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july 2016yogajournal.com.au“I couldn’t charge as much as others
told me I was worth because, deep down,
I struggled with self-esteem,” she says.
“That day, I promised myself that I
wouldn’t spend my life stuck in my old
story,” says Nardini. She started getting
more mindful about how she thought about
money and how she was expending her
energy. She became much more strategic
about when and where she taught. She also
started charging $125 for private sessions.
As for all of the discomfort that surfaced
after making these shifts? She breathed into
it ... just like she did when she clasped her
arms around her front leg in Baddha
Trikonasana (Bound Triangle Pose).
It worked. In addition to charging a more
realistic price for those private classes,
Nardini wrote a book. She started teaching
online yoga classes sold through powhow.
com and also started running at-home
teacher trainings that she sells through
udemy.com. Nardini made $363,000
(US $275,000) last year and says she still
offers plenty of donation-based classes
online. (Check her website, sadienardini.
com, for further details and inspiration.)
Nardini took a crucial step when it
comes to developing a healthier, more
balanced relationship with money,
according to Brent Kessel, a dedicated
yogi and meditator who co-founded
Abacus Wealth Partners, one of
America’s top sustainable investing and
financial planning firms, and author of
the book It’s Not About the Money. She
brought her awareness to her finances and
set an intention to change, Kessel says.
“So many people blame money for most
of the ills of the world, and avoid looking at
their own relationship with their finances,
kind of like we avoid the asanas we find
most challenging,” Kessel says. “Yet money
has the power to be a profound spiritual
teacher – if we are willing to engage it with
the same consciousness and intention as we
do our traditional spiritual practices.”
How can something as uninspiring as a
credit-card statement or investment report
be as impactful as a great yoga teacher?
For starters, they can reveal some of our
patterns, says Kessel. Just as your beloved
yoga teacher might remind you you’re not
externally rotating your upper arms in Adho
Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog
Pose), facing your $2oo-a-month green juice
habit or your aversion to spending despite
having plenty of savings can help you spot
financial habits that aren’t serving you, he
says. “I think everyone behaves in a way
they believe will make them happy and
prevent suffering, which is innocent and
even noble,” says Kessel. “But it’s only when
we question why we’re behaving that way
and what kind of pain we’re hoping to avoid
that we get a different result.”
Yogis are in a unique position to do this
kind of internal digging around money
issues. “Those of us who practice yoga are
continuously increasing our capacity to
endure uncomfortable physical feeling-
states, and the same can be applied to
emotional states,” explains Kessel.
Remember that time you sat on your heels
with your toes tucked under for several
minutes? Your body did something your
brain probably told you that you couldn’t
endure. “You can apply this same sort of1 Connect to your personal ‘why’.
Identify the reason you became a yoga
teacher in the first place, says Justin Michael
Williams, a marketing expert and co-founder
of the Business of Yoga workshops, who
has advised Sianna Sherman, Ashley Turner,
and many more successful teachers. The
‘why’ is the soil from which your business
model and all of your offerings should
grow. “It can be tempting to do a million
things that have monetary potential,” he
says. But reflecting on the reason you
became a yoga teacher can help you know
which opportunities to say yes to, so you
can work smarter, not harder.
2 Find your funnel. You could teach 20
public classes a week and still not be ableto pay your rent. Or, you could ‘funnel’
your students into signature programs –
things like workshops, retreats, and teacher
trainings – that are higher priced, says
Karen Mozes, Williams’ Business of Yoga
co-founder. “This is the secret weapon for a
teacher’s financial freedom.”
3 Make a list of comparable services.
Erika Veley, a former marketing executive and
founder of Daily Bliss Yoga in Laguna Beach,
California, understands how tough it can be
to charge top dollar for your services. Her
advice: Research the going rates for anyone
offering similar services in your area, such as
therapists and bodyworkers, then adjust your
prices accordingly. This can ease some of the
fear around asking for what you’re worth.4 Set business goals.Every successful
business sets benchmarks, which are
often financial, says Williams. How
much do you need to make to break
even or to see a profit? Then, do periodic
check-ins and make adjustments if
you’re not well on your way to meeting
those goals.
5 Get paid up front. It may sound trivial,
but asking for payment before you
provide your services – whether it’s a
group class, private lesson, or retreat –
is just a good practice, says Veley.
“Odds are, people are going to walk
out of class feeling seriously blissed out,
and that’s when they’ll forget to pay,”
she says.SMART WAYS TO
MAKE A YOGA LIVING
5
fierceness when your old stories and
patterns come up,” he says.
There’s also a very practical reason to
stop overlooking or avoiding your finances,
says Claire Kinsella Holtje, who worked as
a Wall Street broker for 15 years before
becoming a yoga and meditation teacher.
(Today, she’s a money coach who runs
workshops on how financial management
and the chakras relate.)
“Getting more organised when it comes
to your money is one of the most profound
ways to get more organised on an inner
level as well,” she says. It can quiet some of
that citta vrtti – or mind chatter – that can
pop up when you’re trying to meditate, and
it can help you put an end to old, unhelpful
mantras that you repeat unconsciously.
“Think of it this way: As far as I know,
nobody’s going to attain samadhi (or a state
of union with the divine) if they’re worried
about their finances,” says Holtje.
Of course, examining your patterns
around money and then potentially
changing them isn’t always easy. To help
you do just that, take a look at Kessel’s eight
specific money ‘personalities’ on page 74.
Naming the ones that resonate with you can
help you identify your financial tendencies
and habits, figure out where they’re
distorted, and discover ways to find more
balance. Once you pinpoint your patterns,
you can start a meditation and asana
practice to help you assess – and transform- your relationship with money.
Meghan Rabbitt is a senior editor at
Yoga Journal.If you’re a yoga teacher or studio owner trying to reconcile your
love of yoga with good business practices, here’s inspiration
from the pros to help you take your brand to the next level.
(PS: These tips work for most businesses.)