When I completed my yoga teacher training over a decade ago, teaching opportunities were easy to find. Studios and gyms had such full schedules that there was a near-constant need to add more teachers to the sub-list.
Those days seem to have come to an end. Fewer personal studios and more limited class schedules translate into dramatically fewer opportunities to find your way into a regular teaching position.
Even as it becomes increasingly difficult to organize generic yoga classes, there are more opportunities than ever before to bring yoga to more diverse places and populations: sports communities, corporate settings, healthcare settings, senior centers, prisons, schools, to name a few. That means there are an unprecedented number of ways you can tailor your teaching to a specific theme or audience, in ways that help you stand out.
But how do you find your educational niche?
In my experience, regardless of your education, personality and teaching style, the answer can be found by looking in the same place. And that’s the part of a Friend diagram where there is an overlap of your skills, your interests and what your community needs most from you.
Let me explain.
How to find your niche as a yoga teacher
Where do you start figuring out where to focus your time and attention, especially if you’re a newer teacher without advanced training?
1. Identify your expertise
When we think about specialization, our thoughts usually turn to advanced training. Ongoing training can be incredibly helpful. But if you focus on accumulating certifications, you may downplay the qualities you already bring to the class.
Maybe you’ve become a master at dealing with stress in a cutthroat corporate environment. Perhaps you rely on yoga tools and techniques to help you manage your own experiences with chronic pain or injury, illness, or addictive behaviors. Maybe you have years of experience working with children or older adults, you are an athlete, or you speak a second language. Any of these can help you stand out as a yoga teacher.
Take the time to list the skills and life experiences that make you who you are. Seeing them in black and white can help you recognize that you bring insight and experience regarding certain situations that other teachers do not share.
Not every skill translates into a teaching niche, but it’s a place to start.
2. Follow your passion, priorities and values
Most of us are exposed to thousands of pieces of information every day, so we develop filters to drown out some of that noise. Few things pass through those filters more effectively than enthusiasm.
Think back to a teacher who really got through to you. If they managed to arouse your interest and involvement, it was probably because of their enthusiasm for the subject and the way they conveyed it to you.
You already know this. You understand what it feels like to learn some random alignment detail from your training manual out of obligation, rather than something you actually think is of value. As your facial expression and voice change dramatically, most students can’t help but be engaged in what you’re explaining.
So focus on the things that make you happy, the topics you’d like to talk about before and after class, the areas you read about on your own time, and the techniques you share with anyone who will listen. If teaching is a conversation, it’s wise to join a conversation you’re already engaged in.
3. Tune in to what fascinates students
Relationships are a two-way street. It’s important to know what you bring to the conversation, but it’s not just about you. You have skills, insights, experiences and values that will inevitably attract students to your teaching.
As you join your teaching niche, you need to discover what your students want or need.
This part of the Venn diagram may be the hardest to figure out, because it’s not about being the only or even the best teacher in your field. It’s about the unique quality you bring to students: the way you approach or explain something, the techniques you share or the perspective you offer, the way you make students feel.
So lean on your skills, follow your interests and see what comes up. What questions or concerns do students consistently share with you? Which lesson themes seem to generate the most positive responses? What social media posts, email newsletters, or blogs are your students most engaged with? Each of these can identify aspects of your teaching that resonate with it.
It often takes time to discover this almost magical chemistry between teacher and student, so be patient. Continue to build your knowledge base, but don’t underestimate the lifetime of experiences and insights you’ve already gathered.
Here’s how to find the people and places that benefit not just from what you know, but from who you are and what matters to you.
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