131: How I Structure Private Yoga with Shannon Crow
This episode is all about something Shannon often gets asked – the nitty-gritty details of how to teach private yoga. It can feel intimidating, and you may not know where to start or how to structure a private yoga session with a student. Shannon dives into exactly how she handles her yoga sessions, from scheduling the 1:1 class to after the session ends.
Shannon covers a lot of ground. Starting off with scheduling, pricing, policies around booking, cancellation, payment, and rent, she also touches on waivers, health information and questions to ask to get to know your student better. Find out how Shannon creates a yoga flow on the fly for the person she is teaching, how she approaches space to do yoga, and makes sure to fit in the actual yoga (including Savasana!) within the session. 1:1 yoga is different from group classes, and Shannon explains how to be in discussion with your client while working with them, homework she assigns, and how she manages accountability and follow up.
This episode is jam-packed with lots of information and actionable tips – it was designed to help you dive right into teaching private yoga, if you have been thinking about it and just weren’t sure about the in’s and out’s.
Key Takeaways:
[6:38] This episode is all about the nitty-gritty details of teaching private yoga.
[7:35] When and how can someone schedule a session with you?
[9:40] What is your price? Shannon highlights some elements to consider when setting your price.
“I don’t want you to negotiate and earn less than your set hourly rate.” -Shannon Crow
[15:12] How does Shannon approach providing mats and props, and the amount of time she allows between appointments.
[19:12] Setting policies and rules is an important part of teaching private yoga. Shannon shares some of her tips around booking, cancellation and payment policies.
“Set your price and your policies first. Then set up how people book with you.” -Shannon Crow
[20:48] Rent – how much are you able to pay for rent?
[22:19] The next step is doing the intake after someone books with you. Shannon dives into waivers and health information.
[24:54] A lot of yoga teachers get stuck when it comes to asking their students questions. What are some questions you can ask to find out more about your student?
[29:16] If you are helping a student with a specific symptom or problem, what and how much information do you require ahead of time to help you prepare?
[32:06] Shannon creates the yoga flow for her private students on the fly. She explains how she goes about doing this with some real-life examples.
[35:36] Shannon shares what it means to hold space to do yoga.
“Imagine your ideal week. When would you ideally teach 1:1 yoga?” -Shannon Crow
[38:31] How can you be in discussion with your student during a 1:1 yoga session?
[40:19] Shannon gives her students homework!
[42:07] The last aspect of teaching private yoga is accountability and follow up.
Links:
- #SchedulicityCares
- The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 122: Productivity for Yoga Teachers with Amber De La Garza
- The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 105: Insurance for Yoga Teachers with Beth McVeigh
- Yoga Student Waiver
- Typeform
- The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 130: Make a Profit Teaching Private Yoga with Emily Sussell
- The Connected Yoga Teacher Episode 139: Grow Your Yoga Business via Email with Tarzan Kay
Gratitude to our Sponsor Schedulicity and Pelvic Health Professionals
I don’t know how to leave a review here but perhaps you can transfer this if it’s in the wrong place. Basically, I just want to thank you for your wonderful sharing of resources. I’m a yoga ND philosophy teacher and I can’t yet get to grips with he promoting side but you really help. I’ve written a book called Love is Green: compassion in response to the ecological emergency, Vernon Press, which is basically about yoga in the sense of union with love. Thanks again and I’ll do whatever I can to support you all while supporting the more-than-human-world, and me! Namaste 🙏 😊
First of all, i can’t rave about this podcast enough!
A few months ago i completed my yoga teacher training and during the midst of it i met someone very special. Once completing my training, i packed my things and moved back to Ontario to follow my heart and pursue yoga not only as a life style but as a career. Two weeks ago i spoke to a business consultant who guided me in the direction of teaching yoga privately instead of in a studio setting. At first, i thought he was crazy, but after listening to the last two podcasts i feel as though this is something to seriously consider! Thank you for your honesty, and always showing up for us listeners. Every week i look forward to hearing guest speakers share insightful, truthful, and personal stories.
Namaste 🙂
Katie, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback about the podcast. I love your story of adventure and how you heard some business advice, questioned it and now you are re-looking at it. Did you have a listen to the episode before and after this one as well? Lots of great tips if you are thinking that you want to teach private yoga.
Which episode is the one with Tarzan? Thanks so much for all of this! 🙂
Great question Jana – the episode with Tarzan isn’t out yet. I got excited and talked about it and forgot that it wouldn’t be published yet. I will post a link to it as soon as it is released!
Thank you for this episode it open my mind!
I am already a massage therapist and want to use yoga in my programm and you made me realize to approche a yoga session like a massage in a certain way!
Thank you so muche for you work Shannon, your podcast help me so much to figure out what to do with my ytt and make me move in my my freezing mode xD
That is so good to hear Laura, I am glad it helped you with your sessions and with moving forward. Thank you for letting me know and good luck!