The Reality of Being a Yoga Teacher: More Than Just a Crowd

For many people, the image that comes to mind when they think of being a yoga teacher is one in sparkling studios with throngs of students ready and willing. There is some truth in this image, but it encompasses only a small part of what becoming a Yoga teacher really involves. However what you find in the background can be very different, sometimes even lonely.

The Illusion of Perpetual Connection

One might say that teaching yoga is a social business, but most of it at first blush. You are in a room full of people, other students—people who rely on you to motivate and energize. But the connection you make in those settings can often be superficial. Your role as a teacher is to hold space for the work and offer support to others, instead of trying to find your community through these engagements.

Although you may start to become attached to the students as persons, for many of them your relationship will be defined by mainly sitting in front of each other during class hours. How deep the connection is, of course comes down to the exact nature/reason for your passion towards each characters' journey. In a crowd, you often end up tackling personal thoughts and emotions all alone.

The Weight of Responsibility

You have a lot of responsibility when you stand in front of that class. Keeping structure and energy while everyone is safe, deal with that. Teaching is a bliss, and all these challenges only add excitement to it while taking control of the stressful responsibilities with it.

You get back what you put out into the world; though not in kind every time. The pressure to be a source of light and comfort can become exceedingly heavy, so that you feel isolated even in the midst of a crowded room. You may feel simultaneously part of a powerful community, yet yearning for solitude that hovers just beneath the surface.

The Isolation of Being Self-Employed

Also noted, is the fact that many yoga teachers are self-employed… another dimension to their lifestyle. From business tactics to course scheduling to marketing — every decision falls on you. It is exhilarating, and allows for freedom— but it can also be lonely. The road can be a lonely, team-less place.

You have to be a business manager, a marketer, customer service agent and obviously the teacher. It is tough and more-so when one has to confront the challenges eliminated automatically, so you have got to tackle it all on your own.

The Importance of Community

Connection is one of our basic human needs, despite the difficulties it presents Teachers frequently are the conduit between their students but can also long for a similar connection. Sharing your love of teaching with other teachers can help to fill the emptiness, but it will take time for you to establish that camaraderie. You are not going to click with every teacher, but when you find those who resonate…hold onto them tightly.

Acknowledging Loneliness

It is normal to feel lonely or even disconnected moments being the person many loves and admire. You are not less of a teacher to have this feeling — it just shows one of the pitfalls in our vocation. It is freeing to accept the fact that it did in-fact happen, relieving us of the burden we may have placed upon ourselves by only being able to recognize our shadow self.

Embracing Dual Realities

In the end, one of the most critical lessons that we are learning is this: two truths can exist. It is sort of — a yoga teacher does an enormously, powerful job and they do get so much fulfillment out of helping other people to feel better physically but it can also be one very isolating and two riddled with certain misconceptions from outside the industry as quite often we hear. Recognization of this duality, and acceptance Of it (which — boo— also totally sucks) is the fundamental skill that you need to navigate down whatever your path plays out next.

When all is said and done, even the most saintly image of a yoga teacher may not include scenes where she sits alone in an empty bedroom cleaning someone else's mess or cradles her baby at 5AM as they throw up whatever it was that made them sick. Teachers can use such complexity as an opportunity to grow, taking the time for self-reflective inquiry and building meaningful connections with students .

There are so many facets to being a yoga teacher, and it really is both glorious and daunting. Understanding these things within ourselves, can help us lead a healthier balance in our work life while founding the sharing of our yogic passion with others.