...Words of advice given by a P.E teacher; When you’re running a race, focus on the finish line and don’t look sideways because it slows you down.
Comparison is the thief of joy. And comparison is painfully easy because of social media and websites. You can get salt to rub into wounds 24/7.
Teaching Yoga in an abundant market can feel like a sprint, so follow these wise words and don't look sideways, run your own race.
The teachers I'm training (next course starts 2020 if you'd like to be a part of it) and mentor ask lots of questions; how do you create a successful Yoga business, is it difficult with so much competition and do you really do it all by yourself?
Below are my (brief) answers to these questions.
How do you create a successful Yoga business?
Put a lot of effort into it. You can call it manifesting if you prefer, but nothing detracts from the hard graft that’s needed. Be prepared to put time aside to think about who you’d like to teach. The answer can’t be ‘everyone because Yoga is for everybody and every body!’ -Gak. -But an inclusive approach is a good idea.
You need to really know who you’re looking to teach. I’m not talking about the style of Yoga, I’m talking about a specific individual. What’s their name? Do they have a 9-5 job? Why do they want to practice Yoga, what aches do they get? Where do they do their weekly shop, what type of coffee would they order?
It might sound crazy to think of someone in so much detail but the more you know about them, the better you’ll be able to connect with them. You don’t have to know all the answers to these questions; but thinking about the answers is a way of getting clear on who you want in your classes.
Here’s the first blog post I wrote called ‘I’m not flexible enough for Yoga’ because everyone would say that to me when I told them I was a Yoga teacher. So I wrote a short piece about this… My writing style has improved but aww, isn’t it a sweet post?
Compare that to this more recent post, where I’ve got into wordplay and I’m talking to people who want to think about Yoga in a wider context, a way of living in alignment with seasons and energy fluctuations.
Is it difficult with so much competition?
Having worked through the first point, learned who you’re going to teach, you’ll almost entirely free yourself from this second concern. There is no competition right? No one can write articles like me, plan classes or teach how I do.
I teach people who want to be part of a community, we get to know each other and our practice develops as a group. If you’re looking to feel anonymous in a class (that’s not a criticism, for some students they want to be invisible) or learn some cool tricks I’m not your teacher and I can recommend so many wonderful teachers to you.
Do you really do it all by yourself?
Of course not, I have wonderful teachers, friends and photographers who I seek guidance from and one particularly generous friend who edits my podcasts for me.
However, other than that, everything you see, hear or read is me. I used to fantasise about having a Social Media person. Because Facebook and Instagram were the parts of my job I liked the least. But those posts are so ‘me,’ no one else could produce them.
Like this one on Instagram where I’m taking the mick out of the perception that teaching Yoga is all I do, and that photos posted online are ‘natural.’ Almost all of the photos you see of Yoga online are posed. 100% of mine are and I’m honest about that and how much effort it used to take to make the photos natural -I’m getting better at it though.
The point is I can’t outsource parts of my business because I am the business. As the Guru Dr Seuss once said “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
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Thank you, Rosie Pose x
Photo by HPinkness.