If you’re wondering how to start teaching yoga or set up your first Yoga class this story might help…

The idea for our first yoga business came on a afternoon in Finsbury Park when my sister Aya and I were feeling really down and out.

We were both in our twenties, working as dancers, dance teachers and yoga instructors — a real mix of things — but struggling every month to pay rent on the dingy rooms we rented in house shares. We kept asking ourselves: what are we going to do? How are we going to live? This was not the plan we had envisioned for ourselves.

We loved Finsbury Park. We’d go there whenever we needed to feel better, just to be outside in nature together. And then one afternoon it hit us — wouldn’t it be incredible to teach yoga here, in the park?

This was before yoga was everywhere. Before multiple studios and teachers had sprung up across every neighbourhood in London. There was literally no yoga in the area yet. It was just before it all became fashionable, and we saw the gap.

We had our idea. Now we just had to make it happen.

The great eBay mat mission

We had literally no money, but we needed mats. We scoured eBay and, to our delight, found someone selling secondhand ones for a really great price. The only problem was they were in the middle of nowhere.

This was the pre-smartphone era. I think we had a Nokia or a Blackberry between us, and we had absolutely no idea how to use Google Maps — I’m not even sure we knew it existed. So we printed a paper map from an internet café and off we went — only to realise very quickly that we were completely lost.

We eventually asked some guys with a van which way to go, and they gave us a lift. (In hindsight, we were also incredibly naive and that was a little dangerous — do not recommend.)

When we finally arrived, we filled up our giant laundry bags with all the mats and set off home. Slowly walking miles to the station. Hauling everything through the London Underground. Eventually collapsing on the floor of Aya’s room in her flatshare. It was absolute torture. We were in real physical pain, sweating and exhausted.

But it was worth it. Because now we actually had mats. And that meant we could start.

Finding our first space

We hired our first ever venue at Finsbury Park athletics track. We had no idea what we were doing, but we crossed each hurdle as it came and improvised our way through everything.

We laid out the mats and — needing photos for our new website — we asked the caretaker, Rob, if he’d be our yoga model. Rob had never done yoga before in his life and was wearing jeans. We made it work.

Then came the flyers. We sat down at the computer to design them, feeling very professional, until we realised we didn’t even know how to centre the text on the page. We literally held a ruler up to the screen and pressed the space bar to get the picture in the middle. I’m not sure it was even straight.

We built our first website together and added all our class information — figuring it out as we went, as we did with everything. Then we met a guy who was using the gym at the track, who very kindly printed all our flyers for free. (I think he quite liked Aya.)

And then we went all out.

We flyered the entire area. We stuck up posters in cafes and libraries. We handed flyers to people in the park. We got in touch with every local community group we could find — Parkrun, Pram Attack, even the dog training school — and spread the word to their members. We really threw everything at it.

After a lot of consistent effort, we started to attract the most lovely local students to our classes.

That was almost 15 years ago. I still have that class today.

What we created in Finsbury Park was the seed of everything

We started with absolutely nothing — no money, no students, no experience of running a business. What we built in Finsbury Park was really the beginning of everything that came after.

One of the most magical things we learned, and experienced for real, was the power of taking an idea and actually following it through. Of creating something from nothing. The belief that gives you — that you really can do this — is absolutely invaluable. It’s something no one can teach you in a classroom. You have to live it.One of the most magical things we learned, and experienced for real, was the power of taking an idea and actually following it through. Of creating something from nothing. The belief that gives you — that you really can do this — is absolutely invaluable. It’s something no one can teach you in a classroom. You have to live it.

Two things I learned along the way

The first is practical: it is much easier to order mats online and get them delivered. Or simply ask your students to bring their own.

The second is more important: I never could have done any of it alone. We both had no clue at the beginning — but we figured it out together. When you have a close ally by your side, everything feels so much more possible.

Thinking about how to start teaching yoga?

Starting out as a yoga teacher can feel overwhelming. There’s so much to figure out — how to structure a class, how to find students, how to set up and run your own classes with no rulebook to follow.

When you train with me, you don’t have to figure any of it out alone. We take those first steps into teaching yoga and running a business together, as a group. You’ll have a whole room of allies. We hold hands and support each other all the way through.

I’ll be your biggest cheerleader, and I’ll share all the easier ways to do things — from every lesson I’ve learned along the way, including yes, how to buy yoga mats without destroying yourself in the process.

Hana Saotome has been teaching yoga for over 18 years and runs a BWY Level 4 yoga teacher training in London and online. She also supports Yoga Teachers in their next steps through her Yoga Mentorship. You can find all the details on BWY Yoga Teacher Training HERE and her Yoga Teachers Mentorship HERE. Feel free to get in touch, she would love to hear from you!