Yoga has been around for over 3,000 years and has its origins in India as “to yoke” then over the years through time became “yoga”.
Teaching Yoga
Yoga teachers help people learn and practice the many positions of yoga, and also work with students on related and supporting activities like meditation and breathing.
Yoga teachers spread yoga to aid as a form of exercise, self-control, stretching and limberness, and therapy applications.
Many people rely on yoga as their many form of exercise, so being a yoga teacher can be a large responsibility.
The Yoga Tasks:
Being a yoga teacher requires more than just showing people how to do yoga. Yoga teachers need to plan out their lessons ahead of time.
They must also consider the experience level of their students and design the lessons to meet their needs.
If there is a group of mixed ability, the lesson must be able to involve all the them. Conditions like arthritis or pregnancy must be considered and planned for.
There must be space in the lesson for breathing exercises and warm up/cool down. A yoga teacher must be able to monitor and record their student’s progress, to better plan the next lesson.
Finally, a yoga teacher must be self aware and able to evaluate their own teaching skills and be able to improve and supplement their work with each lesson.
Hours of Work
Most yoga teachers set their own hours. Many students have specific needs when it comes to time constraints, however, and a successful yoga teacher will be able to plan classes to fit the maximum amount of students. Most yoga teachers work part time.
What You Can Earn:
Most yoga teachers are self employed so there is no set salary range.
Salary can go up and down with skill, experience, class size, and the demand in the area for yoga classes.
Many yoga teachers charge hourly rates per each student per class.
Yoga Job Requirements
To be a yoga teacher, there are several requirements. A yoga teacher need extensive previous experience in yoga with a qualified instructor.
A qualification for teaching yoga must be attained.
To become certified you need the CYQ Level 3 Certificate, which is offered by a wide range of teaching providers and educators. This qualification is needed for membership in the Register of Exercise Professionals, this body we recommend you join see www.exerciseregister.org.
There is also a teaching award from the British Wheel of Yoga, the national governing body for yoga in the UK – those of you dedicated should join both.
There are also emergency medical qualifications necessary like first aid and cpr training.
A yoga teacher must also keep up to date with new medical discoveries to maintain qualifications and ensure safety. Of course, a certain level of fitness is required. For working with children, a Criminal Records Bureau clearance is required.
For further reading
You could have a look at The Fitness Industry Association web site this site is kept upto date and offers a membership option where members can list offers, advice and events.
For ideas on tailoring a yoga class towards kids there is a good article with graphic kidshealth – yoga they also cover hatha yoga and the types of it.
If there is something that we have missed on this guide or you think we can add to it then we would love to hear from you.
More Job Guides
We have included this guide in our Fun Jobs section as we think being a Yoga Teacher would be an interesting and fun job.
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