Times have been tough in 2020 but it is still possible to thrive as a yoga teacher!

As business owners, we’re used to dealing with our fair share of uncertainty, challenges and ups and downs. It’s all part of taking an idea and turning it into a successful reality. 

How we navigate uncertainty and challenges can change everything. It determines whether we sink or whether we thrive. How can you make sure you not only survive but THRIVE?

How can you make sure that no matter what you face, you’ll always be able to come out the other side with your dreams, vision and mission to live your best life and build a successful business?

In this post, you will learn some simple, but powerful ways to stay motivated and inspired to take action in the toughest of times in 6 steps. You will also learn how to find opportunities and solutions in uncertainty and how to use this time to grow and develop yourself.

This post will also cover what changes you might need to make, how you can be of service right now and what you can do to leverage the internet and go digital.

We are currently facing a very unique challenge

2020 has brought us a worldwide pandemic which has turned out lives upside down for most of this year. In the UK and in many other places around the world we are facing a second wave and more lockdowns and restrictions.

No one has ever experienced anything like this before and it is wreaking havoc on so many businesses who cannot open as usual. Some are at a complete standstill and unable to trade.

The pandemic is causing fear, stress and anxiety to millions, if not billions, of people around the world.

Those kinds of emotions are not going to be serving us right now. If we want to thrive we need to begin by doing all we can to empower ourselves to feel hopeful and positive about what we can do in spite of what is going on.

The tips in this post on how to thrive are simple concepts but they’re POWERFUL.

They have the ability to help you thrive, no matter how impossible things feel.

Step 1 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Stay motivated and positive

We can’t control what happens to us but we can decide how we respond, this is what makes all the difference. If we want to thrive, we have to choose to respond in the most empowering way possible.

It is really important to get your mindset right during tough times. 

Meditation

One of the most powerful things you can do for your mindset is to spend time meditating, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. Giving yourself permission to sit still and focus on your breath will connect you with a sense of peace. 

It will also clear your mind from the chatter and open you up for ideas to flow. This will help you feel better and more inspired which will have a ripple effect across your life.

Journalling

Straight after you meditate is the best time to journal. Use this time to tune in with yourself and with your feelings. Become aware of how you’re feeling right now.

Journal what challenges and problems you are facing right now in your business and in your life. Brainstorm ideas and solutions for moving forward past these challenges.

What pops into your mind? Allow your intuition to guide you. Connect and tune in with yourself to create awareness around how you feel.

Gaining awareness around how you’re feeling and why on a daily basis will help you do something about it and start making positive changes.

If you don’t take the time to journal regularly, you can go for days without paying attention to what is going on internally. Journaling regularly means that if you’re feeling low, you can catch it and proactively work on getting yourself back to a more positive frame of mind. 

Find ways to get inspired!

Every day take the time to do something that will make you feel inspired and empowered. We need to do all we can to feel good during tough times, so making this an intentional and regular practice is important.

Either watch an inspiring video on YouTube or listen to an uplifting podcast and just watch your energy change. You will start to feel hopeful, motivated and inspired which can create a drive in you to be more productive, to move forward and to take action!

So are you willing to take time every day to do things which will make you feel inspired?

Step 2 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Seek opportunities to thrive

When times are tough we have to get creative and think outside the box to come up with ideas and solutions to our problems. There are often a lot more opportunities to grow, develop and thrive that we realised, all we have to do is look for them.

What ways can you be of service to others?

This is an amazing question to ask yourself right now as you begin to get your ideas flowing. How can you help others? What could you do?

Get your thinking cap and, grab a pen and paper right now and brainstorm 10 ways you could help others right now. It could be anything from sharing your expertise to creating something to offer.

Make some changes

When we’re going through challenging times there are often changes we can make so we can better adapt to the situation. Think about changes you could make in your business that could help. This could be about connecting on a deeper level with your audience, better serving your audience or even making internal changes.

Here are a few examples of changes you could make in your business:

• Show up more than ever on online to be of service
• Create relevant content to help others through this situation
• Change up classes to be a better match for the current climate

Open up and get your ideas flowing!

