed went well and would like to improve, but don’t be afraid to ask your teacher for their opinion/what they think. Your teacher could provide you with new insights and help you find your direction in your first few months or years of your yoga teaching path.

Search for teaching practice after your yoga teacher training

Teaching practice is highly underestimated and even neglected during many training courses. We get out of training and jump straight into teaching classes, but may experience feeling unsure or incapable. Sometimes we  don’t even know where to start. Participating in teaching practice classes provides you with a safe space to gain confidence, try new things, learn from others and exchange ideas and experiences.

Practice and experience are the stepping stones we all need after training and before having the pressure of a full-time teaching timetable. 

Having done training and having a desire to teach yoga means you are already capable. Enga’s teaching practices help you to realise what you know and can do, which will allow you to improve, add more detail to what you know and become even more efficient and confident as a teacher. 

Finding your voice after your yoga teacher training

Teaching yoga can be very intimidating. There’s heaps to remember: the breath, verbs, asanas, variations of asanas, potential injuries, preventing injuries, sensitive language, inclusive language, and so on. As a teacher, you want to share your enthusiasm for yoga. You possibly hope to share the sensations, feelings and insights you experienced and that have changed you for the better. 

Especially when you start teaching, it’s possible you feel the need to be able to teach everything and to try all the different methods. We often have an image of The Teacher and that’s not always compatible with who you truly are. If you try to create that persona, you need to act on top of teaching. 

Yoga and teaching yoga are very personal. When combined, we must accommodate for this even more. Perhaps take time for some Svādhyāya (self-study) reflection to define what your own teaching style is. Not what you want it to be, but what your natural style is at this point in your development. You want to practise what you teach and teach what you practise.  Mandarin teachers don’t teach French: they teach Mandarin because that’s what they’ve studied themselves, and they know it’s what they’re good at. We’ve written a blog dedicated to this topic that includes some really good journal questions and tools that help you find your personal teacher voice.

Continuing education after your yoga teacher training

As mentioned above, your teacher training is only the beginning. You’ll notice that Yoga Alliance has a ‘Continuing Education Requirement’ that requires you to complete an additional amount of training and practice every three years. Whether you’re registered with Yoga Alliance or not, I highly recommend investing time in continuing your education for six reasons:

It helps you:

  • fully embody your earlier learnings from your other teacher training
  • see your studies and interests from different points of view 
  • stay up-to-date and informed on new discoveries and developments
  • meet other yogis with whom you share an experience and can share past experiences
  • understand who you teach and what type of classes are most beneficial for them 
  • offer your students more up-to-date, detailed, educative and valuable classes 

 

Resources and other support after your yoga teacher training

In our last blog I shared with you some resources that I recommend diving into before your training. Here, I’ll share some resources I recommend for after your training:

Books (most are also available as audiobooks).

  • The Tree of Yoga – B. K. S. Iyengar
  • Light on Pranayama: The Definitive Guide to the Art of Breathing – B. K. S. Iyengar
  • Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes – Mark Stephens
  • Your Body, Your Yoga – Bernie Clark
  • Yoga Anatomy – Leslie Kaminoff
  • Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses: A Practical Workbook for Integrating Themes, Ideas, and Inspiration Into Your Class – Alexandra Desiato and Sage Rountree

Documentaries:

  • I Am Maris: Portrait of a Young Yogi – Laura Vanzee Taylor 
  • Yogawoman – Saraswati Clere, Kate Clere McIntyre
  • On Yoga the Architecture of Peace – Heitor Dhalia
  • Heal – Kelly Noonan
  • Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator – Eva Orner

Podcasts: 

Facebook Groups:

 

10 Tips for Multilingual Yoga Teachers: Video Guide.

To help you find support you after your yoga teacher training, we’ve created a video guide to help you boost your confidence and design more effective yoga classes with these 10 yoga teaching tips & techniques to for professional development as a multilingual yoga teacher!

Continuing Education Membership

In the meantime, check out our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers. This membership offers professional and personal development for yoga teachers that want to start teaching worldwide; online or abroad. Develop your communication and teaching skills while obtaining continuing education hours with our live and recorded classes and teacher training sessions!

Have a look at all that’s included here.

