For Yoga Teachers

51: How to teach private yoga lessons

• Yoga Hero • Episode 51

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Yoga teacher, if you’ve been hoping to pick up reliable, repeating private yoga clients, but it’s not (yet) happening, this episode is for you.

You’ve been posting about your services, you’ve mentioned them in classes you teach, you’ve even included it in a newsletter - but it’s not working. 

Does that resonate with you? 

The good news is that setting up private yoga clients is actually pretty simple, in-fact, in just five simple steps, you can be feeling totally confident about your private yoga lesson offering. And this episode is the first of a three-parter that breaks down every part of getting, and retaining, a solid private yoga client base. 

So yoga teacher, if you’ve been looking for a step by step guide to set up a solid, reliable private yoga client base, this three-parter is exactly what you need to make it happen! 



Useful links: 

Episode 6: Sharing your yoga


Episode 27: Setting up your own yoga classes


Episode 32: Teaching yoga workshops


Episode 8: Renting a space for yoga


Your free ebook: A complete guide to teaching private yoga lessons


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 [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. 

We've spent many an episode looking at the different ways that yoga teachers can share their yoga. Episode six looks at all of the different ways you can share your yoga, episode 27 looks at setting up your own yoga classes as opposed to teaching in a studio or a gym, for example. 

And episode 32 looks at teaching yoga workshops. All of these episodes are linked to in the show notes, if you'd like to listen after this one. 

And today we're starting a three parter all about teaching private yoga sessions. Today, we're looking at [00:01:00] how to teach private yoga sessions, so, how to structure your class, where to teach it, how to take payment and so on. Next week, we will look at how much to charge. This must be one of the questions that I get asked the most. 

How much should I charge for a this or a that or the other. 

So next week, we'll look at building a pricing matrix so that you'll never wonder what to charge again. And finally the third and the last of the three parter. We'll be building a solid private yoga client base, looking at how to advertise, how to onboard clients, how to keep regular clients and pick up one-offs and so on. 

But first back to this episode, so this is where we're going. 

Getting to know your client 

taking payment from your client. [00:02:00] 

Deciding where to teach the lesson. 

Preparing and structuring the lesson itself. 

And then doing something that boosts your self esteem. 

Okay, let's go. 

 Get to know your client. 

Remember that the third and last of this three party is building your private yoga client base. So in that episode, we will look at finding clients, but for now, let's assume that someone has found you. And your first step is to get to know them. So why do you want to get to know them? Well at the risk of state in the blinding obvious, you want to get to know your client so the first lesson, and hopefully ongoing lessons, are perfect for them. They're just what they need. So that you can suggest things that they might not know that they need, or they want. And you [00:03:00] can continue to share relevant expertise. 

For example. If you get to know your client and he's called John and he's 61 and he's never done any yoga before your class plan is probably going to look a little different to Lola who's 25, who's an ex-dancer, and her intention is to be able to do more arm balances. 

 So your intake form is really important. And the great news is that we have a template for you in our free ebook: a complete guide to teaching private yoga lessons. You can get yours in the show notes. 

You want to know about your client's background, how much yoga they've done before, because this will help you with the challenge level and with your cueing. You want to know why they want to do private yoga lessons? There's so many reasons that someone might want to [00:04:00] work privately with you. 

It might be their own timetable. Maybe they're a carer or they have kids to look after, or maybe they work shifts. 

It might be that they feel, they just don't want to go to a studio. It might be just a preference thing or they might be anxious about going to a studio. 

It might be a convenience thing.

It might be that they want to commit to a regular practice and this is their way to do it. 

Anyway. The reason for your client working with you will be very informative as to how long you'll think you'll work together and what to do on your first lesson and on subsequent sessions too. 

Take payment. 

Hear me, yoga teacher, hear me loud and clear. From experience, this step is non-negotiable. I know, it's so hard to ask for money. And I know that you're sharing yoga because you love it, and you know, that it's [00:05:00] transformative and life changing. But still you must be paid and you must be paid in advance. If someone isn't willing to pay in advance, they don't get to work with you. And that's that. Yoga is freely available in books in libraries. It's available on YouTube for free. There's decently priced online memberships. Most studios have a week deal or a month deal. So there are bargains out there to be had. Working with you one-on-one is a premium product and it's a choice. And the client pays in advance because of that. So yoga teacher hear me loud and clear. Learn from my mistakes, get payment upfront. 

