Have you ever reflected on where you got all the ideas you nurture about yoga?

We usually start to teach yoga because we are passionate about it. And we love it so much that we want others to also benefit from this practice.

Yoga helped us in many ways, and we may feel wrong to build a successful business using it as a means. And why is that?

Yoga healed our lives, so it becomes something sacred and untouchable for us. We put it on a pedestal. Then, any time we try to see it through another light, we may feel uneasy. And there is an explanation for that. 

According to the philosopher Bard Papegaaij, “our mind needs to see patterns, significance, and meaning. Meaning rises by itself, on a subconscious level. By the time we become aware of anything, our minds have already had plenty of time to overlay the raw data of our senses with layers of interpretation.” 

What he is saying is that we create narratives and believe in them. It is how we build our beliefs. 

“We don’t treat our narratives as approximations of the truth. We don’t see each story as one of many alternative explanations. Instead, we latch on to one single narrative and convince ourselves it is the only true story,” said Papegaaij. 

Although it may seem awkward to question some of the beliefs we have around yoga, we need to give it a go if we want to live a meaningful life as a teacher.

Here are four beliefs we can change: 

1 – We do not have to teach all types of yoga. If we have no focus, we end working extra hours to prepare for different classes during the week. We may also lack creativity because we have to come up with something new every time. 

Once we find a niche and develop one program, we can spend time improving our business and planning much faster. The hours we save, we can invest in self-development or use to improve our personal practice. 

2 – Teaching group classes around town is not the only way to make money. It is not about moving online only. Yoga teachers and studio owners have the option to work smarter and offer services centered on their clients. If many companies are doing it for so long, why would we not follow? 

When we place the customers in the core of the business, everything we do is thinking about them. We put all our effort into finding solutions to fix their problems. 

By learning to listen to our students, we can design a program to meet their needs. And most of the time, it goes beyond the mat. 

3 – Yoga is not about money, but it is ok to be financially abundant. Most people associate money with bad things. Many of us think we are going to turn into a different person if we make a profit. 

The money will never be an issue for those who have solid foundations. It will support them to live a balanced life.

We can still have a simple lifestyle. We can be a minimalist if that is the case. Money does not have to change who we are and what yoga means to us.

4 – We do not have to be everybody’s teachers. The reasons are many. 

Not all students will commit to us. Also, we will not be able to teach every single person on this planet. There are too many people out there.

Some will not connect or like us. People are different, and they may not relate. But, most important, we have our gang, those people who want to create a deep relationship with us.

So, we should not try so hard to please everybody. Instead, focus on those who need us and value our service.

Do you have any beliefs you could change?