If you’re in the middle, or completing, yoga teacher training, you might be wondering about places you can start teaching yoga classes. It’s certainly one of the most frequently asked questions I get from clients. How can I find a place or space to teach yoga? Do I need to teach in a yoga studio or gym?
When brainstorming ideas, I encourage you to get creative, and think “non-traditionally.” If you research beyond yoga studios and gyms, you have wide open spaces to choose from.
Prefer videos? Watch 10 Places to Start Teaching Yoga.
#1 go outside
If you live in a place that has warmer weather and shorter winters, then you really have a longer period of time in which you can take advantage of this free outdoor space. You can look at your neighborhood park. If you’re lucky enough to live by a beach, you can offer a yoga class there. Or you offer your backyard oasis.
No you don’t have to have a fancy backyard, just have enough green space to lay out some mats. And some people really do have excellent backyards. I had one teacher whose backyard looked out onto a lake, so she always did her classes there. Another student, who had a really cool deck in her backyard, offered yoga classes on the deck.
#2 office buildings
Not necessarily corporate buildings, but small business, smaller offices. If you live in a city that has a great downtown area where they’re renovating buildings, go check those out and see what’s already there, or what businesses already exist. Perhaps they have a conference room, business room, or meeting room. Maybe they have off-hours when the space isn’t being used.
Also look at dance studios and martial arts spaces because they usually have times in which these spaces are open and available. People are always happy to collaborate and bring others into their space. #winwin
#3 local churches
New teachers, who are also members of churches, talk with the people in charge of the facilities or in scheduling activities. Churches use a variety of buildings to accommodate their needs: out-buildings, classrooms, basements, meeting rooms. Any of those spaces not being used might work for teaching yoga classes.
#4 schools
Now I recommend that you approach schools in one of two ways:
If you’re just getting started, look at possibly teaching to teachers, because they’re stressed too. They would love to have somebody come in after school, while they’re wrapping up, before they have to go home to the hecticness of their own families. You could use their classroom or maybe the library in the school.
For those interested in teaching kids, school districts have strict guidelines and may be tougher to break into. But you can look at Montessori schools and home schools. They’re always looking for additional activities to expose their kids to. Preschools and mother’s day out programs are also great “school-type” places to check out.
Interested in teaching yoga to kids? Check out the Teach Kids Yoga Now course.
#5 parties
Number five is a fun one and also another non-traditional space. Moms love something new and different to offer at their kids’ birthday parties.
If you’re thinking about adult parties, like girls night out, those present amazing opportunities. Pour a little wine, offer a few yoga classes, but I recommend the wine after the yoga. If you offer the wine beforehand you might not actually get to the yoga. Regardless of the order, girl’s nights are so much fun to do.
#6 community centers
Most cities and towns have community centers. There may be someone already established in there doing yoga, there may not. But unless you look into it, you’ll never know. Summer might be a little bit busier because they have kid’s activities, but they may be open, they may be looking for somebody.
Again – you can come in and offer something a little bit different than what they would typically offer in the past. Go check out those community centers. This is how I started my yoga career.
#7 senior centers
I know that in my town we have community centers and, specifically, senior centers, so go check those out. Senior centers and assisted living, they are always on the hunt for people who are willing to come in and teach classes. Whether it’s yoga classes, pottery classes, and painting classes, this is an amazing thing. Untapped space to go in there and talk to the people who run community centers and senior centers
#8 non-profit organizations
Some non-profits might be a little harder to get started with because they have different protocols in place, so if you wanted to teach at a domestic violence location, you might have a few more things that you have to do in order to teach at that space. You might have to go through a background check, or something like that.
But again, non-profits, like senior centers, like Montessori schools, they are always looking for people who can come in and volunteer. So if you’re looking at a non-profit, you might have to volunteer your time, but it’s a great way to build your experience or to get back into the swing of things, or to give back to your community.
#9 a spare room
Do you have a game room or media room that you could take advantage of while your kids are at school? While your house is empty? Or maybe something you can do on the weekend. So this kind of goes a little bit with your own backyard. If you don’t have a nice yard, maybe you have a room that’s not being utilized. Maybe you have a spare guest room that you could rearrange and bring in 3 or 4 people to do yoga.
#10 hobbyists
I can think of two students, that, not only do they love yoga, but they also love cycling. They’ve offered to talk to people who organize their cycling activities, and say, do you think the group would be interested in having a yoga class after a ride. And they have really been met with resounding affirmation – yes, come on in.
Think about some of the other hobbies you do – a book club or painting – there’s just so many different hobbies out there, that they might be interested in being exposed to something different with yoga.
getting people to attend
The last part of this vlog that I want to share with you is how to get people in there to actually take the classes from you. You have to start talking to people. Let them know, “I’m a teacher, I’m going through teacher training and need to practice. I need to get out there and dust off my training wheels.”
If you’re on Facebook, put a message out there and let people know. “Hey, I’m going to be teaching here, and at this time, and at this date, so come on over.”
If you’re not on Facebook, look at your email list. I know that you probably have plenty of people that you could email–friends, family, acquaintances–people that you’ve worked with, your hobby friends. Put an email out to them, ask them, and get them interested.
Also, you have that old-fashioned way, pick up your phone and call and invite people directly to come in and take classes from you.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON PLACES TO TEACH YOGA
Part of getting out there and teaching yoga is that you have to be active and you have to put yourself out there. You have to let people know that you’re doing this, and you have to give them an opportunity to participate with you.
If there is a space that I didn’t talk about, that you’ve had great success with, or you’ve heard about it, I would love for you to share that in the comments. We’re always trying to help each other find places to start teaching yoga, and find people who can benefit.
ENJOYED THIS POST? PIN ME, PLEASE!