Step 3 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Go digital

This pandemic has sadly brought many offline businesses to a standstill or seriously reduced how they can trade. Online businesses have been less impacted which means this is giving you a golden opportunity to go digital!

If your business was previously mostly offline, is there anything you could do digitally to support your business right now?

Have you already got a digital business, are there any other online offerings you could create to be more of service to your audience right now?

If you don’t offer any digital products or services yet, can you come up with any ideas that could work well for you?

Here are 10 different digital offers to get your ideas flowing:

1. Host live online classes
2. Create an online course
3. Do 1-1 coaching
4. Create digital printables
5. Create a mastermind or group coaching program
6. Build a membership or online community
7. Sell products online instead of offline eg. Etsy
8. Create digital products eg. audio recording or ebooks 
9. Offer your services online
10. Become an affiliate for other products and services

You don’t have to do all of these ideas or even any of them! This is about laying the options out in front of you so that you can see what’s possible for you.

There are lots of opportunities out there. While you might feel like now is not the time to be selling. Now is definitely the time to be selling! The world needs you, the economy needs you and your community needs you.

Step 4 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Work on your business

You might find that now is not the right time for you to make huge changes in your business by creating new digital products and services. This is, however, the right time for working ON your business and ironing out important things you may have been putting off.

Perhaps you’ve been meaning to work on your systems and processes, or perhaps you’ve been meaning to start a podcast. Use this time to work on things you’ve not been giving yourself the time or permission to work on.

Grab that pen and paper and take some time to think of 10 ways you could work ON your business right now.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Revamp your website
2. Give your branding a makeover
3. Focus on building your social media following
4. Work on building your email list
5. Organise or create your systems and processes
6. Work on your vision and new strategies
7. Improve your copy and messaging
8. Gather up case studies and testimonials
9. Create and schedule loads of new content
10. Improve existing products or services

Now have a think about what you could work on in your business that would be hugely beneficial!

Step 5 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Develop your skillset and expand your knowledge

Another amazing way to spend your time right now is to learn new things. You probably have online courses you bought which you’ve never started… Why not use this extra time now to learn those things you have been wanting to learn?

Are there any courses or masterclasses you’ve been wanting to dive into? What areas of your business have you been wanting to get better at? Are there any new skills you’ve been wanting to develop? 

Now is an amazing time to do all of these things! Think about 10 things you would love to learn right now and schedule them into your calendar and make it happen.

There is an abundance of opportunities and solutions out there for all of us, we just have to open ourselves up to seeing them. Then we need to take action on them.  

When we do, we’ll thrive!

The worst thing we can do is to stay stuck in negativity and anxiety by not taking any action.

Open yourself up, explore what’s possible and lean into it.

Step 6 to thrive as a yoga teacher: Create a game plan to thrive

In times of uncertainty, it’s easy to get so caught up in everything that we forget to focus on the things that matter.

That’s why you need a solid game plan to keep you focused.

One way to get focused and to stay focused is to create challenges for yourself. This means creating a mission and going ALL IN to accomplish it. This will give you an extra level of accountability to reach your goals and fulfill your desires.

Whenever you’re struggling, creating a challenge for yourself is a really powerful thing to do!

Your challenge could be to connect more deeply with your audience, or to create more visibility, or to make more money or to achieve a big goal.

Having a very specific focus and committing to daily action is powerful!

Join our private Facebook community today! 

At Digital Yoga Academy we are passionate about helping yoga teachers overcome these fears and give them the strategies, tools and support they need to build successful online yoga businesses!

The Digital Yoga Academy Facebook group is a community of thousands of yoga teachers all over the world. 

There are weekly live trainings with Kelly McHugh, our founder & CEO, business talks with inspiring yoga teachers, daily educational content and loads of support.

Yet to get your classes online?

Discover the easy steps to take your classes online in this video training.

>>> Video training: How to thrive as a Yogipreneur in tough times

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