New to teaching yoga - can you help?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello, I have recently qualified as a yoga teacher and have started a small business freelancing in several locations near to my home.

A few of my classes are within a private health club and they are (luckily) always full as the members book in and I have regular attendees.

I also have a few freelance classes and this is where my concerns lie - the numbers are around 4 people per class and as much as I know it takes time for word to get out, I can’t help wondering what more I should/could do.

So far I have printed flyers and put these into local shops, emailed local businesses, created a website and facebook page and featured in a local magazine article.

Do you have any suggestions or advice on what to do? Or have you had a similar experience? Is it just a matter of waiting it out?

Any comments welcome.

Thanks in advance

C

#2

The first year of my teaching, I often times went home having had no one show up. But the owner of the studio kept telling me not to worry, they will come. One by one they did. So my advise to you in not worry. Not having many students helps to cultivate your teaching style and allows you to be more hands on with your students. I personally like smaller classes and keep my classes that way.

Word has to get out and the best way is through word of mouth. Students telling friends and coworkers. Flyers are an option, but not something I have done. Patience YogaBox! It will happen.

#3

I think Lotusgirl is right. I don’t teach but this makes sense to me. I myself would love to go to a class that has a teacher who has time for one on one. I really think it will benefit you a great deal, as well as those you are teaching! You can learn together! You get to have this opportunity to begin to understand different learning styles, and how one suggestion may work for one student, and not another. Each is an individual, and perhaps this will help drive that home for you even more than perhaps you already understood it.
Good luck!

#4

Thank you very much for your posts - I feel extremely re-assured!

#5

Hello Yogabox,

Honestly, we never know the outcome of anything at all so I personally cannot tell you students will or will not show up. Some people simply teach four students. Some people simply perform for 30 and teach no one at all. And there are all points in between.

One concern I often have is the teacher’s attachment to the finances of larger classes. Certainly it is lovely to have many people interested in the gifts we have to share however I’d prefer to have four very committed students than to have 20 who are half in.

At the same time, we are hoping to earn enough compensation for the teaching to feed and clothe our family (and our selves) and handle life’s basic needs.

It is critical for teachers to self-evaluate what they are doing and this is the case in perpetuity, whether there are 4 students or 400. At the same time, letting people know you are there is absolutely necessary. And that notification is both pragmatic and energetic. Ergo if you are doing all the pragmatic things AND evaluating your teaching, then I’d suggest incorporating your marketing within your meditation.

Finally any sound teacher training should provide a strong peer network and support. So I would also suggest contacting those who trained you and trained with you to get some additional guidance.

#6

I accept the number (few or many) of people that pitch for every class. I had some evenings where there were only one person in my class. And that was how it should have been, because 9/10 times that one person had such severe problems which allowed me to pay all my attention to that one person and her problems. I had one evening where again only one lady pitched, she needed to talk about very personal aspects in her life, difficult husband, problem child etc. We talked for 90 minutes about her problems and how yoga can help her. This was in April this year, her life took such an about turn after that for good. See it not as an obstacle or challenge when the class is empty, but as an opportunity for you to really reach out to those few or even one in the class.

#7

I see the good points being made here if yoga teaching can be a ministry and a sacrifice to help others.

But if you want and need to make a living at it, one student showing up isn’t going to do it.

Is is possible for a teacher to make a living teaching yoga? I don’t mean owning a studio, but by being a teacher at a studio. Even in our fairly busy studio, just looking at the schedule, the number of times a teacher teaches, how many show up, what is charged, the amount a studio would need to cover expenses…it seems there would not be all that much left for the teachers. At best it would be a part-time sideline.