How to Expand Your Network as a Yoga Teacher & the Importance of Peer Relationships

This week on Yoga Insider Podcast, I'm discussing the importance of building relationships with your peers as a yoga teacher. Whether you're a new or experienced teacher, your connections with other teachers in your community are vital for peer-to-peer support, as well as building a network for referrals. I'll discuss various ways to expand your network, including: 

- Why you should attend both in-person and online trainings to meet like-minded professionals in your industry.

- The power of events & hosting peer discussion groups.

- Why many opportunities in the modern yoga industry will come from people you already know.

Don't skip this episode! I hope you feel inspired to make a new yoga teacher friend this week. 

Instagram: @alexandria.waycott

YouTube: @yogainsiderpodcast

Website: www.alexandriawaycottyoga.com

Send me an email! alexandriawaycottyoga@gmail.com

Music & Production by Kyler Pierce

Photography featured in cover art by Colton Muma

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back to Yoga Insider Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Wakott. If you're new here, I've been a yoga teacher for over 14 years, and today I run a fully independent yoga business that doesn't rely on studio classes. I offer pre-registered yoga series in my local community as well as continuing education for yoga teachers who want to refine their skills. Over the years, I've learned a lot about what it takes to run a yoga business that's actually sustainable. And part of my mission is to have real conversations with real yoga teachers around the world about what it's actually like to work in the modern yoga industry. And that is exactly what Yoga Insider Podcast is here for. Grab yourself a cup of coffee or your favorite drink, and let's dive into this week's episode. All right, happy summer, everybody. If you are listening to this episode in real time and you are located in the northern hemisphere, we have officially crossed the threshold of the summer solstice into the summer season. And that makes me so happy because summer is my favorite season. I love being warm. I love to be able to like do my computer work outside in the backyard and not wear a thousand layers of clothing. I also love like summer produce and like all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are available this time of year. Um it just gets me really excited to like cook. I love cooking. Um, so yeah, so happy that we're finally in summer and it kind of makes me think as well that like Yoga Insider Podcast is coming up on our one-year anniversary. It's been almost a full year of podcasting every single week. Um, we started last July, and so next month will be like officially the you know, Yoga Insider's birthday. Um, I feel like I've got to do something special for that. But yeah, a full year of podcasting every single week is coming up, and you know, when I reflect on it, I'm actually really, really proud of that commitment and just following through with it. Um, for me, it's honestly proof that I can dedicate myself to anything if I put my mind to it, and it tells me that I can bring that same dedication into other areas of my life as well, um, which is really, really exciting. So, yeah, we're almost one year old. I feel like, okay, every time I meet like a milestone with a podcast, like whenever we hit like a certain number of downloads, or like whenever we, I don't know, have a certain number of like listeners from you know lots of countries around the world. Like I always say that I'm gonna get a cake, but I feel like okay, when Yoga Insider turns one, I'm officially I'm gonna get a cake to celebrate. Um, so I am saying it out loud so that I'm committed and there will be cake next month for Yoga Insider's first birthday. Um, yeah, anyways, this coming weekend I am teaching a pretty large yoga event. Um, it's a class in collaboration with Lululemon because I'm currently a yoga ambassador for Lululemon. And the class is for International Yoga Day. So I have to say it's like been a hot minute since I've taught a really big event style yoga class for the public, where like I have no idea who's gonna be there. I don't fully know what to expect. Um, it's something that I used to do more often, probably like seven or eight years ago. And I guess I'm just curious to see like what it feels like after not teaching in that format for so long. Um, so another one of my like to-dos for today, I guess after I record this podcast, is I need to make a really good music playlist for that class. Um, last week's episode, I shared a bit of a recap of the retreat and training that I was part of in Portugal this month. And when I was like recording that episode, it actually started to get the wheels turning in my mind about just how important it is to build yourself a network of yoga teachers that you connect with. So if you haven't listened to that podcast, go back and give it a listen. But basically, what I was saying was how one of my biggest takeaways from being part of that retreat and training for yoga teachers in Portugal was just the fact that yoga teachers around the world face a lot of the same challenges. Like a lot of the challenges that we face are not unique to us as individuals. They're not unique to even like the communities that we teach in. Um, there's just some things that are like universal for yoga teachers. And that was really, really interesting just to think about. And it also got me thinking about how it's just so good to spend time with your peers, whether it's people that you already know or like new peers that you're connecting with, um, and just have the space to chat about like what's working for you as a yoga teacher, what isn't working for you? What are you struggling with? What's going really well? Like, have you been in some kind of really bizarre situation as a yoga teacher that maybe you can't even talk about with anybody, like except your peers, right? Um, and so that was really amazing. And I'm still kind of like thinking about that this week. Um, and so it actually got me thinking as