Before you consider becoming a yoga teacher, it’s important to understand just what it means to teach authentic yoga. There is a difference between just teaching yoga and teaching authentically—while one can simply teach the act of yoga, authentic yoga means practicing yoga as “sadhana”, or a spiritual practice.
To become an authentic yoga teacher, you need to learn about authentic yoga and the spiritual practice of yoga, practice meditation, create positive relationships, practice yoga as a lifestyle, focus on one type or style of yoga, learn both yoga in the activity form and spiritual form, and understand the challenges you may face accepting this lifestyle.
Understand that it is not required to be Buddhist to follow the practice of yoga. Whether you are spiritual, religious, or not, you too can benefit from connecting to your own body and knowing just how it fits in with the world around you. Read on to understand how you can not only learn how to teach yoga more authentically, but find out how you can follow your own journey to a more spiritual and whole life through the act of authentic yoga.
Learn about authentic yoga and the spiritual practice of yoga.
As mentioned before, authentic yoga means accepting the spiritual portion along with the activity of yoga as a part of your life. Before you take the steps to become an authentic yoga teacher, make sure you personally have learned what authentic yoga is and how you can accept it into your life.
This can sometimes mean going on the journey alone or working with another authentic teacher or guru. It is a different process for each person, so make sure you work to find out what suits you and your journey best.
A great way to learn more about authentic yoga is reading the texts written by Patanjali. These ancient texts actually outline what it means to practice authentic yoga—accepting it as a lifestyle—and can help any teacher understand where the act and the lifestyle came from. The more you understand about the original intention about yoga, the more you can teach it authentically.
- Practice meditation to understand your connection to yoga.
Meditation is one of the many parts of yoga and practicing yoga, and it can be one of the hardest facets to achieve. When attempting to create an authentic yoga experience, consider truly learning how to meditate and bring out your own communication with yourself and your body. Focusing on that spirituality and communication can deepen your connection to the act of yoga, and therefore deepen your relationship with your students.
Meditation can also help you learn how to listen to your body. In many cases, we cannot tell what our bodies need before it’s too late—but meditation can help you listen to your body when it is much quieter.
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- Create relationships with your teachers and with your students.
Being a yoga teacher can be tempting to those who know each pose and feel like they can make a profit doing so, but it’s not just about the activity—it’s also about maintaining good, healthy, and close relationships with your previous instructors and your students.
We’ve all gone to a class where there are fifty people in a room all learning from the same teacher. While that model may work for some—and it truly can—it does not reflect on the “authentic yoga” model. Teachers should have a strong relationship with each student, whatever that means to you and that student, and you should strive to allow that relationship to grow and flourish in the act and spiritual journey of practicing yoga.
These relationships also should extend outside of the classroom. Many focus on the athleticism or appearance of athleticism when it comes to yoga, and these are negative thought patterns that stop you from living your authentic life. Focus on learning to break those habits as you continue your path.
- Practice your yoga regularly not just as an activity, but as a part of who you are.
Yoga businesses can typically market their activities as bringing along peace and happiness and calm, but many times, that is focused on purely the activity of yoga and not the lifestyle. While that kind of mood can definitely be given through one of those sessions, it is typically surface level. With authentic yoga, you can teach true peace and calm—but it comes with deep practice and living that lifestyle in your everyday life.
It can be very easy to quit when the authentic lifestyle starts to get too deep. But pushing through your stressors and negativity to come out on the other side is what makes you authentic. From a student’s point of view, this can manifest in when a student finds a pose particularly hard and eventually quits the class. Encourage your students to push through, give them personalized assistance, and help them through learning how to do the difficult parts of yoga. Once they do, they can truly start to live the authentic life.
- Focus on one type of yoga practice.
In our culture, it’s not unheard of to hear of a studio that is touting many different types of yoga and many different yoga teachers. Many will talk about where they studied and who they studied with, but consider focusing on one particular type of yoga and becoming a complete master.
Focusing on one style can also add to your authenticity. Many may consider that spreading out your knowledge among several different types means you are not focused on one type—which can not only stress out your body, but stress out your mind, which is the antithesis of what authentic yoga is about.
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- Provide not just your yoga qualifications, but your spiritual qualifications as well.
Because teaching authentic yoga isn’t just about knowing how to do each pose, you should also make sure any potential students know not just where and who you studied with, but what spiritual journey you may have gone on in that time period.
Again, learning how to be authentic in your yoga practice does not require you to be religious. Yoga does, however, require you to have a connection to yourself, your values and ethics, and an inner peace. If you do have faith, yoga also does not require you to live a Buddhist lifestyle. Bringing your faith and beliefs into your lifestyle as a yogi can actually increase your authenticity, so work with what you believe and what you know to create an experience to work for you.
- Understand the challenge of living an authentically yoga-filled life and face it head on.
It may feel very complicated to accept such a challenge into your life, but once you do, face it head on. If you find yourself wanting to truly teach authentic yoga, it will mean taking the steps to do so, and some people are deeply challenged by taking time to truly listen and understand their own body and soul.
Continue to educate yourself on this journey, and make sure you understand the reasons why you decided to do it in the first place. The more you can remind yourself of why you made this decision, the closer you get to whatever you experience as enlightenment. Keep your mind and soul open to new challenges, and stay honest with your students. Consider keeping a journal to take notes on the process and understand how far you’ve come. It is a very deeply spiritual process, so understand that before you start, and you too can take the plunge.
When it comes down to it, authentic yoga isn’t just about the activity. It’s about living the lifestyle. To teach authentically, you have to be authentic—you need to be true to yourself and to why you’re teaching others, and you will bring that authenticity into everything you do. Creating an authentic yoga experience for yourself and your students is just about that—staying authentic. Stay true to yourself and honest to yourself, and you too can develop into an authentic yoga teacher.
Frequently Asked Questions
While each individual is different, it depends on the path you want to take. If you want to teach yoga to others, from a business standpoint and not a spiritual one, you must first learn yoga, then complete a training course. Next, get registered—you can do that through the Yoga Alliance. Many health or fitness centers also require you to know CPR, so acquire that certification. Next, decide on what type of yoga you would like to teach and find a studio in which to do so.
Depending on whether they are part or full time, and what their level of training is, along with their geographic location, yoga teachers typically make about $30 per hour, according to Indeed. There is a large range for this position, and they can make between $7.25 and $76 an hour.
To learn more about starting your own Yoga Business check out my startup documents here.
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Yoga Fan
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online yoga business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a yoga business owner in public at a studio or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Yoga Business Boss: I want to help future yoga business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.