44. Should yoga teachers care about competition from other yoga teachers?

This episode is looking at a niggle in the yoga teaching world; competition from other yoga teachers. 

We’re looking at 

• why a bit of competition is a good thing
• how to not let it get the better of you - with practical, implementable tips here as always
• how to stay in your lane
• how yoga philosophy can help
• understanding that more than one yoga teacher can thrive at a time
• how we can build a network of collaboration over competition

Let’s do this! 

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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 with passion avoid burnout and earn a fair living. 

This episode is looking at a bit of a niggle in the yoga teaching world; competition from other yoga teachers. 

We're looking at why a bit of competition is a good thing, how to not let it get the better of you with practical tips, as always. How to stay in your lane. How yoga philosophy can help. Understanding that more than one yoga teacher can thrive at a time. And how we can build a network of collaboration over competition. 

Let's do this. 

[00:01:00] Why competition can be a good thing. 

Competition means that there's more yoga teachers than just you, which means that yoga is popular or getting more popular, which is very, very good. Having more than one yoga teacher, also means that you're not tasked with teaching in every style, in every way, to all people. The pressure is off. You can focus on what you want to teach, who you want to teach, what you're good at teaching and leave the rest to somebody else. Phew.

How to ensure that competition from other yoga teachers doesn't get the better of you. 

Oh, yeah. This is a big one. If, for example, you see an Instagram post from a yoga teacher who teaches in your locality, that [00:02:00] says I'm absolutely loving my new corporate class, what a dream to teach up here on the 12th floor twice a week. And you've been looking for a corporate class for a little while. And you feel really skint at the moment. Yeah. This might make you feel a bit down in the dumps. Well, first things first, this is understandable. Let's not just say, well, you're a yoga teacher. 

You shouldn't be feeling jealous. That's not very practical or realistic. 

So let's be practical and realistic. Firstly, remind yourself that just because one yoga teacher is experiencing success. That doesn't mean that you won't, at all. Secondly, try and have a chat with yourself about the context. For example, if you've seen this post on Instagram, remember that people only share their highlights on Instagram. Maybe that yoga teacher had to get a bus and two trains [00:03:00] to the corporate job. Maybe she had to carry him 20 mats and now she's completely goosed.

Maybe maybe, maybe . 

I shared a really great quote about jealousy on our weekly email recently. This is from Naval Ravikant who says "when I was young, I had a lot of jealousy in me. I learned to get rid of it. It still crops up every now and then it's such a poisonous emotion because at the end of the day, You're no better off. Your unhappier. And the person that you're jealous of is still successful or good looking. Or whatever they are. I realized that all of these people that I was jealous of, I couldn't just cherry pick and choose aspects of their life. I couldn't say I want his body and her money and his personality. You have to be that person. And do you actually want to [00:04:00] be that person with all their reactions, all of their desires, their family, their happiness level, their outlook on life, their self image. If you're not willing to do a wholesale 24 7, 100% swap with that person. Then there's no point in being jealous." 

So let's do a brief recap, you're chatting to fellow yoga teachers or scrolling Instagram, or what have you. A teacher lets you know of some success that they're having and you'll remind yourself that two people or more can experience success at any one time, and that they're sharing their highlights. You'll also remind yourself that one bit of success is part of the whole person. And would you want their whole life? And then you'll reflect on the work that they've got, whether that's actually work that you would want in the first place. Stay tuned because we're going to get onto this in a second. 

And then you'll practice, Pratipaksha [00:05:00] Bhavana 

this is a concept from the yoga sutras of Master Patanjali. Which is essentially when you think something negative, think of something else, like a mantra or focus on your breath, or focus on a physical sensation. 

So let's recap about the plan of action for when you experience a negative effect of competition from other yoga teachers. One, remember that one person's success, doesn't at all mean that you can't or won't have success. Two, remember that people, especially on social media only share their highlights. Three feeling jealous is normal, but let's put it in context. If you want that person's success, then you have to take the whole person. 

And would you want to do that? Four, is that work that you would have even wanted in the first place? And five practice pratipaksha bhavana place your attention somewhere else. 

[00:06:00] Boom. How about that for a plan of action. 

