for new yoga teachers

How to get your first yoga students after teacher training

You don't need a studio, a website or a marketing budget to start teaching yoga. You need one class, one place, a link people can book from, and a few habits that bring them back.

In short: start with one weekly class in a free space; put it on a free schedule page students can book from; tell the people who already know you, your training school and the studio where you practise; add a free listing in your town so people searching for yoga there find you; and keep the same slot every week, with reminders, attendance and a waitlist doing the rest. The sections below take each step in turn. Every tool mentioned is on Yoga Guide and free: a schedule page, bookings, reminders, a class list, a list of your students and a directory listing. None of it charges you or takes a cut of your class fees.

1. Start teaching yoga with one class, not a schedule

New teachers often wait until they have a studio slot, a brand and a full timetable. Start smaller than that.

• One time slot a week. Pick the slot you can keep for six months. The same time every week is what lets people make it a habit.
• A place that costs nothing or close to it. A park, a community room, a library, a church hall, your living room, or Zoom. Studios come later, once you have regulars who will follow you there.
• A class you can teach well today. Gentle, beginners, slow flow, a lunchtime stretch. Say what it is and who it's for in the name: Tuesday evening slow flow, all levels tells people more than Flow with Sam.
• Free or by donation at first is normal. The first few classes are for teaching, learning the room and starting your list.

2. Publish your yoga class: a schedule page in ten minutes

1. Sign in with your email. We send you a link; there's no password. Add your name and your town. Add your town even if you teach online, because students search by town; if you have no fixed home, choose Nowhere fixed: I teach online instead, and you're listed with the online teachers.
2. Write two or three sentences about yourself. What you teach, who it's for, where you trained. Use the words students search for: the style (hatha, vinyasa, yin, restorative) and the level. A sentence about why you teach is worth more than a list of certificates.
3. Add the class. Date and time, every week, on the days I choose with no end date, the level, the price and how many spots. Your regulars can then book every session at once. For an online class, add your Zoom or other joining link; only students who have booked can see it. Add the payment link you already use, and it's shown to students once they've booked.
4. Share your link. It looks like yogaguide.us/teacher/your-name. Put it in your Instagram and Facebook bios, your email signature, your texts and on flyers. Students save a spot with just their email: no app, no password, no account to set up.

That's the whole setup. From here on, your job is the class, and the page keeps count, sends the reminders and holds the list.

3. Where your first yoga students come from

This is how to promote your yoga classes as a new teacher, and none of it costs money. Roughly in the order it works:

1. People who already know you. Your training group, friends, family, coworkers, the people on your mat next to you. Text them the link and the date, and ask each one to bring one person. This is where nearly every first class comes from, and there's nothing wrong with that.
2. Your training school and your own teachers. Ask to be listed as a graduate, to cover classes, and to assist. Covering a class is the fastest way to be seen by students who already practise.
3. The studio or gym where you practise. Ask about community classes, early slots and covering. Check the jobs section here too; studios post openings.
4. Your town's page on Yoga Guide. From your dashboard, add a free teacher listing with one click; it's filled in from your profile and linked to your schedule. It shows up when people look at teachers in your town, and the style and lineage tags are what the filters use, so fill them in.
5. The class search. Your classes come up when someone looks for yoga near them by town, style, level or time. An online class comes up for anyone searching online classes, anywhere.
6. Community listings. A weekly park class or a practice group belongs in community too, where people look for practice partners and meetups.
7. Flyers where your students already are. The coffee shop, the library board, the gym, the co-op. One sentence, the time and place, and your link. Paid ads can wait until the class is regular; most new teachers never need them.

4. How to keep yoga students coming back

Getting someone to a first class is the hard part. Keeping them is mostly consistency, and the page does most of the work.

