Table Of ContentTrademarks and Disclaimer
All names identified throughout this book known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or brand
names belong to their respective companies and are appropriately capitalized. They are used in an editorial
fashion only. No such use, or the use of any trade name is intended to convey endorsement or other
affiliation with this book. The author is not associated with any product, nor shall they have liability nor
responsibility, directly or indirectly, to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages attributable
to errors, omissions or other information contained in this book.
nd
Copyright ©2011, 2013 Darren Main 2 Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1492883302 ISBN-10: 1492883301
All rights reserved. The contents of this book may not be reproduced in any form, except for short
extracts for a quotation or review, without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
The Yogi Entrepreneur: A Guide to Earning a Mindful Living Through Yoga
INTRODUCTION
Part One: Becoming a Teacher
CHAPTER 1: SHARING YOUR PRACTICE
CHAPTER 2: CHOOSING A TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM
Part Two: The Yogi Entrepreneur
CHAPTER 3: FINDING A JOB
CHAPTER 4: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
CHAPTER 5: ACCOUNTING, TAXES, INSURANCE AND BOOKKEEPING
CHAPTER 6: LEADING WORKSHOPS AND RETREATS
CHAPTER 7: PRIVATE SESSIONS & CORPORATE YOGA
CHAPTER 8: THE WANDERING YOGI
Part Three: Marketing and Branding
CHAPTER 9: A YOGA TEACHER’S MOST VALUABLE ASSET
CHAPTER 10: DYNAMIC MARKETING ON A BUDGET
CHAPTER 11: WEB DESIGN FOR TEACHERS
CHAPTER 12: THE ART OF SPINNING PLATES
CONCLUSION
Quick Resource List
Remembering Arthur Leiper
Books by Darren Main
Dedicated to Arthur Leiper
YOU SAW POTENTIAL IN me long before I could see it in myself. Although
you never stood on your head, or did a downward dog, you taught me the most
important things I know about teaching yoga and your inspiration passes through
me everyday.
Read an essay about Arthur Leiper at the end of this book.
INTRODUCTION
Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you
believe in with all your heart; live for it, die for it, and you will find
happiness that you had thought could never be yours.
—DALE CARNEGIE
The Decision to Teach
hen my sister Jennifer was a little girl, she would run around the back
yard in her bathing suit sporting tin foil bracelets, a makeshift tiara, and
W
a length of twine hanging from her waist. Her dream when she grew up was to
be Wonder Woman. Her goal: to rid the world of monsters. A noble goal, to be
sure, but as she started school, any notion of taking on the evils of the world was
quickly replaced. Replaced by the near constant message that in order to be
successful in this world, you needed to find an occupation that pays the rent and
has good health care benefits. Unfortunately for my sister and for many other
would-be heroes and heroines, being a superhero does not come with a pension.
So, more practical occupations were pursued until one day, we woke up and
discovered that this occupational pragmatism had become our kryptonite.
Yet for some of us, that desire to heal the world remains strong, though
buried under layers of so-called responsibility. When that inner hero begins to
wake up, we realize that we are called to do something unconventional. After
years of striving to become ‘responsible’ we come to realize that our inner hero
has fallen into a deep sleep, our jobs may have provided ample food for our
bellies, but our spirits are gaunt.
While teaching yoga may not be as glamorous as crime fighting in spandex,
it is powerful medicine in this world. Like any superhero we need to take on two
roles if we want to be really effective. Wonder Woman needed Diana Prince,
Batman needed Bruce Wayne, and Spider-Man needed Peter Parker. Likewise,
yoga teachers need to take on dual roles.
Like most young people, I did not plan to teach yoga when I was in grade
school. As a boy, I dreamed of being a fireman or an astronaut, not a yoga
teacher. Even though most of my college years, I looked toward the more
practical and responsible occupation of social work.
practical and responsible occupation of social work.
My own yogic journey was born out of the Twelve Steps. At the age of
seventeen, I hit an emotional and spiritual bottom, due in large part to drug
abuse. It took a number of failed attempts at sobriety and a suicide attempt
before I really took my recovery seriously. However, once I did have my
awakening, it became clear to me that I wanted to devote my life to helping
others find a better way to live.
Following high school, I enrolled in college with a major in social work and
a minor in psychology and counseling. During this time, I began a yoga practice
to support my recovery. From the first class, I felt like I had come home. I knew
yoga was such a wonderful and healing tool for me, but coming to terms with the
fact that, I, the screwed up teenager who was just struggling to stay sober, could
actually teach, was not something I could fathom in the beginning.
In time, I became increasingly unsatisfied with my duties as a social worker.
