When no one Shows up

Picture this: You grab your keys, yoga mat, and journal and head out the door. You arrive to the

studio 30 minutes before your class and review the plan you wrote earlier in the week. You set

the studio and perfect the lighting. You log into MindBody and sit at the front desk ready and

excited to teach class. Minutes pass. You scroll Instagram. You take out your journal to write a

grocery list.

But no one comes.

If you’re a yoga teacher, you can probably relate to the scenario above. Maybe you feel a pang

in your stomach remembering times when you locked up way sooner than you anticipated

because your class was empty.

As a yoga teacher, how do you take care of yourself when no one shows up?

First, take a deep breath. Your worth as a teacher and a person is not determined by the size of

your class. Whether you have a class of twenty-five, two, or zero, you are a whole, worthy

person.

Second, ask yourself if there’s a way you could use that time in a way that would feel

nourishing. For me, if I teach a class that no one shows up for, I use that opportunity to practice

in a quiet studio. But, maybe for another it could feel really good to go to a coffee shop and

read. Or, maybe it would feel just as nourishing to go home and take a nap. The point is to fill

the time you had planned on filling with teaching in an intentional and fulfilling way.

Thirdly, come back to your why. Why are you teaching yoga, anyway? If you’re like me, you’re

teaching yoga because you want to share its life changing practices and path with others, and

because our hearts are built for sharing, that’s why it stings so much when no one shows up for

class. However, yoga wisdom reminds us that we are only ever promised the work, not the

reward. As teachers, then, we have to be willing to show up excited and willing to do the work.

Lastly, take some time to get curious. Is there a trusted mentor you can troubleshoot with? Was

this a one off or a consistent pattern? Depending on the situation you might seek out guidance

from your community or studio to ask if the time just isn’t a good fit or if the students would

respond better to a different style of yoga. Be willing to listen and seek out feedback from

trusted friends and mentors. Take everything in and then sit with it for a while. It will eventually

become clear what changes would feel good or if it would be best to simply let the class go in

order to create space for something new.

During seasonal shifts and holidays, it’s very, very common for class attendance to dip. Knowing

this doess’t quite take the sting out, but it does provide context. Teachers–especially new

teachers–need to take care of themselves and keep their spirits up even when attendance is

dipping because even though no one showed up to class, you can still show up for yourself.