well about like my inspiration for creating yoga insider podcast in the first place. And there's lots of different, you know, little things that have happened along the way over the years that have got me thinking, like, I should start a podcast and like talk about some of this stuff. Um, and so my inspiration came from a few places, but one was teaching 200-hour yoga teacher trainings. And I feel like what happens when you get a bunch of yoga teachers in the room together and you spend like almost 200 hours together, you're going to get to know each other, and you are bound to have some really interesting conversations. Every time I would run a training, I was always blown away by the amazing questions that people would ask. Um, also blown away by like some of the assumptions or preconceived notions that folks have kind of coming into the yoga industry from the outside. Because, you know, I feel like people end up being kind of like surprised by how things work in the yoga industry because so much of like the way we do things is a little bit unusual and it doesn't necessarily follow like the typical corporate expectations. And so it was always just like so eye-opening, so enlightening to have these conversations with other yoga teachers. And I felt like every time I was running a training, I was having these really cool conversations, and a lot of times they would just like show up organically, right? Like maybe you've got a little bit of a break between lessons, or you know, you start having group discussion talking about one thing, and then you know, it takes off and moves in its own direction a little bit, which is like the beauty of a yoga teacher training, right? Like no training is ever gonna be exactly the same. Um, but what I felt like was that these amazing, very interesting conversations were happening behind closed doors, and that it would be really great to bring some of these topics of conversation forward and share them in like a bit more of a public way. Um, so that was like one of the really big inspirations. And then in addition to being inspired by conversations and training environments, um, I was also really inspired by conversations that were happening in what I like to call peer discussion groups. So over the years, I have both attended and hosted um different iterations of these groups. So sometimes they were called like yoga teachers' circles. Sometimes I there was one kind of phase that I went through where I was calling them like mentorship mornings, and they had a little bit more of an education focus to them. Um and basically, like the premise was to offer an accessible opportunity for yoga teachers from all backgrounds and all experience levels to get together in the same room in kind of like a neutral territory. So like everybody was there by their own choice. It wasn't some sort of like mandatory staff meeting. You could be from any yoga studio, any like style of teacher, any lineage. And it was like a space for you to come together with other teachers and often discuss your challenges and roadblocks as they pertain to teaching yoga. And the idea was that you could bring those to the table for a bit of like peer-to-peer support. So it wasn't coaching, it wasn't therapy or anything like that. It was just like this opportunity to get peer-to-peer support from other people in your industry who might be able to help out. And so, for example, you know, somebody would show up and say, like, okay, I'm having a really hard time getting signups for my prenatal yoga series that I, you know, have been running. Um, and then somebody from the group could chime in. It could be anybody, and they could share some suggestions or some feedback or maybe what worked for them to fill their prenatal series. Um, maybe it's just sharing like connections that you have, like, oh, I'm connected to like this midwife group, and you know, maybe they would like to know about you. Um and so, you know, it was it was always really eye-opening. And I think what I loved about running those types of groups in all of the different iterations that they showed up in over the years, um, was just that, like, as yoga teachers, we're not alone in our struggles. Um, you know, it was just, it was really, really relatable. And I feel like it always created a lot of understanding between people. Like a lot of times I would notice that yoga teachers who'd maybe only ever like followed each other online, but had never actually met in person, um, would get to meet each other for the first time. And maybe they had, you know, some ideas in their mind about like, you know, what they thought this person was like. And then when they actually met them in person, um, there were like connections that were formed. And I feel like the walls kind of came down. It was like really, really positive for the most part. Um, and so I always thought as well, like after running these types of groups, that it would be so great to have some kind of larger platform that wasn't inhibited by money or geography or like anything like that, where yoga teachers could have access to honest conversations about what working in the yoga industry is like. Um, I feel like, you know, being honest about this work is really important to me. And it's yeah, it's not always easy to find access to like just real conversations, you know, from somebody who's been through it and has like watched the yoga industry evolve quite a lot over the years. Um, and I'm certainly not claiming to have all of the answers, and I fully understand that like my perspective is just one perspective, and it's obviously influenced by all of my experiences. Um, but I think it's still worthwhile to share, and it might spark, you know, feelings of support or inspiration for you as well, like when you're listening. So I thought that today I would share a little bit more about how to connect with other yoga teachers to start to build yourself a network for peer-to-peer support, um, a network that maybe involves like friendships with yoga teachers as well. Um, and also a network that you can refer out to. And I think that this is really important for all yoga teachers, whether you