How to stay in your lane. 

I think that this is an incredibly powerful piece of advice. But firstly, you need to know what your lane is. 

You need to be totally completely 100% clear on who you are as a yoga teacher and who you want to teach. 

If you've already taken an hour, how to create your yoga brand masterclass. Then you'll know that when you are as clear as a bell on who you are as a yoga teacher and who you want to teach. When you see other yoga teachers doing their thing other things you'll genuinely be like, oh, that's a really great fit for them. 

That's great. 

For example, you've created your yoga brand, and you know that you want to teach power flow classes, to [00:07:00] people who want to be challenged, you want to show them how strong they are. And then you see another yoga teacher who was filled their relaxation yoga retreat, or a teacher who always been offered a regular chair yoga slot to teaching seniors or, or, or you get the idea. Even if these opportunities were offered to you, you would have turned them down. Because they don't fit with who you want to be as a yoga teacher. In fact, when you have your brand created, and clear, you can actually refer opportunities that don't fit to other yoga teachers, and you can bet your bottom dollar, that these opportunities will be reciprocated. 

How yoga philosophy can help. 

Well, we've already talked about pratipaksha bhavana 



There's also some really interesting philosophy around staying in your lane in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says to [00:08:00] Arjuna. "It is better to strive in one's own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one's own dharma. But competition in another's dharma breeds fear and insecurity." And that's chapter three, verse 35. No doubt, it's your dharma to become a yoga teacher and to share the gifts of yoga. But can that, and does that go deeper? Is it your dharma, your calling, your true nature, to help people recover from trauma. Or to help office workers deal with stress. Or to help parents be more patient and present, or to help people deal with physical pain. 

Knowing your dharma, knowing why you teach yoga is so incredibly powerful to ensure that competition from other yoga teachers does not have a negative [00:09:00] impact on you. Like I mentioned before, this is a huge focus in the 'how to create your yoga brand' masterclass. So if you've already done that, you might want to go back, reread your notes and really knuckle down on focusing who you want to work with and how you want to make them feel and just leave the rest to somebody else. 

Build a network. I feel like I say, this is such an important piece of advice or this is a really important thing to do about like everything. But this is a really, really important thing to do. 

It really is. Building a network of yoga teachers is really building a network of friends. So cheesy. 

The intention of a little HR department. An ethics sounding board. A constant source of inspiration. A cover list. And so much more. 

I've [00:10:00] been finding a mentoring sessions that I've been saying, could you link up with another yoga teacher that blah, blah, blah, in order to compliment your offerings. 

For example, a yoga teacher who dreams of teaching half day and full day restorative yoga retreats. But doesn't have the Headspace or the time to set up and promote the event. But I bet there's so many of you out there who would love to create the branding and the marketing for retreats like this and know that a talented, reliable teacher would come and teach a delightful restorative class. And so with all of that in mind, I really am so totally, completely beyond excited to announce that for yoga teachers has created a membership community in order to be that network. The intention is that you'll be able to meet other yoga teachers exchange advice, [00:11:00] exchange opportunities, and be there for each other. Sometimes teaching yoga can be lonely. Well, no more. Membership includes, of course, access to the member's area. As well as our most popular resources. The set and smash your yoga teaching goals course. How to create your yoga brand masterclass. Become a full-time yoga teacher e-book monthly group coaching sessions, and there's loads more coming as well. 

Including 'teach less, earn more', for yoga teachers that are facing burnout, philosophy study sessions and a whole lot more. I'm really, really excited about this. I just wish that it had been available when I'd started teaching yoga.

Enrollment will open a Monday, the 8th of April, which is Yoga Hero's 11th birthday. So it's a little celebration of that. Just can't wait to welcome you in. All of the information is in our show notes. 

So yoga [00:12:00] teacher. Should you care about competition from other yoga teachers? And the answer is. Can we prioritize collaboration over competition with all of these tools, with yoga philosophy. With staying in your lane. With understanding that more yoga teachers might mean that yoga is just getting more popular, that more people are doing it. And of course by building a network. I can't wait to welcome you into the base for yoga teachers. Our members area. And as always happy teaching.