Table of Contents
Introduction
I recently returned from a yoga retreat hosted by a friend of mine, in a bucket-list location. I attended as a student, with no responsibilities in terms of teaching, organizing airport shuttles, or any of the infinite amount of logistics that I know go into making a retreat happen. I had the opportunity to simply be a student in a new place, surrounded by many new people, which, as a yoga teacher, is rare.
I have many yoga teacher friends who host retreats all over the world, from the off-the-beaten-path islands of Greece to the idyllic French countryside. When I see these retreats posted my first thought is often, “Gosh, I wish I could go as a student, but…”
Attending a retreat can feel like a luxury. They’re often expensive, and then there’s the issue of having to arrange for class coverage on top of the missed income that comes from not teaching my scheduled class. More often than not, I read through that retreat email, then delete it, and tell myself, “one day soon, maybe.”
Can you relate? If this sounds like you, here are three reasons why you should consider saying “yes” to going on that retreat like I did, instead of waiting for one day:
1. Combat Burnout
Teaching yoga is a career many of us pursue out of love, not because it’s going to make us wealthy. With most teachers I know making between $25 and $75 dollars for a group class at a gym or studio, that often means teaching multiple classes a day in order to make a decent living.
Couple this with trekking across town in order to make it to the studio on-time, rushing from studio to studio, and all the hours spent planning and prepping, and it can feel like burnout is around the corner. There’s a lot of uncompensated time and effort that goes into teaching a sixty-minute class.
So often, too, as teachers, we’re the ones holding space for students on the days when the world is on fire, or something inexplicable happens. We show up, oftentimes when we may be weathering the same emotions and navigating the same stressful situations as our students.
Many of us wouldn’t trade it for the world…and it can still drain us of our energy.
I left for my friend's retreat in mid-September feeling exhausted and depleted. Between adding new classes to my schedule after the summer slowdown, running my business, and attending to the big life changes I’m experiencing right now, I didn’t have much left in my tank as a teacher.
On retreat, the hustle and bustle of my daily life fell away. I got to immerse myself in my yoga practice, and spend time between practices resting and reading. I returned home with a much fuller cup, and a renewed passion and energy for teaching, because I got the chance to step away for a few days.
There’s so much to be said for getting to take the seat of the student, for not having to hold space so intently for others as a teacher. Going on retreat is a way to nourish yourself, to allow yourself to be the one receiving.
2. Get Inspired
When I attend retreats as a student, I return home more inspired as a teacher, and this retreat experience was no different.
When I left for retreat, I felt stagnant in my own teaching. I noticed I was teaching a lot of the same poses and sequences over and over. The themes I was bringing to class felt more generic than usual. I was missing the creative spark, the integration of multiple elements that I usually bring to my teaching.
Going on this retreat allowed me to experience someone else’s teaching in my own body, day after day for multiple hours. I didn’t have to think about what was coming next, or how I’d get everyone from down dog to half moon.
Instead, I was being asked to pay attention only to my own body and breath in each posture. I got to experience someone else's cueing and sequencing, which meant I got to explore in new ways.
There are always “aha!” moments when I’m on retreat as a student, when the teacher sequences something in a way that allows me to access a pose with more ease than I have before, or when they cue a pose with more clarity than I could.
I easily get stuck in a formula when teaching. I teach a certain posture for a while and then move on to something else, or I teach the poses that feel good in my body, and generally avoid the ones that don’t (revolved triangle, anyone?).
Going on retreat snapped me out of that routine, got me out of my teaching head and back into my body, breath and heart, and found me coming home with new, creative ideas for my own class planning.
3. Connect in Community
One of my favorite elements of yoga is sangha, or community. Many of my closest friends are folks I’ve met through yoga trainings or workshops I’ve attended as a student over the years.
I’ve struggled to feel the same sense of community in studios where I teach than I do in studios where I’m a student only. When I teach at a studio, my time before class is spent setting up the space instead of chatting with the person who always rolls their mat out next to mine.
Yes, I have a community of other yoga teacher friends too, and our time together always brings me so much joy. But, it’s often hard to find time to connect with competing schedules, running businesses, navigating family life, and more.
Going on retreat allows me to be a part of a community as a student again. When you’re practicing yoga with the same people, many of whom you may never have crossed paths with otherwise, for a whole week, there’s an element of depth and connection that arises in a way that showing up as a teacher, with responsibilities in a studio setting, doesn’t begin to touch.
On this retreat, I got to spend time with friends new and old, talking about love, life, and everything in between. There were other yoga teachers on the retreat, and the relaxed time post-breakfast where we had nowhere to be allowed us to compare notes, talk shop, and give each other much needed guidance and support.
Community - sangha - is integral to a yoga practice, and retreats are one of the best ways I’ve found to cultivate community (and life-long friendships) long after the retreat is done.
Key Takeaways
If you’re a yoga teacher and you’ve been longing to go on retreat but it feels like it would be too much in some way, I hope this helps you reconsider. At the end of the day, a yoga retreat isn’t just an investment in yourself as a human, it’s an investment in yourself as a teacher, too. Consider it professional development, and then go book your spot!