r/yogateachers
Yoga teaching when you dont want to ?
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered.
The Question
Anyone out there a teacher who wants to stop teaching ? Ive been teaching a few years and gradually becoming burnt out , exhausted with the grind and hustle plus the social media side of it . I realise now I loved being a student way more . I feel like saying I dont want this anymore is something no yoga teacher says . I never made loads of money but I did introduce yoga into some people's lives and that makes me feel proud .. What happens after you give up ? I cant imagine giving up but I cant imagine carrying on!
— via r/yogateachers
Our Response
Yeah. Lots of teachers feel this.
You're not broken. Teaching isn't your dharma just because you did a training.
Here's what you do: stop teaching. Not forever. Just stop. Take three months off. Tell your students you're on sabbatical. Delete Instagram from your phone.
Go back to being a student. Practice. Rest. See what comes back.
Most burnout isn't about teaching. It's about performing. The hustle. The content calendar. The trying to make it work financially when the math doesn't math.
If you miss teaching after three months, you'll know. You can come back and teach one class. The one you actually want to teach. Not six classes because you need rent money.
And if you don't miss it? You gave people yoga. That's enough. You don't owe anyone a career.
There's no shame in this. You're allowed to change your mind.
Take the break. See what's real.
Not sure where to start?
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