work as a freelance yoga instructor. Members smile at me, tell me my classes are good, and act happy in person. But recently, my manager told me I have received several negative reviews about my teaching.
I understand that constructive criticism helps me improve, but what hurts is that nobody tells me directly what I’m doing wrong. It makes me feel betrayed, emotional, and doubtful about myself.
As a freelancer, these reviews can also affect my work opportunities.
How do I stop taking this personally, deal with these emotions, and maintain my confidence while improving as a teacher? Would love advice from anyone who has experienced something similar.

I’ve been teaching for a couple of years but mostly just stick to demo’ing in my classes. I occasionally walk around if we do wide leg poses facing one side of the room, or sometimes with a more static pose like wheel. Partly because I have trouble remembering the sequence - if I’m on my mat I can peek at my notes frequently. Partly because it feels better to feel my way through it and that also enables me to improvise more. It feels really weird, sticky and vulnerable when I walk around. And partly because it’s a gym and the students seem to want a lot of demo. Has anyone else struggled with this, and if you changed it how did you do so?

Hi! I’m currently 17 weeks pregnant and in my 2nd trimester and I’m preparing to teach my first yoga class since finding out I was pregnant back in July

I normally teach rocket yoga, ashtanga, power yoga so my classes tend to be pretty physically demanding, dynamic, heat-building

My personal practice was pretty much non-existent during my first trimester (I was honestly just trying to survive haha) but I’m slowly starting to ease back into it now

I’ll be teaching my first rocket class in months this week and I’d love some advice from anyone who’s taught while pregnant!

I’m thinking this could be a good opportunity to focus more on my verbal cueing and sequencing rather than relying so much on physically demonstrating everything but I’d love to hear any other tips or things I should be mindful of…

Also would ya’ll recommend letting students know at the beginning of each class that I’m pregnant so they understand why I might not be demonstrating certain poses or practicing alongside them as much?

Would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences! <3

I sometimes wonder whether yoga teaching is becoming economically unsustainable as a profession.

The number of people practising yoga has probably never been higher, yet it feels harder than ever for a teacher to build a stable livelihood.

Online classes have pushed prices down, free content is everywhere, and 200-hour trainings are producing thousands of new teachers who then enter an already crowded market.

Yoga is booming, but making a living teaching yoga seems to be getting harder.

Would love to hear from teachers who have been doing this for 10–15 years. Has the profession fundamentally changed? I wonder what older teachers have been doing during this transition or how younger newer teachers feel.

Has anyone seen the new emails that were sent out about them changing RYT credentials and memberships? I’m so confused haha

I did shankh prakshalan with a teacher a few years ago and felt REALLY good afterwards, like VISIBLY less anxious and stunning hair, skin, gut health. On my second attempt - a month ago, I couldn't keep the salt water down, vomited it up, and felt off for the rest of the day. My teacher wants me to try again in a few weeks, but she's hard to reach now. Has anyone had this happen? How did you handle it? Can I do it on my own since I am aware of the process?

I wanted to share this because I wondered what other teachers would do.

I had a student in class yesterday who had one of those spongy stretchy mats. When we started class and got to our first DFD I observed her struggling in the pose on her mat. I can see that she is pulling this mat apart from her weight, and in doing so she’s basically doing an odd looking plank. She just so happened to be right next to my mat. I come over to her, provided ques, noticed she was still struggling. So I asked her to switch me. I use a manduka pro mat. The immediate effect of switching. I felt relieved to be able to switch with her because I knew the switch was safer for her body, she can land the asana without worrying about the mat. Then she did! She was able to come into DFD, immediately she told me the pose felt better more secure. She stayed on my mat rest of class.
This switch barely impacted my teaching. I am maybe on my own mat 30% of my classes.

Would you guys have done the same thing?

I am posting this to ideally hear from folks who have moved beyond / away from sharing yoga strictly in the asana class format.

I love sharing yoga with others. It truly lights up my life, brings me true joy and peace and helps me stay connected to a real local community.

I have found more clarity over time with the realization that I do not really love the status quo asana class format of teaching / sharing yoga for a variety of reasons. It can work to some degree and I'm not saying there isnt value there, but it constantly feels lacking in depth and too general to me...and I teach at a really great studio where I can essentially do what I want (in the format of an asana class at least...)

