A Comparison of the Jobs of Yoga Teacher and Personal Trainer

Yoga Teacher

To make a liveable income, he must teach 20+ classes per week for $25-50 per class, do private lessons for $50-150, and offer workshops for $25+ per head. At a higher level experience, he can offer retreats for $300+ per person and yoga teacher trainings for $2500+ per person.

Because it is rare that he can have several classes in a row or even at the same studio, he will have to drive between several locations throughout the work day. The work hours are generally morning, lunchtime, and evening with gaps in between.

Yoga Alliance is a registrar not a licensing body. Because yoga teacher trainings (YTT) are a common way for studios to earn a profit, YTT are common and  thus yoga teachers are very common.

Full-time yoga teachers are rare because of the downward pressure on wages due to a large number of adequately skilled potential employees. Most yoga teachers are part-time and supported through some other means.

Personal Trainer

To make a liveable income, he must perform 20+ personal training sessions per week for $15-50 of pay per session. Group classes, workshops, and special events are means to earn additional income.

Most gyms will prefer that the personal trainer be exclusive to that location, he will work in one location during his work week. The work hours are similar to a yoga teacher in that early mornings, lunchtime, and evenings are the work hours. This might mean 13 hour shifts or working a few hours in the morning and a few at night.

There are many certifying organizations for personal training, each with a respective price point, reputation, and level of difficulty to obtain. A personal training certification is a certification, unlike a Yoga Alliance registration, and so personal training is viewed a more legitimate vocation. Also, there are a many more specialized certifications that one can obtain within the field of personal training (strength and conditioning coach, various exercise modalities) Nonetheless, the barrier to entry into personal training remains relatively low. It is more common to be a full-time personal trainer than a full-time yoga teacher.

Having worked in both roles and currently as a full-time personal trainer, it is my preference to be a personal trainer because of the opportunity to work in one location each day rather than several. Also, the education that I have received as a personal trainer, both formal and casual, has made me a better skilled fitness professional.

If you’re interested in becoming a personal trainer, then I suggest enrolling in Life Time Academy, which provides a mix of online and in-person instruction plus the opportunity to intern at a fitness club. The next semester begins this week.

https://www.lifetimeacademy.edu/

An Introduction to Meditation

Meditation is a general term that describes a broad category of practices for the development of mental attention. Just as physical exercise is aimed at developing a certain quality, such as strength in weightlifting and endurance in running, so do meditation techniques create and enhance certain abilities of the mind. These are most common categories of meditation techniques:

Relaxation The ability to relax at will, whether this be in the body or in the mind.

Concentration The ability to hold one's attention on an object without distraction, usually to the exclusion of all other objects.

Mindfulness The ability to observe an object or multiple objects without fixation, while often being aware of all sensory input and mental states.

Visualization The ability to creatively imagine an object.

Energetic The ability to sense and manipulate subtle energies, such as a prana or chi.

Emotional The ability to change one's emotional state at will.

Many techniques combine multiple abilities in order to accomplish their purpose. For example, mindfulness meditation requires that you be relaxed and hold a steady attention in order to observe without fixation. I find that it is significantly easier for a person to meditate after having performed the Waterfall Exercise, a cleaning technique for the subtle body.

Sensation-Based Meditation

Inspired by my experience of the teachings of Gregori Gurdjieff, I have meditated on sensation for two decades. The results of this practice is a high degree of integration of consciousness with the body. My practice of martial arts (formerly) and yoga (currently) have been greatly improved by this bodily awareness. I operate the neuromuscular machinery with great facility. I am also able to mentally direct blood flow and create or dispel tension. These substantial results have given me a bias against purely mental or imaginary meditation practices. Many people seem out of touch with their bodies due to a heavy emphasis on the visual sense and the consumption of digital media. I'd rather a person spend time getting to know their body than delve into imaginary spaces.

I work in a gym that has over 170,000 square feet of space dedicated to the development of the physical body. Where is our gymnasium for mental training?