The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga (revised): The Yoga Professional’s Guide to a Fulfilling Career

Description

The phrase below the title reads The Yoga Professional’s Guide to a Fulfilling Career. The cover page features a woman doing a yoga pose. The cover page includes a testimonial from Jason Crandell, that reads This book will now be required reading for all my teacher training programs.

Praise for The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga

"The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga (revised) is a powerful blueprint for self-care, personal practice, and innovative ideas for yoga teachers. Enlightening and educational, this book provides suggestions for postpandemic yoga, including marketing tips and advice on using social media effectively. This book will help yoga teachers bring the magic of yoga to the fore!" — Maya Breuer, yoga teacher (E-RYT 500)

"This much-needed resource lays out the fundamentals of teaching yoga in a real and approachable way. You won’t find any false promises in The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga, and you will realize that, like any other business, teaching yoga takes work, discipline, and diligence. I thought I would never be interested in a ‘business’ book, but I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down. It is a great read from start to finish." — Colleen Saidman Yee, author of Yoga for Life

"Making a living as a yoga teacher requires entrepreneurial vision and business insight. In addition to helping teachers become more skillful with their craft, The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga demystifies the business and marketing landscape of being a yoga professional — subjects that nearly every yoga professional can use more support with. This book will now be required reading for all my teacher training programs!" — Jason Crandell, master yoga teacher trainer

Amy and Taro are here to help you grow your teaching with care and poise. With guidance on everything from choosing your teaching medium, building content, and creating compelling sequences to prioritizing your personal practice, this book walks you through the shift from in-person to virtual teaching and beyond. — Elena Brower, bestselling author of Practice You and Softening Time

The modern transformation of yoga over the past fifty years has caused us to rethink its definition, purpose, and meaning. Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith provide indispensable guidance for any student, teacher, or businessperson who aims to understand yoga then and now. Their hard-won experience, integrity, and insight are applied to yoga’s complex history, theory, and practice. Both accurate and accessible, this is the book to read if you want to teach yoga in the modern world of business — and understand how business is yet another kind of yoga.

— Dr. Douglas R. Brooks, professor of religion, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

This comprehensive guide empowers yoga enthusiasts with essential insights and strategies for a fulfilling journey in the world of yoga instruction. May the words on these pages inspire you to embark on or continue your journey as a beacon of light, illuminating minds and nurturing spirits along the way. — Koya Webb, author of Let Your Fears Make You Fierce and founder of Get Loved Up yoga school

This comprehensive book is an essential resource for any yoga teacher who is ready to take their teaching game and business acumen to the next level. Whether you’re brand new to teaching or a seasoned veteran, you will learn how to ensure you are working wisely, efficiently, and effectively in growing your life and career! — Hawah Kasat, founder of One Common Unity

"The Art of Business and Teaching Yoga (revised) is an essential guide to crafting a teaching practice that is authentic and of service to both the times and your students. This labor of love is transformational and practical, covering the full spectrum of everything you need to know to be a successful teacher technically, financially, and spiritually."

— Reggie Hubbard, activist, strategist, and chief serving officer of Active Peace Yoga

Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith are the ultimate power duo when it comes to combining the worlds of yoga, teaching, and business. I’m so happy to have their voice encouraging teachers to expand intelligently and thoughtfully. — Kathryn Budig, author of Aim True and The Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga

Amy Ippoliti’s teaching style has had a profound impact on my home yoga practice, and I’m excited to see how this text transforms my yoga teaching practice! — Jessamyn Stanley, international yoga teacher and author of Every Body Yoga and Yoke

"Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith are expertly qualified to enlighten aspiring and experienced yoga teachers on how to thrive as a teacher, while ensuring that they honor their life outside of the profession. Get ready to make your mark; The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga is the comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts guide for a sustainable, successful, and fulfilling yoga teaching career." — Rod Stryker, author of The Four Desires and founder of ParaYoga

The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga

The Art and Businessof Teaching Yoga

The Yoga Professional’s Guide to a Fulfilling Career

REVISED EDITION

Amy Ippoliti

and

Taro Smith, P

h

D

New World Library

Novato, California

New World Library

14 Pamaron Way

Novato, California 94949

Copyright © 2016, 2023 by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith, PhD

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for educational purposes only. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or liability taken.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

Names: Ippoliti, Amy, author.

