Have you noticed the amount of competition in the yoga instruction field? What have you done to “stand out” from those competing for the same jobs? Or to reconcile with competition in tension with true yogic values?
Some instructors may teach one to a few classes a week, volunteer with their teaching, or do sessions for friends and family in a private context. Those things considered, there are still many, many teachers out there looking for teaching work to fully supply or significantly supplement their income (and, of course, experience all of the other wonderful things about the work) - outpacing the steady rise of yoga’s popularity in the West.
A question arises from all of this - who sinks and who swims? It feels harsh to talk about living, feeling people in these ways, but that’s how capitalism does. We need be in a certain amount of alignment with the capitalist system in which we operate. Employers are largely in control of decisions that will lead to who succeeds and who struggles. By and large, they make their choices based upon what they believe is best for their businesses.
Sometimes those decisions are wise, and sometimes they’re not. They’re human beings who make mistakes. Either way, often there are people involved who have to be disappointed, sometimes hurt. None of us want to see fellow instructors disappointed or hurt. We of course also need to be of service to others; our practice, and simply being a decent person in the world, calls for it.
Yet if everyone were to put others completely before themselves, with a result of self-harm, would anybody really be better off? We must care for ourselves so that we can care for others. As long as we act with integrity, honesty, and kindness, we do not have to feel guilty for our success - by yoga’s moral code or that of any other way of living.
There is always a slightly uncomfortable tension between true yoga and the business of yoga in a capitalist society. In my view, if operating within a capitalist framework is what it takes to make yoga accessible to people in these culture, then certain compromises are worth it. Again, as long as we act by our values, we aren’t compromising yoga’s truest, deepest essence. Go ahead and seeks out as many opportunities as you desire and can feasibly be granted.
Audition with all your heart and soul. Let yourself be joyful when you are granted opportunities. Also be joyful for others when they are granted opportunities! Let yourself experience natural sadness when an opportunity doesn’t work out, and be there to comfort others when they experience that sadness. This is the kind of connection with authentic self that will also help you to stand out from the crowd of other instructors.
No one is better at being you than you! A common mistake of young instructors is to imitate their favorite teachers. You’re not as good at being someone else as you are at being you! People can smell inauthenticity from a mile away, so to speak. It’s not compelling or enjoyable. It won’t get you jobs or people in your classes. No one else is you, as well, so that right there sets you apart to at least some degree!
Second, be the best you you can be. Keep up with continuing education, refine your sequences, and seek feedback about your teaching. Practice regularly. Attend to your self-care. Maintain strong social ties and connection to things apart from yoga that light you up. Seek to offer your students the most whole, healthy, and capable version of yourself.
That being said, you will make mistakes. You won’t be perfect. Another myth about yoga instructors out there is that we are always morally upstanding, and always make the healthiest choices. If that were true, we wouldn’t need yoga. We would have reached Samadhi. By and large, we do our bests to practice what we preach. But we’re human! Any expectation, from ourselves or from others, to always act in perfect adherence to yogic values is unfair and unrealistic.
Another way to stand out from the yoga instructor crowd is to leverage your unique experience. No resume nor life story is the same. Do you have training in math and science? Pique your students’ interest in the physics, geometry, and anatomy involved with yoga. A trained musician or singer? Offer your students live music or singing to open and close classes.
Are you a dancer/choreographer? Use your sense of movement and the body to craft enjoyable and intriguing sequences for your students. Office/management experience? Be great at organizing and promoting your business, as well as connecting with other businesses and clients. The point is to offer yourself in the fullness of who you are. By the reasoning of Deepak Chopra’s Law of Attraction, the opportunities that align with that fullness will come your way. If you focus on the goal, rather than the competition in the way of reaching it, they’ll be nothing stopping that Attraction.
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