Throw Away Your Lists

"As soon as you stop trying to control everything, you will see things start to go your way." - Rajashree Choudhury, Bikram's wife

Every time a catchy new article about Bikram yoga pops up online, it takes over my Facebook news feed. This week, the trendy article was a blog piece titled "10 Things NOT To Do in Bikram Yoga," a list of pretty basic stuff such as don't fidget, don't talk, don't eat right before class.

It's pretty decent as far as advice goes - I'm not here to hate on the writer, so I'm not going to break down her points or anything - but I'm not crazy about the basic premise. Ten things "NOT To Do" is already way too many NOTs for me. Right away, somebody commented on the article, "and number 11... do NOT... attend." If I didn't already know how awesome Bikram yoga was, that would probably be my comment, too.

It always kills me to see studios that print out these looong lists of rules for their students. One of my all-time favorite studio websites has a list of 15 rules under their studio etiquette section (including "no excessive jewelry" and "no colored water") and then, at the bottom of the page, it says "click here for our FULL list of class tips and yoga etiquette!" I always click there, because the full list of class tips is truly spectacular. Here are just a few excerpts from that list, some paraphrased and some not:

- "Feel free to watch the people in front of you if you are lost", but "please do not STARE."
- If you have an emergency (i.e. you have to puke), just let the instructor know and they will tell you when you may leave the room (i.e. between postures).
- Wash your yoga mat in the tub "biweekly."
- Make sure you are keeping hydrated with Zico, Gatorade, EmergenC, Smartwater, but do NOT actually bring these beverages into the studio.
- No smells, including body odor or cigarette smoke.
- No hangovers.
- Front row is reserved for people who "follow the rules of the studio."
- If you're not properly hydrated or didn't eat enough, don't come to class.
- And the list goes on...

So basically, what this list says to any new student is: don't come! This yoga is not for you!

Man, screw that. Yoga is for everybody. Even the junk bodies and the screw loose brains. Especially them - that's the whole point! The smokers, the partiers, the people who don't really know how to take care of themselves yet, the are the ones who need the yoga the most.

I never like long lists. There was another article that floated around for a while that was something like, "20 Things to Do In Bikram Yoga." Now that's more like it - a much more positive angle - but still, 20 things?! Too many things!

If I'm trying to get somebody into a Bikram yoga class, I usually just let them know that the room is heated, so they should come ready to sweat and they should not eat right before class. I tell them to bring a mat, a towel and some water. That's it!

When the new students get into class, they only need to do two things. And number one is not "stay in the room." Number one is breathe. Number two is "stay in the room." That's the whole opening spiel. Breathe (everything else is optional), and try to stay in the room for the whole class. If you need to take a break, just sit down, relax, and join back in when you're ready.

In my humble opinion, that is plenty of information! All that other stuff is going to work itself out naturally. Almost all beginners are going to wipe and fidget and breathe wrong and drink water at weird times and stare around the room. That's absolutely fine. As long as they make it through their first class and feel good when it's over, they'll come back for a second class, and a third, and a fourth. And by that time they'll start to feel more comfortable and get the hang of it, and they'll start to look like nice, disciplined yogis.... all on their own!

Keep it simple. It's only yoga.

It's actually kind of brilliant and radical, this whole mind-body idea behind the yoga practice. The idea is that if you improve the body, the mind will improve automatically. Or as Bikram would say, if you want to get the head, you just grab the ear, very sneaky, and pull. So as teachers, we really don't need to get overly caught up in any weird behavioral stuff - Stop looking around! Put down your water! Don't itch your face! If we can just teach our students to "lock the knee" - (and of course I say "just," but this really is the trickiest thing) - then the mental focus will follow naturally. Pull the ear, and you get the head. I love it.

All the list-making just feels off to me, and I finally put my finger on the reason for that feeling. It's something that my studio owner Molly said in class earlier this week, something that's been chasing me for days. She read us this quote from one of Rajashree's seminars: "As soon as you stop trying to control everything, you will see things start to go your way." And that's IT. All these lists - do these 20 things, don't do these 50 things - they're just grasping at control over something that really shouldn't be controlled. They're trying to create the conditions for a perfect class, a perfect practice. Drink lots of water, but not too much. Don't eat before class, but if you must eat, just eat some Saltines. Prepare everything just right or don't go to class at all.

Somebody commented on this post that she (or maybe it was he) really likes knowing what to expect, and she would have been too scared to go to Bikram in the first place if not for all those lists of "what to do" and "how to prepare." I thought this was such a good point that I pulled this post down for a couple of days because I wanted to say something about it.

