May 27, 2020

Working From Home and Outdoors as a Yoga Instructor

Aubrie Pohl Tells Her story of Pivoting from the Gym to Online Instruction, Working from Home and Training Clients Outdoors

In the blink of an eye and the burst of a pandemic, an entire industry based on community and connection has shifted. Millions of driven and motivated individuals in the Yoga industry have been re-grounding themselves into a completely different paradigm of creating a living and business. The good news is, we are seeing the innovative flexibility (pun intended) of Yoga teachers and Yoga enthusiasts worldwide. Leave it to the Yogis to lead the light of the situation on how we can work together, now more than ever, to continue sharing these ancient ideologies and practices. Our NESTA Sport Yoga instructor Aubrie Pohl, is a great example of how to pivot when things change in the Yoga and coaching industry, and we will note her throughout this article.

If you are one of the Yoga teachers that have experienced the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, this article is going to bring light to the many opportunities that could be hidden within an uncertain time. There are solutions for the current challenge right now that are just as potent and special as the relationship that Yoga teachers have with their clients. The most important thing to remember is the reason why the teaching industry is there in the first place, to help bring peace and health into one’s life through the practice of Yoga. If you are involved in many health and wellness industries, check out the other articles as well from NESTA and Spencer Institute that are helping us all guide through these transformational times.

One of the greatest benefits that comes from a consistent Yoga practice is flexibility, and we can expand this as the necessary personality characteristic that will be most helpful for you during these times. As a competent and qualified Yoga instructor, you now have many opportunities at your bare feet to move with the current industry. What we are learning through this shift is that you do not need a full Yoga studio to thrive as a personal business owner. You also don’t need a one-size-fits-all business plan. You don’t even need a single set location or space to do your work. What you do need is adequate credibility through proper education, a belief in yourself that you are capable, and a desire to help others.

To share a little bit of Aubrie’s story, she has gone from working in gyms and studios to now being a wanderlusting, moveable, and passionate business that helps people all over. She currently resides in California and works with in-person clients and clients online. One of our star students, she has earned many certifications through NESTA and Spencer Institute that add to her professional coaching credibility, including the Master Health and Wellness Coach, Brain Fitness Coach, Personal Fitness Trainer, and Master Personal Trainer Course. She also created the NESTA Sport Yoga certification program! She is in this business because she has experienced the deep transformation that comes from a dedicated Yoga and movement practice. Her passion was too fueled to just keep to herself, so she sought after ways to teach others and be a part of the Yoga message that is spreading worldwide. Her days are scheduled according to how she wants to schedule them, and according to what her current clients needs are. She found a personal balance of moving with the current time of the pandemic to integrate all the skill sets she has learned from her certifications and is working through many avenues of business to thrive and feel fulfilled helping her clients. Some of her clients are local, and she meets with them in-person (socially distanced at the moment) for either Yoga sessions, coaching walks, or seated talks. Some of her clients are also online, as she holds Zoom webinars, personal online calls, and has a very active social media profile to share content on. This article will share more specific examples on how she utilizes the Yoga entrepreneur industry to build a successful business. You can think about how exciting it will be for you to find your success avenues for your business as well!

Clarify Your Vision

In order to expand your business during these times, it is important for you to clarify the greater purposes of WHY you are doing what you do. This is your starting point because it is the foundation of your personal brand and business. With your purpose and WHY as your driving motivation, you will achieve greater strides of success. During the time of this pandemic, it is also important to consider your personal boundaries of what you are comfortable doing and what you believe will be a good business structure for you. Here are some avenues to consider:

Why are you a Yoga teacher?
What value do you bring to your clients?
Are you looking to teach one-on-one, groups, or both?
What are the social distancing requirements you have (if any)?
What kind of computer software will you be using for online calls?
Where will you be communicating with your clients mostly?
What specifically are you offering? (For example: Yoga classes, Health and Wellness coaching, accountability calls, workshops, webinars, etc..)
Who is your ideal client?
What is your ideal schedule?

Answering these questions will help fuel your forward momentum as they will give you clarity on the directions to step into! If you have just been an in-person Yoga teacher in a studio, then you can see all the new paths for you to explore now.

Our instructor Aubrie has found a specific niche working with millennials that are prior athletes and looking to keep a more balanced approach to movement health and wellness! A local park nearby is where she meets up with her in-person clients, and she also has connected with a local studio to rent out indoor class time if needed. Zoom and FaceTime are the go-tos for personal video connection, but there are many apps available for you to use!

Build Your Influence

In this day and age, with the internet being such a prevalent resource for people around the world, it is useful to take advantage of the platforms available and build yourself to be the expert that you truly are! Creating a social media presence will not only attract more clients to you, but it will also give you a beautiful space to express your creative content and share your ideas with many.

Consistency is key. Keep showing up for yourself and believing in yourself as the expert you are to share the valuable information you know will help others.
Post videos, photos, and quotes that are all relevant to your personal message and content you want to bring to your audience.
Give enough free content to build a following, and leave the audience with enough questions so they will want to work with you!
Share what you are offering on a weekly basis so you can inform people how they can work with you.
Follow up with the comments and messages on your page to create those deeper connections with your audience.

