Why are yoga teachers underpaid?

If you just look at how many different yoga studios and styles are opening across the US and throughout the world, it’s not difficult to see how much the yoga industry is flourishing. But is it at the expense of underpaid teachers? Logic might dictate that since the market for yoga is expanding, that teachers would be in more demand and therefore be able to ask for higher salaries. The problem, however, is that there are a LOT of yoga teachers. In fact, many people are switching to yoga teaching as a second career all together, even though only 29% of yoga teachers report yoga as the primary source of their income.

Yoga teaching is, by nature, a freelance industry.

Teaching yoga tends to be a freelance job, so it can be difficult to determine what you’ll make in a month, let alone a year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics determined that in 2017, the median pay for fitness trainers was around $39,210 per year. While that number might not seem too bad at first, many yoga teachers also have to pay off their teacher training certificates and account for any studio rental costs.

Then there’s the 10,000 other teachers out there…

Because yoga is so popular right now, it’s a huge selling point for teacher training programs who churn out as many as 30 to 50 new teachers every three months. While that’s great for the yoga community, it means there’s a lot of competition. And where there’s competition, there’s lower prices. Of course, this varies depending on whether you’re a new teacher or one with five years of experience. But regardless, with all of the other teachers — it means if you’re looking to be a yoga teacher, don’t expect to be a millionaire.

So, what do they get out of it?

The fact that yoga teachers are underpaid isn’t news. It’s fairly common knowledge that it’s hard if you just want to teach yoga and have no other job. What makes it such a popular path right now is that it’s rewarding in other ways. When you teach yoga, you might not be thinking about your rental prices or studio costs, you’re thinking about how much you love spreading the teachings of yoga or the spiritual benefits that you get out of it.

That doesn’t mean you can ignore the realities of why yoga teachers are underpaid, but it might mean that you are willing to take on other costs to be happier in your lifestyle. Because what’s so attractive about yoga teaching to others is the fact that it’s not your typical 9–5 job. There’s no business casual attire or standard job woes. It’s a completely different kind of lifestyle that may be difficult, but it’s also more rewarding. Yoga teachers are the backbone of the yoga industry. In fact, they are the essence of what yoga is. Yoga teachers may be underpaid, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important.