It can be comforting to have a nice long list of "do's and don'ts." It's nice to know what's expected of you. On the other hand, some people will be freaked out and turned off by a big list of rules. It just kind of depends on your personality. (Plus, sometimes we think we'll do better if we know everything ahead of time, but we're wrong.) Here's the point that I want to make: while it's great to figure out some parameters that will help you do better in class, you don't need to make a whole career out of rule-writing. That's not the final destination of your practice. It's not like you're going to develop more and more rules for yourself as you practice for longer, until you've got a mental list of "200 Things Not To Do in Bikram Yoga" and nothing ever goes wrong for you, ever. The final destination - at least in my belief - is to simplify.

We all struggle to control the conditions of our yoga practice for a while, and it's so natural, it's such a normal thing. But part of the beauty of the yoga practice is that you can't control it and it's never perfect, and the sooner you embrace that truth, the happier you will be. Sometimes you'll have a great class when the "conditions" were all wrong - you didn't sleep enough, you ate a donut on the way to the studio, you had too much coffee, and you went to class anyway. Even if it wasn't pretty, if you came out of the room feeling better, then it was still a great class. I've had some of my very best classes on days when, if I had been following somebody's rulebook, I would have just stayed home. There's really no controlling the yoga practice. You can't control the teacher, you can't control the room, and you can't control everything that happens in every hour of your day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No chance.

But as soon as you stop trying to control everything... things will start going your way.

Throw away the lists. Breathe a little easier. Just keep practicing.

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** I was inspired to write this post by another teacher's great blog: "What to Do in Bikram Yoga."

** For those who are curious, I'll save you the trouble of searching for this article: "10 Things Not To Do in Bikram Yoga." It's really not bad - it was just the impetus that got me on this train of thought.

All Yogis are Good Yogis

"If we are here not to do what you and I want to do

And go forever crazy with it, why the hell we are even here?"

I'm not sure where to get started with this topic, so I will start in the middle and see what happens.

If there's one idea that I could really live without, it's this idea that you have to adhere to a certain set of behaviors or else you are a "bad yogi." Or as one of my best friends puts it: "Whenever I skip class and stay home to drink a beer, I'm worried that the yoga police is going to come after me!"

(Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no Yoga Police. I know this may be a shock.)

There's this very modern stereotype about what types of people do yoga (skinny, flexible white chicks) and how those people are supposed to behave (eat vegan foods, drink only juice, be pseudo-spiritual). I'm calling this a modern stereotype because, you know, yoga was originally started by dudes. And lots of men do yoga now. (This has been well documented in a long string of articles on the subject of "Wow! Men do yoga!") Many of my students - and many more of my regular students - are people who bear no resemblance whatsoever to the cover model of a Yoga Journal magazine.

This is not my main point.

If you just go to a few classes at a good studio, you'll see that any body can do yoga. My favorite studios are filled with all sorts of different students - men, women, kids, senior citizens, fat, skinny, stiff, flexible, healthy, injured, and everything in between. That idea about the "yoga body" is a pretty easy bubble to burst. There are some great inspirational videos out there showing students who started off crippled and end up healthy. (Most of them are set to music by Coldplay.) So this idea seems to be sinking in, and that's fantastic. We need to people to understand that yoga is therapy and that it is meant to be for everyone.

So much for the myth of the yoga body. 

But I've seen several different posts and articles passed around on the general topic of "I'm much less fun now that I've started yoga," or worse, "other yogis give me a hard time when I don't follow the yoga lifestyle."

What the fuck is the yoga lifestyle?!

(Is it anything like the gay lifestyle?*)

Yoga is an overall wellness program. As far as I'm concerned, the point of yoga is to help you feel better so that you can have more freedom and joy in the rest of your life. So go and have fun!

Some people feel better when they wake up early in the morning, drink wheatgrass and vegetable juice, take 2 classes a day (not drinking water), post inspirational messages on Facebook, enjoy a quiet night in with friends, and go to sleep early. That's wonderful! Some people are happier when they practice a few times a week (spending the rest of the time with their job/family/significant other), go to rock concerts, drink whiskey, stay out late. That's good, too!

Of course it's important to have "everything in moderation" including moderation. If someone, for instance, is partying hard and getting shit-faced drunk every night, that person is not really having a good time. That person most likely has a problem which needs to be addressed. And it's important to maintain some level of appropriateness in public. Lynn Whitlow gave a great lecture at my teacher training on "how to conduct oneself in public as a yoga teacher," and part of her message was essentially, "don't be a drunken slob out on the town because your students will see you, and don't post scandalous pictures on Facebook because I won't hire you." I completely agree.