How to prepare for your YTT as a multilingual yoga teacher

Listen to our podcast episode: How to Prepare for Your English Yoga Teacher Training

When I finished my 200h teacher training, I felt unqualified. I believed I was nowhere near prepared to teach and, in that moment, decided teaching yoga wasn’t for me. With this blog I sincerely hope to provide you with tips on how to prepare for your YTT as a multilingual yoga teacher or even a native speaker. I also want to give you the tools you need to feel better equipped, more confident and more capable when you start your yoga teacher training. So let’s get started: How to prepare for your YTT as a multilingual yoga teacher?

‘How do I prepare for my yoga teacher training as a multilingual yoga teacher?’ 

I asked my friend Helena this question before I did my first teacher training, and now I have been asked many times by you. Preparing yourself for yoga teacher training totally depends on your preferences, the skills you’re naturally good at and what type of training you want to do. If you would like help with choosing a teacher training, go to our previous blog for tips and inspiration.

When you start your training, you are going to be educated on all the different aspects that come with the job of a yoga teacher. So, really, good training doesn’t require you to know it all beforehand. However, many training courses do require you read a set of books and study a lot on your own before you start.

Let me start by explaining a couple of things that I wish I had known before my training. 

If I had known the following things before, I would definitely have made different decisions. And even though I slightly regretted them at the time, I can now use those experiences to help you not make the same mistakes. 

My 200h training only lasted for 3.5 weeks.

All the material was crammed into 10-12 hour days, without weekend breaks. It was exhausting and my brain didn’t have the time to actually give meaning to all the new knowledge that I was gaining. As a result, I forgot most of it within the first few weeks. If you have the time, I’d highly recommend a training that’s spread over a longer period of time. Time allows you to process information in a way that suits you best and doesn’t rush your learning, increasing the quality of it. Longer training gives you plenty of time to give meaning to your new knowledge and integrate your new learnings on and off the mat.

Some training only included about 5 hours of yoga asana practice.

To finish your yoga teacher training without having practiced a lot of yoga asana might surprise you, and you’re definitely not the only one! Despite my teacher describing the training as  having an academic focus and lots of personal development, I still expected to be practising yoga at least every morning. This wasn’t the case in mine and, from what I’ve heard, it’s the same in  many others. I truly think that practising with your teacher is necessary for integrating all your new knowledge. It’s a great source of inspiration and lets you experience the things you’re learning in real-time practice. If this is what you’d like, ask your teachers about the amount of actual asana practices led by them.

 

That said, what could help you to prepare yourself for your yoga teacher training?

If you’re like me, you like to read, write, take notes, do research and get practical practice of what you (are going to) teach. There isn’t just one type of good teacher. Nor is there one way to become an effective teacher and all of this depends on your personal learning style. Most training will provide you with a list of recommendations and some even give you their manual beforehand. Other training starts on the day you arrive. Either way could work, but I believe that your personal learning style plays a big part in how you access and digest new information. Some of us are visual learners and like to see and read things, others are tactile and learn through moving, touching and practising. It could be that you’re an auditory learner and you need to listen or hear new information before they start to make sense to you. Knowing your personal learning style allows you to choose what actually works for your preparation. If you have no clue about the way you learn, take this test here. And if you’d like to learn more about learning styles, have a look at the article here.

Reading and/or audio books

As mentioned above, most yoga teacher training provides you with a list of required or recommended reading. Whatever your learning style is, I suggest you do not postpone this and start reading well before you start your training. This way, your brain is stimulated with new vocabulary and terms you don’t speak about (yet) on a daily basis. If you have a hard time concentrating on words in a book, the solution could be ‘auditory’; check if there’s an audiobook version of the required reading for your training.

Here’s a list of books I recommend most of which are also available as audiobooks.

  • Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
  • Light on Yoga: The Definitive Guide To Yoga Practice – B.K.S. Iyengar
  • The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice – T. K. V. Desikachar
  • The Language of Yoga: Complete A-to-Y Guide to Asana Names, Sanskrit Terms, and Chants – Nicolai Bachman 
  • The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice – Deborah Adele
  • Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques – Mark Stephens
  • Yoga Anatomy Colouring Book –  K. Solloway

Documentaries & podcasts

If you’re a visual or auditory learner, documentaries and podcasts could come in handy! Documentaries, just like books, introduce you to the language of yoga; language you may not use every day or is simply completely new to you. For example yoga anatomy, Sanskrit terms, affirmations, expressions or sayings, hymns taken from the yoga sutras, Bhagavad Gita, etc. Books and podcasts don’t only offer a great introduction, they also expose you to conversational language and give examples of how to use these terms in real life.

