Becoming a Yoga Instructor

Masters at Work

by Elizabeth Greenwood

The must-have book for any yogi or yogini who’s curious about taking the next step and becoming a yoga instructor.

Choosing a profession begins with imagining yourself in a career. Whether you see yoga as a side gig or your life calling, Becoming a Yoga Instructor is the perfect resource to help you figure out how to get there—and what it’ll really be like once you do.

Journalist Elizabeth Greenwood has been practicing yoga for over twenty years. Now, she takes you along as she studies with teachers across the country to figure out how these women and men rose to the top of their profession—and how they stay there. In these pages, you’ll take a private lesson with Abbie Galvin, a rock star instructor whom other yoga teachers fly around the world to learn from. You’ll visit a small business owner as she opens up her very first studio, and meet newbies hustling as they figure out how to stand out from the competition, whether by leading yoga retreats to Costa Rica, helping veterans struggling with PTSD, or teaching classes over YouTube.

Bursting with inside information about the yoga industry, and the spiritual, physical, and psychological benefits that daily practice can bring to your life, Becoming a Yoga Instructor is a perfect virtual internship for anyone contemplating turning their love of yoga into a career.

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

Published May 7, 2019

About the author

Elizabeth Greenwood is the author of EVERYDAY INTUITION: What Psychology, Science, and Psychics Can Teach Us About Finding and Trusting Our Inner Voice, LOVE IN THE TIME OF INCARCERATION: Five Stories of Dating, Sex, and Marriage In America’s Prisons (formerly published as LOVE LOCKDOWN), PLAYING DEAD: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, The Atlantic and more. She lives in Brooklyn with her family, and can often be found supine on the couch watching Bravo.

Reviews

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to go to NYC and study Katonah with Abbie!

[Cherie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite the fact that I am already a yoga instructor, I was eager to read this and seem what gems I could glean from this book. Unfortunately, it was a narrow view of one woman's thought process on what it takes to be a yoga instructor. It didn't feel very realistic at all, with too much time spent on Katonah yoga (one style of yoga) and too much time spent on too few teachers and studio owners. I wish there was a more realistic book on becoming a yoga instructor that said things like, you will train for 200 hours and that "certifies" you to teach but you really don't have the proper skills to teach, what you should do to prep yourself to teach, how to get teaching jobs, how to not go insane while trying to make a living teaching, how to practical elements, how to maintain your own practice, etc. I found this book to be very useless as a yoga instructor and I'm not sure who the narrow audience would be - while it was interesting at time, I odn't think it gives the reader what they truly need to know about actually becoming a yoga instructor.

[Jeff burson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were random and the book wasn’t organized but it was definitely worth reading and a quick read if you have interest in the topic

[Angela Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been practicing yoga on and off for 5 years but would still describe myself as a newbie. Although I do not intend to become I yoga teacher I thought the book could provide some insight into my teachers - since so much of the classes and interactions with teachers are focused on the student. Although the book offers some basic information, I thought it lacked a cohesive way of presenting yoga and the different variants of it. It touches briefly on hatha and ashtanga and focuses way too much on katonah yoga - had never heard of. It does, however, raise some good points such as yoga teaching becoming an industry and the fact that many teachers will have to struggle financially at the beginning of their career.

[Sherin Stani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find real and practical advice for starting your yoga career. This book gave me more information than my 200 hour TTC course that only taught me posture and alignment and philosophy of Yoga. There's a whole lot of things they don't tell you about being a Yoga Instructor. For example, on how being a teacher is to be a lifetime student and that your RYT-200 certification is only the beginning of an iceberg of a vocation that requires you to hustle in the first few years. So, pick this up and let it be your Practical Wisdom of a career that helps reach the ancient wisdom to people who need it the most in the modern world.

[Books & Aerial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed some "inspiration" as I opened my studio just 3 months before the pandemic and...3 years later I found myself depressed, burnt-out and uninspired. I have reached out for help, but now I also want to re-learn and improve my way of teaching and this book, while very condensed and uneven helped me here and there. I did relisten to a few sentences, and I thought Ketonah Yoga taught by Abbie was something I'd like to try one day, though this book heavily "endorsed" this particular teacher and her style.

3,5/5

audiobook via storytel

[Mary Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think for anyone who is considering to become a yoga instructor they should read this book and contemplate the reason why they are thinking about instructing. This is a good starting point. I appreciate the further reading suggestions that are listed to continue a persons journey as an instructor and the references listed in the book.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A chronology of the writer's engagement with yoga along with the story of the opening of a nearby studio. Provides some history of the popularization of yoga, and includes virtue signalling flogging of Bikram Choudury.

Very uneven.

[Olivia Elkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read following the stories of a few yoga teachers and how they came to be. I have been curious about how someone finds themselves in that career. It had some eye opening points.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read, informative, nice book. “Becoming a teacher is how you remain a student for life”