Which would you prefer to be: A rich Yoga Guru or poor Yoga Guru? There are two financial paths for Yoga teachers to follow. As a Yoga teacher, you have a choice – name your price with pride, or keep your head low, and take what you get. Think about your family, kids, lifestyle, vacation, and retirement. Do you really want to taste much poverty or any at all? Each time you take payments, for teaching Yoga sessions, remember your family.
A side note about poverty: If you have tasted it once in your life, you don’t want to taste it again. I found nothing particularly enlightening about going to bed on an empty stomach as a child. The Salvation Army Store has better clothes than I had. It did teach me humility and never to look down on others who are less privileged than I am. Why not put that into practice now and forget about poverty? It’s not a glamorous lifestyle and not a good image for a Yoga teacher.
As your Yoga business grows, have someone else in your Yoga studio do the tuition collecting, so you don’t have to be associated with the billing and collecting. To be honest, that’s what I do. It’s easy for me to bend and fall for a sob story. On the other hand, I have learned to point Yoga students toward the office for handling these matters; and I do not take payments for Yoga lessons.
The office, within our Yoga studio, has a job to do and so do I. My job is to teach Yoga classes and mentor Yoga teachers. The Office Administrator’s job is to see we stay in the Yoga teaching business. Sure, I look at the figures – almost daily, but I don’t interfere in the operation of a “fine-tuned machine.”
It wasn’t always like this. I was guilty of taking little, or nothing, for teaching Yoga, and getting no respect. It could have stayed that way, but I compiled this Yoga business and marketing formula, which will help you avoid my past mistakes and change your attitude about yourself, forever.
It started with motivational cassette tapes in the car. I needed to keep my spirits up, in transit, teaching Yoga by day and Martial Arts by night. With all that work, I should have been on “easy street”, you might think. Think again, I was bashful about asking for a fair market price for teaching Yoga and Martial Arts.
© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
