Get real: the not so glamorous side of yoga teaching
So, yoga teaching sounds like a dream job, right?
Beautiful Instagram feeds. Sexy yoga bodies. Trendy spandex. Gorgeous yoga studios and yoga retreats to exotic destinations.
Hmmm… is yoga teaching actually perfection, all day, every day?
Ummm…. maybe. But maybe not.
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Nothing is perfect. Not even a dream job, like teaching yoga
Yes, even teaching yoga has a not so glamorous side. At least sometimes.
After all, life as a yoga teacher is still a job. And with any job comes obligations and responsibilities that aren’t always shiny and glamorous.
Here are some of the less than glamorous aspects of yoga teaching or running a yoga business.
The Not So Glamorous Side of Yoga Teaching
paperwork.
There’s paperwork to do!
Whether you are self-employed or working for a yoga studio or company, you’ve got job-related bureaucracy and red tape to deal with. It’s inevitable. For example, there are taxes to file. Contracts to read and sign. There’s payroll and filings to take care of, especially if you have employees. There are bills to pay, like studio space or online teaching platform fees.
social media & marketing.
Word of mouth marketing rules, but when you’re starting out or looking to expand your yoga business, you may have to do more. Sometimes a lot more.
Marketing efforts may include tending to social media. For example, you may have to spend time building a social media presence, like on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest. or Twitter. You might also create a blog.
Building and growing a successful social media presence takes time, commitment, and effort. This includes making regular posts, making IG Reels, Instagram stories, creating Pinterest Pins, or blog posts, and engaging with followers. Not to mention spending time taking luscious photos, coordinating photo shoots, and editing photos.
Writing.
Teaching yoga or running a successful yoga biz can involve a surprising amount of writing. For example, there are class lesson plans and sequences to write, courses to script, online products to create, blogs to write, and social media content creation.
And if you’re a teacher who has your sights on earning more, you might even find yourself writing online course content and e-books, authoring books, or drafting articles for magazines or blogs.
People are judgy.
People can be judgmental.
This can include students and social media followers searching for enlightenment. Sure, you can let a lot of this slide off of you, but the fact remains that you might feel a little heat from time to time. For example, people might be critical of your classes. You might feel “judgy” eyes on your clothing selection. Or music choices. Even your class sequences. People might disagree with your lifestyle or food choices. What? You drink coffee? Or gasp…wine?
As a teacher, they might put you on a pedestal and expect perfection from you. They may be disappointed when they discover you’re not perfect.
self-love.
For sure, yoga can make your body look totally AHHH-MAZING.
However, sometimes when you’re doing a lot of teaching and cueing sequences, rather than working out alongside your students, you might discover that you don’t throw down enough mat time for yourself. Accordingly, self-care and self-love can potentially become an added “to-do” on your daily or weekly list. Who would of thought, right?
messiness.
Assisting students with asana practice can be messy. As in sticky and sweaty. And of course, if you’re doing any sort of hot or warm yoga instructing–even Ashtanga–the studio classroom can get stinky! Thank you, body odor.
burnout
Sometimes the hustle of teaching yoga, the behind the scenes work, online teaching and keeping up with a personal yoga practice can lead to teacher burnout.
And about those lush and lux yoga retreats…well, those can involve a lot of work and yoga teacher coordination, and yep, you guessed it…teachers might actually need time off or a vacation afterwards to chill and breathe.
Anything Else? What’s Not So Glamorous About Teaching Yoga? Any pros and cons of teaching yoga? What’s missing on this list? Drop a comment below.
And after, come pop over to Instagram and follow me @nakedearthyoga.