are just getting started with teaching, whether you've been doing this for ages, um, whether you know you're kind of in that place of feeling a little bit isolated in your work. Like, I'm such a big believer that yoga teachers need each other. And it doesn't mean that like we have to know everybody and like be best friends with everyone, but I highly suggest finding at least a couple of yoga teachers that you connect with um who can be there for you to, you know, chat with about like what it's like to be a yoga teacher because this work is so unique, right? And not not everybody gets it. So if you're just starting out as a yoga teacher, um, the first place that you might naturally begin if you're looking to connect with other teachers would be your peers from your 200-hour YTT. So is there anyone in the group that you connected with? Is there anybody that you know you really liked working with when you would do partner work or you know, you felt like um, yeah, yeah, you just like get along with them. Um, and maybe you reach out to them and you guys do like a little monthly or quarterly Zoom call. Maybe you meet for lunch, depending on your location. This can be really, really nice just because, like, if you both started teaching at the same time, you're probably going to be on a somewhat similar like teaching um trajectory. And you might be encountering some of the same challenges kind of like side by side. And so, you know, with this type of like peer-to-peer relationship, it doesn't mean that like you're necessarily mentoring each other, right? Because you're kind of in the same place, but it's like just having someone to to chat with and share your stories and be like, oh my gosh, I'm really struggling with imposter syndrome, you know, teaching this new class. Like, are you feeling that too? And it can just be like so good, you know, especially for your mental health, like to have somebody um who shares in a similar experience with you. Now, I've found that attending trainings is one of the best places to meet other yoga teachers. And as a more experienced yoga teacher, I feel like I've really been able to expand my network um in this way. And I've been able to meet some really cool people, particularly by taking trainings outside of my local community where I primarily teach. And I've also been able to meet some really cool yoga teachers by taking trainings online. Because that's the cool thing about online trainings, is like, you know, as as much as it's, I think, so important to make an effort to learn in person and like to be in a room, like co-regulating with other humans, it is also really cool to take online trainings, online classes, online workshops. Um, because that just like breaks down the borders, and you end up meeting people that you might have never met otherwise just by being, you know, in an online training. And that's one of the ways to build the global community. Um, and so every time I go take a specific little training, even if it's just like for a weekend somewhere, I always end up meeting other yoga teachers who have similar interests to me, especially if it's like a very specific type of, you know, training that we're taking. Um, and that's something that's kind of cool about yoga land is like even if you go abroad, a lot of times you'll still end up meeting someone who knows someone who knows like one of your teachers. And I feel like there's these threads that kind of connect all of us. And so my advice is if you do find yourself, you know, in person at a training or something like that, um, is to take initiative and ask people in this in these kinds of groups if they would like to go for lunch with you, or if they'd like to go for dinner after the training, or if you just want to like eat lunch together. Um in my experience, this is where some of the best and the most enlightening conversations take place. Um, it's not actually during the training itself, like you would think, but it's in the breaks and in those kind of in-between spaces where you really kind of get to know people. If there's another yoga teacher in your community that you would like to connect with, I also highly suggest that you go to their class, go take other people's yoga classes, introduce yourself, let them know that you're a yoga teacher too. Um, this is also a really great way just to get a feel for how other people teach. If you're looking to build as well, kind of like a list of people to refer out to. You know, sometimes as yoga teachers, like we'll have opportunities come to us, like, and maybe it's not the right opportunity for us, but maybe we know somebody else who would be like the perfect fit. Um, same thing is like sometimes we have students come to our classes and you realize that like your class isn't the right thing for that particular student, but you know somebody else who would be really great for them. And it's so nice to be able to make those connections and also like at the end of the day, create work for other teachers, right? Like if the work isn't right for you, it could be perfect for somebody else. And how great is that to be able to like pass on opportunities to other people. So I think that's part of it as well, is like kind of building yourself a network of folks that you can also refer out to. Um, but yeah, if you if you go to somebody's class like that, like you can always ask them as well, like if they would like to go out for coffee one day and just talk about yoga, talk about teaching yoga. Um, and it can just be like a peer-to-peer type thing. Um, it doesn't have to be because you want to sell them something or anything like that. And I'll just tell a little story here, like a little side note, um, because I think it's important to share. So many years ago, I returned back to living in British Columbia where I live now, after quite a few years living abroad. And during those years where I was living abroad, I wasn't super connected to my yoga community here in British Columbia because this was just a little bit before like the big boom of yoga studios, streaming classes online. I feel like this was also just a little bit before like social media marketing