But seriously, we are all human beings first and yogis second. One thing that I loved when I first got into Bikram yoga was how down-to-earth and real the Bikram teachers were. They didn't preach, they didn't always use their indoor voices, they liked to drink beer, and sometimes they used the word "fuck." (Sorry if I'm ruffling any feathers here.) These were my people! Eventually I met Bikram himself - the self-styled "Beverly Hills yogi" - and this explained a lot. You don't have to be poor to be spiritual; you can be spiritual in a Rolls Royce!

Allow me to submit myself as an example. I am a ballerina-turned-yogi. I am a lifelong vegetarian. I practice not-quite-every-day. I don't smoke. I tend to follow rules. I drink a lot of tea. I listen to acoustic folk music. I own a hula-hoop. I enjoy fresh juice. AND. I am an engineer-turned yogi. I am a huge nerd. I drink whiskey. I watch Game of Thrones. I eat Ben and Jerry's. I drink water in class - happily and shamelessly.** I listen to all kinds of loud rock music. (I saw Flogging Molly last Friday, which was awesome, and I am going to see Gogol Bordello in 2 weeks!) I stay up late. I swear all the time and people still have to remind me to use my indoor voice - sigh. I'm friends with the bartender at the neighborhood dive bar and he made up a drink for me and my friend called "the Yogatini." 

I am equally happy about all of these things. If you thought that was a list of "good things vs bad things," then shame on you. Those are all good things!

I like seeing my students when I'm out and about because it sort of demonstrates that you can do yoga and also have a life. One student recognized me on the edge of the mosh pit at Flogging Molly, pointed at me, and hollered "YOU'RE MY YOGA TEACHER!" We high-fived. We felt proud.

I guess what I really want to say here is, just be yourself. 

And if anybody has a problem with you, you know what Bikram says: "Tell them, eat shit and die!" Aw. Nah, not really. If anybody feels the need to judge you, that's really their issue and it has nothing to do with you. Just smile and nod, and keep doing what you're doing. You are perfectly normal and everything is okay.

Rock and roll, baby....

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*Did you read the link? Did you play the video? Both are very good!

** I've thought about posting on this topic, but I'm a little bit scared to open that can of worms.

Ready... HUP!!

In case anybody was wondering what I have been up to lately, I have a new addiction.

THE FLYING TRAPEZE.

I took my first class at the end of January, for my birthday, as a one-time adventure experience kind of a thing. I used to watch the people doing trapeze lessons on the Santa Monica pier back in California, and it was always something that I wanted to try!

Of course, after your first class they offer you a buy-one, get-one-free deal, which was just too good to pass up, especially since I had some extra birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket. So I went back twice in February (once for trapeze and once for aerial silks), and then I went 3 times this month (the past 3 weeks in a row), and it is pretty safe to say that I am hooked.

Symptoms of this addiction include: bookmarking online trapeze trick databases, reading whole articles on the physics of flying trapeze, spending hours watching trapeze videos on YouTube, and measuring time in "number of days until next trapeze class."

Unfortunately this addiction is a liiiittle bit expensive and time-consuming (especially since the trapeze place is north of Boston, an hour away from where I live), but I am totally making it work. Did the special, got the Groupon. I practice yoga for free, so it's not like I've been spending money on any other activities. I am planning to sign up for the next session of their Intensive Flying Workshop (which starts in May), and my rationale for this decision included the thought: "I'm sure I can look for a cheaper apartment." (I am, in fact, on the market for a new apartment in June.) Once I realized what I had just thought, I laughed for about 5 minutes - but I am still serious!

What is so great about the flying trapeze? Well I'll tell you....


For starters, it's a great way to look fear in the face. The first time you climb up on that platform and get ready to jump off, it is scary as shit! Looking over the edge is the scariest part, even if you're not afraid of heights. The ground seems pretty far away, and standing at the edge seems like a Bad Idea. The first time I got up on the platform, it went something like this:

Instructor: Okay, come stand at the edge.
Me: Okay! *steps right up*
Instructor: No.... the edge.
I look down. There is still a 2- or 3-inch gap between the tips of my toes and the end of the plaform.
Me: Oh.... *shuffles forward* Eek.