Here’s a list of documentaries I recommend:

  • Breath of the Gods – Jan Schmidt-Garre
  • Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student’s Journey – Jake Clennell
  • My Dharma – Alessandro Sigismondi
  • Yoga Is – Suzanne Bryant
  • Awake: The Life of Yogananda – Paola di Florio, Lisa Leeman

Here’s a list of podcasts I recommend: 

  • The Lucas Rockwood Show
  • Triyoga Talks Podcast
  • Headspace Radio Podcast
  • Your Yoga in English Podcast (our own podcast)

Yoga Practice and Conversation Practice

Unite, connect and share your journey with other yogis. Even though each journey is unique and we all take slightly different steps, we’re all on very similar paths and sharing this with people that you feel connected with is very empowering. If you don’t know anyone close to you that you can share your experiences with, connect with others via international yoga Facebook groups, Instagram or other social platforms such as Twitter, Clubhouse or LinkedIn. Surrounded by others, you’ll experience growth and evolution in a way that’s even more inspiring than doing it all by yourself. 

Some yoga teacher Facebook groups I really like are:

  • Learn and Teach Yoga – Community for Yoga Practitioners
  • Yoga Teacher Resource Group
  • Yoga Teachers Support & Mentoring
  • Comunidad en ESPAÑOL de YogaHispana – Yoga y Meditación (Hispanohablantes)
  • Yoga in English // yoga en inglés – Enga’s group
  • Teach Yoga in English (this is the group we use for your 5-Day Challenge and it will reopen on the 9th of May 2021). 

 

Let me help you prepare for your YTT as a multilingual yoga teacher too! Have you seen the 10 tips for multilingual yoga teachers already?

Listen to our podcast episode: How to Prepare for Your English Yoga Teacher Training

Continuing Education Membership

In the meantime, check out our Continuing Education Membership for multilingual yoga teachers. This membership offers professional and personal development for yoga teachers that have a vision and want to start teaching worldwide; online or abroad. We offer great ways to prepare for YTT, but also give you the opportunity to gain continuing education hours by joining our live teacher training sessions!

Have a look at all that’s included here.

How to Choose a Yoga Teacher Training

Listen to our podcast episode: How to Choose Your English Yoga Teacher Training or Continuing Education Course

When I was searching for a school to do my 200h teacher training at, I felt overwhelmed. The variety and options are countless and with the growth of the yoga industry in the past years, you really can need  help choosing a yoga teacher training that really suits you. With this blog I want to provide you with tips for choosing your yoga teacher training as a multilingual or even native English speaker. I will also give you the tools you need to analyse your needs and find your direction and future as a multilingual yoga teacher. 

Why do I believe it’s important to carefully choose your teacher training?

I finished my training with very little teaching practice and very little help from the school. I simply didn’t know where to go next and actually gave up on teaching yoga. For about 6 months I didn’t even practise it. 

I went back to teaching English because it felt comfortable, but also because I knew that it filled my heart with joy. The connection I had with the people in my class I loved the most; watching them grow and gaining confidence in their language abilities. Also, I felt that my purpose in life was to help other people who wanted to travel, live abroad or work, or study internationally. I wanted to help them with the skills they needed to communicate effectively.

Deep inside, I was yearning for the studies, practice and teaching of yoga. However unsupported, discouraged and unprepared I felt to teach, I knew that this could all have been avoided, with more thorough preparation and support. 

I knew I wasn’t alone and knew I had to do something about this feeling of uncertainty we feel after our teaching training. I wanted to fill up this gap: this void of insecurity and lack of practice, to help other teachers gain the confidence they need to succeed. 

And that’s what I do today. I combine my English teaching skills with my yoga teaching skills and help multilingual people, like you and me, prepare for teacher training, but also help you gain the confidence you need for teaching yoga in English effectively with actual teaching practice, before, during and after teacher training. 

So today, let’s dive into how you choose the ‘best’ yoga teacher training for you. 

The yoga industry is booming and growing faster than ever before. There’s a lot of yoga teacher training out there: online, in studios, retreats abroad and so on. They vary from 3 to 4 weeks, spread over a few months or even a year. Their focus can be put on anatomy and alignment, yogic philosophy and lifestyle, the energetic bodies (chakras and kosha system), or even personal development. 

For you, it’s important to brainstorm what you like most, what you would like to teach or your plans for the future. I know these are big questions  and your answers will change over time  as you gain experience. If you aren’t sure now, have a look at our How to Find Your Voice blog and answer the journal questions included there. Your answers to these questions could provide clarity as to what to look for in a training.