like blew up and got huge. Um, and so I just I, you know, was a little bit disconnected from my like home yoga community, even though I had been building, you know, other yoga community abroad, which was really great. Um and so as soon as I came back home, a yoga teacher who I had met before but didn't know super well reached out to me and asked if I would like to go for coffee with her. And at the time I thought, this is so nice. Like I was actually really touched by her reaching out to me. And I thought, like, wow, you know, I'm gonna be teaching in BC again after a few years. And this teacher wants to connect with me and welcome me back into the community. And I was actually so excited to go like catch up with her and go for coffee. Um, and you know, I remember like meeting her at Starbucks. And then when we ended up meeting for coffee, the conversation turned really quickly, and her true intentions were revealed. And her intentions were not to be my friend and meet me for coffee. Um, she was not there to welcome me back to the yoga community. She actually wanted to sell me a $10,000 coaching program for yoga teachers. And she basically started the conversation with, you know, bragging about herself and how she had, you know, been making six figures as a yoga teacher and that like I could make six figures as a yoga teacher too. All I needed to do was give her $10,000 and take her course. And like I remember feeling so silly, so disappointed, and honestly sitting there feeling like I had been tricked into like going to this meeting. Um, I genuinely thought that this teacher just wanted to be my friend and just wanted to have coffee and like you know, catch up. Like that is all I thought. Like, I did not read any deeper than that. And to me, that Is just, it's so unethical. It's such a quick way to breach trust with people. Um, you know, just to make it seem like you want to be friends with them and then just turn the whole conversation into a pitch for something that you're selling. And I remember when I told her that I did not have $10,000 at my disposal at that time to uh spend on a coaching program. Um, she basically told me that I just didn't want it bad enough. And it was kind of hostile. Like it was super awkward. Um, and so I am just sharing this story from personal experience to say, like, don't try to sell stuff to other yoga teachers if you reach out to them. Um, it's actually okay to just like make friends with other yoga teachers, to literally just go for coffee. It doesn't have to be like a sales pitch every single time. Um, and you know, I think it's really important to have other yoga teachers in your life that you can just connect with and talk openly with without any sort of business motivation. Like, you need a few yoga teachers in your life who are also your friends, if possible. Um, and my suggestion, like, if you just teach in one studio or like one spot, for example, is to actually make an effort to connect with a few yoga teachers who don't teach in that specific place. Um, you know, it's really easy to connect with the yoga teachers who are close to us, the ones, you know, who work at the same studio and like sub our classes for us. We're probably in like some kind of a group chat together or something like that. Um, but if you can, I highly suggest that you make an effort to broaden your horizons just a little bit and get a bigger sense of what else is out there. Um, you know, what's happening in your community beyond just like the walls that you teach in, how are other yoga teachers doing their work? And like just real talk to be super honest, this is a really good way to make sure that you do not end up in a kind of culty environment because the yoga industry is prone to those types of groups and that type of thinking. And so I just highly recommend that like you get out of your little bubble, you meet other teachers, you hear some other perspectives. I think it's a really healthy, healthy um thing to do. Now, it's often other yoga teachers who will be the ones who will help you get work. So I feel like the more you can build up your network and make a few connections in your community, the better. Um, it's usually other yoga teachers who are going to be the ones asking you to sub. They may be the ones passing on opportunities and classes to you. And if you're isolated from what's happening in your community and you're not making an effort to meet other teachers, you may have a harder time actually finding places to teach and finding opportunities as well. So I think there's real value, value in there. And this is from a business perspective, um, to just make sure that you have some connections. And that's like the really honest reality of working in the modern yoga industry is that it's not always about how many certifications you have or like how long you've been teaching. Um, a lot of the times it's about who you know, right? And like that's, you know, it's doesn't always feel fair, but like that that is the reality. It's like, you know, did people know your name? Do they know what you're about? Do they know, you know, do you specialize in anything specific? Like, how do you teach? What's your approach? Who do you like to work with? If you're able to like share that with people in your community, I feel like they're way more likely to refer you or like think of you when an opportunity comes across their desk that's maybe not right for them, but they're like, oh my gosh, this would be perfect for this person. If you're looking to take on a little bit more responsibility and leadership, I would say that starting your own peer discussion group can be a really, really amazing way to meet more yoga teachers and open yourself up to meeting teachers who don't teach where you teach, meeting teachers who come from a different teaching background, have different experiences. Um, and like I said previously, I've offered so many different iterations of peer discussion groups. Um, there were some that were like a little bit more of a collaboration with a yoga studio that doesn't exist anymore. Um, there were some that were operated independently where it was all run