So you stand there at the edge of the platform (in full safety harness, I must add, and with the instructor holding onto the back of your safety belt), and you get your both hands on the trapeze bar - which requires leaning forward so that you're dangling over this big empty space. (Ooh, I get butterflies even typing this.) Then the instructor says "READY," and you bend your knees. Then they say "HUP!" and you... hop. Not terribly gracefully or stylishly at first, but you hop off the platform, they let go of your belt, and you go swinging into the air.

Wheee!!!!

Flying is great, and not really scary at all. The hardest part is just the anticipation - getting ready to take the plunge. (There's an obvious metaphor there and I am not going to beat it to death.) Once you get going, you just have to follow the calls and do exactly what the instructor says, exactly when he says it. (I feel that my yoga training has prepared me for this quite well.) As long as you keep listening (and don't try to skip ahead or second guess), most of the tricks are much easier than they look. You don't even need upper body strength (which I sorely lack) - it's all about timing. In the first lesson, my friend Eleanor and I both caught our knee hangs - which means we got our knees up on the bar, hung by our knees, reached out our hands, and got caught in the air by another trapeze person. Awesome!! I can't remember the last time I felt so accomplished and bad-ass at the same time.

The trapeze has been great for my yoga practice. It's actually started opening up my shoulders quite a lot, which is an unexpected bonus. But mainly, it's given me back more confidence and fearlessness in the hot room. Like - if I can do that, then of course I can do this. Standing head to knee? Cheesecake! No room for hesitation, no room for doubt.

Because of course, in the trapeze, you can't hesitate. When you're working on a catch, timing is everything. If you don't jump/let go on the HUP, then you're too late, it's over, you miss it! So you can't think too much. You just have to listen, react, and have some faith.

It's also helped with my teaching, I think, because it's making me go through this huge "beginner experience" all over again. The fear, the confusion, the frustration, the understanding, the success... the obsession... all that stuff. It helps me relate to my students better. It reminds me of how exciting it is to start something new, and how much it matters to have an instructor who cares about you and knows your name. It reminds me how much of a Big Deal it feels like when you're new at something - for the guys and girls who work at the trapeze school, this stuff is their bread and butter, but for me, it's the highlight of the month! I have to remember that this applies to my students, too. They don't spend their whole day at the yoga studio - their class might just be the highlight of their week, so I'd better bring them my best stuff.

I've been impressed with all the staff at the trapeze school. The instruction is all verbal (very similar to Bikram), and it is one-on-one (which is different). I like how their commands are simple, clear, comprehensible, and always appropriate to the level of the student. They don't try to tell you everything at once - they just tell you one thing to do on your next swing that will help you improve. This is a great rule of thumb for teaching.

I love watching my own learning curve. I can really only process one thing at a time. (At least in the beginning, this was very obviously true.) My most difficult lesson was the one where I had just learned the one-handed take-off. (A great skill, which I now love - far superior to the two-handed bunny hop.) I kept messing up the trick, because I was thinking so much about the take-off. I was getting instructions on the take-off (remember to swing the bar down) and on the trick (remember to pick your head up at the end), and I just could not do both those things at the same time. Sequential processing - one thing at a time! But the next week, I did way better and had my best lesson yet. So this is helpful to remember - there is often a delay in processing new information. This helps me understand how my students feel when I tell them to do something - lock your knee! - and they don't get it. Sometimes, they just can't get it yet. It needs to sink in.

Meanwhile, I think I nailed the new skill that I learned on Monday. ("Nailed it" for a beginner, at least.) I have just started to learn how to swing. Which sounds like nothing - like, you're hanging off a bar and flying through the air, you are going to swing where you want to or not! - but it actually refers to something specific. Swinging is the technique where you swing your legs back and forth (in a specific way, at a specific moment) to make you swing higher, and BOY is it fun! I actually managed to catch the correct rhythm almost every time - there are those listening skills again - so by the end of the lesson I was doing the full swing and then dropping down to land on my back. It's my favorite thing since the knee hang - partly because I know it will lead to a whole realm of much more exciting tricks, but partly because I just LIKE it.

Here is a really cute promotional video from TSNY:

Forget Fear, Worry about the Addiction: Most accurate slogan ever! I want to steal this slogan and use it for Bikram yoga.

Next lesson in 12 days. :( 

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Updated for accuracy on 3/29: Next lesson in FOUR days because I have recruited a newbie to go with me. I didn't really need that week off.  :)

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Note for any trapeze folks who may read this: I know that it is technically "HEP" and not "HUP", but I am still a newbie and to me it SOUNDS like "hup." In my head, it is totally "hup."