Title: The art and business of teaching yoga : the yoga professional’s guide to a fulfilling career / Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith, PhD.

Description: Revised edition. | Novato, California : New World Library, 2023. | Includes index. | Summary: The definitive guide to flourishing as a yoga instructor, expanded and updated with guidance on how to adapt to the post-pandemic teaching landscape. The book is written for yoga teachers in all stages of their career, from newly certified beginners to experienced professionals looking to expand their businesses--Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023040820 (print) | LCCN 2023040821 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608688784 | ISBN 9781608688791 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Yoga--Study and teaching. | BISAC: HEALTH & FITNESS / Yoga. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Entrepreneurship. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Skills. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Training.

Classification: LCC RA781.67 .I77 2023 (print) | LCC RA781.67 (ebook) | DDC 613.7/046076--dc23/eng/20230921

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023040820

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023040821

First printing of revised edition, December 2023

ISBN 978-1-60868-878-4

Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-879-1

Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In a world desperate for more love, compassion, and connection, this book is dedicated to all yoga teachers —past, present, and future — who serve as community leaders, heroes, and mentors.

Your gifts are helping to make a better world and a more livable future.

Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition

Introduction

Part I: Becoming a Yoga Teacher

Chapter 1: Teaching Today

Chapter 2: Presenting Yourself as a Teacher

Part II: Getting Down to Business

Chapter 3: Yoga Business Basics

Chapter 4: Online Yoga Business Basics

Chapter 5: Building Your Business

Chapter 6: Marketing Your Business

Chapter 7: Social Media

Chapter 8: Forming Good Professional Relationships

Chapter 9: Managing Your Business Finances

Part III: Teaching Well

Chapter 10: Class Planning and Preparation

Chapter 11: Teaching In-Person Classes Skillfully

Chapter 12: Teaching Online Skillfully

Part IV: Leading by Example

Chapter 13: Self-Care

Chapter 14: Leadership and Karma Yoga

Conclusion: Light Up the World

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Preface to the Revised Edition

Originally published in 2016, The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga immediately became the essential resource for those looking to start or maintain a successful career as a yoga instructor. The first edition not only covered how to be a better teacher, but also helped readers successfully navigate the ins and outs of small (or not-so-small) business ownership.

A few short years later, the landscape has changed drastically. The pandemic of 2020 drove a surge of online (digital) yoga. Yoga enthusiasts got used to the convenience, time saving, and lower cost of practicing at home. Though they are missing out on some of the benefits of in-person yoga (hands-on assists, community, and being seen in 3D), many don’t want to stop practicing online. Digital yoga, it seems, is here to stay. Also, yoga teachers are now facing broad cultural shifts, economic uncertainty, social changes, and an evolving environmental crisis. To succeed in this new landscape, teachers will need to know how to serve more compassionately, improve their leadership and community-building skills, teach yoga skillfully, and carve out a business that meets the trying times in which we find ourselves.

This revised edition shares new insights on building an online yoga business, offers quick tips for teaching yoga effectively online, and explores the practice of karma yoga (the yoga of action and service) and how yoga teachers can better address the challenges of our time.

Introduction

As a teen in the mid-eighties, I took my first yoga class before sticky mats existed. I read the Tao Te Ching, volunteered with environmental organizations, and spent my summers immersed in nature, community, and marching on Washington for animal rights and the environment.

I became a yoga teacher at age twenty-seven, after eleven years of strictly asana practice. I knew that there was much more to yoga than just physical postures. Though I felt too young and unqualified to be a yoga teacher, my teacher, Cyndi Lee, had just started training teachers and welcomed me once I’d gathered the courage to apply to her training.

That first training satisfied my craving to understand even just a fraction of the infinite mystery of yoga. And through Cyndi’s belief in me, I felt brave enough to become a teacher.

