First, be a student for 10 years before you consider becoming a teacher. Practice regularly. Read the classic books. Study a traditional form (my top recommendations are Ashtanga and Iyengar). Stick to one or two teachers for a few years – if not longer – at a time.
Second, teach for 10 years before you consider opening a yoga studio. Become remarkable at teaching students. Figure out what makes your approach unique. Why should a student practice with you? Also, observe how studios operate. Work for other studios. See how they do things. What do they do well, where do they underperform. Study the mechanics of the business of yoga.
Third, operate a studio for 5 years before you consider starting a teacher training program. Why? 80% of small businesses fail within the first two years. You will spend the first two years keeping your overhead low. Which means teaching a lot of classes. Developing a teacher training takes a lot of time to write manuals, to design modules, to build up enough customers who want to learn how you do things.
Next week’s post will be about pitfalls of operating a yoga studio. A cautionary tale.
Stay tuned.