through me. I would rent a space, do all my own advertising. And in those ones, there was usually a fee associated with them because I would teach a practice, I would do some kind of short workshop or short like little mini lecture about something that relates to teaching yoga, like the business of yoga, for example. And then I would open up the room for discussion and I would actually offer CE credits through Yoga Alliance because those types of peer discussion groups were like a bit more educational. Um, I've also offered them in the past with like a co-teacher, a co-host, um, some kind of like rotating teacher. Uh, you can really set it up like any way that you like, but I have found this to be such a powerful way to meet new teachers and to meet quite a few teachers all at once. And what's cool is like everybody who's in attendance also gets to expand their network and also gets the opportunity to connect with other yoga teachers. So, like, it's not just you who benefits, it's the community who benefits, which is really, really cool. Um, but one thing that I would note, kind of like anything in yoga, is that these groups do tend to, in my experience, take a while to like build momentum. And they can feel a little bit thankless at times when you're the one doing all the organizing and all the promotion and you're taking care of signups and room rentals. Um, it can feel like a lot. So I think if you are feeling called to do this type of work, like you really have to believe in your mission. You really have to see the bigger picture and like see that, you know, this is for the greater good and that you're gonna benefit from it as well. Um, and you know, I think there's ways to make it more casual and maybe lower cost too. So you can really tailor it to like how you want it to be. And maybe you plan to like meet in a park and have a picnic and everybody brings a snack to share. Um, maybe you just meet for coffee. It's a smaller group and like just go to a coffee shop and like have a little yoga teacher's meeting on your own. Um, I've done it where like we've met in the amenity room of like somebody's apartment building, and we do a little potluck and we share, you know, some teaching skills. Like there's a lot of different ways to do this to make it work for you. And it could be something where, you know, it's more community-minded and everybody contributes. Um, it could be something that also becomes part of your business and something that you actually make a profit from. Um, but I really want to encourage that if you're feeling like you want to take on a little bit more responsibility and you're really wanting to make some, you know, more significant connections in your community and meet more people at once, um, hosting an event or like a peer discussion group can be a really, really good way to do that. And if you see other people like running these types of groups or running events, you don't want to run your own, like you can always go participate in them too, right? And and yeah, like just basically get in the room with other people, with real people. It's so, so important. And I am saying that out loud because it's like a reminder that I need sometimes too. Um, it is not in my nature to be super extroverted or to want to go to big events where there's gonna be lots of people or to go places where there's gonna be strangers. Like I am happy, you know, in my own company. I'm happy hanging out with friends one-on-one or like meeting up in small groups. And so it's actually something that takes a lot of effort for me to go to these things and to also run them myself. But I just know um that the payoff is worth it and that it's like so, so important. And I think like any kind of relationship, like it takes ongoing effort to make connections with other yoga teachers. It's not just a one-time thing where like you ask somebody to go for coffee once or you know, you go to one training. It is ongoing, but it is one of the absolute best ways to counteract that theme of loneliness and isolation that can be really um common among yoga teachers, but like it doesn't have to be that way. There are things that you can do to make it feel like you have community around you and you have people around you to talk to. Um, but you know, you need peers around you, and the way that we teach doesn't always like naturally lend itself towards having peers around you, just because like you could teach at the same studio for years, and there could be a teacher there that like you've never met before, just because you guys don't ever cross paths or you know, you don't teach on the same nights, and so like I said, it is something that takes a little bit of effort, but I just think it's so worth it to try to cultivate um some peer relationships if you can as a yoga teacher. So, my top tips for connecting with other yoga teachers and expanding your network of support are thinking about connecting with teachers from your 200-hour YTT. If you are a pretty new yoga teacher, um, I suggest attending yoga teacher trainings that interest you, workshops that interest you. It could be in person, it could be online. It doesn't matter. Um, there's gonna be people either way. Uh take yoga classes from other yoga teachers in your community and like go to different spaces, go to different environments, different studios. It doesn't have to be just in one place. Um, take the initiative and like be the first one to ask if another yoga teacher would like to go for lunch or go for coffee and like genuinely just talk about yoga. Um, and maybe even start a peer discussion group, host a yoga teacher's picnic, um, run an event to expand your network even further. And then just keep in mind that like this isn't always about doing business, it can actually just be about forming some friendships with peers in your industry, which is really important. And there are some super sweet, super special friendships that come from being a yoga teacher, which I love. So I hope that you feel inspired to go make a new yoga teacher friend this week. Thank you so much for tuning in to Yoga Insider Podcast. I'm Alex Wakecott, and I'll see you next time!