When we think about teaching opportunities for yoga teachers we still mostly picture yoga studios and maybe gyms. And it's true, these two classics are still the primary places you'd go to find yoga.
But the yoga world is changing rapidly, because yoga has arrived in the mainstream. Everybody has a friend or a family member who already goes to yoga regularly. And now that we have a large body of research pointing to real physical and mental health benefits, doctors and other healthcare practitioners recommend it all the time.
In 2002, about 5% of American adults practiced yoga. By 2022 it was around 16%, roughly one in six, according to the CDC's National Health Interview Survey. Industry estimates put the global figure somewhere past 300 million people.
As a consequence, more and more people in more and more settings are more and more likely to think about yoga, talk about yoga, and go to yoga. And that means teaching opportunities are popping up all over the place.
For this lesson I put together a list of places to go looking if you're already teaching. And if you're still thinking about becoming a yoga teacher, take this list as encouragement that it really can work out, whether you want to teach a couple of classes a week for the love of it and some side income, or make yoga your full-time career.
Yoga studios. Still the best place to cut your teeth.
Gyms and leisure centers. The big chains employ a lot of yoga teachers now, often on steadier terms than boutique studios.
Anyone's living room. Private sessions pay really good hourly rates, and the 1:1 experience is amazing for both sides.
Online. Live on Zoom, on-demand libraries, memberships, apps. Take your work with you.
Apartment complexes. Many have a gym or a dance room sitting empty most of the week and a residents' budget looking for something to spend on. Movement Wisdom graduate Chris, for example, landed a deal with developers for a bunch of different locations in Texas.
Hotels. Guest classes and rooftop mornings, and increasingly staff wellbeing, which is the contract that actually renews.
Resorts. Seasonal contracts, often with board and lodging included.
Cruise ships. Long rotations and an audience that can't escape (just remember that you can't either).
Spas and wellness centers. Yoga is an expected item on the menu now rather than a novelty, so the door is already open.
Retreat centers. Some only host teachers who bring their own group. The bigger ones also hire resident teachers for a season.
Surf, ski and adventure travel companies. Yoga has become standard on the itinerary for surf camps, ski weeks and cycling tours.
Festivals. Movement Wisdom graduate Katie taught at the Om Yoga Show in London (arguably one of the biggest yoga events in the world). Our mentor Hanna taught at the Fusion festival in Germany (hundreds of people attended). The opportunity is huge as festivals with a direct yoga or wellness connection are popping up everywhere.
Conferences and trade shows. A breakout session, or a 7am class before the keynote. These events have money to spend.
Weddings. Still rare enough to feel like a novelty, but there are far more yoga-loving lovebirds out there than you'd think.
Community centers, church halls and village halls. Not glamorous, but often much bigger classes than you can find at a studio.
Libraries. Sometimes yoga is already part of the program. Sometimes you simply rent the meeting room by the hour.
Parks and beaches. Almost no overhead. Many cities require a permit, so ask before you advertise.
Schools. As PE, as a mid-morning reset for a class that can't sit still, or as staff wellbeing. Already back in 2015 a survey of school yoga counted 36 programs reaching around 940 US schools.
Summer camps and youth programs. Short and intense, same group daily.
Universities. Student unions, sports departments and staff wellbeing budgets are three separate doors into the same building. We've had several graduates who started teaching at their own college right after they graduated from Movement Wisdom. They all loved it!
Corporate workplaces. Lunchtime classes, desk-based sequences, wellness days and company retreats. I (Jess) have taught yoga at companies like Wayfair and MTV (back when they were huge). Back then that was unusual. Now it's super common.
Coworking spaces. They compete on community, and a weekly class costs them less than another networking event.
Cafes, bars and breweries. Dead on a Sunday morning and happy about a reason to open early, usually on a split of ticket sales.
Museums and galleries. These have programming budgets rather than empty floors. Tie a class to an exhibition and you're speaking their language.
Petting zoos and farms. Ever heard of goat yoga? It's a real thing, and it sells out.
Film and TV sets. Somebody has to keep a cast and crew functional through a fourteen-hour day.
Sports clubs and dance schools. Very specific audience with very specific goals. Easy to sell for teachers who really know what they're doing and how yoga can help their clients.
Physiotherapy and rehabilitation clinics. One of our graduates, Conny, has made a name for herself as an expert on yoga for stroke survivors. She combines physiotherapy with yoga all day long.
Hospitals and integrative medicine departments. Slow to get into and hard to leave. Most want a yoga therapy credential rather than a 200-hour certificate.
Cancer support centers. I discovered yoga at a cancer hospital in Texas where my mom was a patient. The classes worked miracles and I can only imagine how meaningful this work must have been for the teacher.
Birth centers and antenatal clinics. Midwives refer patients. Trained prenatal yoga teachers are hard to come by even though demand is huge. (Did I already mention that we're working on a prenatal yoga training?)
Mental health services and addiction recovery programs. Trauma-informed training isn't a nice extra here, it's the entry requirement.
Homes for the elderly and hospices. Chair-based, deeply needed, and consistently short of teachers who have trained for it. Get the Movement Wisdom Seniors Yoga Training and you'll become a seniors yoga specialist in just 40 hours!
Emergency services and first responder programs. Fire and police departments have started funding wellbeing programs along the same lines the military did. San Jose Fire Department helped build the FireFLEX Yoga program and still runs classes for its crews.
Veterans' programs. The US Department of Veterans Affairs offers yoga through its Whole Health system.
Prisons and youth offender institutions. The Prison Phoenix Trust alone supports 143 weekly yoga and meditation classes across 75 institutions in the UK and Ireland, 32 of them for staff rather than prisoners.
Refugee and trauma support organizations. Almost always through an organization already working in the field rather than a cold approach.
Get a really good teacher training
I hope this list gave you some new ideas for teaching opportunities. Or that it gives you confidence to go and get certified as a yoga teacher. Two more things I'd like to say:
First, if you stay open, a lot is possible for yoga teachers. Like, really a lot. But of course you have to go and seek out the opportunities. They probably won't be knocking on your door, at least not in the beginning.
Second, you also have to get the job. And the most important prerequisite for that is skill. Plain and simple … skill. If you're a competent teacher you will come up with a better pitch, you'll have better answers, you can charge higher rates, you'll get recommended more often and — most importantly — your students and clients will see results faster and feel that they are in really good hands.
So in case you're not certified yet, make sure that you pick a training that gives you a complete yoga education.
And in case you are certified already, but you realize now that your training wasn't as good as you had hoped or as the 10,000 5-star reviews made it look … take another training. Yes, I know, it's really frustrating and you're not looking forward to spending more money, time and energy on your yoga education now that you've already completed one program. I've been there multiple times. But every place on this list goes to the teacher who is good enough to hold it. That part you can still change.