I had not graduated from college and I was already starting to see the limits of
the profession. This is not to say that I do not have tremendous respect for social
work and the hard-working, dedicated professionals who look out for others. I
was simply feeling a tug from deep within calling me to share my passion for
yoga.
So in my third year of school, I dropped out to spend more time in an ashram
where I could study yoga more intensely and become certified to teach others.
Following my heart was a liberating experience, although I was not yet sure how
I could make a living teaching yoga.
Back then, things were different. If you had a weekly class with ten students,
you were like a rock star in the yoga world. The demographics were also quite
different. In my first yoga class, I was by far the youngest person in the room;
most people were in their thirties and forties. I was also the only man in the
class. Today, millions of people are practicing yoga in one form or another every
day. People of every demographic are practicing, and my average class size is
between forty and sixty people with my largest weekly class averaging well over
six hundred students.
The Business of Yoga
ONE OF THE THINGS I realized from the start was that if I was going to
devote my life to teaching yoga, I would need to treat it like a real business, a
mindful business to be sure, but a business nonetheless. The problem was, like
most yoga teachers, I was more interested in teaching handstands than hanging
flyers, and I was more interested in meditation than balancing my checkbook.
Learning to be a businessman was not something that came naturally to me. I
Learning to be a businessman was not something that came naturally to me. I
felt a conflict within me about being a spiritual teacher who was also business
savvy. What I have come to realize, however, is that by treating my work as a
yoga teacher like a mindful business, I have the ability to reach out to more
people, while at the same time supporting myself in a way that is both ethical
and beneficial to society.
This book is the culmination of many years of struggling with the business
side of teaching yoga. My hope is that it will help you to organize your thoughts
and develop a career that offers the amazing practice of yoga to many people in
your community. Our world is so hungry for spiritual awareness, and your
decision to teach others this ancient practice is such a gift. I sincerely hope this
book will help you become more effective in sharing that gift.
I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300
games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and
missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed.
—MICHAEL JORDAN
About This Book
THIS BOOK IS DIVIDED into three parts. Part One deals with the process of
becoming a teacher, beginning with important decisions about what kind of
teacher you would like to be and choosing a training program that best suits your
goals, budget, and schedule.
In Part Two, we will explore the business of teaching yoga. We will learn the
ins and outs of working for yourself as a yoga teacher, such as finding a job,
developing professional ethics, and leading workshops and retreats.
Part Three will deal with marketing and branding. I will offer dozens of free,
low-cost marketing techniques to help you spread the word about your teaching
and build a solid student base. I will also provide guidance on developing a
website and getting everything done while still living your yoga.
New to this third edition is updated material on social media platforms like
Twitter and Facebook to help you harness the power of social media in ways that
inspire your current students and bring new students to your classes, workshops
and retreats.
Resources for the Yogi Entrepreneur
THE YOGI ENTREPRENEUR Facebook Group
To complement this book, I host a popular Facebook group for teachers,
studio owners, healers and other yoga professionals. This free resource is a great
way to connect with other business savvy yogis, get questions answered and
share your own tips and tricks for success.
While I personally post lots of resources and articles, the most beautiful part
of this group is the content that is shared by others and the way we can all learn
from each other. If you have a questions or a quandary having to do with the
business of yoga, there is a great chance that a member of our online community
will have a time or money-saving suggestion for you.
www.facebook.com/groups/YogiEntrepreneur
The Yogi Entrepreneur Podcast
I post regular podcast episodes in which I interview experts in every aspect
of the yoga business. These interviews are a great way to get awesome advice,
pick up new tips and tricks, and get answers to many questions that new and
even seasoned yoga teachers have.
You can find this free podcast on iTunes, DarrenMain.com and in your
favorite podcast app. I hope you will subscribe today and suggest new topics in
the comment section of iTunes.
www.darrenmain.com
Social Media for Teacher and Healers
As I was revising this book for the third edition, I had planned to add a
whole new chapter on social media. I quickly found that there was far more
information about starting and growing a social media presence that one chapter
could accommodate.
Therefore I decided to write a short book to guide you through the essentials.
The steps in this short book will take the stress and overwhelm out of social
media and help you grow a robust following on Facebook, Twitter, and many
other platforms.
Purchase Social Media for Teacher and Healers www.darrenmain.com
This book, and the accompanying Facebook Group and podcast are not the
final word on running your unique business. I do, however, hope these resources
will help you organize your thoughts and tap into the depths of your creativity to
begin—or continue, a professional, ethical, and rewarding career as a yoga
teacher.
Most of all, I hope you will find the tools you need to reach out to the people
in your community who are looking for yoga and have been waiting for the right
teacher to come along to help them find healing, wholeness, and spiritual
renewal.
Namasté,
Darren Main
www.darrenmain.com
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