How you take payment is up to you. There are some suggestions in our free ebook, and align your payment with your [00:06:00] terms and conditions too. Not sure what your terms and conditions are? There's some thinking points in our free ebook, too. 

 Decide where to teach the lesson. 

You could definitely argue that this would be a very sensible first step to do before onboarding a client. It will be up to you as to whether you find a space first or you look for clients first. There's an argument for both. Getting a client first and taking payment, then justifies your time searching for a suitable space. And you can look for a space with that client in mind. 

However, if you have the space first, then you can sell your private yoga slots, knowing that you can 100% deliver on them. 

You can, of course, teach private yoga online too. You just need to check that your client has a suitable space for a yoga mat, and that they have any equipment that they might [00:07:00] need. 

For more about what to look for in your private yoga space, listen to episode eight; renting a space for yoga and there's a free checklist with that episode too.

 Prepare your lesson. 

 Now that you know, your client a little better. You've taken payment upfront and you found the space, it's time to plan your lesson.

But how much should you really plan it? 

Well, in an ideal world, I'd suggest having an intention for the session, that links up with why the client is working with you. And you'd have an idea of how you're going to reach that intention. 

So an idea for arriving and grounding, perhaps a vague flow or a main section of the classic might be restorative, it might be yin. You might have some poses that you definitely want to include, and some poses that you think may add on [00:08:00] nicely to o And then potentially a cool down and a Savasana the length of which will also be fueled by the client's needs and your intention. 

You might have to take bits out, you might have to meet bits longer or shorter or add things in on the fly. But yoga teacher, remember, your client, isn't there to test you on your class plan. They have no idea what's included in your class plan. 

If you make changes on the fly, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. 

And if you completely change it, they will never ever know. It really doesn't matter. As long as your session is what they need, I'm just going to say that one more time, as long as the session is what they need- that is the highest priority. And I'm sure over time, you'll feel confident turning up to class with your intention and [00:09:00] with a very vague idea of how you'll get there, and planning the class on the fly as you teach it. 

Do something that boosts your self-esteem. 

Right. This is also non-negotiable. I am no stranger to the fact that many yoga teachers struggle with imposter syndrome, which is why I created a whole free, three day challenge. It's really hard to say. A free, three day challenge, called shatter imposter syndrome.

 So I am predicting and expecting that in the run-up to, especially the first private yoga session with a client, you might be wondering if you're up to it. So, hence this step. Do something that boosts your self esteem. Whether it's re-reading testimonials from people who've been to your [00:10:00] classes in the past, going to a yoga class yourself, developing a mantra, sitting in meditation, doing the breath of joy. Whatever it is. Make sure you keep your confidence high because yoga teacher, you can do this. You really can. And I'm sure you're going to love it. 

Plus when you show up for the session with confidence, Your client will pick up on that confidence and they will feel confident in you. Hopefully helping to build a long and fruitful relationship. 

 Let's have a brief recap on those steps. 

Firstly get to know your client potentially through a call or an intake form or both. Secondly take payment. This is really, really important. I've turned up to a room that I've rented at my own cost, [00:11:00] waiting for a client to show up who promised that they would bring cash to the session and they don't come. So not only have I lost their client. I've also paid out for the room. I've done that more than once. Please learn from my mistakes; take payment up front. 

Thirdly decide where to teach the lesson. 

Fourth prepare the lesson, a nice loose, flexible format. 

And fifth last step, do something that boosts your self-esteem. 

And remember the, in our next episode, we will break down exactly how much to charge for private yoga lessons and the third and last of this three parter, we'll be looking at building a solid private yoga client base. 

Don't forget to get your free ebook, a complete guide to teaching private yoga lessons. 

The link is there in the show notes and as always happy [00:12:00] teaching.