One Year Teaching Yoga Online

A year ago, a friend asked me to teach a 30 minute online lunchtime yoga class. Fast forward to today. I’ve taught over 350 online classes to students all over the world and it’s been one of the best things to come out of this last bizarre and unsettling year. From that one 30 minute class, online teaching became my full time job and main income earner throughout lockdown and during last summer. These days I teach 6-8 online classes each week and see myself continuing to do so for as long as my students want to keep practicing online.

When I did my yoga teacher training, I never imagined teaching a class online. If the last year taught us anything, it’s that sometimes we need to pivot quickly and adapt to new circumstances, even if they feel far outside of our comfort zone at first. The last year also highlighted that what we do as yoga teachers really is a true service. Teaching yoga can  sometimes feel like an indulgence when people only see the highlights and the Instagrams. The last year has been one where students have truly never needed yoga so much. It has been incredible to be of service in this way and to play a small part in helping my students to navigate through these strange times.

What i’ve learned from a year of online classes:

Keep It Simple…

All you need to start online teaching is a space where you students can see and hear you clearly. It’s not a production – so long as the video and sound quality is good enough then you’re good to go. I have created a space in my home where there is good natural light and I just ask my students to have enough space for a mat and to set up their camera where I can see them clearly. A few of my students started practicing with me without even having a mat!

Online yoga is effective…

When I first started teaching online, I worried that my classes wouldn’t have the same physical or mental benefits as practicing with me in a studio. I’ve been proved entirely wrong, both by seeing the physical progress my students have made and by being told about the stress relieving effects of the practice, even though a screen. In terms of my own practice, I have had breakthroughs and found new poses during online classes and workshops. I never thought this would be possible without a teacher present, until it happened.

Some online students will stay online…

Now that life is pretty much “normal” in Dubai I’ve offered online students the opportunity to switch to in-person classes, or worried that they will no longer wish to practice on line when they can go to a gym or a studio now. Again, I’ve been proved wrong! For some students, online is the only way they can practice due to time constraints – sometimes my students finish their yoga class and join a Zoom call five minutes later (pandemic life at it’s finest…).

I’ve continued to take online classes as a student, too. Either to fit a practice in on a busy day or to practice with a teacher in a different location and to experience teaching that I wouldn’t be able to access without a flight halfway across the world (which obviously isn’t happening at the moment).

Online yoga can be the most accessible form of yoga..

Many of my students haven’t practiced in a yoga studio in the past, or have but didn’t feel especially comfortable in this environment. An online practice has a huge benefit of being private and without the stress and hassle of having to leave home, or remember to pack a mat/towel/water bottle etc. I really feel that my students are able to just focus on their practice without worrying about others around them, or whether they have the “right” brand of leggings or can do a pose perfectly. 

Online yoga can also financially be more accessible too. I have run a few “pay what you can” group classes which gives those who cannot afford studio classes a chance to join. The fact that I am also at home means that my costs are lower and I’m helping the environment too (back when I taught for a gym I’d be driving for over two hours a day in between classes!).

Online yoga is a business…

When I started out I fell into the trap of thinking that because I was at home in front of my laptop, with my cat jumping on my back when I was in downward dog, that I wasn’t running a “real” business. I also thought that my time as an online teacher would be very short so I didn’t need to think about being businesslike. I definitely faced challenges at first in pricing my sessions correctly. It took me a long time to realise that students would actually want to pay me for my time and for my classes, and that if I’m going to be doing this long-term, I need to receive a fair exchange for my time and energy.

Have a cancellation policy…

Another aspect I struggled with. At first if a student cancelled last minute I would be the one apologising to them! Now that I have a cancellation policy, I really believe that it has helped me see that what I am doing is truly valuable. I also find that if a student does cancel last minute, or sleep through their alarm, they really do want to compensate me for the lost time.

Online teaching has been my first true experience of working for myself and I think pricing, cancellation policies and trying to be businesslike while providing a “softer” service like yoga teaching is a huge challenge.

Online teaching is fun!

I’ve had so much fun teaching classes online, connecting with my students and bringing some lightness to the last twelve months. it’s really been one of the best things to come out of this last year, whether I have taught old friends, old colleagues, my parents, or entirely new students it’s been such a privilege to be a part of other’s yoga journeys. My cat has also enjoyed it too, either by wanting cuddles during savasana or by providing a lovely soundtrack of meows throughout a class…

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