36. How I became a full-time yoga teacher

This episode is a bit different; it’s our first ever bonus episode, and it’s about my journey to becoming a full time yoga teacher. 

Our last episode; episode 35 was entitled ‘how to become a full time yoga teacher’, and I was acutely aware that the yoga teaching landscape looked so different when I made the leap a decade ago, than it does now, and I thought it might be useful to dig a bit deeper. 

So, if you’re not bothered about my story, and to be honest I wouldn’t blame you - this isn’t the episode for you and I’ll see you next time. 

But if you are, well here we go! 

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📚 Training for yoga teachers

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to For Yoga Teachers. This podcast has been created to help yoga teachers teach yoga with passion, avoid burnout, and earn a fair living. 

This episode is a little different. It's the first ever bonus episode. And it's about my journey to becoming a full time yoga teacher. Our last episode, episode 35 was how to become a full-time yoga teacher. And I was just so acutely aware that the landscape was so different when I made the leap to full-time yoga teaching. And I wanted to fully disclose that. 

So if you're not bothered, About my story and I really wouldn't blame you. If you weren't. 

Uh, this isn't the episode for you and I'll see you on Friday. But if you would like to know, well, [00:01:00] here we go. 

In 2010, I was working for a digital agency. Which I did like, but I'm not naturally very good at understanding how things on the internet work. So I found the job pretty stressful and as such my hours in the office got longer and longer and longer. I'd also just met my now husband. So I used to go to the gym in the morning. But at this point, I wasn't wanting to go to the gym in the morning because I was wanting to hang out with my now husband for as long as possible. 

And as soon as I got out of bed, I just needed to get into the office. 

I also really didn't want to work out after work for the same reasons. So. I started going to the gym in my lunch hour. 

This was fine for a little while, but I would very commonly forget something really important, like a padlock for my locker, or one time I turned up with one trainer or a sports bra or something. 

And it was really annoying. And so I was [00:02:00] whinging about this to my mom who suggested trying something like Pilates because you can probably do that in the leggings I was already wearing, and you don't necessarily need a shower afterwards. So this sounded like a really good idea. So started going to Pilates classes in my lunch hour, a couple of times a week and it was great. 

It was just perfect until the instructor canceled the class. 

Gutted. I couldn't face going back to the gym at lunch times. 

And searching for other Pilates classes were just completely fruitless. Um, and then somebody suggested yoga. And I distinctly remember saying, I don't really want to sit in a circle, holding hands with people. I don't know.

Anyway, thankfully someone a little bit more open-minded than me did some research found a studio really close to our work. I do remember going to that first class, it turned out to be Ashtanga minimum daily. We did a sun salutation. And [00:03:00] the teacher, Jamie was like, okay, four more. It's like what? That was like the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

But needless to say the rest of the class was absolutely amazing. I floated back to work and I was completely hooked and I went as often as I could in my lunch hour from then on. Fast forward two years. I've been going to yoga regularly. There's been some changes in my workplace and I'm feeling like this can't be all that there is to life. 

There's got to be something more. All these long hours in the office, weren't making any difference. I wasn't in love with the digital industry. I was just feeling a bit meh and I was considering training as something like a hairdresser where all my hard work would pay off for me. And so I could be a little bit more in charge of my destiny in terms of my income and my time and my energy levels too. 

But I never really made any progress with [00:04:00] it. Hairdressing didn't really feel quite right for me. Um, and I didn't make any rash decisions. And then one day, jamie the owner of the studio that I'd been practicing in said. I'm running a teacher training course, and do you think you'd know anyone that would be interested? I was thinking. Me. Although I certainly didn't have the confidence to say that to him at the time. I went home and mentioned sort of half joking to. Uh, Chris, my husband. I've had this crazy idea. And I told him about the yoga teacher training and he didn't hesitate. He said, I should definitely do it. And he would help in any way that he could. So the next thing was to pay for it. I tentatively checked my savings account. I'd been like sporadically putting money in for the last couple of years and believe it or not, it had the exact. Right. Amount of money in it to the pound to pay for the training.

So the teacher training itself took place every other weekend, over six months. 

Right from the get go, we knew that we would have to teach an [00:05:00] Ashtanga class in order to graduate to get the certificate. 

