- Social does one thing well for a local teacher: it reassures somebody who has already heard your name.
- That is a low bar and it does not require volume. The treadmill comes from using a reassurance channel for acquisition.
- Teachers under-post rather than over-post, and it is not laziness. It is discomfort about money and yoga sitting together.
- If you believe you have something that helps, somebody never finding out you exist is the worse outcome. That makes it closer to a duty than to self-promotion.
- Four things are worth saying. Post when there is one of them, not on a schedule.
We get asked what to post more than almost anything else. For me that is the second question, and answering it first is why so many end up on a treadmill they never chose.
What does social media actually do for a yoga teacher?
One thing, well. It reassures somebody who has already heard your name.
A friend mentioned you, or they saw a poster, or their sister goes on Tuesdays. Before turning up, they has a look. They wants to know you exist, that you are a real person, and that the room will not be frightening.
That is a low bar, and I’d say it does not require volume.
The treadmill comes from using a reassurance channel as an acquisition channel, then measuring the wrong thing and posting harder when the number does not move.
Why does marketing feel so uncomfortable?
There is a reason teachers under-post rather than over-post, and it is not laziness.
Most yoga teachers are uncomfortable with money and yoga sitting together, which turns into not treating the work as a business, and shows up worst of all in marketing. It feels like showing off. It feels like the opposite of why you started.
So here is how I would turn it round.
If you genuinely believe you have something that helps people — and you would not have trained for it otherwise — then I cannot think of anything worse than somebody who needed it never finding out you existed, because you felt awkward about mentioning it.
Put like that, it is closer to a duty than to self-promotion.
What should you actually post?
Four things. Nothing else.
- That the class exists. When, where, who it is for, how to turn up. Dull, and the most useful thing on your page.
- What actually happened in a class. Not a philosophy. What you worked on, what surprised you, what someone said afterwards.
- Something useful on its own. One idea they can use without coming to anything.
- Occasionally, who you are. The dog. The wet Tuesday. The reason you started.
Post when there is one of those. Not on a schedule.
What should you stop?
The daily posting. The reels made because everyone says reels. The quotes over sunsets — every teacher within twenty miles is posting the same one.
And checking the numbers. They measure reassurance, and reassurance does not appear as a like. It appears as somebody walking in.
Where this sits
YogaPros has been the professional body for yoga teachers since 2006, with over 10,000 members across 100+ countries.
*This article is general professional guidance. It is not a substitute for professional legal, tax, or insurance advice specific to your situation.*