A great idea is to focus on the resources of social media that your specific niche of clientele is using. NESTA Sport Yoga instructor Aubrie builds her content, connections, and business on Instagram and Facebook. She also uses YouTube as a video collection site. Posting daily stories and posts 2-3 times a week has been her method of staying consistent and relevant with the information she can bring to her clients. This helps with her referrals, outreach, and overall business success.

Hone in Your Offering

The details of your business are up to you, and this is where you will have the most creativity and flexibility available to you as an independent business owner! Depending on what skill sets you have, there are many different scenarios of working with clients that you can step into during this time. If you are interested in expanding your skill sets, check out the many online certification programs offered by NESTA and Spencer Institute!

Here are some examples of services:

In-person private Yoga class. This can be done wherever you and your client decide is best. No equipment needed, although Yoga mats and props are helpful.
Online private Yoga class. Through a video app or the phone video, you can safely guide your client through a private session. It’s important to note that this is just as valuable as an in-person session. You still have a watchful eye over their form and can fully support their practice.
Group Yoga classes. Small group Yoga classes (either in person or online) are great ways to build a following of individuals that can experience consistent growth and progress in their Yoga practice thanks to your instruction. Again, whatever platform you choose to use is up to your agreement with you and your students. You can also switch up the energy of the classes depending upon what the common energy level is of the class each day.
Yoga Webinars. Since Yoga asana is merely a small part of the entire ideology of Yoga, there’s a lot of room to creatively share the other aspects of Yoga. For example, holding a webinar about the Yamas and Niyamas (morals and ethics) behind Yoga practice can educate your audience and add a new layer to your business!
In-person personal Health and Wellness coaching. This is available if your education certifies you for it. Health and Wellness coaching can come in many different forms, and it will really be up to the conversation between you and your clients to decide which avenue will be best to explore. Some individuals enjoy sitting down and talking about their health as a coaching session, while some prefer a more active approach like going on a walk and talking about their health. Again, the possibilities are pretty endless with the different methods you can help your clients!

Aubrie has an extensive background and 32 Alternative Education certifications. She has worked in all sorts of settings including gyms, personal studios, in-home sessions, and Yoga studios. Everything changed for her when Covid-19 happened, but because of her multifaceted skill set and flexibility, her offerings and help to her clients continued smoothly. She works with clients online as both fitness or Yoga guided sessions, and also enjoys personal life coaching sessions. For Aubrie, it’s all about what the specific client needs at that point in time. The shifting of her sessions provides her with a lifestyle that is anything but stagnant, and it’s mostly led by the decision of what her personal bandwidth will enjoy at the moment, blended with what her and her client agree will be best. Working with her specific energy, she chooses to have more electronic interaction in the mornings and in-person connections in the evening. Her daytime work is for content creation, social media posting, and play time. She gives a lot of success credit to having 2 days completely off in a row each week to re-energize and decompress. You will find a great balance for you the more you explore what you are capable of!

Keeping Momentum

Since you are a personal business owner and you are relying on yourself to gain your financial income, it is important to keep yourself motivated to continue experiencing forward momentum! Keep. Showing. Up. It’s that simple. The more you put yourself in communication with potential clients, the more potential clients you will be communicating with! Some teachers and coaches enjoy setting up their calendar with a more scheduled approach on how to keep themselves accountable. You can make some days your Creator days, where you are writing content for social media, making videos, taking pictures, etc. You can make other days of the week your Coaching days, where you are scheduling time with your clients and fulfilling your need as an instructor. Then the last chunk of days will be your Admin days, where you will be doing tasks such as returning emails and updating your website or email drips (which are always nice to have for your company as well). A steady stream of accountability calls and follow ups with your clients will keep them coming back to you, because you are truly showing that you care about their health and progress. This can look like weekly emails, or text, or even calls if you prefer. Just stay in touch and know what your current clients lives are like. After all, they welcomed you into it for a reason. Keep your own momentum in a way that feels balanced (Yoga pun intended) and sustainable for you to keep going long term. If you are a hard worker, entrepreneurship will bring that out of you even more! However, you can’t pour for an empty cup, so make sure you are resting enough and fulfilling your own inner needs first.

In conclusion, the Covid-19 pandemic has successfully shaken up the lives of millions, and allowed us all to take another look at the way we have been structuring life for ourselves. Industries worldwide have shifted, and some are finding even more new pathways to explore. The Yoga industry was hit hard as many studios had to close their doors, but it brought about new innovative ideas for Yoga practitioners on how to move forward. As a Yoga instructor yourself, I hope you see now the many choices that are available for you on how to continue thriving in your personal business teaching Yoga. What is available now more than ever, is the worldwide web, and utilizing an expansive network community to continue fulfilling your passion to teach and your client’s need for instruction. Congratulations for making the decision to step forward with your passion and stay flexible with the times in order to continue sharing health and movement practices. It is an industry that will always be needed for the human body!

NESTA and Spencer Institute are both online educational resources to help build your knowledge, support your growth, and launch your personal business. Check out the different certifications available, as well as the many articles available for you!

See all Spencer Institute Certifications
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Read the article on building an outdoor business
Get the free training for building your home yoga business
See how to build an online yoga business
Earn your NESTA Sport Yoga Instructor Certification