Both seasoned yoga teachers as well as those who recently finished an in person or online 200-hour yoga teacher training, will, at one point or another write a yoga teacher resume.
To get a yoga teaching position at a studio, gym, or other space where you’d like to share yoga in person or online, you must first apply.
Even if you’re an absolute newbie and feel like you have nothing to write, in this article we hope to share some of the best practices for writing your yoga teacher resume to showcase your training, skills, and relevant experience with honesty and to promote yourself and your teaching.
Continue reading to find out:
- Why Do You Need a Yoga Teacher Resume?
- How To Write Your Yoga Teacher Resume: 6 Sections To Include
- Yoga Teacher Resume Extras: Pictures
- Yoga Teacher Resume Extras: Videos and Auditions
Why Do You Need a Yoga Teacher Resume?
There are many people that take a yoga teacher training (YTT) with the sole intention to grow their practice, learn, and dive deeper into what yoga truly is.
If you do not intend to teach yoga in the traditional sense, this article may not be that relevant to you, although you may still gain some knowledge!
However, if you’ve finished your 200-hour teacher training, or you’re about to, and you’re starting to ruminate on how you can be of service in your community, having a yoga teacher resume is indispensable.
Finding a yoga instructor job can take some time and having a resume dedicated just to applying for yoga jobs can make the process a lot smoother.
How To Write Your Yoga Teacher Resume: 6 Essential Sections To Include
There are a few sections you should add to your yoga teacher resume besides the traditional sections of name, address, contact info, and work experience.
In your yoga teacher resume you’ll want to also add the following sections:
1# Lineage Acknowledgement
No matter where you trained or with whom, the style or styles of yoga you practice originated somewhere. Make sure you acknowledge the lineage that your yoga school, your mentors, and you come from and learned from.
2# Education and Training
In this section of your resume, you will add your 200-hour yoga teacher training information.
You can add the teachers you’ve studied with, the school of yoga you’ve attended, and the styles of yoga that you’ve studied and practiced.If you’ve also taken your 300-hour yoga teacher training, add it to this portion of your resume.
You can also add the 300-hour YTT here if you’re currently in the middle of it, letting the yoga studio know that you’re serious about learning and growth.
This will give whoever is revising your resume a broad picture of what you practice and teach and how you may fit in their community.
Feel free to also add any other formal education you’ve received like Associate and Bachelor degrees, as well as any other certifications you may hold, like CPR/AED.
3# Teaching Experience
This is where you may not have much to say if you’re a new teacher.
If you’ve been teaching for a while, in this section you’ll add the studios and spaces where you teach weekly classes, any trainings or workshops that you assist in or teach, as well as other collaborations you’ve made with associations, companies, etc.
If you’re a new teacher, perhaps you’ve been teaching a few free classes at the local park or to friends to get experience, write that down!
And if you haven’t done that yet, maybe this is your sign to start to put yourself out there, and teach a few community classes.
Teachers with the YACEP status (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider) can also write it down in this section, and make sure to mention any trainings and courses that they lead.
4# Other Related Experience
There may be jobs that you’ve done in the past and positions you’ve held, even volunteering activities that you’ve done, that are in one way or another relevant to teaching yoga.
Be creative and consider what skills may have been a strength of yours at a past position that can be of benefit to the community.
- Organizational
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Planning
- Marketing
- Management
- Technology
- Social Media
Teaching kindergarten for 10 years, for example, is relevant to put in your yoga teacher resume as well, since it indicates that you are most likely a kind, empathetic, patient human being.
Maybe you managed a team or small business for a few years, which can also imply a certain skillset, so make sure that you add it to this section of your resume.
5# Continuing Education
If your training is Yoga Alliance compliant and you decide to register with this global organization, you’ll have to take a certain amount of CEU’s (continuing education units) every few years.
If you’re not Yoga Alliance certified, you most likely still attend workshops, webinars, courses, and retreats to deepen your own yoga journey and continue to gain knowledge to support your students.
This will give whoever is revising your resume a broad picture of what you practice and teach and how you may fit in their community.
6# References
Having a mentor, yoga teacher, or colleague have your back when you apply for a yoga teaching job, can be pretty great.
Having a former or current boss you trust, a mentor that would vouch for your skills, or even a private student that would praise you to the moon and back, ask them if you can add them as a reference.
Keep it to two or three, as different as possible from each other, and that should suffice unless you’re asked for more.
Tips to Enhance Your Yoga Teacher Resume
You can write your resume however you would like, but we highly encourage you to first research the yoga space you’re wanting to teach at, so that you can see if your teaching style, your training, and your philosophy and values align.
Take some time to sit down with a pen and paper, and take align yourself. Write down and answer, as honestly as possible, the following questions:
- Why do I want to teach yoga at this particular studio/gym/space?
- What do I like about the studio culture?
- What is it that I am intending to bring to this community?
- How do I believe that I can benefit?
You can utilize these points to compose a mindful and coherent cover letter or email to attach to your resume if you’d like.
You may choose to write your resume once and send it to all the gyms, studios, and community centers you’re interested in teaching at, looking exactly the same, and that’s a valid strategy.
Yet it may be more functional to create a template that you can slightly modify to fit each job opening or opportunity better.
In that way, you highlight the experience, training, and skills that best align with that position or studio culture.
Yoga Teacher Resume Extras: Bios and Pictures
Some studios and yoga spaces, especially those with a social media presence, may ask that you provide them with a bio (often around 200 words) as well as a few high-quality pictures; often a headshot and a couple of yoga-style shots.
Consider having a friend take a few photos for you, or hire a professional photographer if you have the budget. You may want to use them for your yoga teacher website or your own social media!
In some studios, they host periodical photoshoots with all the teachers, a fun activity that also provides you with professional shots you can use afterward.
Yoga Teacher Resume Extras: Videos and Auditions
All the yoga studios and gyms may have individual hiring practices and processes.
Some places will require you to either see a video of you teaching (if you already have a YouTube channel it may facilitate this process) or they may require that you film a particular class style following guidelines and share it with them.
Other spaces may invite you to audition live, in the studio.
Conclusion
The tips shared in this article are applicable to both inquire to teach at in person as well as online spaces.
Having a complete yoga teacher resume that illustrates who you are as a teacher as well as your education and skills can make a difference between being hired at your favorite studio, or being asked to reapply when you have more experience.
Whether you get hired right away or it takes a little bit of trial an error, consider every yoga teacher resume submission like an act of bravery and putting yourself out there.
Choose to take any turndown as an opportunity to gather feedback, and learn more about who you are as a person and as a yoga teacher.
With patience and an open mind, we hope that you find the places that align with how you want to teach yoga and engage in the community.
If you’d like to learn more about how to become a yoga teacher, read this piece.
