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| It's a question that intrigued me lately. From what I have heard teachers only make about 50 dollars a class. Am I right?
And the training costs 10 G? How do you come up with all that money with the expectation of so little pay in return.
What reasons do you think people teach. Prestige? Love? Just an extra job.
I get the impression from some teachers that this is there income. |
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| jesus i wish i made fifty dollars a class... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
 
Location: Oregon | When I considered Bikrams TT, it was more for a VisionQuest kind of experience. I figured I'd teach, but that wasn't my main motivation. From what I've heard of Bikram TT, many folks did have stuff they really worked out, or sh!t that came up, that then started them on the path they're now on.
EDIT: Heh, I get paid basically $9.78 a class (my hourly wage at the nonprofit I work at). By the way, I taught a GREAT one hour class to 4 kids today. With some of the issues these kids have, that's huge. |
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| Yep, your numbers are about right. Pay can be a little more or a little less, depending on the studio, the teacher's experience, taxes, etc. You can survive as a teacher if you teach at a lot of studios and work really hard (full time teaching equals maybe 12 classes per week), but no one goes into it as a way to become rich and famous. It is, however, a GREAT part-time job. I know a lot of teachers who teach a few times a week and have non-yoga part-time or full-time jobs as their main source of income.
Now, I definitely want to teach. I am looking for ways to earn and save extra income, and I will apply for scholarship. I want to teach because I LOVE the yoga and because I think it's important for me to share it. I have so many friends who have already gone to training, and they all did it for love. I think the single best reason to go to training is because you feel so much love that you need to share it. And I think for some people (definitely for me), teaching is sort of an inevitable extension of the practice... after a while, it doesn't make sense to just do your yoga for YOU any more... you need to do it for other people, too. I can feel that I'm not going to be fulfilled by a solitary personal practice in the long run... I really need to share it.
Of course, that's not everyone, but that's how I feel, though. I know are so many people who practice for 5, 10, 15 years and never feel any interest or desire in teaching, and that is totally great, too. It's not for everyone! But if it is for you... I think after a while, you just know.
Sorry kind of incoherent... |
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Veteran
Posts: 243
| I work at a non-Bikram studio and the highest paid teacher doesn't make 50$ a class. So the average Bikram rate isn't so bad. The training is expensive, but if you work full time for a year or part-time for a couple of years you will make your investment back. |
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| Assumptions: $10,000 for training/$50 for teaching class.
You will need to teach 200 classes to break even on your training.
Not bad if you can teach a class a day (200 days/apx 7 months)
The more I run those numbers, the more I think training as a yoga teacher is not a bad deal. But it all depends on the $50 a class assumption.
At $10 a class...well, you run the numbers.
On the flip side if you are teaching everyday of the years at one class for $50 your yearly gross income will be $17,800; not bad but if you are only getting 10 bucks a class then it's bleak, especially after time and expense of getting to the class has to be factored in.
So I guess the best thing is find out what teachers get in the studios you want to work in.
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| And don't forget, most studios let certified teachers practice for free. That saves me $1320/year. If you think about it that way, the training pays for itself in less than 8 years, not even including teaching. |
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Veteran
Posts: 243
| Is that true for visiting teachers too? I'm visiting my mom after TT and want to hit up the asheville bikram for free classes (in exchange for free teaching of course!) |
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| Nicole, I've never seen a Bikram studio make a certified teacher pay for classes. Doesn't matter if you ever teach at that studio. There may be exceptions, but I hope not... would be kinda tacky. |
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Regular
Posts: 73
Location: The City of Brotherly Love | thedancingj - 2009-08-03 4:57 PM
Nicole, I've never seen a Bikram studio make a certified teacher pay for classes. Doesn't matter if you ever teach at that studio. There may be exceptions, but I hope not... would be kinda tacky.
Some studios in New York make teachers pay as does headquarters. |
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| HQ does? REALLY? I practice there off and on, and I really didn't think the teachers were paying for classes... maybe it has changed, OOOOOOR maybe I'm just not that observant... that is highly possible. :-/ |
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Regular
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Location: The City of Brotherly Love | thedancingj - 2009-08-04 1:52 AM
HQ does? REALLY? I practice there off and on, and I really didn't think the teachers were paying for classes... maybe it has changed, OOOOOOR maybe I'm just not that observant... that is highly possible. :-/
It was like that last time I was there which was several years ago. Also, teachers teach there for free as "It's considered an honor to teach there." |
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| i think it's steep, so you have to really want to teach bikram's style, you know?
for most teachers--regardless of discipline--there is an issue with the investment being greater than the pay in general, so i think that most people do it for love rather than money.
the issue that i have, though, is when people take advantage of others. i think that those studios that don't "take care of" their teachers in certain ways end up with trouble.
now, i have no problem with seva, but it's usually (traditionally) in the work-study ilk. and, i have no problem with teachers being paid whatever, so long as they agree to it and the studio supports them in other ways (such as free classes). i also have no problem with volunteer teaching at a studio, so long as the proceeds (after costs to the studio).
