Full-Time At Down Under

Making a living as a yoga teacher can be challenging. It's daunting, in fact. As an independent contractor there are many pitfalls and struggles that instructors face.

For example, a yoga instructor is most often forced to navigate a web of studios and schedules to piece together an income. They spend much of their time traveling or waiting for their next class. Additionally, they also lack the security and stability that comes with the full-time employment benefits that most Americans build their professional lives upon.

It is precisely for this reason that Down Under School of Yoga revolutionized the yoga industry by making full-time teaching a reality for many of our teachers. We provide a professional bedrock for teachers to build their practice upon.

The Down Under Model

What is it like to be a full-time yoga teacher at Down Under? Well, it’s a professional experience that sets a new standard for the yoga industry.

How so? 

Down Under is honored to be one of the only independent studios in this country to have a teacher-written employment agreement, a Teacher Leadership Council for accountability, and formal HR with multiple avenues for teacher feedback. 

Also, full-time teachers receive employee benefits that include matching retirement, sick days, maternity/paternity and unemployment benefits, and health care.

This level of commitment to our teachers ensures that they have the stability and structure to fully find their voice and express themselves, realizing their complete potential for making a living while having their practice flourish.  

Don’t take our word for it. We’ve reached out for comments from two of our most recent teachers to take the leap into becoming full-time yoga instructors at Down Under: Marco Vinci and Franny Diaz-Gilligan.

Time Management Benefits

Marco explained to us the time-management benefits he discovered by teaching full-time:

It's been a quite dramatic change from my previous lifestyle as a contractor for multiple yoga studios across the North Shore and Greater Boston Area. Leaving the freelance yoga gypsy lifestyle has me excited to spend more time both at home and in the studio. My old grind had me traveling a lot further and teaching less, essentially working more for less of the good stuff (work experience, community engagement, and monetary compensation). Working with Down Under, we were able to come up with a condensed schedule and achieve things I've struggled to find anywhere else: two full days off and a livable wage.

As you can see, Marco expresses how working full-time at one studio can maximize one’s time both in and out of the studio. There is less time spent traveling during his work days and he even can experience two full days off each week for the first time in his career.

Support During the Pandemic

The pandemic was a time where Down Under’s approach and commitment to our teachers really shone brightly. While most yoga schools laid off teachers en masse, Down Under kept every single teacher, including our full-time ones.  

Here is what Franny told us about the security she is found from Down Under’s active role in supporting its teachers during the pandemic:

I have courageously experienced the deepest sense of satisfaction through expressing my truth in my teaching. Down Under has given me the safety to give myself that space, trust, and love in teaching. I am aware that continuing to teach yoga throughout a pandemic is not attainable for all, so again, I am so very blessed to have this unreal support system.

The Future of Teaching Yoga

Ultimately, how a yoga teacher decides to make their living is a matter of personal preference. This is why at Down Under the choice for the level of commitment a teacher wishes to have with the studio is multilayered. The highest level of commitment is full-time and this is what we believe in the future of the yoga industry.

Also, people aren’t just one thing. A yoga teacher might also be adept at developing curriculum, marketing and social media, or strategic business planning. We’ve been lucky over the years to find people within our community that want to diversify their career and supplement their teaching schedule. Down Under provides management and education tracks. We’re proud of the teacher leadership council we’ve compiled and it’s your teacher that directs the mission and intention of our school.