The Choice To Thrive

“Do you teach at a yoga studio?”

“I really loved it when you taught at XYZ Yoga Studio.”

“Are you planning on teaching again at XYZ yoga studio?”

Dear Yoga Student, 

I know these questions  come from a well intentioned place. I know that the studio was convenient for you. I know that you don’t understand that sometimes, I taught 2 hours of Mysore style Ashtanga for under $10. I know that you don’t understand that most of your monthly membership went to pay for the overhead of the yoga studio and not to me. I know you don’t understand that the average yoga teacher in my area gets paid around $25 to $30 per class which is roughly around 10-15% of the money the studio collected for the class. The other 90% goes to all the amenities you love and the convenient location.  I know that you don’t understand how teaching and doing assists for hours wreaks havoc on my body.

Maybe you don’t understand that I sometimes traveled 2 hours to be with you or that sometimes I had to get up at 4:30AM to an empty room because you decided that you wanted to sleep in that morning. I am sure that you don’t know that I was expected to prioritize cleaning the yoga studio toilets for $25 over a lucrative $200 teaching gig or a $75 private. You probably don’t know that , when I raised objections about this , I was painted out as acting as if I was too good to clean the toilets when all I was trying to do is have yearly wages above the poverty level. You probably don’t know that the studio took 40% of the money you paid for your workshop. You probably don’t know that I was being asked to choose the yoga studio’s financial health over the financial health of myself. 

You also don’t know that I chose to leave yoga communities that I loved because I needed to choose myself. 

Dear student, let me educate you.

When I teach outside of a yoga studio, I make sometimes 6x the amount of money per class. 

This means that I can choose to work less which means that I can spend energy on my own practice, my study  and my family. It means less injuries, more sleep, less wear and tear on my car and less damage to the environment from the daily commute.  When I started working for myself, my income doubled in 6 months. I could afford to further my education and become a better teacher for you. 

Dear student, This is just the financial aspect. This does not even touch on my experience of being a Black teacher within White dominated spaces or how horrible I felt teaching appropriated watered down practices that were as far away from yoga as Pluto is from Earth.

Dear student, I hope that when you read this, you will understand. That you will be okay with practicing with me in alternative spaces and online. I am not saying that I will never teach in a studio again. I love community and the feeling of coming together for a common goal. However, as long as I am asked to give up myself, appropriate & colonize yoga, ignore racial disparities and privilege and be broke for a spot on someone’s roster, I will continue to choose me.

P. S. Let me go ahead and address all the folks who may read this and comment on yoga and money not going together or to get a job.  I live and breathe yoga. It is not a hobby. I not only do asana daily, but I meditate and study the scriptures. I would love to live in a world where I have boundless energy and where love and light paid the bills. I would love to live in a world where I could take trainings for free and practice with my teachers for free, fly to India for free, get yogic texts for free etc. The yogis didn’t live in that world either.  While some teachers did not get paid, the community took care of the teachers so that they didn’t need to get paid.  While some communities still do, that largely disappeared during British colonization.  Also, the yoga industry has plenty of money. It is a 27 billion dollar industry. Why should that money go to companies that make leggings instead of going to the teachers? Why can’t we practice in humble yoga spaces so that our teacher can eat? Why are fancy showers more important to you than human’s thriving?

P. S.S Before a yoga studio owner comes for me, I know you are not a millionaire. However, intent does not equal impact. There are plenty yoga studio owners that I love dearly, however, they are not immune from taking responsibility for their impact. None of us are.