Two Types of skills you need to learn as a yoga teacher
There are two types of skills you need to learn if you work as a yoga teacher/therapist, bodyworker or an embodiment practitioner/coach:
- your teaching/trade skills
- and your business skills
With both of them there is no shortcut or overnight success – do not believe the hype. Those who become an overnight success often have been mastering their skills for 5, 10, 20 or even more years. They showed up day after day and at some point they reached a tipping point – that place where others recognise the depth of their mastery and skill, and they feel confident with sharing their expertise.
One set of those two types of skills cannot be a substitute for the other. You can be an insightful, compassionate and experienced practitioner but not be good with business stuff and struggling to support yourself and your family from your work.
And the opposite can also be true – you can be great at marketing and promoting your work but not so great at getting results for your students and clients, and having to work twice as hard because your students don’t stay.
Both types of skills require you to first learn the knowledge, then work on your deeper understanding, and then practice, practice and practice. Day after day.
The knowledge and understanding on its own is not enough – you have to work with your students and clients for some time to turn that understanding and knowledge into good practical applications.
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For example – you can read many books and watch many trainings on trauma-informed yoga but unless you work with this approach with your students and clients for some time and learn from each experience – you will not truly understand what this approach is and how powerfully healing it can be. The same goes for practicing and teaching Yoga, Mindfulness or Embodiment.
And when we talk about your business skills – it takes time to master them too. It’s like learning a new language and a new way of perceiving things and then trying it out to work out what works for you.
But the biggest thing about business skills is that it’s an inside job. Strategy, marketing skills and techniques are not enough. Your business decisions and your path need to be aligned with your soul and your wholehearted purpose. And guided by your inner wisdom and intuition. It is an ongoing work with your beliefs about who you are and what you can do.
In a nutshell – you have to create and build your own Embodied Wisdom Path – meaning – you have to carve out and follow your own path. This is the road less travelled. And there is no cookie cutter approach for that.
It requires you to become a person who can show up for yourself, your students/clients and your business – day after day.
It will ask you to trust the process and your own inner guidance, and believe that you can create a business that you love – even beofre you see the results of your hard work.
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So today be kind with yourself and remember it’s all about learning and mastering your skills. Nobody was born with an ability to teach yoga or mindfulness, give a healing massage or build a sustainable and thriving business. We all have to learn those skills – one day at a time.
And I also want to encourage you to reflect which one of those skills you need to develop and nurture more right now.
From my experience of mentoring and coaching many yoga teachers/therapists, bodyworkers and somatic coaches I often witness practitioners spending a lot of time and money to learn more modalities in hope that that will resolve their feast and famine issues, instead of giving enough time to learn how to make those trainings pay for themselves.
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What do you think? What’s your experience? I’d love to know!
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And if you’d like to more support in both of those skills – with training as Trauma-informed Yoga Teacher or building your wholehearted yoga and wellness business – reach out and I’ll be happy to talk with you. Book your free call with me let’s talk.
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