After the training, I started hanging out with other yogins* who shared similar values. They too preferred to live in rhythm with nature, to be aware in their bodies, and to be mindful about how their choices affected the earth. As we practiced more and more yoga, our sensitivity to everything in the world around us increased: to our relationships with our loved ones, to food, to strangers, and to how we chose to spend our money.

Back then, a career as a yoga teacher was unheard-of. Until the mid-nineties, many people thought of yoga teachers as super-far-out whack-a-doodles who led classes in their darkened living rooms on thick red shag carpets, with incense and candles burning. People my age were supposed to join the real world of nine-to-five work and responsibility. I tried — and failed — to get with this program. I wanted more time for reflection and study, more flexibility (pardon the pun) with my schedule, and the companionship of others who shared my ideals. And I also very much wanted to help others feel and be their best selves.

So I forged ahead as a newbie instructor, joining the small force of yoga teachers trying hard to find teaching opportunities. This was the nineties in New York City, and practicing yoga was still on the fringe.

Sometime in 1998, yoga hit mainstream culture. Word spread that people like Sting and Madonna had a yoga practice. I suddenly went from scrambling for jobs to turning down teaching opportunities because my schedule was booked solid. Suddenly yoga was all the rage.

What could be better? More people doing yoga meant more people learning and growing in ways that could only increase peace and harmony in the world, right?

But popularization always brings challenges along with benefits. Longtime yoga practitioners debated whether age-old ideas were being diluted to appeal to the masses or adapted to serve teachers’ personal agendas. Were people being attracted to yoga for dubious reasons? In addition, yoga’s adoption by celebrities seemed to imply that it was an elitist, exclusive practice.

As I wrestled with those questions, while teaching and training other teachers, I became acutely aware of how difficult it is to maintain one’s own practice, study, and passion while also managing to make a decent living.

Fast-forward to 2010, when I met Taro Smith through a mutual friend. He was an entrepreneur specializing in lifestyle- and wellness-oriented businesses. He was also a trained yoga teacher who understood teachers and their struggles to earn a livelihood. He was, and is, smart, enthusiastic, and inspiring.

To help the best and most dedicated teachers succeed in the now-crowded marketplace, with Taro’s help I developed an online course for yoga teachers. It presented ways for teachers to take back time on their mat, build a strong student base, become more financially stable, serve their yoga students in fresh and exciting ways, and inspire even more students to embrace yoga.

Taro and I were very aware that most yoga teachers aren’t MBAs. And while any small-business operator can pick up a how-to manual online or in a bookstore, we knew that yoga professionals needed guidance that aligned with the values of yoga.

In just a year and a half, we trained over fifteen hundred teachers in forty-three different countries all over the world. When our training bore fruit and yoga teachers started getting results in their communities, we established our company, 90 Monkeys, now Vesselify. It is dedicated to offering a solid online and in-person education resource for yoga teachers, with a full curriculum of professional development courses.

Our 90 Minutes to Change the World course formed the basis for much of the content of this book. Taro and I wrote the book together, but for simplicity’s sake, we opted to write it from the perspective of I, Amy. It empowers teachers to develop yoga-specific career skills, including ways to:

increase class attendance

inspire students

establish and maintain a great reputation

sustain their own teaching with ongoing education and practice

forge mutually beneficial relationships with others in the community

Following the assessments, exercises, and approaches in this book can help you increase your satisfaction in teaching yoga, the amount you are earning, and the number of people you are reaching. And if you are a new teacher, starting out with this knowledge will save you from missteps.

There is no magic button to push to become the perfect yoga teacher or operator of the ideal yoga business. You have to work at it. As yoga lovers and yoga teachers, Taro and I know what that means, and we’ll walk you through the steps that will benefit and sustain both you and your students.

We believe in the power of yoga to help people live mindful, happy lives, and we know from personal experience that teaching yoga offers both teacher and student life-changing, life-enhancing benefits. This book will show you how to share those benefits with others most effectively.

* Yogin is a gender-neutral term meaning yoga practitioner.

Part I

becoming a yoga teacher

chapter one

Teaching Today

Millions of people have experienced yoga’s benefits. Some have found that it lessens pain or stress, and some have incorporated yoga into their meditation or spiritual practice. Many others find that yoga just feels good and increases their overall sense of well-being.

