Are You A Broke Yoga Teacher Learning Junkie?

How many yoga teacher training courses have you been on? 

Have you already got your 200 hour yoga teacher qualification, and are thinking of taking either the 300 hour or some other diploma to add to your skills? 

Are you wanting to expand your range of skills to offer other, complimentary therapies? 

And here’s what, for me, is a more important question ...  

Before you think about taking that extra course,  
are you already making a decent income from the skills  
you already have?

Because the truth is, if you’re not – I’d like you to stop a moment to reflect on just what you’re doing! 

The truth is, I see so many passionate yogis become what I can only describe as broke learning junkies!! They love to learn. They find they love yoga and what it does for them and they think: “Whoah! I’d love to be able to help others to learn this amazing practice so they can feel as good as me. So you take that extra course – you spend that money, you invest your energy and time, then you come back to the real world and realise you still need some clients or students to practise these new skills on! 

It’s easy to be drawn into becoming an eternal student…… 
thinking “if I take this course this will make me a better teacher and then I’ll be more successful”…

But if all these skills you’re learning are not paying your bills, when that’s what you hoped they would do – then WHY are you even considering taking another course? 

The truth is, learning more stuff does NOT guarantee or even bring in new clients or students.  

Yes! Being a yoga teacher is a journey – and developing your skills and knowledge should be an ongoing journey for ANY professional, BUT at some point you HAVE to take a long hard look at what’s going on and ask yourself if this is training for a career or just an expensive hobby you’ve created for yourself? 

You can be the best yoga teacher in the world – but if no-one knows about you, you won’t attract students, fill your classes on a regular basis, and actually make a living from your yoga teaching.

You see – having the skills on their own is NOT enough! If that were the case, every university student would have a job! 
 
I learned this lesson the hard way. 

My first business was as a corporate coach. I had a psychology degree; I’d studied leadership and management; I’d taken an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) diploma and was the saddo that took management and psychology books on holiday! 
 
I KNEW my stuff! 

But I wasn’t making any money! And, rather foolishly, I’d given up a well-paid job, had no income coming in – and was running out of time and money.  

One weekend, feeling rather desperate, I found myself looking at a course to become a Neuro-Linguistic Master Practitioner. It cost £2,500 not counting accommodation and travel and would take up a week of my time. 

As I sat there thinking maybe this would be the key that might help me bring in income, a question suddenly came to my mind:

If I take this course, how will it actually help me put money IN the bank at the end of this month?

The answer was clear – it wouldn’t!

The very things that would actually put money in the bank at the end of next month  actually revolved around my getting myself out there, talking to prospective clients, and offering them something they would be willing to pay for! 
 
And whether I had this NLP certificate behind me or not, if I couldn’t do that – then I was in trouble!

The truth was I had become a learning junkie. 

The truth was I was using learning something new as a form of what my mentor calls “creative avoidance” – putting off what I knew really needed doing, because it made me feel uncomfortable; because I lacked confidence in myself and because it felt far easier and nicer to be a student than go out there in the big bad world and try to sell myself! 

And that was the turning point for me! 

I didn’t invest in that NLP course! 

Instead I invested in what I realised I really needed if I was going to make this work – a mentor who understood how to build a coaching business! 

And that’s when my business took off. 

Once income was coming in and I could relax a little, then I could look at whether I wanted to invest in my own CPD. But my criteria became I would only invest in my CPD if the money I made from coaching actually paid for it. And that’s how it needs to be for you as a yoga teacher.

If you  take ANY yoga teacher training because you want to make it your career and pay your bills with income from that teaching, then STOP learning for now – and start earning! 

So – if this resonates for you in any way – if you recognise yourself as that learning junkie – loving the safety and comfort of being a student but afraid to get out there and actually use your skills to benefit others who are willing to pay you for your skill – then the next time you step on the mat – use the time to ask yourself – what do I want? 

Do I want to actually become a “real” yoga teacher – or not? And let your intuition guide you.

Actions you can take:

Shona