• Confirmations and reminders go out for you. A confirmation when they book, a reminder the day before. Fewer no-shows, and nothing for you to send.
• Say the next date at the end of class, and ask people to book it before they leave. A booking is a small promise.
• Mark who attended. Open the class list after class and mark attendance. Over a few weeks that shows you who is becoming a regular, and who attended once and didn't return: a good person to text.
• Use the waitlist. When a class fills, students join the waitlist and the next person is booked in automatically if a spot opens. Let it fill; a full class is the best advertisement there is.
• Your students, in one list. My students shows everyone who has booked with you, their email address, how many classes they attended and the date of their last one. Email a whole class in one click about that class. For news about a workshop or a new slot, write to the students who ticked the box to hear from you; the list shows who did. Send less than you think, and stop when anyone asks.
• Don't move the slot. If you must cancel a date, cancel it from the dashboard and everyone booked is emailed. Then be back the next week.

5. Your first yoga class: keep it simple

Getting people there is this page's subject, but the first class is what brings them back, so four things that help every new teacher:

• Teach a sequence you know by heart, shorter than you think. A well-held 45 minutes beats a rushed 75.
• Arrive early and set the room up, then greet each person by name as they come in. Ask about injuries before you start.
• Say less. Give the cue, then let people breathe. Silence feels long to you and restful to them.
• End on time, and say the next date. That sentence, every week, is how a class becomes a habit.

6. Pricing and getting paid

Look at drop-in prices in your town and start there or a little under. Put the price on the class so nobody has to ask. Students pay you directly through the payment link you add, whatever app or checkout page you already use; Yoga Guide never handles the money or takes a cut. Donation-based is fine too; say so on the class. When the room is regularly half full, you've earned the right to raise the price.

7. Teaching yoga online

An online class is the cheapest room there is, and it keeps students who move away or travel. Add your joining link to the class and it's shown only to people who have booked. Online classes come up for anyone searching for online yoga, and under every town's own classes, so say the style and the level clearly in the name.

8. Keep learning

Students ask about the names and the history. The āsana study guide teaches the 200 classical āsanas as B.K.S. Iyengar teaches them, each Sanskrit name taken apart word by word, with the technique step by step, after a first unit on the eight limbs; it's free with the same account. The lineage pages tell the story of the teachers behind today's styles, so when someone asks what Iyengar or Ashtanga means, you have the answer. When you are ready to go further, 300-hour trainings and continuing education are listed in one place.

Questions new teachers ask

Do I need a studio to start teaching?

No. A park, a community room, a living room, a church hall or Zoom all work. Many teachers start with one weekly class in a free or cheap space and move to a studio later, once they have regulars who will follow them.

How many students do I need to start?

Three is a class. Most first classes are friends and people from your training. Teach it as carefully as you would a full room; those people are the ones who tell others.

What should I charge?

Look at drop-in prices in your town and start there or a little under. Many new teachers make the first few classes free or by donation to fill the room and start their list, then set a price once the class is regular. Put the price on the class so nobody has to ask.

Do I need insurance?

Most teachers carry liability insurance, and many venues require it. It is inexpensive for an individual teacher. Ask your training school which insurers their graduates use. Yoga Guide doesn't give legal advice, so check the rules where you teach.

Does Yoga Guide charge anything or take a cut?

No. The schedule page, bookings, reminders, class lists, the student list and the directory listing are all free, and students book for free. Any class fee is paid to you directly through the payment link you add.

What if nobody books the first week?

That's normal. Keep the slot, teach whoever comes, and text the people you know the link again. Try a different time if two or three weeks go by, but don't move the class around every week: a fixed slot is what lets people make it a habit.

How do I get more yoga students once the class is running?

Keep the same slot, tick attendance so you can see who is becoming a regular, and ask people at the end of class to book the next date before they leave. Let the class fill and use the waitlist. When you add a second class or a workshop, tell the students who asked for your news. Most growth comes from regulars bringing someone, which a reliable class earns.

Do I need a website to teach yoga?

Not to start. A schedule page people can book from, a listing in your town and your social media bio linking to them cover what a website does for a new teacher. Build a website later if you want a home for writing, videos or a course.

How do I get my first yoga teaching job at a studio?

Practise there, ask to cover and to assist, and say yes to the slots nobody wants; early mornings and Sunday afternoons are how most teachers get a regular class. Studios post openings in the jobs section here, and a schedule page with a few months of classes on it shows a studio you can hold a room.

Start today

Set up your page, add the one class, and send the link to ten people you know. That's the first week.

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