Yoga is your passion. You fell into it a few years ago and you appreciate what it brings you on a daily basis.
After a session, your yogi master asked you if you were interested in becoming, in turn, a yoga teacher … You were excited about the idea and you took a yoga course!
Now that the latter is over, you need to get started, set up a yoga school, find students and organize successful sessions.
Do not stress: we give you all the information that will help you become an excellent teacher, able to accompany your students towards bodily and spiritual harmony .
How to build a yoga class?
First of all, you must find out about the appropriate status for your activity as a yoga teacher.
Do you prefer to be employed for the associated benefits (retirement, paid leave, security in terms of remuneration) or self-employed?
In the first case, you will have to go through the classifieds or directly call each yoga studio near you.
Namely: we are seeing more yoga teachers on their own, part-time first and then full-time as the students arrive. Yoga teacher jobs are, indeed, often quite precarious . These are generally fixed-term contracts paid at minimum wage.
Thus, many teachers choose to start with the status of autoentrepreneur .
In any case, whatever your specialization, the practice of yoga responds to a precise pattern comprising:
- A time to free yourself from everyday life (through relaxation and breathing exercises);
- A warm-up ;
- A sequence of precise postures associated with specific breathing, linked to each movement;
- A time for meditation .
Here, for example, is how you can build your yoga class . Of course, these phases can evolve according to the type of yoga practiced.
A Hatha Yoga session will not be the same as a Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga session. Which are also very different from Yoga Nidra or Bikra Yoga.
In addition, during the session, you will need to identify the level of your students . You will undoubtedly have expert students and other beginners.
It will be your role to accompany them so that the group is homogeneous and can progress in the same way .
On the one hand, you won’t have to let down people who have been doing yoga for a long time. On the other hand, you will have to do your best to make novices want to continue.
How to organize a yoga class?
We talked about the session as a whole. Now, let’s take a closer look at each part of the yoga class .
Namely, in France, the main forms of yoga are:
- Hatha Yoga;
- Bikram Yoga;
- Ashtanga Yoga;
- Vinyasa Yoga;
- Kundalini Yoga.
So, if you want to become a salaried yoga teacher , these are the ones you will encounter the most. That said, you can organize more rare yoga sessions by being self-employed (Prenatal Yoga, Hot Yoga or Yoga Iyengar, for example).
In any case, according to experienced yoga teachers, you should start the session with a moment to allow everyone to decompress.
This privileged moment allows them to forget their worries to concentrate fully on the present moment. This is an essential prerequisite for then succeeding in achieving the inner peace offered by discipline.
For a few minutes, leave your participants completely still and ask them to focus on their breathing . You can put on music if you want.
Then, set up breathing exercises. They are called Pranayama.
The goal is to inhale and exhale deeply and at a fairly slow pace. This for:
- Facilitate the evacuation of the stress of the day
- And prepares the body for the postures that come next.
As soon as you feel the group has calmed down, it’s time to move on to the body warm-up . This is a step that should not be overlooked to avoid getting hurt.
Then comes the main phase: the yoga postures (asanas).
Depending on your style of yoga, the sequences will be different:
- Hatha Yoga requires holding postures for 3 minutes;
- Bikram Yoga encourages you to perform 26 postures in a room heated to 40°;
- Ashtanga Yoga corresponds to 6 series of postures which are always identical;
- Vinyasa Yoga (from Ashtanga Yoga) is free and appeals to your creativity;
- Kundalini Yoga is the calmest of all and is oriented towards chants and mantras.
Help your students who are having the most difficulty and reassure them about their physical abilities. The goal is for them to go as far as possible in order to improve little by little.
Then, finally, you can end with a meditation session by choosing an appropriate posture.
At the very end of the session, don’t forget to ask your practitioners about their feelings . This will allow you to improve yourself, too.
How to prepare for a yoga class?
When you started yoga , you did it for specific reasons.
- Was it for better stress management?
- To find a way to relax and forget your daily life while improving your flexibility?
- Or as a therapeutic solution to physical and psychological problems?
In any case, by questioning your own vision of yoga and identifying why it has changed your life , you will be able to support people in the same situation.
Surely you see where we’re coming from… don’t you?
Today, our daily life offers us little time to breathe. Our mind is constantly solicited until exhaustion (the famous burn-out). This is why some people need to take a step back. So they will call on you. And your goal will then be to guide them on their spiritual journey and to prepare your yoga class perfectly !
So take the time to care about your students . Put yourself in their shoes and give them the tools to accomplish the goals they set for themselves.
For this, choose the right place that will promote calm and pleasant sessions . In winter, select a room with sufficient space and ideal conditions for relaxation. In summer, you can absolutely opt for a park or a beach to enjoy the heat of the sun.
In addition to the place, it is essential to equip yourself properly .
Both in terms of materials (at least a yoga mat, a towel, a Zafu and a sports bag to carry everything), and clothes. These must be comfortable while remaining close to the body so as not to hinder your movements.
- Women can opt for a tank top and sports leggings.
- Men will choose a t-shirt that is neither too loose nor too tight and cycling shorts.
A hair band, non-slip gloves and shoes, and flats will complete your gear.
Without forgetting to practice, on your side, on a daily basis and to train yourself in new practices in yoga school .
The price of a yoga session: everything you need to know
Setting the price of your yoga class is perhaps a little too down-to-earth for some yogis in constant levitation, but it is an important parameter for your yoga classes!
A yoga class in Paris will often be more expensive than anywhere else in France!
First of all, you should know that a salaried yoga teacher most often earns a salary close to the minimum wage when starting out. As he becomes known, he can be better paid.
- 55% of the contracts offered are fixed-term contracts;
- 70.5% of teachers work less than 5 hours per week.
You understand that the yoga market is known to be difficult in France .
This is why many professionals decide to create a self-employed business to start, in addition to another job..
To this, you withdraw your various charges:
- Travel expenses,
- social contributions,
- Taxes,
- The purchase of equipment
- And the cost of the trainings you will have to attend regularly.
You will have a fairly precise assessment of what will remain in your pocket at the end of each month.
The right methods to develop your clientele
You have several methods to attract new yogis and new yoginis .
- The first of them: talk about your new activity around you .
By doing this, you will notice that some acquaintances will take advantage of this moment to take up yoga. A good opportunity to test your course on them.
- The second: create flyers and business cards that you will display everywhere in your city .
Go through it looking for strategic points and ask the traders if you can leave them some small posters. Don’t forget to put it in mailboxes and on car windshields. Detail what you offer and do your best to differentiate yourself from the competition (which is tough in this sector).
- The third: the web .
Many sites (such as ours) allow you to create your own account and page to promote yourself online. On Superprof, for example, you have enough space to talk about your experience, to describe your activity, to indicate your availability and your rates.
- Last technique which proves to be most effective: word of mouth.
In fact, the hardest part of starting a business is finding customers. Then, if they enjoyed your course and come back regularly, they will surely talk about it around them, bringing new followers. By snowball effect, your schedule will fill up.
You now have all the keys to becoming an excellent yoga teacher. So go ahead and have fun.
You will see that it is very pleasant to pass on your passion and to see your students progress at each session.
