Focus on events & workshops

Also, pro tip: Be proactive.

These events won't happen on their own. I've had to go out of my way to find the event space, create and print off my own fliers, and do all of the marketing. But guess what? It's so worth it. I've made up to $400 on just one 90 minute event—definitely a pay increase from the $20 an hour yoga class.

Not only will this grow you by pushing you out of your comfort zone, but you'll become more known in a community as an expert in your field. Even if only a couple people show up, it's better than not doing the event at all!

Offer classes outside or without a paid venue

Often times, most of the cost of the yoga class is going directly back into the yoga studio owner's pocket.

How do we get paid more? By going outside the studio, of course!

Start looking up places where you can teach yoga classes for free. Whether it's your parents backyard, a public park, or maybe in an awesome location under the stars for a candlelit flow.

I started teaching classes in the gorgeous red rock desert where I grew up. Not only were my students more than thrilled to practice yoga in such a beautiful outdoor setting, but I felt like my energy was fairly exchanged, making more money than I would in a typical yoga studio setting.

Do yoga for Yoga Trade

This is honestly the best way to make teaching yoga worth it—teaching yoga for all expenses paid. Yes, you heard me.

I've been able to live and teach yoga all over the world for free. Using Yogatrade.com, I've found jobs teaching yoga at a boutique hotel in Bali, in the rainforest jungle in Costa Rica, and at a cool surf hostel in Sri Lanka.

Most of these exchanges have gone like this: I teach one class a day, and they provide me with free food and accommodation. Yes, I'm teaching yoga for free—but without any costs of living, what more could I need? Even if you just try this out for a month, I definitely recommend this!

Promote your classes

More students = more money. It's math. Start getting business and marketing savvy and watch your yoga business get booming.

Whether you're promoting yourself on your social media accounts, or just connecting with people in the grocery store, the coffee shop, the university, wherever people are, and inviting them to your classes.

Make it a goal to tell at least one person a day about who you are and what you offer—and invite them to your next class. In the beginning you might feel shy, but trust me, every time you do this it will get easier.

Also make an effort to promote wherever it is you are teaching. If you're teaching at a yoga studio, let them know that you'd like to help them with their marketing. They'll appreciate this, and might offer to pay for promotional content such as posters or boosted social media content.

Yoga retreats

Of course, this takes more time, planning, and expertise.

But, yoga retreats are a sure way to make more money, and I know people who make their entire years' salary just from yoga retreats.

It can be done! Yoga retreats are a great way to give people a full yoga experience—you get to be with your students for an extended amount of time and dive deep.

Yoga retreats are a beautiful and enriching way for your students to spend their money, and a beautiful and enriching way for you to make money.

It's a win-win experience! I know many yoga instructors who suffer from a guilt complex, thinking they shouldn't be asking for any money to do what they love to do, but here's the thing: the only way you can continue doing what you love, and in order to grow it, and make it more accessible to more people, is by getting fair compensation.

Again, it's math. You get paid to keep doing it so that you can afford to keep doing it.