21 Dec career change and becoming a yoga teacher

there are naturally many concerns that can go through your head if you are considering a career change. The uncertainties of it can bring up all kinds of insecurities such as, ‘will I be good enough to make it?’, ‘will I earn enough money to survive or thrive?’, ‘is it too late for me to start now?’… but why let all the un-manifest self-doubt hold you back?

my response to this is

in fact, when it comes to yoga, more often than not, people come into teaching yoga as a second career. Teaching yoga is not something that has been traditionally touted as an option presented to in the careers advisors’ office when you’re at school. It’s prominence as an industry in the mainstream has only really exploded in the last 15 years or so. Yoga teachers are often former advertising executives, bankers, school teachers, accountants, dancers, chefs.. you name it, if you’re a yoga teacher you’ve probably been something else in a former job!

the yoga teachers’ career trajectory isn’t really structured or progressive in the conventional sense. It’s not like you go to university to study yoga, get some yoga work experience and then climb the ‘yoga career ladder’.  There are no set right or wrong ways to go about carving out your own career as a yoga teacher. That is one of the beauties of it… There is so much variety and diversity within yoga and teaching yoga that there is always the opportunity and the space for you to be your unique self, offer your individual talents and pursue your personal specialisms.

10 benefits of a career change to become a yoga teacher

1 . help others

yoga is deeply transformative and often very healing. Being able to offer support to your clients and students and accompanying them on their road to healing, recovery and wellbeing is deeply rewarding.

2 . variety and diversity

each day is different. In addition to a variable schedule, teaching yoga often involves teaching a variety of styles of classes to different types of people, with different body types and in different places. You also have the freedom to choose your ‘co-workers’ and ‘colleagues’, that saying you’re vibe attracts your tribe, really is true!

3 . work-life balance

work shorter hours but earn a good hourly rate i.e. £25-45 an hour in a studio, 1-2-1’s around £50-90 an hour and corporates or specialist clients may be more. Integrate being a yoga teacher into your existing work/family life structure. Teaching yoga can compliment other things that are going on in your life, such as another main passion/profession that is freelance/part-time or a family-life

4 . creativity

teaching yoga provides a creative outlet where you can express yourselves through the classes, workshops and retreats, in your sequences, your playlists, your movement and in your personal branding

5 . be your own boss

start your own business and live the freelancer lifestyle. Set your own schedule and working hours with flexibility in your daily routine

6 . pursue your passion

combine yoga teaching with whatever else that you specialise in. Perhaps you work in  healthcare with the NHS or with children or the elderly or in sports, arts, fashion, theatre, music or the charity sector. So many other careers are highly compatible and complimented by the skills cultivated by yoga teaching

7 . improve your own wellbeing

maintain a healthy lifestyle as part of your job! stay fit and healthy on a daily basis

8 . become part of a community

join the yoga community, collaborate and work alongside like-minded people that share your passion for yoga and wellbeing

9 . travel

you can be anywhere in the world with your work, the entire world is your oyster, there are endless opportunities to teach yoga abroad so you can adventure and explore and still stay connected to your yoga practice

10. contribute

contribute positively to your wider community through living and encouraging a yogic lifestyle which goes some way towards conscious living with ethical, ecological and environmental welfare for your community, society and world as being part of your daily life

the Real Flow Yoga teacher training course 9th June 2018 – 27th Aug 2018 provides a thorough grounding in the business of yoga. We will cover topics such as

• practicalities of running your business and being freelance
• time management and scheduling
• personal branding
• marketing and social media
• setting realistic attainable goals
• building community

our teaching faculty have a diverse background and have all carved out successful careers in teaching yoga so will be able to provide our trainees with the skills, tools and confidence to launch themselves as professional yoga teachers.