Elaine the Inspiration!

Here's a little bit of inspiration for your week.

This is a picture of me and Elaine, before yoga class on Friday evening:

Elaine is a student at my friend Teri's studio, Bikram Yoga Merrimack Valley, up in North Andover, MA. She is also something of a legend in the Bikram yoga world. She is 75 years old and practices Bikram yoga "every day and twice on Sundays." She hasn't always been active - she started yoga when she was 72 and her kids talked her into it. In her early days, she would stand in the back of the room, do a little bit of pranayama breathing, lie down and have a rest, and then they would prop her up against the back wall so that she could do the final breathing. (She couldn't even sit on her own knees.) Now she practices in the front row (in the far left corner) every day, does all of the postures, and puts all the young folks to shame with her rocking practice. I'm pretty sure her locust pose is better than mine. And she does it all with a smile!

Here is a great article about Elaine that was in the local paper a couple years ago. After her first year, she lost a lot of weight, her cholesterol went down, and her type 2 diabetes basically vanished.

Student Profile: Elaine, 73-year-old Yogi

At the time of that article, Elaine has just finished a 30 day challenge which turned into a 60 day challenge, and she planned to keep going up to 73 days, to match her age.

She ended up going a little bit further than that.

My fellow teacher Allison and I drove up to Teri's studio on Friday night because it was a special occasion. The studio was having a big potluck to celebrate Elaine's achievement: she did over 1,000 classes in 1,000 days.

Here is a picture I took with Elaine after Friday's class - number 1,005 for Elaine in 1,001 days:

"Yoga maintains youth long, keeps the body full of vitality, immune to diseases, even at old old old old age." - Bishnu Ghosh

Check out that happy smiling face!!

Everybody just loves Elaine to pieces. Don't blush, Elaine, you know this is true! (I asked her if she'd mind if I embarrassed her on my blog, and she said I can do whatever I want.) But here's the really great thing about her - she has inspired so many people who would have been scared to do this yoga. She is a one-woman welcoming committee for the studio. (Teri has actually made her an official "studio ambassador" banner.) Every time a new student shows up for class and is looking a little nervous or uncomfortable, Elaine marches right up to them and makes them feel welcome. She tells them, just relax, don't try to do everything on the first day, just stay in the room and take it easy and keep coming back. She can make anybody feel comfortable, because she's old enough to be their mom (or maybe their grandma) and she's got this bright smile and she makes people believe that everything is going to be okay.

It's awesome. If we could have an Elaine placed at every Bikram yoga studio in the world, it would make Bikram yoga the most successful wellness enterprise on the planet.

Because honestly, the best way to inspire is to lead by example. That's why it's so important for us teachers to love the practice and believe in it ourselves. And that's why word of mouth is our most powerful form of advertising. I suspect that the students who come to yoga because of a friend or family member have a higher success rate than the ones who just drop in randomly. And that's why the studio community is so important. I get such a kick out of listening to the conversations that spring up in the lobby. I could talk until my face is blue trying to convince the newbies to come back for another class, but it's infinitely better when another sweaty student tells them, "Oh, you did great - the first one is the hardest. Today was my third class and it was already a lot better." I love seeing the variety of students who show up for class - old and young, men and women, stiff and bendy, fat and slim - because then the newbies look around and think, "Well, if they can do it, then I can do it!"

I think that's a big part of why we love Elaine so much. She inspires that thought - "Well if she can do it, maybe I can do it." That's hope - one of the most positive emotions in the world.

Hope and love. Pass them on.

(A Little More About) How to "Make It" in Bikram Yoga

Wow - I expected to get some reaction, but I am surprised and encouraged by how many people responded to my last post about "How to "Make It" as a Bikram Yoga Teacher." I got so many positive and thoughtful responses - on the blog, on Facebook, and in my inbox. I think people responded because this topic is so often swept under the rug. (There are hundreds of blogs about the teacher training experience, but not so many about the practical teaching experience.) I'm thrilled that my post was helpful to so many people, especially the new teachers!

I think I covered the most significant points in my first post, but other teachers have pointed out some more excellent points that are worth a mention. So without further ado, here is Part II.

Continuing Education

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I know you just shelled out $11k for teacher training, but did you really learn everything there? Don't answer that, it's not even a question. The best content at TT is in Bikram's posture lectures towards the end, and by that point you are totally sleep deprived and overloaded. So keep learning!