i have had problems where one gets paid $40/50 per class, but it doesn't mean the class time (time teaching), but 45 minutes before class to clean up, check people in, and then another hour or more after the 1.5 hr class wherein one is waiting until all students leave, and then washing showers and cleaning toilets. such that, the whole time put in is something like 3-4 hours and one is getting paid only $40/50. in addition, one is then told that it is "common practice" for teachers to have to have memberships to the studios (to pay for the classes that they take) and they are "required" to take at least 2 classes per week there because they have to "stay fresh" in their practices, and also told they can't work somewhere else in town.
and i particularly have a *serious* problem with this when every class is filled to capacity (of over 50 or more students), and the studio is obviously making boo-ko bucks for the owners who rarely come to the work environment, and when they do, they harass the heck out of the management and teachers, are terribly rude, and assert that none of us are doing a good enough job, and that when we ask for raises for our good work (afterall, we run and build the studio), they don't give any raises.
for most workplaces, you at least get raises every few years.
yeah, usery is yucky. i've actually only experienced it at hot studios, to be honest. i've never experienced it at non-hot studios.
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| and fwiw, most teacher trainings around here (in various styles) cost about $2500 (prices went up recently). astanga training costs about $5k.
so, you can get a local training for a lot less than an 'away' training. and what does kripalu cost. . .i'm looking that up. it includes food/housing. |
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| kripalu takes one month and is $4,425 if you're in the dorm. or, if you do the two, 12-day intensives, then it's $4,315 for dorms. it goes up to $10,275 if you have a private room with a private bath. |
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| Geeeeeez zoe, I don't even WANT to know where that was. I've never seen anywhere that was nearly as bad as that, especially the bits about charging teachers for their mandatory membership (!!) and not letting them teach at other studios (!!!!) Unacceptable.
At least in LA, there are about a million other studios where the teachers can go to practice for free, and everyone teaches wherever they want to... |
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Regular
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Location: The City of Brotherly Love | thedancingj - 2009-08-05 3:10 AM
Geeeeeez zoe, I don't even WANT to know where that was. I've never seen anywhere that was nearly as bad as that, especially the bits about charging teachers for their mandatory membership (!!) and not letting them teach at other studios (!!!!) Unacceptable.
At least in LA, there are about a million other studios where the teachers can go to practice for free, and everyone teaches wherever they want to...
I think I might know the joints she is talking about. Years ago they had some terrific Baptiste style hot vinyasa teachers but many of them left under the iron-fisted regime. I could be wrong of course.
I'll say that I'll teach in a broom closet if I have to. I make 85 to 95% of my living teaching.
BTW DancingJ have you ever had Marla's (I think that's her name) class out at HQ? She's the petite blond in the blue book doing Guilltine and Seperate Arms Balancing Stick. She will CRUSH you--it's awesome! She is also a highly accomplished vinyasa teacher under Bryan Kest--pretty cool. |
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| yup, that's the one RB. it was really terrible just after i left. there is another (not affiliated with that group) near here that is really pretty terrible to the teachers, too, and then the one that was the worst i've ever worked for was in the foreign country. that was a horrifying experience. i'm still reeling from it two years later.
i never recommend those studios and won't go near them or put my own money in their coffers, but i will support people who already go there in continuing. |
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| My teacher friend at the studio where I practice told me beginning teachers make $50 and experienced $75 per class, but that's there and she told me the owner "paid well."
I was at HQ once and a teacher signed in and the desk guy told her that they instituted a policy where teachers had to pay ten bucks, which is half the regular visitor rate. She seemed a little taken aback. |
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| Roy - Oh yeah! It's Marlon, and she is great. Didn't know she taught Vinyasa, but it doesn't surprise me too much. I've had her quite a few times, though it's been a while now since I saw her. I dunno how many times I took her class before I looked at the pictures in my book again and put two and two together. She also was one of the judges at the SoCal regional championships last November (along with Darius from SF and EMMY), which I will always remember cause I've got her signature on my 3rd place certificate on my bookcase.  |
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| zoebird - 2009-08-04 9:11 AM
i have had problems where one gets paid $40/50 per class, but it doesn't mean the class time (time teaching), but 45 minutes before class to clean up, check people in, and then another hour or more after the 1.5 hr class wherein one is waiting until all students leave, and then washing showers and cleaning toilets. such that, the whole time put in is something like 3-4 hours and one is getting paid only $40/50. in addition, one is then told that it is "common practice" for teachers to have to have memberships to the studios (to pay for the classes that they take) and they are "required" to take at least 2 classes per week there because they have to "stay fresh" in their practices, and also told they can't work somewhere else in town.
and i particularly have a *serious* problem with this when every class is filled to capacity (of over 50 or more students), and the studio is obviously making boo-ko bucks for the owners who rarely come to the work environment, and when they do, they harass the heck out of the management and teachers, are terribly rude, and assert that none of us are doing a good enough job, and that when we ask for raises for our good work (afterall, we run and build the studio), they don't give any raises.
sounds like corporate america. |
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teachers and pay