And I thought there's no way that I'm going to be able to do that without practicing. So, about halfway through the course. I set up a little Facebook group of friends who lived nearby and we would organise classes at my flat we'd move all of the furniture to the side like pile it all up by the walls. And I taught Ashtanga six till seven on most Mondays and Thursdays for a couple of months. And I, I really did love it. I would be absolutely crippled all afternoon with nerves in the run-up to each class. But, then I'd teach the class and I would just see these, you know, post yoga, happy faces and, and it really was incredible. And I just knew I wanted to get my certificate and see how things went, you know, jacking in the day job. It kind of was the dream, but it wasn't really something that I necessarily thought would happen. And I didn't tell my work in case they thought that I was planning on jacking it in. Because I [00:06:00] wasn't, well, at least not immediately. 

So now fast forward to the end of the course. I graduated the course and got my certificate. And I thanked my friends for all of their support in coming to these classes that had been putting on in my flat. And that was that. Also, I thought. But my friends thought differently. Of course they'd been practicing yoga once or twice a week for the past few months. And they felt better for it. 

They weren't happy about just stopping the class. But poor, Chris. I kicked him out every time I'd hosted a class. And the floor was just getting completely scratched from all of the furniture and it wasn't our flat, you know, we were renting. And so classes at the flat weren't a long-term solution. So I sort of started to daydream about maybe renting somewhere. 

I did a bit of research and I found Trinity church in Leeds, which wasn't operating as a church any longer, but it had a huge art display on the ceiling, [00:07:00] which looked just fabulous in Savasana. It was 20 pounds an hour or 50 pounds with the heating on how. I was thinking I'm teaching Ashtanga. Hopefully I can get away without having the heating On. 

I took the leap and booked 10 Mondays and Wednesday six till seven, knowing that if four friends came, they paid five pounds each, then it'll cover my costs. And so then everyone would be happy. It all seemed really good. Things at the day job we're getting a bit better and I was just kind of happy to see how it all panned out. But then the classes got busier and busier and busier, and soon there wasn't enough space in the church for everyone. 

So I took another leap and sort of upsized from the church to an art studio, which was a little bit harder to find, and as it turned out, had a leaky roof. But it was, it was pretty much perfect for our needs. But again, the class has got busier and busier. So I ended up teaching two on a Monday evening and two on a [00:08:00] Wednesday evening, to be able to, fit everyone in. And, and this is sort of why I wanted to tell my story. I never wrote a business plan I never sat down and thought, how will I grow this? It just, it just sort of happened. 

My intention was to remember people's names, and to be reliable. And that was it. If I said I was going to teach a class, I would be there and I would teach the class. And that was that. Oh. And I gave Savasana adjustments to everyone in every single class without fail. 

So now it's summer 2013. 

I've got the four classes of my own plus, two that have taken on a gym. And I'm starting to think this doesn't really work alongside a full-time job. So I'm starting to consider my options, including full-time yoga teaching.

I have said this before, but it's really important that I'm super clear. I had nobody that I was financially responsible for at the time. No kids, I didn't have a [00:09:00] dog. I was in a rented flat. It was on a rolling monthly contract. If it all went belly up, I could move in with my mum. 

So at the time for me, the risk was minimal. After a lot of thinking. I wrote down all of the things that I needed to pay for, to stay alive and to stay out of jail, like rent and food and all of the various taxes. And. Uh, TV, license, et cetera. And I was making that through yoga. 

So it was an easy decision to make. And, um, I handed in my notice the next day. 

Once I'd finished the office job, I then started exploring doing some digital work, but on a consultant basis, which at the time worked really well. It was desk work, so it wasn't physical. And it kept my hand in the industry, you know, just, just in case I'd made a terrible decision. I accepted loads of cover and loads of opportunities. 

I was in my early twenties. I had loads and loads of energy. And at one point I was teaching about 28 [00:10:00] classes a week, which is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous and completely unsustainable, but it worked for me at the time and I think. I made such an effort to get to know people, get to know their names and their lives. And I gave Savasana adjustments in every class, and I really prioritised being reliable, which not many yoga teachers did at the time. So each opportunity gave rise to more opportunities. and, by the end of 2013, I was turning classes down that didn't suit me as well as the others. 

So that's my journey to becoming full time. Like I say, there wasn't loads of yoga teachers around at the time. And some of those who were around would forget that they had a class and they wouldn't turn up. Or they double booked themselves and, and so on. So when gyms and studios knew I could be trusted, I got the work. I'd love to say that I had it all planned out, how it would roll out and [00:11:00] followed my own step-by-step guide, but it wasn't like that. However, I have seen so many people, with part-time or full time teaching careers that they love , I feel that it can be created and cultivated in this landscape that we're living in now. And if you're thinking about taking the leap, listen to episode 35 or booking a mentoring session with me, because I would absolutely love to help. Thanks for listening. Please do tell me about your journey, your plans, your dreams. 

I just absolutely love to know. I see you next time. And as always. Happy teaching.