How to Find Your Yoga Niche & Why to Pick a Specialty!

By Robyn Parets, Founder of Pretzel Kids 

Got a yoga niche? Do you even know what that means? 

Well, you’re in luck. We’re here to tell you what a yoga niche is and why you need one if you’re a yoga instructor. 

For starters, a yoga niche is essentially a yoga specialty. Basically, a niche gives you a way to set yourself apart in the crowded yoga space – a way to specialize and be an expert in a specific type of yoga.

When you discover your niche as a yoga teacher, you can effectively focus on serving an ideal student base or age group. You can also target the exact type of classes you teach to the right students. Read on to learn more about How to Find Your Yoga Niche & Why to Pick a Specialty!

Why Yoga Teachers Need Their Own Niche

According to the Yoga Alliance/Yoga Journal 2016 Yoga in America study, there are two people interested in becoming a yoga teacher for every one actual teacher. And, there are two people in teacher training for every active yoga teacher!

Yikes. That’s a lot of yoga teachers! 

The yoga market is highly competitive

It’s a competitive landscape out there, and things are heating up even more since the pandemic started.

You can’t overlook this: During COVID-19, tons of online 200-hour TT programs have graduated new yoga teachers. Plus, it’s hard to open a yoga studio, and we can’t forget this – yoga studios are shutting down and may never reopen.

These factors have led to fewer yoga teaching opportunities – and more teachers! This has forced many yoga instructors to move online, meaning there are a flood of online classes. 

If you’re thinking: I have a booking system and I’m ready to teach vinyasa yoga online, well, think again. Thousands of other yoga teachers are thinking the same exact thing!

You need to stand out. You need a niche.

With a yoga specialty, you can market directly to your strengths

When you figure out how to discover your niche as a yoga teacher, you’ll essentially be marketing to your strengths. 

For example, if you’re an athlete, why not teach yoga for athletes? This is what you know and love, right? Maybe you even had a sports injury and yoga helped you heal. Now you can teach from that place of personal knowledge. 

You will attract clients who want your specific product

Here’s the thing: If you teach what you love, you’re more likely to attract like-minded yoga students.

For example, if you’re a mom or a school teacher, maybe you’ll want to focus on teaching yoga to homeschoolers. Now this will certainly differentiate you from other kids yoga teachers in your community!

How to Discover Your Niche as a Yoga Teacher

If you’re struggling with finding your niche as a yoga teacher, you may need to try some things out when picking a specialty. Here are some yoga sub-niches to help you excel at your yoga side hustle.

• Yin Yoga or Hot Yoga. These are yoga styles that you may want to specialize in.
• Yoga for seniors, yoga for preschoolers, toddler yoga, tween yoga, yoga for teens, adaptive yoga, and yoga for children. These are all specialty age groups and yoga for kids, in particular, is now an in-demand niche! 
• Yoga for athletes, yoga for runners, yoga for dancers – these are niches that cater to different interest groups. 

Try different approaches to find your yoga specialization

Still struggling? Here are some more suggestions for finding your niche as a yoga teacher:

• Pick a class style you enjoy, like restorative yoga or children’s yoga. 
• Who is your yoga mentor? Sometimes it’s hard to figure things out on your own, so seek help from a yoga mentor or yoga community. 
• What makes you feel most centered? You may have to spend some time in self-reflection to settle on your yoga niche. To begin, get quiet and spend some time meditating. Notice what comes up for you. Then, grab your journal and start writing things down! 
• Try teaching yoga outdoors, at parks, and on beaches. You don’t have to open a yoga studio or even set up online yoga classes to try out yoga niche ideas. Just take it outside! Find space outdoors, gather some friends and teach yoga. 

What is your ideal yoga niche?

If no particular ‘niche’ jumps out at you, you may need to do a deep dive and ask yourself: What do I love most about practicing yoga? 

For example, do you love helping people? Do you love the camaraderie in a yoga studio?

Figure out what your true passion is and why you teach. Here are four questions to ask yourself: 

1. What type of yoga is your passion?

 Zero in on your favorite type of yoga. Do you love kids yoga, slow flow yoga, Ashtanga yoga? For example, if you’re a mom and you love doing yoga poses for kids, well then, maybe you want to become a kids yoga teacher!

2. Who do you feel passionate towards helping?

If you want to help children feel less stressed, get fit and learn yoga poses, you might be destined to teach kids yoga. If you’re passionate about helping aging seniors, then teaching chair yoga to an older population might be your calling.

3. What are your particular strengths?

By focusing on a particular niche that you can relate to – like Yoga for Dancers if you happen to be a dancer – you’ll connect with students who appreciate you for teaching what they need. These students, in turn, will recommend you as a yoga teacher, and before you know it, you may be teaching several classes for dancers. 

4. Have you uncovered your authentic self?

Regardless of what yoga niche you choose, remember to keep it authentic. 

Check in with yourself after you teach and reflect on how you feel. Are you invigorated? Are the students excited for your next class? If your classes reflect YOU, this might be a tell-tale sign that you’ve found the ideal yoga specialty.

Who is your target audience and ideal client for yoga?

Finding a yoga niche is an important step to earning more money as a yoga teacher. 

When you know how to target a specific audience and ideal students (for example, runners or homeschoolers), you’ll be able to narrow in on your marketing efforts and set yourself apart.

If you’re fresh out of yoga teacher training, you might be thinking: I want to teach yoga to everyone. While this may be noble, teaching to everyone may mean you teach no one. No students equal no money. 

As we stated above, the field is packed with yoga teachers – teaching the same type of classes. Yet, by establishing a niche, you may be the only game in town teaching a particular type of class – and therefore you’re more likely to get students to enroll.

There’s still another way to earn more money while carving out your niche: Seek community support.

Community may come in the way of a yoga studio where you can teach your specialty classes, either online or in-person. Or, you can also join a community of yoga teachers in your same exact niche. 

Pretzel Kids yoga, for example, has a branded membership community offering support and resources; a web platform to manage and get direct enrollment in your classes; social media and promotional support; ongoing teacher training classes; and even direct job placements online, in schools and in studios. As a Pretzel Kids member teacher you can even use the Pretzel Kids name and logos to gain instant brand recognition for your kids yoga classes!

Choose Your Yoga Path

Discovering your ideal niche as a yoga teacher is a uniquely personal part of your own journey. 

So, relax, breathe, and truly explore your passion for yoga. If you truly love what you do and focus on your target audience, the students will come! You’ve got this ?