You just completed your 200-hour yoga teacher training and you’re anxious to start teaching. In fact, you’re bursting at the seams in anticipation of sharing what you just learned. Feeling encouraged and supported after graduation, you begin to apply for teaching jobs anywhere and everywhere.

But as you apply, it quickly becomes apparent how competitive the teaching world has become.

You begin to notice this through countless applications, and little to no word in response.

Doubt sinks in. You begin to question everything. “Maybe this isn’t for me.”

How will I ever stand out in this saturated market?

Discovering your niche is the first step to standing out as a yoga teacher! 

In this guide you will learn:

• What is a niche?
• Why yoga teachers need a niche
• How to discover your niche
• Practical ways to utilize your niche

Before we get started, snag our free download 100 Niche Ideas for Yoga Teachers.

What is a niche?

The first step in standing out in today’s saturated teaching landscape is to discover your own niche.

Discovering and understanding your niche are crucial to your success as a yoga teacher.

Without a clear and easy to understand niche, attracting the right students and finding good teaching gigs will be very challenging.

Example of a great niche is “yoga for surfers.”

Let’s walk through the process. After selecting your niche of “yoga for surfers” you will first need to identify what surfers need, so that you can provide the most beneficial instruction to compliment surfing.

Surfers need to improve balance, decompress their low spine, and keep their shoulders open. After fully understanding surfers’ needs, you then design your classes and marketing to appeal to those needs. In short order, you will be known as THE expert in your field and surfers from all over will be attending your classes!

Why yoga teachers need their own niche

You’re eager, motivated and enthusiastic. But still a bit nervous as you realize how competitive it is out there. Over 15,000 people became certified yoga teachers in 2015.

You’ve decided not to let that stop you. It won’t extinguish the burning desire within to share the gift of yoga with the world.

However, without a clearly identified niche you won’t get very far.

7 reasons why you need a clear niche

1. Easier to stand out – yoga is a crowded industry
2. When you attempt to please everybody, you end up pleasing no one
3. Prevents you from getting burned out – you’ll be more fulfilled teaching yoga that resonates with you
4. Improves your marketing – it’s easier to find “your people” than blindly marketing to the masses
5. You will soon be looked at as an expert in your niche
6. You will attract the “right students,” who deeply connect with your style
7. Being authentic will attract more authenticity in your life

Your job as a yoga teacher is to continually teach your authentic style of yoga. This is how you attract your true fans. The ones who deeply connect with you. The ones who follow you around from studio to studio. The ones who will some day attend your teacher training.

You will never be able to provide what every student needs. Accept this.

How to discover your own niche

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Before you say “I’m new, there is no way I can stand out amongst the other teachers…”

Here’s the deal. The best way to serve your students is to teach from your unique experience. Every single teacher has a unique journey to yoga. We’ve all had unique life experiences that shape our world view.

In your teacher training, did you have moments where you felt like you started to unravel? Did you feel the intensity increase as you subconsciously peeled back layer upon layer to discover something that was there all along? Do you recall how effortless everything became once you were truly aligned and feeling your best?

This practice of uncovering and exposing your authentic self is integral in discovering your niche. Channel your feelings and experiences from training to help discover your niche.

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Discovering your niche is the first step in attracting students to your classes, retreats and potentially trainings of your own.

It begins with YOU. How you see the world, your point of views, your life experiences.

But it doesn’t stop there. Your niche extends into how you interact with your students, how you teach your classes, and eventually how you market to your students.

Strategies to discovering your niche:

• What do your students say about your classes?
• Practice teaching in different scenarios: try teaching kids, adults, in the park, in the studio…what do you notice?
• Draw from personal experience – do you have experience battling addiction? Provide yoga for people battling addiction.
• What speaks to you? What interests you? Do you have any unique gifts or talents?
• Journal. Just write whatever comes out. These journal entries are great clues.
• Ask your teacher trainee network for feedback on what you do really well.
• Look to where your mind goes when it wanders…
• Research your competition to generate ideas.
• What have you always been good at?
• What “other activity” pairs well with yoga?  (Example: yoga for surfers)

Successful niches for yoga teachers

Here are a few yoga niche ideas. I linked to a yoga teacher who has excelled in each particular niche.

• Yoga for Surfers –  Lucy Foster-Perkins
• Empowering Women Through Yoga and Goddesses – Sofiah Thom 
• Yoga for People Battling Addiction – Mercedes Grant
• Combining Yoga + Shamanism – Serra Lynn Smick
• Acro Yoga – Yoga Beyond
• Yoga with Dogs (I’m serious) – Doga Dog
• Yoga in Nature – Ellen Sevigny
• Yoga with Goats – Goat Yoga

How to utilize your niche

After you’ve found your niche, here are a few ways to put it to use!

• Theme classes around your niche – “gentle yoga for back injuries”
• Use your niche as a roadway to becoming an “expert” in your area – continually learn about the topic, connect with others in a similar area, and eventually you’ll be perceived as an expert in your area.
• Run workshops or speak about your specific niche. This will cement your authority even more!
• Focus your marketing efforts around your niche – clearly and consistently communicate your message.

Namaste,
Anne

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