Making a Living Through Yoga
Yoga has been around for thousands of years, originating in ancient India as a means of achieving spiritual balance - aligning with the divine. Many of us, myself included, practice yoga as a way to know ourselves more fully, and to recognize ourselves as part of the universal whole. In our spiritual pursuit, we are trying for Satcitananda, which translates from Sanskrit to “being conscious bliss”. If we can recognize ourselves as fully conscious beings that are simply pieces of the divine, we’ll know bliss. That’s lofty stuff, right?
On the flip side, we’re still grounded in the realities of being humans who need food, shelter and water to survive - and let’s not even dive into all the things we need to thrive. For yoga teachers, this means monetizing something personal and deeply spiritual.
In the past few decades, a multi-billion dollar industry has grown around yoga, with thousands of studios and teachers popping up across the world. Despite this growth, most yoga teachers struggle to earn a living wage, with some earning as little as $20 per class. When you take into account the extra time and work teachers put in before and after their scheduled classes, their commutes and the work that goes into creating and developing class programming, that isn’t even close to minimum wage.
The issue of poor wages in the yoga industry is a complex one. Most of the local studios around Rochester rely on a business model that pays teachers a flat rate per class, rather than offering salaried positions, benefits, or even a percentage of revenue earned from their classes. Teachers are not guaranteed a consistent income and often have to teach multiple classes per day just to make ends meet. Additionally, the growth in the industry has created a race-to-the-bottom mentality, with many teachers accepting lower wages in order to get hired and stay competitive.
The consequences of this issue are significant for teachers. Many struggle to afford basic necessities such as housing, and have to work at multiple studios to get by. Inevitably, this leads to burnout and exhaustion, which ultimately impacts the quality of the classes they teach. The lack of financial stability and benefits means that yoga teachers do not have access to adequate healthcare, retirement plans, or other benefits that are crucial for long-term financial security.
This is a direct contradiction of yogic philosophy, which teaches us that all beings are interconnected. We should strive to create a world where everyone has access to the resources they need to thrive. When teachers are not paid fair wages, it perpetuates a system that is at best inequitable and at worst, predatory. The reality is this - there would be no yoga studios without the teachers and that should be reflected in teachers’ pay. If a studio can’t afford to pay their workers a fair, living wage, then they can’t afford to be in business.
So, what can be done to address this issue? One solution is for yoga studios to adopt fairer business models that offer living wages to their teachers, ensuring that teachers have financial stability and can focus on creating high-quality programming. Most importantly, though, is students recognizing the value of yoga classes and being willing to pay fair prices for them. Talk to your favorite teachers, ask about their offerings and see if there are alternative ways in which you can support their work. Talk to your favorite studio owners about their pay structure - what percentage of your subscription is going directly to your teacher? Would you pay more for a class if more of your money went to the teacher leading it?
The yoga industry is thriving, but yoga teachers are struggling. By taking a nuanced look at our own practices, perhaps we can each work to make a bit of a difference - by adopting fairer pay structures, by recognizing the inherent value in what teachers offer and by finding ways to get our payments directly into the hands of those who are actually guiding us in class every week. We can create a more equitable and just society, together.
💖 kass