Keep your eye out for seminars and master classes in your area. (Or even seminars not in your area - road trip!) Most of those events cost $50 or less for teachers, and they are incredibly valuable. So far I've been to two seminars with Diane Ducharme, a master class with Lynn Whitlow, one advanced seminar (in 2009), advanced classes with Emmy (which are free), and master classes with every international champion since maybe 2008. These have all been immensely helpful for my teaching. And did I mention that they are also great networking opportunities? You can often get on the schedule at a studio for a week or two when a teacher goes out of town for vacation. (I taught for a week at the studio in Richmond after I met the owner at one of Diane's seminars.)

Read books about yoga that inspire you. I have a list of some of my favorite over on the right-hand side of this blog. Just don't go crazy and start overanalyzing everything - keep it simple!

Keep studying your dialogue. I said it before but I'll say it again. Most studios want dialogue. Don't think, "oh, I'll study it more once I have work." That's backwards. Learn the material, get your shit together, and the work will come to you! This is especially true for the newbies. You don't have to be perfect (because perfection doesn't exist), but don't get complacent, either. I know teachers who have been teaching for 5+ years and still look at the dialogue every day. Just keep trying the right way.

And yes, go back and visit teacher training if you have the ability. It can be illuminating. I've been back twice now. The first visit was overwhelming, but the second one was incredible.

Teaching Overseas

I haven't done this yet, but there are definitely opportunities overseas. (I guess I should specify that I am American and writing this from the USA perspective.) Australia seems to be going crazy for Bikram, and there are lots of opportunities down under for teachers under age 30 (due to a quirk of their immigration rules). Sounds like fun!

Studio Ownership

I left this out on purpose because you really have to get some experience as a teacher before you can be a good studio owner - you can't put the cart before the horse! I think HQ requires a minimum 6 months or 100 classes experience before opening a studio (or something like that - maybe somebody can correct me here). In my opinion, that's still an awfully short amount of time. I wouldn't have felt prepared to be responsible for a whole studio after only 6 months! But of course a lot of people go to training from areas where Bikram yoga doesn't exist yet, with the specific purpose of opening a studio in their home town/country, and that's fabulous.

Opening a studio will cost about $150,000 on average, so you have to spend a lot of money to make money. But a lot of studio owners do quite well for themselves after a couple years in business. 

I might open a studio one day, but at the moment I'm not even remotely interested. Owning a studio will almost definitely cut into your teaching and practice time, plus it gives you a whole pile of extra responsibilities. I am very happy to operate as a full-time teacher with no extra worries - it lets me have more fun.

And Finally...

My friend Nikhil suggested that I should revisit the original question. 

I wrote about the question that people are most inclined to ask: "Can you make a living by teaching Bikram yoga?" 

But here's a better question, the one that is always in the air at the beginning of teacher training: "Do you want to change your life?"

It's a personal question. The answer is up to you. But if you are somebody who wants the life of a teacher, then I sincerely hope that this discussion will help you!

Comments are always welcome. I try to read and answer all of them. 

How to "Make It" as a Bikram Yoga Teacher

I've thought about this topic so many times that I was half convinced that I'd already blogged about it. But I checked my archives and I have not written this post yet. It is time!

I've gotten lots of emails and questions from aspiring Bikram yoga teachers, and everybody wants to know the same thing: "Can you make a living teaching Bikram yoga?"

My answer is YES, but with a few qualifications.

First - The Numbers

Here are the numbers. On average, at least in my experience, new teachers will make about $50/class. (In some cases you'll have to teach a class or two for free as an audition of sorts, but as a rule you should be paid for all public classes!)  As a full time teacher, you would teach maybe 9-12 classes per week. Personally, I teach 10/week whenever possible. (If I teach less, I get bored. If I teach much more, I get burned out.) So do the math - you're gonna start at about $2,000/month.

If you're the sole breadwinner for a family of 4, that's probably not going to cut it.

If you're single and not carrying too much debt, this is totally feasible. You won't have enough money to drink expensive vodka at clubs every night and vacation in Croatia, but you'll have enough cash to go out for beer with friends and go hiking and stuff like that. It's comparable to the money I made as a grad student, less than the money I made as a waitress, and more than the money I made as a starving artist.

Also bear in mind that you will work lots of morning, evenings, and weekends, but you will still have some free time. I used to do some SAT tutoring in the afternoons during my "dead time," which was actually pretty profitable. You could also work from home, if you do any sort of freelance.  Just count on 3 classes/day on average, because you'll be teaching 2 and taking 1. (Gotta keep practicing!) It is tiring at first, but you can adapt to it. My first week of teaching "full time," I spent 90% of my free time napping. But now in a normal week I can teach 10x and practice beginner class 6x, plus 1 or 2 advanced classes, and I have energy to spare.

