Are Yoga Teachers Underpaid?
Yogis can be so passionate about doing the right thing. Even if they haven’t nailed all the yamas and niyamas, most are down with the Golden Rule. Seems like #BeTheChange is as popular as#YogaEveryDamnDay. So, it is a total mystery to me that so many yoga studios don’t pay their people. The same person who is happy to sign a petition to increase the minimum wage doesn’t want to pay it.
The internets are full of laments and diatribes about how little money there is in the yoga biz. A disabled car, a rent increase, or an illness can put someone over the edge financially. Back in the day, a yogi could live comfortably traveling the circuit with a begging bowl. Today, anti-panhandling ordinances criminalize that game plan. Many end up launching sad crowd funding campaigns which result in more pity than cash.
There are so many reasons why instructors struggle. A preeminent reason is the tradition of performing labor for no money for a business which profits from that labor. Both parties can cloak it in spirituality, but it isn’t divine not to pay or receive a fair wage for services rendered. Any can chose to donate time and services, to give a gift or offering, but it has to be a conscious choice, where there is a choice.
Instructors and students work the desk, baby sit, clean the studio, handle paperwork and engage in social media in exchange for the chance to teach at a studio, or to attend free classes. It’s euphemistically called “karma yoga.” It’s definitely a bargain for the studio, and possibly worthwhile for some thrifty students, but it’s not a gift or a good deed. It’s a job. There is nothing wrong with bartering or in-kind trades, but they must be called what they are. Services which save the studios money should not be considered benevolence to the person doing the job.
An owner who gives one instructor a free class without paying the other is not giving anything; This is no different than having instructors teach a room full of Grouponers, teacher trainees, birthday class customers, and promotional winners without compensation. Those sweet teacher trainings help to keep the studio lights on, but what about the lights of the instructor whose class is full of trainees but doesn’t receive any of the tuition? Instructors can not easily reject nonpaying studio sponsored students if they want to be on the schedule. It’s cool to offer freebies, but even cooler to pay the instructor for every mat in the room.
Beyond instructors, studios save money by having the desk staffed and the place cleaned for free. It’s a faux feel good thing to believe the studio is doing an earnest yogi a solid by offering free classes. It isn’t a gift, the volunteer worker is performing necessary and beneficial labor. Moreover, people who need to work cannot afford to work for free. Ten hours of free work for free classes may necessitate another ten hours of wage work somewhere else. The volunteer is then working 20 hours to have the opportunity to take one or two free classes schedule permitting. Frugal people may benefit; poor people do not. It’s noble to reach out to under served populations, but having them mop the floors is not karma service.
Since many people can’t afford these free jobs, studios are likely losing potential paying students through these volunteer gigs. How reliable are they? A casual volunteer who knows she can’t make her free Monday night class is less likely to show up for her busy Saturday desk gig. A staffer with a paycheck is much more vested in the success of the studio. What’s in it for her? Not money. Not the class she can’t take.
I used to be a criminal defense attorney in private practice. I had clients in bad situations who had no chance for a just result without a lawyer. Typically, these situations were the result of poor choices, but sometimes people were in bad spots through no fault of their own. Regardless, I did not feel compelled to freely offer my services when a client told me they wouldn’t pay my fee because they had other (i.e. more important to them) bills to pay. It was common for potential clients to suggest I go to court without a retainer when their rent or car payment was due. This arrangement did nothing to pay for my rent or car, and there was no guaranty any work I did would be valued if it was not a priority to the client. Plus, I wasn’t at all responsible for their misfortunes. I did pro bono work, but I chose it.
I don’t run a studio, and I know many people are down with these practices. I also realize working in yoga is different than working in law or at Walmart or Exxon. Hopefully, everyone experiences many boons in addition to financial gain. Yet, I still believe the valuable owner should truly honor the valuable worker. #BeTheChange. Read Marynka Burns to keep the doors open with student fees, not employee wages. WWGD?
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