Where Can I Teach Children’s Yoga?
When you’re starting out as a children’s yoga teacher, it can be hard to find your first gig. Our best advice? Go where the kids are. In general, kids do not spend a lot of time at yoga studios. Also, kids don’t decide their own schedules. So it’s not like a kid can sign up for a class at a studio, community center, or street fest and take themselves there (unless they are a teen, but even then, they are probably have constraints on finances and transportation). Here are the best places to teach children’s yoga, by age:
Early Childhood Yoga (18 months-4 years old)
Home Daycares — best for getting in the door quickly, building a devoted following, and having close access to families
Corporate Daycares — best for booking back-to-back classes and return on investment in terms of time and planning
Montessori Preschools — best for teaching embodied learning practices and showcasing all 8 limbs of yoga
Private Preschools — best for consistent income and small class sizes; also good for booking back-to-back classes
Pubic Preschools — best for building your network within the public system and landing network-wide contracts
Playgroups/Community Classes — best for meeting parents and building a client base; can be difficult for scheduling and return-on-investment in terms of time and planning
Middle Childhood Yoga (5-12 years old)
Elementary Schools — best for securing large contracts and big groups of students; excellent for engaging with families and stacking schedules (i.e. offering classes before school, during school, and/or after school)
Homeschool Collectives — best for building a close-knit client network, small groups of kids, building experience with mixed age groups, and co-planning
Community Classes — best for reaching families and offering weekend classes
Competitive Athletics — best for building complementary partnerships (i.e. offer yoga as a complement to competitive dance or gymnastics)
Adolescence (13-18 years old)
Middle and High Schools — best for securing large contracts and big groups of students; excellent for engaging with families
Online — best for immediate reach, building direct (and safe) relationships with teens, and return on investment in terms of time and planning
Competitive Athletics — best for building complementary partnerships (i.e. partner with a competitive football or soccer league to offer dynamic stretching before or after practice/games)
When teaching at schools and daycares, communicate your style and approach to the school. Ask explicitly if you can discuss yoga philosophy, use Sanskrit, and introduce practices commonly experienced as spiritual, such as meditation and the use of mudra and bandha. If you don’t set clear expectations with schools and families, you can expect pushback, cancellations, or worse (i.e. lawsuits, social media trolling, or personal threats). This may seem dramatic but remember — you are teaching minors. Parents have strong feelings about what’s right and wrong for their children, and they also operate under the common misconception that yoga is simply postures. Being clear and upfront diffuses conflict before it arises and also establishes you as a trusted professional.
What kind of gig do you hope to land? Tell us! jill@missionpropelle.com