The Top 3 Ways Full-Time Yoga Teachers Spend Their Time

When people think of full-time yoga teachers, they often imagine us teaching yoga for hours each day, like a 9-5 job. But in reality, teaching yoga full time looks nothing like a 40-hour workweek. I found myself teaching early mornings, evenings, and weekends—rarely with a consistent or “regular” schedule.

Without set working hours, I often felt like I was constantly working. So, I decided to track my hours to see where my time was going, and the results were surprising. 

Here are the top 3 areas I spent the most time teaching yoga full time: 

Marketing: 44%
The biggest chunk of my time—by far—was dedicated to marketing. Creating marketing plans, content, and consistent communication to promote my offerings took up nearly half of my time. If you’re teaching independently, marketing is crucial; no one will know about your classes, workshops, or retreats unless you spread the word. Being a full-time teacher also means you’re running a business, so marketing is key!

Teaching: 24%
Less than a quarter of my hours were actually spent teaching yoga. This was eye-opening! It really puts into perspective that teaching yoga full time involves so much more than the hours spent teaching. There are tons of things to manage behind the scenes, from scheduling to promoting and everything in between.

Commuting: 15%
Whether it’s traveling between studios, private sessions, or locations, commuting takes up a surprising amount of time as a full-time yoga teacher. If you teach three sessions a day all in different places you’ll end up commuting 4x in one day. Plus, you need to plan to arrive early for each one. Those minutes really add up! I also underestimated how exhausting it can be rushing from place to place. 

These percentages will shift depending on the season and business changes. But generally the top 3 are unlikely to change. This breakdown is a reminder that teaching yoga involves much more than just leading class after class.

If you’re curious, here’s the complete list of categories I tracked:

• Admin: Responding to emails, scheduling, client coordination, accounting, and other tasks to keep the business running.

• Commuting: Travel time to and from different locations, along with any early arrivals.

• Learning: Building new business skills and attending classes as a student.

• Marketing: Content creation, posting on social media, managing my website, marketing emails, and promotional tasks.

• Teaching: Actual time spent leading classes or working with clients.

• Teaching Prep: Planning sequences, designing offers, and creating playlists.

In the next episode of Full Time Flow, we’ll dive into the 5 mistakes to avoid as a full-time yoga teacher. Thanks for tuning in, and see you next time!