Teaching Yoga in Tokyo: How to Get More Students

Article by Dylan Robertson.

You’ve invested years of practice and lots of money on your yoga teacher training to date. It’s only natural that you’d like to attract a good turn-out to your classes.

Even if you have a basic level of teaching experience (i.e. you’ve taught over 50 classes) and are fairly confident in your level of personal practice, you still have to win students over.

Just because you are put on the schedule of a busy and well-established studio, don’t expect students to suddenly flock to you. They have choices – lots of them here in Tokyo. So, it’s likely going to take you a while longer to advance beyond small classes. The ticket is turning first-timers into repeat visitors.

Here is advice that was given to me by my various mentors. They are all common sense, but some are easier said than done in reality. I certainly haven’t mastered them all, that’s for sure. They key is being consistent and doing your best. Put your heart into it.

1. Enjoy What You Teach

The enthusiasm that you feel for yoga needs to be conveyed to your students. This excitement will inspire your yoga students to return to your classes. Your focus should be on making each of your classes an unmissable activity each week. Your energy levels should be the same whether one student shows up or you get over 20.

2. Connect with Your Students

Create a welcoming environment and make your students feel comfortable. Nobody likes a teacher who runs through a script on auto-pilot or who is overly serious or strict. Lighten up and open up to your students. The key to growing your classes is connecting so strongly with the students who come once that they’ll return because they feel you have their interests at heart. You’ve got to care.

3. Ask for Feedback

At the end of class let your students know that you are available after class for comments, concerns or questions. If there are any glitches in your teaching style, then this might be a way to find out. Also get feedback from other yoga instructors who drop into your classes. Ask them to be brutally frank with you and thank them when they are.

4. Market Yourself

Think of marketing as allowing yourself to be found by new students and maintaining an open line of communication with your existing students. Just be honest about who you are, what you know and what you teach. There’s no need to spend any money on advertising, but you’ll need to invest some time and effort.

• Create a blog: just keep it simple so that people can find the information they need. I started out with a very simple blog made on Google’s Blogger platform. It’s free and you can get it started easily.

• Maintain a mailing list: this is the best way to keep your students up-to-date on your schedule. Use proper email marketing software so people can opt-out with one click. And, never ever spam people.

• Social Media: make it easy for people to connect with you and stay informed about your offerings in an easy to understand way. Mixi is still generally the most actively used by Japanese people, but international services such as Facebook and Twitter are rapidly gaining a following here.

• Post Classified Ads: Craigs List is always free, but is not so widely read in Japan as other countries. Other classified ads sites may require you to pay if they deem your ad and services offered to be commercial in nature.

• HelloYoga.com: We’ll give you free marketing via HelloYoga.com. Just contact us via info@helloyoga.com.

Marketing is a fine art and you’ll likely make mistakes as you go along. Either make the commitment to learn how to do it properly, or partner with someone who can take care of it for you.

5. Remind People

At the end of class, remind students about your next class or other times that you will be teaching. Better still, hand all students a simple flyer with your latest schedule, your blog address and email. Make it easy for them – don’t make them think – because busy Tokyo people have so many other options and commitments competing for their time.