How to Become a Yoga Instructor in 2025?
By: Danielle Durack
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For those deep in their practice, yoga instruction can be an alluring career change. Between the benefits to your body and mind as well as the flexible schedule, it seems too good to be true. While there are challenges to any career path, for those who are as passionate about yoga as they are about helping people, yoga instruction will be well worth the journey.
Why become a Yoga instructor
One of the most immediate and lasting benefits of becoming a yoga instructor is the deepening of your own practice. Spending 200+ hours in training with focus on breathwork, meditation, basic poses, history and even anatomy will inform your own relationship with yoga. In addition to doing such a deep dive into the world of yoga, the act of teaching will also expedite mastery.
A career in yoga is perfect for those who are looking to dive further into their practice and help others to do the same. Other perks include a job with built in meditation and physical fitness, as well a schedule that’s as flexible as you are.
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Where Do I Start?
Unlike cosmetology or massage therapy, there is no legal certification process for becoming a yoga instructor in the US. Currently the next best thing is an independent organization called Yoga Alliance, which has a set of standards for studios and yoga teachers globally. Dues-paying members are listed on their site as “certified,” after logging 200, 300 or 500 training hours.
Yoga Alliance lists around 7000 yoga schools suitable for Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) on their website, many even offer online courses. Based on reviews, quality and intensity seem to vary quite drastically from course to course. Some programs are akin to a rigorous college course, while some are basically yoga-themed, all-inclusive vacations. That being said, some important factors when choosing your YTT program are the price tag (be careful, this varies greatly), and how well the course will actually prepare/educate you for a career in yoga.
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Can I Make Yoga My Career?
It’s hard to believe that something so enjoyable, healthy and inherently relaxing can also potentially pay your bills. It’s not easy, but a career in yoga is possible, sustainable and scalable.
According to Indeed, the national average for Yoga Instructors is just over $30/hr, but the ceiling is much higher in cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where instructors can pull in over $100,000 a year on average. Of course, no matter where you are, income will always ebb and flow based on class attendance.
However, if we’re able to think a little bigger than only teaching in-person classes, there is big money to be made in what Wellness Creative Co. calls an 88 billion dollar industry. A career in yoga has a surprising amount of upward mobility for those who are driven, tenacious and creative. Some other avenues of income include:
1. Online Content
There are countless ways to start capitalizing on your yoga expertise online. Between YouTube, Twitch, Patreon, or even a personal blog, we are now able to reach a global audience and teach yoga to an infinite number of students. Even just live streaming the classes you’re already teaching can help to grow your audience and income.
2. Teacher Training
As we mentioned, around 7000 teacher training programs are listed on Yoga Alliance. There are more programs popping up everyday, which is no coincidence – teacher training courses are extremely lucrative. Programs cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to upwards of $5000. Multiply that by your number of students and you can see where this becomes extremely profitable.
3. Events / Appearances
Many financially successful yogis have transitioned from running their own studios to hosting special events and making guest appearances. Commercial real estate is on the rise, so cutting down on studio rental overhead and opting for pop-ups with greater capacity may prove more profitable and easier to scale in the long run.
4. Endorsements
Endorsements are a great way to make a little bit of money here and there. You don’t have to be the face of LuluLemon (but by all means, shoot for the moon), as there are many brands of all shapes and sizes looking for ways to reach new markets – and you could be their perfect fit.
5. Book Deals, Sponsorships & More
These certainly fall into the “shoot for the moon” category, but nothing is impossible. If a book deal is the endgame for you, by all means keep building your audience and moving towards the career of your dreams.
How Long Can I Teach, Realistically?
While our bodies have limits that we all eventually have to reckon with, there are many yoga instructors over the age of 60 who are living proof that yoga can be a lifelong practice. Unlike other professional sports or physically intensive occupations, yoga has a restorative quality that only compounds from a lifetime of regular practice. Yoga is a phenomenal activity for aging bodies, so you can depend on a long career as an instructor.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes and no. Yoga instructors are definitely doing more yoga than the average yogi, but it is impossible for an instructor to teach and simultaneously be present in their own breath and practice. While a yoga instructor is deepening their practice by teaching, many will still attend class on their own time to be more centered in their own practice.
Yes, but be vigilant when shopping. As we mentioned, hosting yoga teacher training – YTT can be a very lucrative business endeavor, and many are charging premium fees for average instruction. Do your research to make sure you are getting everything you need to be successful out of your training.
You can find more information here on becoming a yoga instructor.
Yoga instruction can be a dream of a career, but like any job it has its less savory aspects. Yoga is physically exhausting on the body, which can be a perk or a detriment depending on your wants and needs. Additionally, the pay can be inconsistent, especially at the beginning of your career. Lastly, as we mentioned, it’s difficult to be present in your own practice while teaching, so it requires extra effort outside of teaching hours to maintain your own practice.
Slowly over the course of one’s career in yoga instruction, we transition from active to passive instruction; becoming more of the mentor than the practitioner.
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