Is it possible to make a good living teaching yoga?
The quick answer is:
“Yes, absolutely! But…”
Let’s break down five ways you can make money teaching yoga.
I’ll recommend a specific combination of revenue streams for making enough income to replace your full-time salary.
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Can yoga teachers make full-time money? Leigha breaks it down. Watch the vid.
1. Group Classes
$20-$100 trading time for money
Whether it’s in a studio or in the basement of your local rec center, teaching group classes is a wonderful way to network with students in your area. I strongly recommend teaching a few yoga classes a week. It may not be huge compensation, but it’s certainly nice pocket money — and you’ll be able to do some market research in the process of preparing for other revenue streams.
2. Private Sessions
$70-110 still trading time for money
Let the students in your group classes know that you are available to teach private lessons. If you were to market yourself like a baddie, you could book out your days and make legit money with privates. For an even smarter approach, teach a few one-on-ones per week, and use these sessions to develop a step-by-step protocol that you can build out as a future offering to reach more people (and make their lives better, hello!).
3. A Course or Program
$200-1000 x10+ working smarter not harder
Once you’ve helped someone, like a one-on-one client, resolve a problem, it’s a good idea to package that step-by-step solution in the form of a course or program — of 6-12 weeks in length. With some content prerecorded, and the option for live calls, you can now help MORE people. As a bonus, you can also earn more money. Just 8-10 paying clients per month at $1,000 puts you in 6-figure territory, and you’ll still have time for other ventures. The caveat: You can’t be afraid of marketing (which I think of as just good communication).
4. Memberships
$200-5,000 a steady safety net
Think of a deliverable you can give your audience — a class, a meditation, a guided relaxation, etc. — and then decide how often you’ll deliver it. Once weekly? Once monthly? The choice is yours. Price accordingly and then LET PEOPLE KNOW about your offering. The beauty here is that you’ll have a regular touch-point with your students with whom you can build genuine trust. The recurring income will form a steady foundation from which you can continue to build out other offerings.
5. Brick and Mortar Yoga Studio
$30,000-$100,000+
It’s not for everyone (do you love to lead? Are you detail oriented? Are you good at enlisting help and delegating?), but if it IS for YOU, then studio ownership can be a wonderful and fulfilling way to make a genuinely good living while also being a light and support to your community. Expenses like rent, teacher payouts, and utilities make this a slightly riskier endeavor than the options above, and certainly you’ll have to acquire some experience as a yoga educator. But if the stars align and the market is ripe, then I can’t recommend this path more highly.
Bottom Line
Yoga teachers can earn a full time salary doing what they love and helping people at the same time.
When you work for someone else, the paycheck is all but guaranteed. If teaching yoga is your main gig, then there is some inherent risk only because you are now, in most cases, your own employer.
Personally, that’s why I love this path.
The truth is, the sky is the limit, and plenty of yoga educators make excellent money engaging in their passion for yoga.
You WILL need a willingness to promote and market yourself, but with some confidence and creativity, you can TOTALLY make a shift into a yoga-teaching career that will be deeply satisfying and meaningful.
What questions remain for you??
About Leigha Butler
Long-time consciousness explorer Leigha Butler offers yoga teacher trainings and yoga flows on her membership site, LBY.
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