Yoga Teachers & Yoga Studio Owners Need Couples Therapy.

I have seen this argument SO many times online, and this week was no exception.

Someone asks:  “where do we go from here?  Where is our industry headed?  How are you making a living as a yoga teacher?”

• Person 1:  It is hard and yoga teachers are entitled and flakey.

• Person 2:  It is hard but here is what I did.

• Person 3:  Well if yoga studio owners paid teachers more everything would be solved.

• Person 4:  Yeah, the owners are so un-yogic.

• Person 5:  Now let’s remember ahimsa.

• Person 6:  Yoga shouldn’t be an industry at all, why are we talking about the money anyways?  Yoga is a spiritual path, bro.

• Person 5:  Yoga people are so negative.

Here is the argument I am here to make.  Yoga teaching and practice does undeniably exist as an industry.  

Don’t think it should be?  

Fine.  

But your feelings are not going to change the 44+ Billion dollars that are generated annually within our industry.  The money is here, and likely isn’t going anywhere for years to come.

So now…how do we attempt to repair the rift between yoga studio owners and yoga teachers?  Is it possible?

Maybe we need some couples therapy.  

Here are my suggestions based on a Psychology Today article outlining the point of couples therapy for people in a romantic relationship.

1.  Let’s change our view of the relationship between us. 

I get it.  The owner is the boss.  The teachers are the employees.  There is a definite power imbalance between the two groups–without a doubt.

But when did the general industry relationship between the two groups get SO adversarial????  

I want to dispel a myth or two here, and I will do one on each side.  

First, the yoga studio owners are not somehow hoarding all this wealth for themselves and deciding to pay their teachers the bare minimum that they have to.  Do some owners do that?  I am sure.  But most are paying their teachers the maximum amount that they can afford to pay.  The absolute maximum.  Especially after COVID times, yoga studio owners are working hard to build back (or build up) their businesses to anything even close to pre-covid levels.  It has been hard and studio owners often took on lots of debt to keep their business afloat.  

Secondly, yoga teachers are not selfish, ignorant, entitled, and flakey.  Everyone deserves good working conditions, this is not an unreasonable request.  Are some unconcerned about the reputation of the businesses they work for?  Sure, of course.  But the overwhelming majority of yoga teachers are good, honest, lovely humans who have a passion for sharing yoga with their students.  

We are in an industry of vastly good humans, doing the best they can with an industry built on sand.  We don’t feel stable because the foundational material we were built on was not designed to hold the heavy load of the industry we are currently in.  And shocker–that is nobody’s fault.  Literally, almost zero people could have predicted the rise of money and participants that we have seen in the yoga industry since 2005.  Most participants in the late 90s and early 00s thought yoga would remain a relatively counter-culture activity.  Something that only the cool kids and new-age set would really know or understand.  

Unsurprisingly, the industry needs some serious reinforcements for us to create stability that supports it’s now tens of thousands of participants.  

This isn’t the yoga teachers’ fault and also it is not the studio owners’ fault. 

Nor, do I believe…and this one is going to be a shocker if you’ve been following me for a while, is this the Yoga Alliance’s fault.  How could an organization designed originally to be a registry have ever conceived of where the industry was going to shift into today?  Have they been slow to respond, lacking in industry support, and outright remiss in their accountability?  Yes.  Did they build our house on the sand it currently resides?  Resoundingly no.

2.  We need to change our dysfunctional behavior.

This one is really important.  Teachers need to show up with integrity and honesty, they need to be committed to keeping students safe and making the practice accessible and honoring yoga’s tradition and roots, and to be good stewards of the businesses they work for. Gone with the diva-like attitudes, gone with the “I’m gonna take my students and friends and ruin your business” dialogue that happens every time someone disagrees with the owner.   

And studio owners need to not cheat the teachers, pay them legally and fairly, and not treat their staff like they are in some sort of co-dependant cult-like relationship.  No more unpaid time.  No more no students/no payment relationship.  And marketing for the studio classes… is a business owner’s job, not the teachers.

This is a working relationship.  Please change all behavior that does not align with this paradigm.

3. Set some boundaries.

Now…my least popular opinion.  If you were someone’s sacred teacher (ie. you trained them in the spiritual practice of Yoga), then you have no business employing them for a year after the training is done.  

It is very difficult to advocate for your worker's rights from someone who shared a path of personal liberation with you.    

And teachers…you are not the superstars of your yoga studio.  We are in a community together and finding your friends in your yoga students, and treating your classes, students, and boss like they are your therapist (they are not) is inappropriate.  Also, please stop leveraging your savasana time to get students aligned with whatever personal agenda you are campaigning for…that is gross.  

Boundaries in this keep everyone safe and in clearly defined roles.  

4. Improve your communication.

For the love of all that is good and just and kind in this world…please stop the conflict avoidant behavior because it is not “yoga” to argue.  Speak kindly, directly, and honestly.  If you have a challenge both the teacher and the studio owner have the job of being forthright and co-creating a culture of honest feedback and communication.

This is very difficult, for any industry and profession.  Lots of folks are conflict avoidant for a whole host of reasons.  Unpacking that plus unpacking the odd dogma we have in yoga in the west that we need to always be nice because “ahimsa” or “non-judgment” means we have an extra layer of effort we need to put into this.

I am going to be honest, I don’t know if I am getting this right all the time.  Forthright communication is hard, so make this a priority that you give yourself along with a giant dose of compassion and grace.  Go ahead and read (and then reread) the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenburg.  Practice.  And get comfortable with being uncomfortable for the sake of a better relationship.

5.  Lift Each Other Up.

I know, it is easy to be critical.  We live in a culture where critics think they are contributing.  But let me encourage you to lift up and support your fellow teachers and your fellow studio owners.  We are all in a difficult situation since the onset of COVID 2.5 years ago.  We need to lift each other up and work together to create the future of our industry.

Teachers are so amazing and caring.  They continue to persist, even in the face of what are incredibly difficult industry circumstances.  They are innovative and helped us all shift online in 2020 with unprecedented speed and ease.  They support their students.  They listen to challenges, support where needed, and then step back and watch their students bloom as they slide into deeper knowledge and understanding of Yoga.  

Studio owners are the ultimate space holders.  They create beautiful and supportive environments and deal with the day-to-day challenges of business ownership in order to support their communities to find nurturing and nourishing practices.  They pick up the pieces.  They stay up late.  They figure out how to market, pay the bills (lots of bills), come up with innovative and interesting programs and solutions, create, manage, they work tirelessly to support the folks who come into their spaces.  

We are all doing the absolute best we can.  And that is great.  You are doing a great job, so pat yourself on the back. 

Are there things we need to shift and change?  Yes, without a doubt.

But I promise we won’t change without all of us working together. And not just the “all” that you most resonate with. The All of teachers, owners, trainers, hosts, fitness pros, spiritual guides, social justice warriors, middle-of-the-road folks, and everyone else. We need each other.  

So thanks for coming to our first couple’s therapy session…but our time is up.  Go home and rest, I will see you all next week at the same time.

And no arguing in the car on the way home.  

With so much love,

Rebecca