Teaching Meditation as a Yoga Instructor

Yoga instructors can also guide and teach meditation. Meditation is a crucial aspect of traditional yoga, but not one that all modern practitioners embrace. Learn more about what it means to instruct students in meditation and how to do it. 

About Meditation Practice and Yoga

Meditation is a group of practices from many cultures and religions that uses specific strategies to focus the mind, hone awareness, and achieve a clear, clam, and stable state in the mind and body. 

Meditation is one of the eight limbs of traditional yoga. Called dhyana, it is a state of consciousness that results from concentration and leads to enlightenment. 

Meditation is a great addition to a yoga practice. It can relieve stress and tension, clear the mind, boost the mood, and even improve physical health by lowering blood pressure and improving sleep. Some popular styles of yoga anyone can do include: 

• Mindfulness meditation, paying attention to senses, thoughts, and feelings as they arise but without passing judgment on them

• Object-based meditation, focusing awareness on one sensation or a physical or imagined object

• Mantra meditation, chanting a phrase, word, or sound

• Body scan meditation, focusing awareness on each part of the body from head to toe

• Moving meditation, meditating while walking or doing another activity, like tai chi or yoga

• Loving-kindness meditation, directing attention to compassion and kindness for oneself and others

Check out this post about introducing fitness students to mindfulness principles and strategies. 

Requirements for Teaching Meditation

There are no specific requirements for being a meditation teacher. You do not need a particular certificate or license. The most important qualification for successfully teaching others to meditate is to have your own experience with the practice. 

If you want to teach meditation to your yoga students, it’s important to gain personal experience meditating. Practice meditation regularly and try different types so you can guide students through various techniques as they look for a style that works best for them. 

You will learn the fundamentals of meditation and how to teach it or guide sessions in your yoga instructor certification course. This just touches the surface. If you want to go beyond the few minutes of meditation at the end of a yoga class, do your research, learn more about meditation, and deepen your own practice. 

It’s particularly helpful to learn about the traditional role of meditation in yoga. You might even want to find a more experienced yoga meditator to serve as a mentor. 

Teaching vs. Guiding Meditation

As you explore the possibility of teaching meditation to others, it’s important to recognize the difference between teaching and guiding. The majority of meditation content you’ll find online or in apps is guided meditation rather than instruction. 

In a guided meditation, the guide reads or speaks scripted instructions to the audience. It is a guide through a meditative, mindful, or awareness experience, but it does not teach someone how to cultivate a meditation practice. 

Someone who teaches meditation takes students through a step-by-step process of learning how to meditate, not just in one session, but as a regular practice. A teacher explains the philosophies and principles of meditation so the students can practice on their own, without direct guidance. 

There is nothing wrong with only guiding meditation sessions as part of your yoga instruction. If you want to dive deeper with students, consider how being a meditation teacher would be different and what it would take. 

Can Yoga Instructors Teach Meditation?

It’s common for yoga teachers to guide students through a few minutes of meditation before or after a class. Trained yoga instructors are well equipped to do this, but to actually teach meditation requires a little more experience with the practice. 

If you are a yoga teacher, you can definitely lead your students through short meditation sessions. If you want to teach entire sessions on meditation, gain some more experience on your own and by working with experienced meditation instructors. 

The ISSA offers a short course in guiding group meditations. This is a great starting point for yoga instructors interested in adding meditation sessions to their classes. 

Adding Meditation to a Yoga Class

If you have been through yoga teacher certification, you are more than qualified to add short, guided meditations to your classes. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Talk to your yoga studio first. If you work for a gym or studio, be sure it’s ok to add a few minutes of meditation to a class. Studios have different expectations about what is included in a yoga class and give their instructors varying degrees of flexibility to design classes. 

• Choose when to do the meditation. There are a few good reasons to choose the end of a class for meditation. Students will be more settled in their bodies and better prepared to sit and be still. Do it before savasana pose at the very end of a class. 

• Provide some guidance. Don’t assume students know how to meditate. Provide at least minimum guidance for a few minutes of focused meditation. For instance, you can direct them how to sit with a tall spine and relaxed shoulders. Offer some strategies to try, such as paying attention to the breath. 

• Offer some quiet. While guidance is important and helps students develop an effective meditation practice, it can also be distracting. Provide guidance and suggestions, then give your students a few quiet minutes to meditate. 

Tips for Teaching Meditation

Whether you want to add a few minutes of meditation instruction at the end of each yoga class or offer courses just for meditation, these tips will help: 

• Create guided scripts in advance, so you have your thoughts organized and know what you want to say during meditation. 

• Begin with a simple type of meditation and help your students master the basics of sitting still, with good posture and focused awareness. 

• Start with meditation styles that provide students with a focus, such as paying attention to the breath or doing a body scan. An open-ended meditation with minimal guidance is overwhelming for beginners. 

• Emphasize to your students that there is no wrong way to meditate and to have a relaxed attitude toward doing it “right.”

• Make sure your students understand that their minds will wander. Direct them to notice this and to bring attention back to the focus of the meditation each time it happens. 

• Always give students some amount of quiet time without your verbal guidance, so they can practice meditating alone. 

• End quiet sessions gently by bringing students back with softness in your voice. Direct them to slowly move their toes and fingers and open their eyes when ready. 

If you are interested in teaching students how to meditate, the most important thing you can do is deepen your own practice. Meditate regularly, try different techniques, and learn from someone more experienced. 

The ISSA’s Yoga Alliance-approved 200-hour teacher training program is a great foundation for becoming a successful yoga instructor. It provides all the knowledge you need to get started working with clients and students.