After a year or two, you may start to earn more. I don't want to tell you guys how much I make now because that's kind of tacky - you can email me if you really need to know - but I'm making significantly more than $50/class and I get some great benefits, too.

Second - How to Get Classes

This seems to be the big topic on the new teacher's discussion boards - getting classes to teach!!

There are plenty of people who chose to return to their normal jobs after training and just teach a couple times a week, and that's totally cool. Especially if you have a great salary that you're not ready or able to sacrifice, this is a really logical thing to do. Your learning curve will be a bit slower if you can only teach a couple times a week, but be patient with yourself.

If you're trying to get classes at a local studio, the etiquette is pretty standard. Call or email, introduce yourself, take class with the owner, and make yourself available. Definitely take class - it's the best way to show the owner your work ethic and your personality. Studio owners aren't looking for you to touch the floor in your backbend or lock out standing bow, but they do want to see if you're a hard worker, if you have a good attitude, and if you understand the yoga - and that stuff will all be obvious in your personal practice. Smile. Owners want to hire people who are nice to be around and won't scare off the newbies. Keep saying your dialogue out loud. Teach class to the birds and the fishes if you have to, but keep it flowing.

Now here's the big topic: what if you want to teach full time and there just aren't classes available in your area?

No choice - you have to move!!


You guys, there are so many jobs out there! And no, they're not in New York City or southern California or Vancouver or Paris. They're in Ohio and Michigan and Albama and Montana. And there are so. Many. Jobs. There are studios that are virtually begging for teachers. One of my friends - a girl who is temporarily teaching with me in Rhode Island - posted to the traveling teacher's group last week: "I need somewhere to teach in the states. What studios are looking for a good dialogue driven teacher? Graduated Fall 2009." She found a job within a couple of days, and she's gotten calls and messages from like half a dozen other studios. She's been like, "Omigod, this is great, but I'm good now, everybody can stop messaging me!!" There are so many jobs.

What you've gotta realize, especially as a new teacher, is that it doesn't really matter where you teach as long as you teach as much as possible. Sure, it's tempting to go for the exotic location or just stick with the familiar location at home, but that's not gonna make you a better teacher. If you want to make a career of this - (and if you don't, that's fine, just do it part-time) - if you really wanna go for it, you just have to get up and go where the work is. The more you teach, the better you get. The better you get, the more opportunities you will have. The more experiences you have, the more locations will be available to you. But to get yourself started? Man, it does not matter where you go. Just go to an established dialogue studio in the middle of Bumf*ck, Nowhere and teach 10/week for a couple of months. Your teaching will grow by leaps and bounds.

Specific Example - What I Did

When I graduated from TT in June 2010, I was still living in southern California.  My "home studio" could only give me maybe 4 classes a week, but I picked up tons of classes when other teachers got sick or went on summer vacation. I drove to the next-closest studio, an hour away, to pick up classes, and I taught a couple times in LA for free.  I went up to Fresno for one week and taught 10 classes there, and that helped immensely. And then I got out of there - like a bat out of hell! - and went to Baltimore because there was a studio there that could give me full time work. I had never been to Baltimore. I only knew one person there: the studio owner.

I planned to stay there for about 3 months. It ended up working out so well that I stayed there for almost a year and a half. Good fit.

While I was living in Baltimore - as my blog readers know - I also did a fair bit of traveling and teaching. In total, I've taught at 16 different studios since I graduated. (And I haven't even taught overseas yet - this is all domestic, in the U.S.) This is helpful in several ways. First, teaching in new places challenges you to grow as a teacher. It's easy to get in a rut if you just stand in the same spot and teach the same group of people every day. Second, it lets you experience more contrast. It opens up your world! You get to see all the different ways that studios operate - the styles, the policies, the communities, the attitudes, everything. This does more than just improve your teaching - it also help you figure out what you're looking for. Then you can really make an educated decision about what you want - and when that perfect opportunity finally presents itself, you will recognize it!!

I'm in such a great place right now - really, blissfully great - and I'm sure that I would not have gotten here if I hadn't done all that exploration first.

Third - Money Can't Buy Me Love!

If I hadn't gone to teacher training, I would still be a Ph.D. student and my income would actually be less that what it is now.

If I hadn't got to teacher training and had stuck with engineering, I could probably have made a six figure salary sometime within the next 10 years.