Yoga has traditionally been seen as a path to heightened consciousness and mindfulness, though this aspect is increasingly less emphasized in the West. The practice facilitates a profound awareness of how body, mind, and spirit are linked and how each individual is connected to all life on the planet.

In a world dominated by nonstop activity and the proliferation of high-tech devices, yoga is one of the few popular endeavors that require only a sticky mat and a commitment to practice. No technology is needed.

As a yoga practitioner, you know that yoga practice is sometimes the only time of day when someone truly unplugs, enters a state of calm, moves their body, and simply breathes. As a yoga teacher, you have the honor and privilege of guiding people through that process — a process that is sometimes delightful and often challenging, but always rewarding.

Teaching yoga is often thought of as a lifestyle business. This means that you have chosen a pastime that is central to your own lifestyle and are taking the chance that you can create a career, or supplement other income, by devoting yourself to it.

We are called to teach because we love any excuse to get on our yoga mats, cherish watching our students develop, and likely have a pronounced aversion to cubicle life, endless meetings, and uncomfortable shoes!

The Good News about Teaching Yoga Today

Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance, the professional organization representing yoga teachers, studios, and schools, conducted an extensive study into the state of yoga in the United States.† According to their 2016 Yoga in America report, 36.7 million people practiced yoga, up from 20.4 million in 2012. Yoga is not only growing, it’s booming. In fact, 28 percent of all Americans reported taking a yoga class at some point in their lives. More men and more older people are practicing than ever before: in 2015, there were approximately 10 million male practitioners and almost 14 million practitioners over the age of fifty. Surely these numbers have only grown since 2016.

Yogins are also contributing to the economy, spending over $16 billion annually on classes, yoga clothing, equipment, and accessories, up from $10 billion in 2012. Evidently, yoga is enticing: 34 percent of Americans say they are somewhat likely or very likely to practice yoga in the next twelve months — which is equal to more than 80 million Americans. Why do they want to try yoga? They reported wanting to increase their flexibility, relieve stress, and improve their fitness levels.

According to the survey, yoga is an increasing part of life in the United States. Between 2012 and 2016, the percentage of Americans aware of yoga jumped from 75 percent to 90 percent. One in three Americans reported trying yoga on their own (not in a class) at least once.

The findings also indicate that yoga practitioners tend to have a positive self-image: they are 20 percent more likely than nonpractitioners to report that they have good balance, good physical agility or dexterity, or good range of motion or flexibility or that they give back to the community.

The study also shows that yoga students are highly concerned about their health, their community, and the environment. More than 50 percent of practitioners report trying to eat sustainable foods and live green, compared with about a third of the general population. Nearly half of yoga practitioners report donating time to their communities, compared with just 26 percent of those who don’t practice yoga.

Perhaps not surprisingly, yoga teachers and teacher trainees are even more tuned in to environmental and social issues and to living and eating consciously than other yoga practitioners: 22 percent of yoga teachers and trainees are vegetarians, compared with 8 percent of other yoga practitioners and 3 percent of the general public; and 60 percent of yoga teachers and trainees use natural health and beauty products, compared with 44 percent of other yoga practitioners and 21 percent of the general public.

Statistics like these support what has always been true in the yoga circles in which I run: yogins are living life with more self-awareness and positive self-regard, and as a result of this increased sensitivity, they are making an encouraging difference for the environment and in their communities.

What does all this mean for you as a teacher or aspiring teacher? The demand for yoga teachers is higher than ever — and unlikely to decrease anytime soon.

The Challenges of Being a Yoga Teacher

With statistics like those above, it’s clear that as a yoga teacher, you’re part of a movement that is growing exponentially and one that is becoming more and more a part of life in our society. As exciting as this can be, it’s important to recognize that there are also challenges that come along with becoming or being a teacher. This book will help you understand and minimize these challenges, see how they apply to your specific situation, and find ways to manage them with skill and finesse.

First, with the growing popularity of yoga, the demand for teacher training has created a small army of yoga teachers all over the world, and you are just one of them. It’s not as easy to stand out as it used to be.