Let’s choose a yoga teacher training that really suits you.

Here is a list of questions and concepts to consider:

 

What style of yoga do you practise and would you like to teach?

If you have been practising Vinyasa for the past few years, you probably love it and the logical next step would be to pick a Vinyasa yoga teacher training. However, maybe you simply haven’t exposed yourself to other styles that you might like. I believe it’s worth practising different styles before you choose what style you’ll do your yoga teacher training in.

 

Do you know your training teacher?

Some of us have been practising with our training teacher for years. Some of us pick a training because it covers all the Yoga Alliance requirements, it looks and sounds interesting or, simply, because it is the most convenient. Please at least meet your teacher once before you start training and get a feel for them. If that’s impossible, ask for a phone call, video chat or practise with them online. I believe it’s extremely important that you ‘click’  with your teachers: that you feel comfortable with them quickly and naturally. It’s also important you can trust them and don’t feel intimidated by them. If one of these things seems off, continue looking! Don’t feel rushed and choose someone you truly feel comfortable with.

 

Would you like the training to be completely led by them or would you like a group of teachers?

Two know more than one. I believe a team of teachers is extremely beneficial, because it shows mutual commitment, teamwork and union. It also gives you different perspectives, ideas and explanations that could help you with understanding things in different ways. Try not to compare one with the other, because teams of teachers  don’t mean that one is better than the other; collaborations improve the work of everyone and as a result, improves your learning experience.

 

 

What’s your ideal time frame? Would you like to complete it in a few weeks or would you prefer to have your training spread over a few months?

How much time are you willing to spend on your teacher training? Would you like to go abroad and make it your only focus for a few weeks? Or would you like to complete it over a longer  period of time? There’s no right or wrong answer to this, because we’ve all got our own timetables and learning styles. Think of your past learning experiences and be honest with yourself. Fast isn’t always better, but slow could also be demotivating.

 

Would you rather be really good at one thing or have a little bit of knowledge of everything?

Knowing this will help you define your options, depending on the focus of each training. Below you’ll see that every training requires a certain amount of hours spent on very specific teachings. However, your teacher trainer(s) will naturally have a preference or give more importance to specific aspects. Again, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s something to bear in mind.
My training for example was very focussed on personal development and overcoming trauma, but I’ve seen other training with an extreme focus on anatomy. Choose what suits you and the people you want to teach!

 

One possibility that is increasing in popularity: have you considered doing it online? Why or why not?

Online training is becoming more and more popular. Especially during a pandemic, these provide you with everything you need from the comfort of your own home. Again, this type of training needs to comply with the requirements and normally involves a lot of Zoom meetings so that it  meets your contact hours (see next paragraph). But it’s understandable that, especially for your first training, you wish to do it in person. Consider your options and go with what suits your needs best. 

 

Do I need to be registered with Yoga Alliance?

No, but it’s highly recommended. You do need to be registered with YA before you teach in some studios or participate in certain events. There are studios and other opportunities that ask for your registration after graduation before you can teach with/for them. Students have also asked me if I was registered before joining my classes. However, it’s not obligatory and I do know of very well respected schools that aren’t registered with them, for example the Ekhart Yoga Academy.

According to Yoga Alliance, which is a professional organisation for yoga teachers, a certain amount of hours should be spent on certain concepts and therefore should always be included in your training before becoming  a qualified teacher. They have an extensive list of things they require which you can find here. Most teacher training does include them anyway and most are registered with Yoga Alliance as a school which, in return, allows you to register your training with Yoga Alliance too.

If you wish to register your certification with Yoga Alliance after your training, look for a sentence along these lines: ‘includes 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification’. If you want to double check, visit the Yoga Alliance website and go to ‘schools’ to see if they are registered with them. 

Yoga Alliance is a very supportive and communicative organisation, so if you are ever unsure, simply send them an email and they can give you more clarity on these requirements.  

 

I hope this blog helped you find some clarity on choosing your yoga teacher training! In this episode I’ll give further explanation! Also, have a look at how to prepare for yoga teacher training and how to find support after your yoga teacher training! 

In the meantime, become a member of our Teach Yoga in English Support Group to meet other yoga teachers in your position or see it as an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in the key areas that many teachers in training need more support with before, during and after their training.

Listen to our podcast episode: How to Choose Your English Yoga Teacher Training or Continuing Education Course