Tips from the experts to help you grow the yoga business of your dreams
This month’s mentor:
Shelley Aspden, Ministry of Yoga & Wellbeing (ministryofyoga.org)
Does a YTT set you up for running your own business?
I truly believe a teacher training is a self-exploration journey, rather than a training. Whenever we teach the trainings, I make it very clear that this might possibly be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but the most rewarding. A lot of the time the modules of how to run a business during the training are small, as the hours are needed to take the students deeper within themselves. Once qualified, and the shift of your love of yoga has to become more business oriented, I do feel that’s where most teachers struggle. I believe a separate training needs to be established, helping people create websites, find booking systems, insurance and accounting software, social media training, create business plans, marketing strategies, terms and conditions, and so on. Watch this space, I know a man for the job, my husband — Dan runs the business side of the Ministry of Yoga!
Business plan?
Our business plan has had to constantly evolve over the last seven years due to the various situations we’ve faced in that time. Like most teachers and studios, the covid lockdowns hit us very hard and we had to pivot quickly to online offerings — which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we are still getting lots of people joining our classes via Zoom or watching the recordings. Once the lockdowns and instability caused by them had passed, we’ve had to contend with increases in both taxes and business rates, which have each meant we have had to be super cautious with everything we do. We generally look forward to the next six months with what we have planned to make sure our offerings are clear and consistent with how we try to operate and what our students want. We have to be very strict with our finances, especially with the recent hikes in interest rates, so my husband Dan spends a lot of time each month making sure that the books balance and everyone is paid on time so that we are able to breathe a little.
Can you tell us more about the Ministry of Yoga?
On a personal note, yoga helped me to recover from cancer. That’s the whole reason why I did my yoga teacher training, to understand how and why these practices were making such a huge impact on my life, physically, mentally and emotionally. When we started our business, ‘The Ministry of Yoga and Wellbeing’, it became apparent our local community was not the usual demographic of yoga practitioners. Men and women of all ages, ethnicities and levels of fitness were joining classes to deal with health conditions, rather than just joining a ‘fitness class’ which yoga has become in some areas. We wanted the Ministry of Yoga to be a centre where people could come and heal as soon as they walked through the door. My husband Dan manages the building, which includes a number of additional spaces that are rented to separate businesses. We wanted to make sure that all the businesses operating from our premises offered health and wellbeing just as we do. We have a counsellor, chiropractor and two holistic therapists offering a range of services. Some people need a more individual level of support and expertise than our group classes can provide, so I completed various trainings around yoga therapy, acupuncture and 9D breathwork. Myself and the other therapists can now refer clients to each other, and we see more and more students joining group classes after having 1:1 sessions.
Your niche?
Yoga and holistic therapies for health and wellbeing. It works because our students and community see us all doing the practices we share; we live and breathe what we do.
Marketing tips?
Embrace automations. We very quickly realised that there are so many jobs that can be done by our booking software that gives us time back in our days to focus on other important things. Win-back campaigns, intro offer funnels, new student engagement and education — all these things can be accomplished automatically depending on the software you have. It’s been a game changer for us, and something we don’t regret spending money on at all.
Social media?
We make use of social media but don’t get dragged down by it. It can be all consuming, but less is sometimes more. We’d rather put out one social media post a week that has taken a lot of thought with a personal touch, than a post every day with something generated by AI which results in no engagement.
What’s the secret to making a living teaching yoga?
Be passionate about what you do, maintain self-care and work with someone as passionate as you, but with a different skill set. I see it all the time: yoga teachers starting their own studio, or increasing their classes, they end up putting so much energy into the admin that the love for teaching dwindles. I am very lucky that my husband began his yoga journey with me, watching me heal and thrive after being so ill, so he is fully aware and bought into the power of the practices. Although he practices yoga, he has no interest in teaching. He has a business brain, he enjoys the tech side of running a business, and is extremely thorough at organisation and finances. If I had to, I would do it, but it means I would not have done the trainings I have, or have worked with as many students and clients as I have, and I would have made so many mistakes along the way. Having a business partner has allowed me the time to teach more group classes, offer trainings and see more 1:1 clients. It also allows me to maintain self-care. Yes, I have to cover classes, but Dan will always exhaust all other options of finding cover before I have to!
Self-care?
I have set times in the diary each week that are for me and no one else where I do the things that nourish my soul. If, for any reason, I have to cover a class or a client has to change, I will make sure that my self-care time gets another slot in the week. I was brought up on a farm, so being in nature and with animals is my medicine. I canicross (trail run) with my two dogs, we get muddy, wet, we skip, we frolic, it's so much fun. I train with my best pal at her physio centre, I do specifically-designed cardio, strength and conditioning. All this activity is balanced out with my own yoga practice, joining classes at Ministry of Yoga and being nourished by what I teach. Most of what I teach is therapeutic. When holding space and guiding students and clients, I am in the practice with them, experiencing it. I have always been good at having empathy but not getting attached to someone else's experience.
Also, consecration is a daily experience, offering the fruits of what I do to divine consciousness. It’s taken me a long time to do this authentically, but now, I have a sense of freedom and lightness that comes with it, giving me more space and resiliency in my everyday life. Yes, we can be drained by other people’s energy, but with practice we can all learn how to refill the battery continuously. For me, abdominal breathing and coherent breathing is my daily tool to fill my battery. No one knows I am always doing this, it's now a natural way to be.
Hardest lesson?
You cannot take to heart the comments or judgements of others, this applies to all realms of your life. Don’t waste your time ruminating over why someone hasn’t returned to class, or why they have commented on how you run your business. Yes, we want people to leave our classes and businesses brimming with happiness and feeling fully nourished by what we offer, but yoga is not for everyone, some people are just not ready, and that is okay. I was one of those people in my early 20s who did a class, and just didn't get it and didn’t want to get it. People will comment and critique, I’ve had people walk out of the class as it wasn’t what they wanted. When I first started out, it was traumatic having people think I wasn’t good enough, that what I taught was incorrect. I’d then spend so much time dissecting what I taught, what I said, what I did. In reality, 99% of the time it was wasted energy as I didn’t actually do anything wrong, it was just their opinion of it. As many of us know, that is just the ego, and over time we realise that when we offer something with authenticity, and without attachment, the external undulations won’t affect us as much.
Written and compiled by Claudia Brown (yogabyclaudia.com)
Om Magazine
First published in November 2009, OM Yoga magazine has become the most popular yoga title in the UK. Available from all major supermarkets, independents and newsstands across the UK. Also available on all digital platforms.
