Yes, money.
I just read these articles listed on the e-sutra list. You can read them by clicking either of these links:
While I agree with the majority of what they are saying, I feel like they avoid the main issue: how to dedicate one's life to sharing the gift of yoga while at the same time being able to live.
I remember during my first teacher training, the question of money was a taboo subject. Maybe it was not intentional, but no one really wanted to talk about it. Yes, I was doing the training for my own practice and to share this gift of yoga with others, but at the same time, I have to pay rent just like anyone else.
Entering the world of teaching yoga was surreal. No one could have prepared me for it. There are no real standards for paying teachers, and in fact, there is often no professionalism. I have had multiple studios fail to pay me for classes I taught, but I guarantee that they never failed to collect money from the students.
I've had studio owners who were very nonchalant about pay dates and the writing of checks, and those who were personally offended by my "energy", when I requested that I be compensated for classes that I taught.
As a yoga teacher, there are usually no contracts, written or otherwise, that guarantee a teaching gig. (Requesting one is out of the question. Being hired is usually about your "Energy". Unless of course, you have been teaching since 1990, have packed classes, and your own line of videos.) The class could be cancelled in a second with no notice. Further, there is hardly ever a duration attached to a class. Everything is "indefinite".
Lets say I want to give up a class, studios often are upset if there is less than A MONTH of notice. At the same time, a teacher can be fired without even knowing it.
Sometimes, payment is given on a per head basis. It is interesting to find when these arrangements are made for a class time that is known to be unpopular, only setting the teacher up for failure.
YOGA TEACHERS OFTEN DO NOT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!
There are no guarantees that one will be able to attain classes. Education often has little to do with it. People may be hired because they want a male on their teaching staff, or this person is beautiful, or they like their energy, or they are friends with so and so. Ultimately, it is about who will get the classes packed and keep the students coming. Everyone has rent to pay.
Yes, the commercialization of yoga can be disheartening. Yes, the number of poorly trained and ill-experienced teachers may be on the rise. But, I am having a hard time staying in an industry (and it is an industry) with such poor labor practices when the product they are selling is kindness, understanding, mindfulness, enlightenment, inner peace, etc.
Some of us aren't so lucky that we can't simply ask for more classes to have enough to pay the rent. And even if we did, this is a physically and mentally exhausting job.
So why do I do it? I do it because of the way I feel when I practice. I do it because of the way I hope I can help people feel when they practice. I do it because I hope that the industry will change. I hope that studios will learn how to be fair and to respect the teachers and the time they are giving. I hope that studios can find a way to make yoga accessible to those who cannot afford a $15 yoga class. I hope that teachers can start speaking up for themselves and that maybe working together, we can change the direction this is going in.
There are some studios that are really trying hard to make these changes. For instance, Yoga Works is now offering a 401k plan for ALL of their instructors. This is HUGE! Some studios offer health insurance, but these are generally the large franchises, and it is only offered to teachers who have over a certain number of classes (so it would be in the studio's favor to limit a teacher's class number).
When are we going to start getting serious about honoring our educators? Not just yoga, but also public school, college, etc? If this is not what we value, what are valuing?
i'm a freelance artist and an ashtanga person too. I used to think I wanted to be a yoga teacher until i started making friends with other yoga teachers and saw that artists and yogis are in the same economic ghetto. It was so depressing. Alot of the situations you speak of here I experience almost every day.
ReplyDeleteyes! someone finally wrote it all down. this is what needs to happen to make the change. more people need to speak out. maybe even a yoga union needs to be developed...
ReplyDelete