If I had become an engineer, I would be rich and miserable - because my heart was not there. Sitting in a lab for hours on end never made me happy.

There is no substitute for doing work that you love.

I have enough cash to live comfortably and have fun. I cook, I spend time with my friends, I go on adventures, I laugh often, and I teach almost every day. No substitute.

I have never regretted my choice to become a full time yoga teacher. I have no regrets and no doubts. I don't really know what I'll want in 5 years or 10 years, but I know what I want now, and this is it. It's good stuff.

Questions?!

I'm not even proofreading this post. I want to publish it before I head out to take class, teach class, get dinner at PF Chang's, and see Beauty and the Beast in 3D with the other yoga teachers. :) If there's anything that you think I have left out or got wrong, let me know in the comments and I will post an addendum.

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UPDATE:

Two days later, after many lovely comments and suggestions, here is Part Two!

Try, Try Again!

As the old saying goes: If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

This weekend, I once again pulled on my leotard, put on some mascara, and got up on stage to do my 3-minute routine for the local yoga championship.  And what do you know, I once again fell out of my favorite posture, the wonderful standing bow pulling pose.

And I really don't mind!

Last year, when this happened, it took me a couple of days to get over it, but this year I started laughing right away.  Well, not right away - first I did the rest of my postures (without any problem) and got off the stage.  Apparently this one posture just has stage fright.  I can do it on a dime pretty much any time, any place.  I can do it without warm-up, I can do it outside, I can do it for friends, I can even do it in a workshop with the international champions when everybody is watching me.  But it pulls a vanishing act in competition - something about that big empty, quiet room just makes me loose my shit at precisely the wrong moment!

I got much closer this year, though.  Last year I couldn't even get my leg up!  This year I got my leg almost all the way up - I saw a video and it looked much better than it felt - but then I panicked and stopped kicking, so I fell out.  If you lose the balance, you're not kicking hard enough!  I am still pleased with my progress.  By next year, I feel confident that I will be able to keep my nerve and do the posture in public!

I had a lot of fun preparing for the championships this year.  I think I said in my last post, I took a very "come as you are" approach.  My philosophy is that you have the whole year to work on your postures, so all you really need to do at the end is put together a routine and refine it a little bit.

I whined and moaned about competing up until about a week ago.  Then I started running my routine and realized that it was in decent shape.  I don't want to brag, but I did the routine flawlessly (meaning: my personal best) every time I showed it to somebody before the big day.  So I decided to quit worrying about the postures and focus on the mental aspect instead.  The whole thing is 100% mind over matter.  It's actually very interesting to watch one of these events (although I didn't get to watch very much this year).  Almost everybody who gets up to compete has amazing postures.  So it really is a battle of nerves more than anything else.  Who can keep their calm and do their practice under those stressful and intimidating conditions?  That is the true yoga!  It takes tremendous courage (or as Bikram would say, balls) to get up on stage at all.

Anyway, I prepared for this year's competition by meditating on my routine every day.  I would just lay down for a while and visualize the whole thing.  I included in this exercise: how do I want to breathe, what do I want to do with my body, and how do I want to feel while I do it.  It was really fun!  I've never really been "into" meditation before - I would usually either get distracted or fall asleep - but this week I just couldn't get enough of it.  And even though I wasn't entirely successful on stage, I don't blame that on the technique.  Next year I will prepare the same way, but I will start doing it sooner!

It's been nice to reconnect with all my friends in Baltimore this week.  We're all going out one more time tonight for guacamole and margaritas, and then I'm heading back up to Providence tomorrow morning.

Also, my student Lauren competed for the first time this year and she won 3rd place!  I am so proud.  I had a feeling she was going to place - she nailed her routine and she totally deserved to win.  Here is her frigging bow:

NOT ME NOT ME NOT ME

I know right??  I can't say I'm surprised that she did so well, since I am well aware of her talents, but I am very happy for her!

As always, even though I had to drag myself into it kicking and screaming, I'm thrilled that I went through this process.  It's a different learning experience every time.  You never get it wrong and you never get it done.*

Now I am relieved to return home, put all that crazy competition stuff behind me for a while, and focus on other things.  These things will include: going out to dances and meet-ups, trying out the flying trapeze, more cooking and baking, less driving, more local exploring, and continuing to develop a super kick-ass yoga practice.  Boo-yah.

Please no sympathy comments.  I feel pretty good.  :)

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*For those who recognize that sentence from somewhere: you bet I have drank that Kool-Aid!!