Why You Need to Teach Yoga off the Mat and Stop Demonstrating
3 Reasons Why You Need to Demo Less
Reason #1 - Build Community
The number one reason I believe teaching yoga off the mat is simply better is because it fosters a stronger community environment. It allows you to be more engaged with each student as you’ll have more time to walk around, make eye contact and smile at them. You build community by opening the door for more meaningful connections with each student and giving individual 1:1 assists as the need arises. Teaching yoga off the mat does just that. Students will feel this extra layer of connection with you. Everyone wants to be heard and be seen and teaching yoga off the mat gives you the chance to do that.
What also helps develop community is when students can feel that you’re not ripping off the same robotic cues each and every time. When you’re teaching off the mat you can cue your class in direct response to students movements. For example, if you can see everyone is able to move through planks and upward dogs with great form and alignment then you may not need to cue anything for those shapes. You can instead save your voice and offer some silence. When you demo often there’s no way of knowing what to cue and not cue because you aren’t watching the class unfold. Teaching yoga off the mat allows your students to feel that you are in sync with them and connected to their pace. It will make them feel uniquely special and those students will come back to your class because they’ll remember how you made them feel and how connected they felt to their own practice.
Reason #2 - Protect your Income
It’s all about the benjamins baby! We all know this is a tough business and getting to a place where you are making a meaningful, life supporting income takes a lot of time, energy and effort over the course of a couple of years. There are no sick days when you work for yourself. There is no paid leave of absence or workers compensation. You are your own business and if you’re not teaching you’re not earning. Demonstrating classes can wear a teacher out and leave them vulnerable to injury. Most will only demonstrate their dominant side for much of the class and this is a recipe for disaster. It’s simply not sustainable to teach this way.
You can also get injured outside of work. What if you get into a biking accident or car accident. What if you play sports in your down time and sprain an ankle or break an arm? Learning how to teach yoga off the mat can serve as a major advantage to help keep your income flowing. Imagine being able to sit in one spot and teach an entire 60 minute class from the seat of your pants? Mastering your verbal cues will allow you to deliver an incredible teaching experience even if you’re injured and unable to demonstrate.
Finally, consider if you’re a female teacher and are thinking about having kids. Teaching yoga off the mat will allow you to teach much later into your pregnancy then you otherwise could if you were constantly demonstrating your classes. I learned this method of teaching from some incredible women and they’ve often spoken about how they can maintain their income alongside their journey into motherhood. I can say even as a father it’s a lot more practical for me to get back to work and fit teaching alongside a busy child care schedule when I’m an off the mat teacher. I can’t afford to have my business exhaust me when I have a toddler who does that daily.
In the end, it’s simply good business to teach off the mat. Think of it as your liability insurance. It will help protect your income and your lifestyle. Most importantly, it will solidify the foundation you need for a long and successful career in teaching yoga.
Reason #3 - Avoid Burnout & Teach More Classes
To piggyback a little off reason number 2 - you need to make money! In the first few years of your business that means teaching plenty of studio classes. Teaching yoga off the mat will give you the energy to do just that. If you’re planning on teaching yoga as a full time career you need to teach 12-16 classes/week to get a decent baseline of income. You will get physically and mentally drained if you rely on demonstrating asana on a regular basis. It just won’t work. Teaching yoga off the mat is imperative if you want to have long term success in the yoga industry. While the goal is not for you to be teaching 15-20 classes/week forever it will be necessary to do so for the first 2-3 years until you build enough experience and trust with students to offer retreats, trainings and workshops.
Questions? Comments?
If you enjoyed this post or have any feedback please let me know in the comments below. Need help teaching yoga off the mat? Check out my mentorship offerings and see if they’re for you. Reach out to me for a free consultation call anytime.