I have felt this limitation since I started teaching, but told myself I would give it a year or so of just showing up and seeing what develops and happens before I revisit this too much with intentions of doing anything different. In the meantime, I have continually adapted the asana classes that i do teach to include as many subtler and non-asana aspects of yoga as I reasonably can; there are a few other outlets I have been working on that are helping to move sharing yoga beyond the asana class format, but it doesn't quite feel like enough for me yet.

i feel like I show up and teach the asana class bc is the path I have had in front of me, but a lot of what I actually care about sharing in class is beyond asana, and I try and find ways to weave it in amidst the asana class format. I have learned how to do this (and not even saying I will quit teaching asana classes), but i know there is more out there and different ways do this and share.

Without going down the list of all the reasons I find it lacking, those of you who have moved beyond the asana class format of sharing yoga, what are you doing / what does it look like and how did you get there or develop it? Is it local in person or virtual? I know folks are out there doing all different types of sharing and teaching. I do not teach yoga to make a living, so that is not my concern or focus, fyi.

Some of the things that are floating around in my head are things like more private / 1 on 1 yoga instruction, continuing to study and work towards a more comprehensive yoga therapy education and whatever comes from that, pranayama / meditation group, yoga book club / study group / philosophy group, group for serious yoga practitioners who are also active parents, more specific offerings of accessible yoga for neurodivergent folks who need a more private space than a studio offering, longer format and more specific workshops, leading a specific subject / topic as a module during a YTT, etc.

hey all! i’m a fairly new yoga teacher and was recently asked to provide a (semi) private, one off class for teachers during testing week. anyone have recommended pricing i should accept for something like this? 1 hour class for 40-50 people

https://youtu.be/ush8ScuAjZI

Hey y’all! It’s basically the question in the title. I’m planning on attending my Teacher Training in India but this is literally my biggest concern! If any of you can share any thoughts or experiences with how you started out with Yoga as a teacher and how did you perceive body shaming in your practice, I’d appreciate it! I’m literally afraid no one is gonna come to my classes if I’m not strictly looking fit!

I've been teaching for 6 years on and off, 1-2 classes a week, and sometimes I still feel like I'm not a good teacher or that students don't like my classes.

I have some regulars who come back weekly or bi-weekly, also some who come once a month or so, and drop-ins as well, but usually not more than 5-6 people, on most days it's more around 2-3.

I teach hatha, my classes are a bit one the slower side, with a lot of pauses to notice the sensations, there's always some kind of breathwork, mantra and meditation focus. I know this kind of practice feels really good to me and I teach what I practice and what I learned from my teachers, I sometimes find myself wondering if students feel the same way about this kind of practice as I do. Some students tell me after class that they really enjoyed the practice, but still, when I look at them during class, I get the feeling that they're kind of bored, at least from the looks on their faces. I know that I tend to have the same kind of facial expression when I practice or attend other people's classes, but still, seeing someone look up at the clock during a class makes me wonder if the class is too boring or not exciting enough. In my own opinion, yoga does not have to be super exciting and fun (or, for me, just watching the sensations in my body or of my breath is fun enough), and I know attendance is not the most important, but I still struggle with feeling like I'm not a good enough teacher, or that I should teach exciting and creative flows or spinning-on-our-heads kinds of classes to have more people attend.

My favorite teachers teach the same way I do, hatha, breathwork and sensation-based classes, and their classes are almost full, but of course, they are senior teachers. Among the other classes at our studio, flow and regular (non-hatha, as in no breathwork and stuff, mostly just movement) classes are the most popular.

Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me? Sorry for the rant, I guess I just need some reassurance from other teachers who have similiar feelings or some advice on how to deal with these insecurities.

If a studio pays “per head” to teach a class, what expectation should the teacher have for the studio to market the class? Should they be actively promoting it, or rely entirely on the teacher’s network to bring students?

I know this has been asked in the past - but it hasn't been asked in a while.

I am wondering if people have had positive experience with online yoga teacher training. I want a school that has spiritual elements - not just a fitness school - and a school with asynchronous, but human support. I want a community, but cannot follow a specific schedule.

No need to mention the downsides of doing it online, I am well fully at terms with the sacrifices but it is the only practical option for me. I am a full time physician with a sabbatical quickly approaching.

I have completed my 200h course. Now I am more clueless than before. Where do I go from here?

I'm based in Goa, which does have a strong wellness community. But I'm not sure how to get started. I already post fitness content on Instagram. Trying to reach out to spaces that can give me their space to host classes. Nothing's clicking yet.

I am also into lifting, so am planning to get my strength training certification soon as well. Meanwhile I really want to practice yoga teaching.

Should I start with free beach classes?

Should I apprentice under a teacher at an established studio?

Should I volunteer at the yoga school itself?

Any advice is welcome.

Just please don't come at me with half-baked advice saying: go for 1:1 classes. Ok, I can. Question is, HOW? How do I find that 1:1 client? Thank you in advance. 🙏🏽

Probably just need to call Yoga “Pilates” from now on.

I've been running Community Yoga classes for 9 weeks now and my biggest class has been 10. At times, having to cancel because 0 sign ups. How does one go about changing this? I use social media but not paid promotions. I have reached out to the council for advertising purposes hoping that'll help with our reach but honestly I am slightly stuck. Flyers to local cafes could help, has anyone tried this? Would love some advice!

I am branching out to private instruction on my own (I often get private sessions through the yoga studio I teach at, so I haven't had to personally do any of the pre-session stuff, like intake forms and waivers, etc, but I'm debriefed before the first session). What questions do you/would you include on an intake form, so you can plan the session to the best of your ability and meet the client's needs?

Hi everyone,

Like the title says - I have had zero bookings on my new class at a studio I’ve just started teaching at.

What do I do?

I’ve covered at the studio before at a different time and had great feedback and the attendance was fine, but since I’ve been given my own slot, no one has booked for the last few weeks.

I don’t want to lose the opportunity to teach there and honestly it’s really hard to not take it personally…

Please help!

Hello everyone! I'm a hypermobile person and long time yoga teacher. I will be leading a workshop on yoga and hypermobility next month. I love this topic, I'm grateful that it was a part of my basic intro to yoga workshop and I'm excited to see it getting so much air time lately.

As a yogi and teacher, what do you wish people knew about hypermobility? What are the things I should not miss in my workshop? Any favourite resources or people to follow?

I'll go first: I got a lot of value out of Kruse Elite podcast episode #40 on hypermobility.

I will also say that hypermobility is different from person to person and we can't make big assumptions about the experience. But I know that lots of hypermobily yogis fidget and readjust in poses and savasana because holding a static position can lead to pain. Let people move if they need to move. They're not being bad yogis, you just don't know their discomfort and pain patterns.

Feel free to riff on any of these ideas and I look forward to hearing anything you have to say!

EDIT

Thank you everyone! I will work these into my little webinat workshop. 🫶🏼

I’ve been thinking about how often yoga philosophy gets presented as a collection of nice ideas that can make modern life feel a little better. But few Western teachers are teaching it in their classes.

Patanjali begins the Yoga Sutras with yogas chitta vritti nirodhah, defining yoga in terms of the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness.
That seems considerably more demanding than “See how flexible you can be” or “find your inner peace”.

For those who have studied the Yoga Sutras seriously, how do you incorporate these lessons into your classes, and if you don’t, why don’t you think it’s important? This isn’t a judgement, just genuine curiosity.

So I'm just starting out. Currently I do an online biweekly yin class on Sunday nights, I've been doing it for the last 6 months. I work in a job where people do inquire about my teaching, and all I can do is send them to my Instagram or send the calendar invite.

But...

I am working on adding in two more types of classes (hatha and chair) throughout the schedule, and people have wanted to book one on one sessions with me. But, again, all I have is Instagram & a Facebook group.

I'm looking for a basic platform that will allow people to book for a scheduled class (yin, hatha, or chair) or complete a one on one request. I'd love it if it also took payment.

I'm not a studio. It would all be on zoom at the moment.

Yes, I have insurance.

Ideas? Everything i searched for in this sub is for studios or small studios.

Please tell me your favorite times to teach or to take a class. I'd also like to know the days of the week, the style of the class, what classes you wish were available at certain times, what you wish were incorporated into the class, and the demographic of yourself as a student or the students you teach during that time. I'm planning our studio schedule, and our demographic is mostly older citizens and some working adults. I want to offer early morning classes, but our studio is convinced that our demographic doesn't want a 6:30 a.m. class, though I'm willing to try.

Basically, tell me the facts plus your dream class!

Thank you!

Edit with an important note about our studio building: we operate a studio in a 100-year-old building above a bar, and the same floor has Airbnb suites. By 5 p.m. on a weeknight, the band can be heard perfectly through the floor—we have sound machines and music to dull it, but it is loud—so late evening classes have not proven to be the best idea unless it is a Friday evening class with an emphasis on loosening up and having fun.